poolheaters

I watched that car get built over a couple of months, and there was a huge efforet put into it. The thing has been cut at the front and back strut towers, the rest is fabricated. Full carbon fibre 2 piece body shell. Even flew an aeronautics engineer out from US to design the body/spoilers! I believe the build $$$'s was up there. I think Mr Glenney got down to a 1.32 around Eastern Creek at Superlap last year. It was for sale a month or so ago for $150k, times must be tough..

Well the DR30 has finally arrived, and very happy with it. The car seems quite standard, was built to LMS specs in 2001. Weighs in at 1204kg with minimal fuel, but I can see alot of weight that can come out. Off to the dyno Thursday to get a base reading before we start playing around. Targa have deemed it ineligible as a make and model for classic SS (fair enough) so have entered High Country as LMS, with appropriate up-speccing to do!

Melinda said Allan Horsley rang her today to let her know he retired yesterday. Don't know where that will leave Mazda Motorsport?

I prefer my lipstick black Benny cause I'm always sad.. Thanks for that, I hadn't thought of Ken. My wife knows him pretty well, they spent alot of time racing each other around witches hats when they were littler! I will drop in and and see him for a chat. Murrayflex (MCA) will be the preferred option eventually. Murray and Dave Feron have done quite a bit of work "developing" the 1600 rear ends over the years. I don't really know too much of the specs of what suspension is in it already (Koni?)? Find out when it gets here I guess.. Might have to do a few laps of Lakeside to see where it is at?

DR30 deal is done and the car should be up here in a week or so. Got a couple of pics sent through, they're not the most attractive Nissan ever made, but should be a good thing..

No sneakiness to be had Benny. I actually looked at a different DR30 drift spec car in Hobart while we were there, and when asking various peoples' opinions on this car on the way back to Brissy it was mentioned that another might be for sale. Just one of those "right time right place" things I guess (hope)? Time will tell if it is the right move or not? In regard to the rear end, I know the gravel rally guys here have a mod to reduce the camber change on their 1600 rally cars, but for the moment I will see how it goes as is. There seem to be a few 240z's and Porsche 944's doing ok with a standard trailing arm setup this year? I am no expert though, this is my first venture into the earlier Nissan days! All advice greatly accepted.

What are the problems with the DR30 rear end? Is it the camber change like a 1600? Not sure what to do with this car till we get it and see what spec it is? It ran LMS in 2001 so that would be very close to SS now. Eventual plans are for full MS build incl S13 susp and steering, RB cr g/box, serious llightening etc. Might run in an event or two as is and see where to go from there. I saw there was an Escort in the ocean on that 2001 Targa Tape, is that the same spot as the 2 cars at Wrest Point?

I really enjoyed Rinadeena in my Kia Grand Chancellor mini motel service barge too, although I'm sure the STI might have been just a touch more enjoyable. YT's service crew overtook me like I was going backwards though, that must be where the other spare Lambo engine is kept? I had a busy week looking after a couple of Porsches of the front engined type, but both finished 10th in their respective competitions (Classic & EM). Leigh in Classic did most of day 3 only using the handbrake after a disc rotor failure and no spare- so a super effort that! Congrats to the organisers for what looked like a gruelling event, 34 wet stages in the end? The wife enjoyed the Zero car gig too, bright blue race suits and all! As Jim Richards said on the 2001 Targa tape I watched last night, "You spend 5 days racing, on the 6th you are glad its over, and on the 7th you start planning for next year" So this being the case, 2 days after the event we heard of a DR30 that was raced in Targa 2001 and has been idle ever since. Negotiations are in place and it should be heading to our shed soon. This is probably the only DR30 that has ever done the event, and it is exactly as it finished except for paint..Looking forward to getting it here, let the planning begin...

Went and had a look this morning, seems to be in pretty good condition. No signs of any accident damage or rust in its life. It has an old school HKS kit on it with headers, T04 turdo, front mount with extra injectors in the intake piping (?!). They haven't been able to get it running properly yet, but it has only been in the country a week or so. They think computer related as is revs to 5000rpm then misses, so are fitting a Haltech. Also has coilovers, power steer, a new looking exhaust, very good interior and 15" Watanabe (spelling?) wheels. It hasn't been complied yet as they are still sorting out what is needed, but have all the correct paperwork/approvals etc so I am told. The guy has brought many early rotaries in before, but this is his first "later" model car. Seat belts say its an '83 model. The owner is in Taiwan for a couple of weeks now at a wedding so it is locked away till he returns..Gives me a while to figure out if this is a good option or not? FJ motor parts don't bother me too much, and from what I read last night you can basically fit a whole S13 front end, steering etc in. GTR brakes would then bolt straight on, heaps of suspension options etc..RB gearbox should bolt up, and plenty of ratio options there. What concerns me though is the lack of any aftermarket body parts to get some weight out of it. Couldn't find any light panels/bonnet etc, and I think it would need a pretty big diet to be competitive. Photos from this morning..

