September 30, 2009

H2Oi 2009 second teaser


Oddly enough, I had signed in to do exactly what Josh has done, which is post a quick teaser of some photos from H2Oi 2009, only to see he had already done so. Well here are three from me, with plenty more to come once I sort through my images and get things in order enough to post more.

As mentioned, this year's show was beyond anything else that has been seen in the past at H2O, more people, more cars, more of everything. Yet somehow it side stepped a lot of the dread that can come with a huge show, and was generally pleasant, even for someone like me who has to work the entire weekend. More to come...

_WRS

September 29, 2009

H2O International 2009

H2Oi 2009
H20 2009 was totally insane... it kind of rearranged my brain a little in terms of documentation, and ones sense of scale in relation to a "car show". There must have been thousands and thousands of VW's there, since it was basically infinite cars all weekend. Sorry only this one picture for now, more thoughts later.
-J blaksquirrel

September 21, 2009

Spotted in NYC: E92 M3

The weather in NYC was beautiful this weekend, and I spent a good amount of time out and about on the streets, getting some relaxation in before the whirlwind event that H2O International is sure to be. There were a few nice cars that were bombing through the streets, including a fairly rare (color) Futura Yellow Mk4 GTI VR6...modified too, but I wasn't quick enough with my camera to get a pic before it was out of sight.

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This M3 however, was quite stationary, and absolutely stopped me in my tracks. This is a first for the E92 M3. I'm not what you would call a fan of the design. I know it's fast, I know it's capable, but it just doesn't fill me with car-lust like a proper E30, E36, or even some E46 cars. That said, this mean-looking M is perfect. White paint, anthracite Advan wheels, and low-but-not-too-low suspension. This is the sort of car that looks infinitely capable, and like it is actually driven rather than pimped by parking lot racers. Even the future-Mrs WRS remarked about this car...the wheels specifically, which I have to admit are proper. Proper enough that I didn't even comment on the played-out black roof. Whoops...

_WRS

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September 20, 2009

Weekend in Upstate NY: Mk5 Gti vs RS4

Half of the WRS team went upstate over Labor Day weekend for some much needed RnR. We were able to stay with a friend who has an amazing house in a remote area, it's quite scenic and there are plenty of back roads for some spirited driving. Yuko and Tony went along, and with all of our gear it was a good test for my slightly adjusted suspension setup. Its taken a while, and a bunch of small changes to get to the current state of tune, and now I'm pretty happy with the setup. In addition to the house, our friend drives an Audi RS4... a beast of a car, and a true wolf in (mostly) sheeps clothing. I think the pair looks pretty good together in the rugged outdoors! I'll get to the RS4 later, first a bit about my ongoing project 2006 Gti.

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Serious dust!

It seems somewhat unbelievable to me, but I've managed to have 3 sets of tires on these wheels [Hartmann G5 Gallardo replica] in 2 years. I started with Nitto 235/35/19 and it was obvious fairly quickly that they were TOO BIG for the ET 42 of these early production models. The front fenders were rolled, and some minor trimming was done in the rear so that I could make Waterfest 2007. After the show, I made another trip south to Lufteknic before H20 to mount a set of Dunlop 215/35/19's that did not rub AT ALL. I dropped the front of the car a bit, and in hindsight could have/should have gone much lower. (Nate and Robert talked me out of it, they are more sensible I suppose?). With 215's you could probably go down a lot with the 19 x 8 ET 42 wheels and still keep the car drivable... the 'slammed Mk2' in me wants to try that for the fourth set of tires. I seriously had 5 people deep in there and it was rub free. The tiny 215's did however fall victim to the Cross Bronx Expressway, and I bubbled one of the front tires pretty badly. It took me a while to figure this out (I thought the rim was bent, there was a lot of vibration), and because the damage was on the inside I drove for a few months like this. I'm extremely glad the tire never blew out!

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For 2009 I painted the wheels gloss black, and mounted Dunlop 225/35/19's. I spun down the coils a little more before the drive upstate (1/8" in front, 3/8" in the rear), and the car finally has a somewhat proper stance that might not be "Vortex approved", but it looks good, and still has it's handling/city capabilities pretty much intact. These 225's ride noticeably better than the 215's did, but they do rub a bit on the bigger highway dips in both the front and back. Honestly, it handles the Manhattan/Queens city driving admirably, and rides better than one would expect. I've had Vogtland coilovers since the car was practically new, and they have handled 40k miles with no problems. As it sits, there are less than an inch of threads left to go down...but I don't need to go any lower and sacrifice utility.

