Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Raceways
Reference Material for NorCal
The local SCCA San Francisco Chapter
http://www.sfrscca.org
Autocross Sites
http://www.sfrscca.org/solo2/sites.html#stockton
Street School at Thunderhill $235 and bring your own car
http://www.thunderhill.com/html/driving_school.html
There's a class every 2 months or so during the work week. It's a bit of a drive, but a lot cheaper than the classes at Lunga Sega and Sears Point. Next class is April 24.
California Race Tracks
http://www.racereview.com/california.htm
Infineon Raceway
Performance Class (bring your own car) $1000
Kid's Cart Class $350
Adults and Teens $550
20 Track Passes $400 - must provide own kart
Laguna Seca in Monterey
Skip Barber Driving School
Driving Clubs with Track Time
PCA - Porsche Coast $275 for day
Unlimited Laps - $285 for day
Speed Ventures
The local SCCA San Francisco Chapter
http://www.sfrscca.org
Autocross Sites
http://www.sfrscca.org/solo2/sites.html#stockton
Street School at Thunderhill $235 and bring your own car
http://www.thunderhill.com/html/driving_school.html
There's a class every 2 months or so during the work week. It's a bit of a drive, but a lot cheaper than the classes at Lunga Sega and Sears Point. Next class is April 24.
California Race Tracks
http://www.racereview.com/california.htm
Infineon Raceway
Performance Class (bring your own car) $1000
Kid's Cart Class $350
Adults and Teens $550
20 Track Passes $400 - must provide own kart
Laguna Seca in Monterey
Skip Barber Driving School
Driving Clubs with Track Time
PCA - Porsche Coast $275 for day
Unlimited Laps - $285 for day
Speed Ventures
Spinout on the Freeway
It was raining today, and I tried to do a little drafting on the freeway ramp. I ended up doing a 180 into the side rail. It was a low speeds and I only did a minor damage to the rear side panel. Next time it rains, I'm going to find a parking lot and practice. I'm also thinking about rallies. I'll consider that more when I get rid of the Explorer. I'll need a vehicle with more than 2 seats to be a bit more large family friendly.
After I got home and my wife had me fill up the Porsche, I was driving like a good little school boy. I drop by Taco Bell for a combo meal and their drinks were too big to fit in the cup holders. Luckily it's an automatic.
After I got home and my wife had me fill up the Porsche, I was driving like a good little school boy. I drop by Taco Bell for a combo meal and their drinks were too big to fit in the cup holders. Luckily it's an automatic.
Monday, March 26, 2007
Sunday Drives in the South Bay
The Bay Area has lots of great roads for Sunday drives. My son and I are starting to explore these roads. There are numerous hiking trails along these drives to explore. The environments are diverse like flat plains, mountains, coast, and country. These roads are shared among motorist, motorcyclist, and cyclist.
So far, we've only taken a few trips. The first was Mount Hamilton to the east. Barren wide mountain biking trails and a scatter few single trails on both sides. I enter my only mountain bike race here a decade and a half ago. The drive is on rolling hills with lots of tight turns. It eventually leads to an observatory, but we stopped early to go hiking.
There are a complex network of roads to the south and west. We like to enter from Hwy 9 in Saratoga. From here, you can get to Skyline, and between these two roads, you can drive to the San Francisco or down to Santa Cruz. The are wide mountain roads and narrow switchbacks. Keep driving east, and you'll hit Hwy 1, the Pacific Coast Hwy. It's got a great view and access to many beaches. In the right conditions, you can head up to the mountain tops and drive in the clouds. It's slippery up here so drive slow and watch for the numerous cyclists.
For a quick driving fix in the middle of the night, I head down Santa Teresa and take a right on Baily. There's a straight road here pass the old IBM building. Drive down once to be sure this street is clear of cops. It's easy to see if anyone else is pulling on the road, so you can safely floor it for a good mile. Monterey is good for speed too, but you need to know which patch is harder for cops to hide. At the end of Baily is a uphill switchback to the Calero Reservoir.
In the same general area, there's also a good 10 mile drive on Hicks. It's tight turns with a steep up and downhill section. The best short quick drive around me.
Whenever you get sick of driving, stop for a hike or visit one of the small communities or wineries along the way.