Yeah heard this last night. Apparently poor Squeak is gutted, we will have to share the sorrow of service crewing together.. On an entirely different note, what is the general consensus on a DR30 Skyline for a Tarmac weapon? Been offererd a "fresh from Japan" 1983 iron mask model today for $10k. Perfect condition, no rust and a fresh engine. I know very little about these, but they would seem to fall into a pretty competitive section of late classic? I am well over finishing (read starting) my RX3 project, and one of these looks way less work. Might even give those punters building turbo RX7's a run? All advice gladly accepted.. paul

Sorry I didn't think of you when I saw it yesterday afternoon Benny, I didn't really know what a "NUR" was, but I did think it looked good for the price. On a seperate note, has anyone received their "Free commemorative 20th anniversary" DVD with your own cars footage from Targa last year yet? Maybe ours went missing or has this idea fallen by the wayside? From the Targa enews in late 2010.. "Commemorative DVD to Mark 20th Anniversary Collector's items to ensure special memories for competitors! As part of the 20th Anniversary celebrations each competitor from the 20th event will receive next year's DVD at no charge complete with a personalised cover with their car on it and containing all their vision captured from the event. They promise to be a real collector's item with only two DVD's produced of each version. Alone, they are enough reason to make sure that you don't miss out on competing in the 20th Anniversary Targa Tasmania next year."

I may choose to differ on this one. We have used the V70A on the RX3 (softs), Melinda's WRX (mediums), and on the R33 GTR (hards). The softs and mediums worked well, with good grip in both dry and wet, but not the same "feel" as the Dunlop or Yoki. But the hards on the GTR were utter crap. I have honestly never used a worst tyre! They took ages to warm up, had a small window of goodness, and then over the edge they would go. Super weak sidewalls too. We had rim damage from the rims contacting the road on heavy cornering. We were running around the same pace as Rick Shaw but doing it really tough, and spending bulk time every transport trying to manage pressures to keep them in the zone. Very tressful indeed. Its easy to let air out but no so easy to put it back in when you are in the middle of nowhere.* I did notice after the event that the tyres we had been supplied were over two years old from manufacture, maybe had a small part to do with it? I have been told over a beer or 3 at the Targa Bar that some previous outright competitors have used multiple sets of tyres during the event. Known to the Targa heirachy but impossible to prove due to lack of manpower? This could be pisstalk or underdog bashing like we all dislike, or it could be quite true? It did come from someone that would know.. Anyhoo, compounds Ben's theory that going to the 8 tyres is going to be dam near impossible to police, as no one will think twice if a new set of tyres appear on a car? Seems a long way from 10 years ago when everyone ran hards, you set them at 32psi on the first day, and never looked at them again... * I have a new theory of fitting a small on board compressor for the next Targa. Quality item from US (similar to the one on our air bag trailer), would weigh under 2kg and give the opportunity to manage tyre pressures between stages if dry then wet. Service stations are nearly impossible to find and unreliable, and we will never have service crew at the end of every stage.. Just a thought

I was at the day 5 lunch break in Queenstown in 2006 (maybe?) and I think at that stage Steve Glenney was coming either 1st or 2nd? His car was up in the air with the crew desperately trying to regrease his sticking Proflex. A scrutineer was intensly examining all his tyres, and he said to Steve "Mate, I only need to find 1.5mm somewhere on one tyre and you can keep running" This 1.5mm couldn't be found, and faced with the expense of more tyres and the appropriate penalty to go with it, Steve chose to withdraw. But he gladly copped it on the chin, saying they gambled on softer tyres for the speed, and only needed a bit more rain and it would have worked. This is one of the things that makes Targa what is in my opinion.. My thoughts are that 6 tyres for TT12 would have been a good option. Make everyone think and manage their tyres vs speed. Same as the Bens, 8 tyres for us would have really pushed the affordability.