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The RS4
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This RS4 lives a busy and somewhat hard life. Unlike many examples of this fairly rare car (2500 imported to the US) which are likely pampered, this particular RS4 is daily driven in Manhattan (!) and is treated basically like any other car. It's not exactly abused, but the owner has a certain detachment from the fact that this car is pretty special. I like the fact that it is treated in such a utilitarian way, but it could be washed once in a while, to be honest. A Weimaraner is usually riding shotgun, or sitting in the dog blanket covered rear seats (the claw marks on the seats are a bit distressing). It makes the 3.5 hour trip upstate several times a month... in all conditions. Snow tires are fitted in the winter on the factory wheels to deal with the feet of snow this area gets.

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One bonus that comes from this "it's just a car" way of thinking, is that I usually get to take the car on extended drives to pick up whatever is needed at the house. Because everything is so far away, this means 40 mile round trips on some great mountain back roads, and it is a treat to be able to drive an RS4 somewhere it can really shine. I don't push anywhere near the limit on the curves, the cars capabilities are WAY beyond what I need to be doing in someone else's ride, but I have run through the gears well up into 5th on the straighter sections. The sound of that V8 is amazing and the car is pretty damn fast... not the fastest (if I'm going to be jaded the similarly powered 996 GT3 seemed like it was quicker) but the whole package is pretty intoxicating. Compared to my Mk5 everything about the car seems more solid and capable: shifting, brakes, motor, the Quattro (as you would expect) and Yuko is much more tolerant of high speeds and cornering in this car than in the Gti.

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Honestly though after driving both back to back on the same roads, you can really see the things the cars have in common. My Gti's interior quality/design and capabilities hold up surprisingly well overall, and the fact that I can hop in my car after driving such a beast and not be totally depressed is kind of amazing. It might seem crazy but I don't know if I would rather have the RS4 over my car... The gas mileage is terrible and I prefer the looks of a hatchback over a sedan, if it were an Avant there would be no contest.

_JB

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The road that leads to the house could be a gravel rally stage.

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September 19, 2009

Quick Pic - The art of the sale

So you're a semi-rich dude, and you've got one of your Porsches for sale. Sadly, it has to go. Maybe you're getting divorced, maybe you're making room for something else in the collection, or maybe you've decided that 17 cars is just too many, and 16 is a much more appropriate number. The problem is, how do you draw attention to it? After all, you're going to be one of many people trying to get attention at this weekend's vintage motorsport event. Why, I know how! I'll put the for sale sign on the Scirocco! They'll walk over thinking this pristine example is up for grabs, only to realize it's the red 356 sitting next to it which is on sale. BRILLIANT!

Scirocco 1 / 356 line up


Seriously, that's what was going on in this pic...nothing like using your Scirocco to draw attention to your Porsche. Smart man. This VW Camper with the R. Crumb spare tire cover was pretty epic too.

R. Crumb VW Camper

I'm about 99% sure these fans were also responsible for the Camel GT banner which was up across from their campsite. In retrospect I should have stopped by and introduced myself.


_WRS

September 17, 2009

The final round from Watkins Glen: Best of the rest

We're finally in the home stretch of coverage from our one-day blitz to Watkins Glen, and it strikes me that I took pretty much no pictures of VWs. Mainly because there were none on the track, and that's where my main focus was. Josh did take some, so maybe he can log in and share, because there were more mint condition Scirocco 1s than I have ever seen, anywhere. All driven by guys who were probably original owners to boot. So Josh, any pics to share?

One of the main reasons we drove over 10 hours in one day was to go cheer on a friend of ours who was racing that weekend. Alan campaigns an MGB and does quite a bit of racing on the vintage circuit. I don't know the exact specs on the car, but I can tell you it's about a 1.6, makes good power and really sounds great running around the circuit.

Better still it looks great. After all let's face it, a race car should be fast, but it should also look great doing that. And lest you think vintage means slow or not exciting, you're 100% mistaken, for many competitors really let it all hang out from start to finish, which makes for a very exciting, and enjoyable day.

Although the races are short, vintage events are really worth checking out. Not only do you get to see an incredible array of rare street vehicles parked in and around the paddock, you get to see the whole of motorsport before it became as sterile as it sometimes seems today.

Big, loud and insanely fast American V8s thundering around in lightweight Lola chassis. Trans Am Mustangs, Camaros and Corvettes, Porsches of all shapes and sizes, and pretty much anything else you can think of. From championship winning 914-6 Porsches to ex-NASCAR tube frame monsters.