The Miata is my prefer ride, but the Porsche isn't bad either if you don't want to feel every bump. A small car hot rod like a Caterham or Cobra would be perfect and I'll get one of those some day.
So far, we've only taken a few trips. The first was Mount Hamilton to the east. Barren wide mountain biking trails and a scatter few single trails on both sides. I enter my only mountain bike race here a decade and a half ago. The drive is on rolling hills with lots of tight turns. It eventually leads to an observatory, but we stopped early to go hiking.
There are a complex network of roads to the south and west. We like to enter from Hwy 9 in Saratoga. From here, you can get to Skyline, and between these two roads, you can drive to the San Francisco or down to Santa Cruz. The are wide mountain roads and narrow switchbacks. Keep driving east, and you'll hit Hwy 1, the Pacific Coast Hwy. It's got a great view and access to many beaches. In the right conditions, you can head up to the mountain tops and drive in the clouds. It's slippery up here so drive slow and watch for the numerous cyclists.
For a quick driving fix in the middle of the night, I head down Santa Teresa and take a right on Baily. There's a straight road here pass the old IBM building. Drive down once to be sure this street is clear of cops. It's easy to see if anyone else is pulling on the road, so you can safely floor it for a good mile. Monterey is good for speed too, but you need to know which patch is harder for cops to hide. At the end of Baily is a uphill switchback to the Calero Reservoir.
In the same general area, there's also a good 10 mile drive on Hicks. It's tight turns with a steep up and downhill section. The best short quick drive around me.
Whenever you get sick of driving, stop for a hike or visit one of the small communities or wineries along the way.
The Miata is my prefer ride, but the Porsche isn't bad either if you don't want to feel every bump. A small car hot rod like a Caterham or Cobra would be perfect and I'll get one of those some day.
Friday, March 16, 2007
Porsche Boxster S
Cost of Ownership
Premium Fuel $3.50 gallon
Rear Tires $375 each + tax & installation ($750 installed from tirerack, partly because there's no sales tax)
Extra Key $225
Windshield $900
Insurance is $300 / 6 mnth for full coverage; even the insurance guy was surprised.
Sensor Issue: Covered by warranty. It's been in the shop for a week and they can't figure out what's wrong. Now, the dealership is just going to replace all the old sensor hardware with new hardware. I can't image how much this would cost without warranty.
Performance and Spec
The 0 to 60 is about 2x quick as my Miata.
Premium Fuel $3.50 gallon
Rear Tires $375 each + tax & installation ($750 installed from tirerack, partly because there's no sales tax)
Extra Key $225
Windshield $900
Insurance is $300 / 6 mnth for full coverage; even the insurance guy was surprised.
Sensor Issue: Covered by warranty. It's been in the shop for a week and they can't figure out what's wrong. Now, the dealership is just going to replace all the old sensor hardware with new hardware. I can't image how much this would cost without warranty.
Performance and Spec
| Price | $43,800 & $53,100 (S) | Weight | 2855 lbs & 2965 lbs (S) | ||
| Engine | 2.7 & 3.2 (S) liter flat six | Transmission | 5 speed & 6 speed manual (S) | ||
| Aspiration | Natural | Torque | 199 & 236(S) lb-ft @ 4700 rpm | ||
| HP | 240 hp & 280 hp (S) | HP/Weight | 11.9 lbs & 10.6 lbs (S) per hp | ||
| HP/Liter | 83 & 87.5 hp per liter (S) | 0-124 mph | 24.6 & 20.2(S) seconds | ||
| 0-60 mph | 5.9 & 5.2 seconds (S) | Top Speed | 159 & 166 mph (S) |
The 0 to 60 is about 2x quick as my Miata.
Friday, March 09, 2007
Miata Update
The original tires had good treads left, but the front right tire is damaged. The side wall is tearing and I don't feel safe driving on it. I replaced it with a set of Hankook RS-2 195/60R14, but bother keeping the old tires. It's a good performance tire and the only tire rated above H in this size. The Miata can also take 205/55R14 but those are racing tires and the tread life is around 50 and beside wearing out quickly, they would disqualify my car from the Stock/Street Class in autocross. I went with a cheaper tire place that doesn't offer free rotation, but I figure on the Miata, I can do it faster myself then bringing it in. I just need to get that 2nd jack I left at my parents and then it'll be like a 15 minute job. The tire guy suggested I rotate these tires every 3K instead of the typical 5K.