So I see the Sup regs for TT2012 are back up again and corrected. 8 tyres allowed as expected, and 102 fuel for the EM runners (ELF only?). The only rule change I don't like is the requirement to have FIA roll cage padding in the vicinity of the occupants heads. I sort of understand from a competitve stage point of view, but after sitting in the Envy Ute that my darling wife drove at Targa High Country, which had the FIA padding, I was alarmed at how solid and sharp the edges of this padding were when you don't have a helmet on! I actually cut my head on it hopping in the car at a service point. One of our post event recommendations to Barry was to change this back to "softer" type padding? There is approx 2000kms transport on a Targa, and I would worry of the consequences of a road accident if someone were to impact this "padding" with an unhelmeted head. The rule does also say SFI padding. Not sure what this is and haven't researched it at all. My 2cents worth anyway...

Just to revisit an old thought, chatted to Phil yesterday and this is an Alcon product. Look at http://www.alconusa....les/92_1246.pdf No idea on cost though, but its the ducks guts apparently!

We test fitted an AP floor mounted setup in the RX3 (that I will probably never finsh), and I just couldn't make it (and me) fit in the car, without cutting and welding the floor/firewall. Needed at least 260mm back from the pedal centreline. I noticed another rotary and a few other cars with exactly this done at High Country, but I don't think it is either legal or within the spirit of the rules..happy to be corrected if I am wrong? I have used the Tilton firewall mount before with good results, maybe some firewall strengthening required though to stop flex. A friend fitted a "floating master cylinder" type firewall pedal box setup a few years back to an IP car. Cost over $5k from the US but gained over 1sec a lap at QLD raceway, so he was happy! Exchange rate should be better now. There is some very useful info on pedal box setup etc on the Performance Friction website to do with angles, pivot points etc if you want to build it yourself?

The video is up again with George's approval apparently. Looks like a scary ride.. Great to see the crew of the Suby (I presume) first on the scene!

And still on only 4 tyres for EM and Modern. Should make for some interesting compound choices..

Over the last 4-5 years we have used all different brands of pads on our tarmac and gravel cars. The pagids have been a great gravel pad (RS4-blue) and used them on the tarmac Escort too. Great feel and wear, but not ultimate stopping power. Endless didn't work for us, Hawk didn't either. Have been through the Ferodo DS range too on the Skylines and WRX's. Good pads but always a problem somewhere in the heat range- no grip when cold, brake shake & inconsistency when hot.. Switched to Project U' before Targe HC 2010 and have never looked back. Amazing performance hot or cold, great pad wear and minimal disc wear. The front AP rotors are now at just under 3000kms competitive and are due for replacement. We use the top "street" pad ( HC or HC+?) and they are simply brilliant. Have them in the dirt Subaru too and the characteristics are the same. We will keep using these for now, although apparently Project U' now have a "clubman" range..haven't tried these yet? The trick with pads for Targa is somerthing that will work stone cold, or at 700+ degrees, and not eat your rotors. Targa 2009 Melinda had great brakes on the WRX but wore out $1500 worth of rotors in 100kms competitive... Cheers paul

Thoughts on the new Tassy Tarmac Challenge? 2 day event, 3 rounds, under $1k entry.. Will try and attach screen shot of todays email? Tassy tarmac challenge.docx

Also similar damage and accident to our R33 in Targa 2009 on Strahan, although different cause. That looked pretty violent! We had winged seats and I am sure they saved us any real injury. Our car didn't look that bad either, even when we got it home and took off all the damaged panels. The car sat under the house for about 6 months while we procrastinated about what to do. The more we looked the more damage we found though. A little crease here, a stretch on the seam there. Eventually decided to reshell (albeit into an R32) and very happy with the outcome. The guy who took the damaged shell found so many more stress marks/fractures/creases in places we would have never looked, it confirmed the reshell decision as correct. The cost of repair vs reshell was similar for us too, although being an R34 this may be different for you. Choose with your head not your heart when it comes to repairs, although that's alot easier said than done... paul

You're gunna love Barry's boat Woo. We had dinner on it a while back, veeerrry flash!

Still a pretty quick car though. When I was testing Mel's GTR at Qld Raceway last year just after we finished building it, that Porsche was out there. It was a good couple of seconds faster than me each lap. I was on 8 year old Yoky 32's, and only running about 260kw, but the thing would pull 5 car lengths on me down the straight! I can see you in that Benny, and as a bonus after a few years you would have a closet full of unused left race boots!

And she used to be such a nice girl till that last Sydney trip!

Had a good look over the R35 GTR being put together for Time Attack yesterday by the boys at GT Garage. What an AWESOME bit of kit! Envious of all those going to Eastern Creek in a couple of weeks..