The WRS MK5 project did quite well on the drive up and back, providing smooth transport to weary travelers, and it got a bit of attention in the pits as well.

Anyways, back to our regularly scheduled programming soon....H2O International is just over week away! Needless to say there are a TON of additional pics, in much larger sizes, over on the Wolfsburg Rennsport Flickr page.

_WRS

September 16, 2009

Group 44 Jaguar XJR-5 at Watkins Glen

The 962 which I wrote about yesterday was not the only GTP machine at the event, but it was the only one which took to the track. The first GTP which I laid eyes upon, and made a mad-dash to go check out, was this Group 44 Jaguar XJR-5. This rather fascinating beast was beyond immaculate, and it was quite obvious this car spends it's time being pampered rather than spanked on a race track.


I'm a little torn about that fact, as I mentioned yesterday, I prefer a car on the track as opposed to the garage, and it seems a shame for this american-built chassis with its V12 British heart to not be put to good use. That said, if I owned a Le Mans class-winning car I might not be too eager to write it off just trying to have some fun. This car, running the #04 (all the Group 44 machines ran with 40, 44 or 04) was actually chassis number 008, out of ten total built. I'd like to say that if I ran a race team, all my cars would be 05 or 55, so any sponsors who want to get on board should get used to it. Just saying.


Group 44 was an American team headed up by Bob Tullius, a man passionate about his British sports cars, and who was almost single-handedly responsible for bringing Jaguar back to Le Mans, and sports car racing in general. It's a fascinating story, and one well worth reading about. check it out on Ultimate Car Page.

So as the story goes, I happened to be wasting time on GrandTouringPrototype.com earlier, and was very pleased to see they had the video from the Daytona 3 hour Finale of 1986 posted up. It was complete and random chance that I noticed this, and it just so happens this race was the final win for Bob Tullius and the Group 44 Jaguar. So set aside some time, sit back and enjoy some great racing. I couldn't figure out if chassis 008 was being raced at Daytona, but it doesn't really matter...just listen to that engine screaming around the banks and don't worry about anything else. Larger pics over at the WRS Flickr Page.

_WRS


GTP: 1986 Daytona Finale IMSA GTP Race Broadcast pt1 from GrandTouringPrototype.com on Vimeo.



GTP: 1986 Daytona Finale IMSA GTP Race Broadcast pt2 from GrandTouringPrototype.com on Vimeo.


September 15, 2009

Feature: Porsche 962 GTP

The Porsche 962 is arguably the most iconic and most successful sports prototype car of all time. Its successes, which stretched years beyond what anyone would have ever expected, are numerous and likely never to be equaled. Perhaps what's most impressive is that the 962, like the 956 before it, was not just successful in the hands of the factory. After all it's one thing for a factory, with their seemingly bottomless pockets, to bring a car into the winner's circle time after time. It's an entirely different thing for a private team to take a turn-key race car and do the same thing. With the 962, this was possible.

There's obviously been quite a bit written about the 962 over the years, and there is not honestly that much that I have to offer on the subject. I have some inside connections to be sure, but there are those much more well connected and in the know than I. Still, when I was at Watkins Glen for the U.S. Vintage Grand Prix this past weekend I couldn't help but be taken with the lone Porsche supercar on hand. I had to take pics, I had to inspect it up close, and naturally, had to talk about it.

Although the car was stated to be a 1985 962, I had a bit of a hard time figuring out exactly which car this was. Clad in the legendary orange Jagermeister colours, it would appear to be one of the ex-Brun team cars. The bodywork however is late-model 962C spec, with a short tail and separate rear wing, and it was running a single turbo GTP spec motor. I did some internet sleuthing and managed to track down the beast's origins. First I stumbled upon a mention of the car having no racing history on URY914's Flickr account. (which has an AMAZING cache of vintage GTP pictures by the way) A few more google searches, based on the name B. Hawe residing on the side of the car, turned up the chassis designation 962 AR-1, which is not on any of the official 962 chassis lists out there, and finally brought me to yet another Flickr page, which finally had the full story.

Apparently this car was built from a spare tub back in 1996 by Kevin Jeannette from Gunnar Racing. The car was to be put on the street but was ultimately sold as a vintage racer, wrecked, purchased by Bill Hawe, and finally rebuilt once again with a 3.0 flat six made to IMSA GTP spec.

So maybe the car doesn't have any racing provenance, but that's really neither here nor there when it comes down to it. To have a proper 962 being used as it was intended, on a track, at speed, rather than sitting in some dark, grim warehouse somewhere, hidden away from the world. Clearly I'm not the only person who feels this way. I bet this vintage Camel GT banner has been proudly displayed every year since the lucky owner decided to rip it down off of some fence back in the 1980s....

