Max's BRZ STX Build

[Simmons]

Congrats

[SubiePig]

Congrats! I was following the event all weekend. Doesn't matter where you go STX Nationally is a tough class.

[MTCRX]

Max has his car pictured on the SCCA.com website main page in latest news. I am assuming this is the same Max? congratulations.

[blkwrxwag]

Ok, here is a little recap of the weekend.

Annie Gill flew in from Seattle to codrive with me, so we headed over to the test and tune course on Friday to get her some seat time and to scrub the new Toyo tires in. She said the car was "mushy" compared to hers. The test and tune actually had some slaloms which we rarely see at out local events. So, I added a bunch of rebound and things got much better, and we both liked the balance and feel of the car.

I went to sleep dreaming of Bryan Heitkotter!

For Saturday, I pretty much lead from the first run. The car was great and we did not make any adjustments. On his third run, Mack Tsang put in a great drive to get within 0.98 seconds of me. Bryan was obviously struggling putting down power in his Nissan 300ZX, so was a little off the pace.

Here is my third run on day 1 :-

[ame]http://youtu.be/rb2hP-trzDU[/ame]

Saturday night, I went to bed dreaming of Mack Tsang!

On Sunday, things started to go a little wrong. I was slow and I couldn't figure out why. Both Annie and Mack were going faster than me, and I had lost the lead. Each run, I would take the lead back (first driver), only to lose it again as Mack ran. From Annie's runs, I knew it was me and not the car... indeed, the car felt fantastic again.

So, on my last run, I pulled to the line knowing I needed 0.3 seconds just to get the lead back. That required a run that was faster than Annie's best run, so I just decided to throw caution to the wind and go for it. I got wide in the very first right hander and knew then the rest of the run needed to be perfect. Luckily it worked, and I picked up 0.6 seconds. Mack was watching and said my time freaked him out a little, and he over drove his last run trying too hard.

Here is the 3rd run from day 2 :

[ame]http://youtu.be/pA1u8SYs89A[/ame]

Pretty exciting stuff, and the tough battle made it all the more gratifying. Obviously, Annie's help was crucial in improving the car on Friday and pushing me on Sunday, but also the OS Giken diff really handled the many off camber turns really well. I have never had such a well planted car at San Diego and I was able to be so aggressive with the throttle whenever I wanted.

Looking forward to El Toro next weekend.

[blkwrxwag]

Originally Posted by MTCRX

Max has his car pictured on the SCCA.com website main page in latest news. I am assuming this is the same Max? congratulations.

Yes, that's my car :-

http://www.scca.com/news/index.cfm?cid=51835

Also, the car is on the cover of Sportscar magazine this month with an article about "Game Changers". Check it out if you are an SCCA member.

[piknockout]

Originally Posted by blkwrxwag

Also, the car is on the cover of Sportscar magazine this month with an article about "Game Changers". Check it out if you are an SCCA member.

Clearly, they're talking about the car and not you. :p


Nice job Max, I need to find a way to go slum it up in STX again this year. Definitely a fun class, despite how slow it is.

[itzmik3]

this weekend is going to be fun

i can't wait for you to be daydreaming about me

[blkwrxwag]

itzmik3 is going to be codriving with me in STX, and Annie will be driving the car in L3. So far, STX is the biggest class with 20 drivers.

[tigermack]

I will make sure you dream of me again!!!

[blkwrxwag]

Originally Posted by tigermack

I will make sure you dream of me again!!!

Ugggggg

[Grassroots_BRZ]

nice!

[Simmons]

The car did look planted,......you that mainly comes from the Giken?


Simmons

[blkwrxwag]

Originally Posted by Simmons

The car did look planted,......you that mainly comes from the Giken?


Simmons

It's really hard to say, but a combination of the diff and the Toyos I think. It just feels very stable back there.

[piknockout]

For reference, Danny's car with just the Toyos felt amazingly well planted. Not so much on the Hankooks. Not saying the diff didn't help, but I had no issues putting down power or feeling like the rear was going to swap ends on me. Just another data point.