Capital Driving Club Discussion Forum

It's a 2004 MazdaSpeed. Have you looked under one of those? My guess is there's at least 50 lbs. of bracing added. Then there's the turbo/intercooler. I'm not sure what else makes up the difference. Maybe the 17" rims. Oh yeah, the plastic chin and trunk spoilers. After going on a small diet th...

I've heard of people cutting a hole in the upper cover to check the belt condition and/or tweeking an adjustable timing gear. You can also see any potential oil leaks from the cam seals or timing cover. The crank seal can leak eventually and get oil on the belt, too.. I left mine intact and didn't h...

The index doesn't really effect me since I'm an organizer. I just think it's sort of funny how my Miata gets indexed.

HP = ~200 -> 1.01
Weight = 2523 -> 1.0
Tire = 180 AA A -> 1.0

1.01 for a turbocharged Miata. Maybe I should quit as an organizer and go for the prizes.

Like Ed, I also knew Charlie for 20 years. For those of you who didn't get to know him, Charlie was one hell of a good guy. He was the Triumph club newsletter editor for many years and went way beyond the call of duty. You could always count on him to lend a hand and do the right thing. Once, when t...

I was talking to Ed last night, and I think we will bring the timing equipment. I'd rather haul it up there in my Miata and do the setup/teardown than worry about working a stopwatch all day. The timing equipment held up pretty well in the last Bowie downpour except for when the sensors got flooded....

Come on out just to talk to some people and get a few rides in various cars. We usually have a bunch of Miatas, and there are many other fun cars (the fastest is usually a *slightly* modified Civic). I'll be driving a MazdaSpeed or a MINI.

Woohoo! Congratulations, Ed.

I had a professional certification test on friday at the Kena temple in Fairfax (shriners). HUGE parking lot. Kind of narrow, but very autocrossable, and centrally located. I don't know if anyone has ever looked into it. Interesting, I lived near there at one time and never knew that lot existed. T...

Maybe if we charged as much for concessions as Dan Snyder, we could swing it. :) The only way I could see us ever doing an event at Fedex is if we effectively have two events in one day. There could be fewer runs with a longer, more open course. Even so, it would be an expensive day. It might not hu...

I still think the best answer may be to store the sensor events at the sensor on a PC and transmit them back to the timer computer via WiFi. I'm not sure what the max. range of WiFi is, but it's at least 200ft. This may not be the most cost-effective method, and the power requirements would be a has...

If you're at one of the events, swing by the timing tent and we can discuss this. I'd like to be able to run our timing software on Windows(tm), but have written it for Linux just to be able to access the serial port at a low level. I'm basically looping the DTR pin back through the CTS and Ring ind...

If I get a few kinks worked out (like making up a decent serial cable instead of jamming paper clips into the receiver) we can use it for the next T&T event. I also need to test the unique start/stop sensors before we try it at Bowie. I may even try to import the registration data so we have dri...

That is scary, Kyle. If one of those guys sneezed, they'd be a goner.

Our current software uses two pins of the serial port as a switch to trigger the timer. So yes, the computer does the actual timing and only has a single trigger. The optical sensors we use are actually quite good, and as Kyle mentioned, we have two spares. The wireless link is basically an RF switc...

JoeTR6 wrote:Besides, BMW owns the rights to the Triumph name, and there has been much rumor of a future revival of the marque.

Apparently the rumor is still alive.

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/news/autoe ... iumph.html

A German motor in a BRITISH CAr !!! Rollover WInston Churhill ! The Triumph company was started by a German named Sigfried Bettmann. So I doubt he would be doing much rolling. :) Then, consider that the TR6 was basically a TR4 restyled by the German firm Karmann (compare the rear end to an E36 BMW ...

The drivetrain and hydraulics are in good shape, but the body is starting to look positively British. This may be the answer: http://www.flyinmiata.com/westfield/ Kind of pricey, but I like this kit over some of the others I've seen. I know a home-made Locost would be cheaper, but I could have this ...

I think the current indexing system serves a useful purpose in showing a new driver roughly how they are improving throughout a season. Beyond that, it isn't a fair measure when it comes to comparing different drivers. Driving different cars from event to event can be educational, and sometimes peop...

I agree with Gonz. The blog is a much quicker way to get news, and if I'm in a hurry I'll look there first. You can always link to a post containing the details.