More to come from The Glen, including many more Porsches, a historic Jaguar GTP car (which did not take to the track) and a smattering of old VW's. If anyone out there thought pristine condition Scirocco 1's were hard to fine, you clearly haven't been to a vintage race in the northeast.

Check out the full selection of 962 pictures over at the Wolfsburg RS Flickr page. On a side note, I've updated my copyright license so now you can actually see the full sized larger images. Took me a while, but I finally figured that one out.

_WRS

Wolfsburg RS Flickr page

September 12, 2009

Tomorrow: U.S. Vintage Grand Prix at Watkins Glen

Just a heads up for anyone in the greater N.Y. / Pennsylvania area, the U.S. Vintage Grand Prix is this weekend at Watkins Glen. Blaksquirrel and I are headed up super early tomorrow morning and I hope to have some great photos to share of cars like this wild Lotus...if you haven't been to a vintage race I highly recommend it. It's really an experience to see these cars of yesteryear being hustled around a track at top speed. Very much worth the effort and entry fee...see you there!

_WRS

September 9, 2009

Pic post: Film just looks better

After my session of scanning in photos last night, I came to a bit of a realization. Old school film looks better. Well, perhaps not better, but more natural. To me it should have been pretty obvious I suppose, as I'm a long time believer that vinyl records sound more natural, and for a guitar nothing is better than a tube amp...solid state has no place in a serious guitarist's rig.

Now, the thing of this is that film certainly doesn't appear to be more accurate, much like a vinyl record isn't more accurate than a compact disc, but it looks like you think it should, just like a record gives that warm sound like a band at a perfect venue. It looks like a memory...which is what pictures are really supposed to be I guess, but in these days of digital SLRs where you can set it to "rock and roll" and just fire away, pictures almost seem to have become less than they were just a decade ago. A good picture is still a good picture, but it's too easy to just snap snap snap...the two pictures on this page were both taken with my old, beloved, and still occasionally dusted off Cannonette G-III rangefinder. Neither are perfect, but to me they look just right....

_WRS

September 8, 2009

Expand your mind, man

I'm all for learning new things. It's like I always say, if you're not learning something new you're just getting dumber. (or is it more dumb? I never claimed to be an English teacher) Also, I have made no secret of the fact I like sports car and endurance racing in general. One of the cooler sites around, for those who are technically minded anyways, is Mulsanne's Corner, which centers around sports prototype / Le Mans racers in the LMP categories. Much of the site is dedicated to aerodynamics and the details of car design, and it's endlessly fascinating to a nerd like myself. The how's and why's of a new car, flaws that are never discussed until years after the fact, an inside look at a lot of the really classic cars from the last 20 plus years. There are interviews with drivers, designers, and multiple pages on nearly every car you can think of....and probably some you've never even seen!

I've been checking out the site for a few months, and finally my curiousity has gotten the best of me and I bought a book about aerodynamics. I want to know exactly HOW those aero add-ons work, and why I should or shouldn't use similar devices on my street car. Don't think I'm going to go around putting ridiculous spoilers and rear diffusers on my Mk3, or even the Scirocco, but it would be interesting to put some of this stuff to the test. Maybe those DTM splitters from back in the 90's will make the front end stick more...who knows? I highly recommend checking out Mullsanne Mike's page...it's a good read.

So I decided, since I was talking about WSC / LMP sports prototypes, why not drag out the old photo album from the 2000 Rolex 23 at Daytona, scan in some pics, you know, just for the post? Well...I got a little carried away and I scanned in a ton of pics, only a few of which are posted here. Is that an Enron sticker? Probably so, since the Risi team is based in Texas...

Check out the Wolfsburg Rennsport Flickr Page for the full set. Please. Enjoy, I spent a lot of time with the damn scanner tonight...Some of the cars, such as the short-lived Cadillac LMP project, are probably fairly rare to see, and I was happy to add to the few that are around of that car while it actually raced.

The rest, such as the Ferrari 333SP, are more readily uncovered, but it makes for a nice little stroll down memory lane. Cool stuff abounded at the older Daytona races...before they threw out the real race cars and made it an exercise in boring, with ugly spec racers taking to the high banks. Me? I'll take something like this Porsche 917 any day of the week. (this car was the Le Mans winner in 1970...)

I suppose there are some times when the good old days really were better...

_WRS

Wolfsburg Rennsport Flickr Page