I missed my first autocross this Sunday due to daylight savings. No biggie since my son and I just went for a drive on Highway 9 and a hike in the Santa Cruz mountains. We found ourselves on a narrow road with blind corners for a short while. I pressed the honk and we laughed at how weak it sounded. For safety's sake, I turned around took a slightly wider road. I drove very slowly and press my honk on every turn, but we still have a close run in with a biker.
I searched the web and decent reviews for a mechanic in Sunnyvale, Zuccato's Auto Care. I may drop it off there after my wife's car gets picked up from Stevens Creek Porsche for some repairs covered by the Warranty. I would want the 30K service and to get a 2nd opinion on the repairs suggested by the shop that check this car out when I brought it. I'm still looking for a decent mechanic for my wife, but I don't know too many Porsche owners.
I found a more consistent way to heel and toe. Instead of rotation my right foot, I keep a stiff foot and move my right knee to the right. This lets a bigger muscle do the blipping.
I missed my first autocross this Sunday due to daylight savings. No biggie since my son and I just went for a drive on Highway 9 and a hike in the Santa Cruz mountains. We found ourselves on a narrow road with blind corners for a short while. I pressed the honk and we laughed at how weak it sounded. For safety's sake, I turned around took a slightly wider road. I drove very slowly and press my honk on every turn, but we still have a close run in with a biker.
I searched the web and decent reviews for a mechanic in Sunnyvale, Zuccato's Auto Care. I may drop it off there after my wife's car gets picked up from Stevens Creek Porsche for some repairs covered by the Warranty. I would want the 30K service and to get a 2nd opinion on the repairs suggested by the shop that check this car out when I brought it. I'm still looking for a decent mechanic for my wife, but I don't know too many Porsche owners.
I found a more consistent way to heel and toe. Instead of rotation my right foot, I keep a stiff foot and move my right knee to the right. This lets a bigger muscle do the blipping.
Thursday, March 08, 2007
Auto Whole Seller
After searching around for an automatic Boxster with low miles, I found a whole seller in Fremont with a 2005 Boxster S. It cost more than I budgeted, but it was a good buy at dealer whole sell price. Plus it's still under warranty. It's got 276 hp as oppose to the 200 hp for the early 2K modle Boxster we tried. The throttle and steeling were less stiff too. It needs a new windshield, brake pads, tires, and alignment. He just faxed me the mechanic report that also includes his buy price(by mistake I assume). His profit didn't seem too high so I feel good about that. I still need to budget $1500 for the tires, brakes, alignment, and 30K service. The windshield is $1K at the dealer. The whole seller offer to bring it into the dealership for fix up a couple of minor issues under warranty, but I was advice by another dealer that it's better for me to bring it in. The reason is the Dealership will gave the retail customer better service than a whole sell dealer.
The whole seller also helps people bid on cars in the dealer auction for a fee. They typical fee around here is $500 for cars up to $25K and $750 for cars above. The whole sell Blue Book price is about 10% below private seller, but with less hassle. The auction house inspections all the cars first so you'll have all the reports. So mathematically, it makes sense to by at an auction if the price is of the car is over $5000. I'll keep this in mind for a niece who's looking for a 2000 Solara.
However, I been eying some modified Mits EVOs. I'm not sure leased car can be modified so these car probably have to go through private sells. It'll be a few years until I can save up enough money to get another car. But I'm banking on my wife ramping up her business after the girls are all full time in day care. My son is old enough to come home on his own. The Porsche was my investment in my wife to motivate her and I'm sure it's a good investment.
The whole seller also helps people bid on cars in the dealer auction for a fee. They typical fee around here is $500 for cars up to $25K and $750 for cars above. The whole sell Blue Book price is about 10% below private seller, but with less hassle. The auction house inspections all the cars first so you'll have all the reports. So mathematically, it makes sense to by at an auction if the price is of the car is over $5000. I'll keep this in mind for a niece who's looking for a 2000 Solara.
However, I been eying some modified Mits EVOs. I'm not sure leased car can be modified so these car probably have to go through private sells. It'll be a few years until I can save up enough money to get another car. But I'm banking on my wife ramping up her business after the girls are all full time in day care. My son is old enough to come home on his own. The Porsche was my investment in my wife to motivate her and I'm sure it's a good investment.
