Had a blast and the GTI ripped. Suspension setup is very fun and the tires had pretty good grip on the slick surface at Cheney Stadium. Was great to meet some new folks and catch up with old friends!!
Still waiting to hear on how we finished, had to take off early to help Justin LaFord get his supercharged ABA mk2 coupe to the show on sunday
RalleyTuned custom Megasquirt install (Justin did a lot of the wiring himself) and Tune
We pulled an all nighter on sat to get the car running and driving for Sunday. I was only able to do a quick 10min tune before he set off on the hour + drive south to Tacoma. Car drove very well considering and we have since re-tuned and are still making some improvements in the power department…full feature coming soon!
We have been working hard the past few days prepping the Daily mk2 for Auto-x at this years WaterWerks German car show. If you have not seen or been, you can’t miss it! This is one of the biggest and best shows on the west coast! It is a full 2 days of events, with Saturday featuring an Auto-x event all day (with go-kart rentals!) and Sunday being the main show day.We have set pretty high expectations for ourselves this year due to the fact that the RalleyTuned Rabbit has set the fastest 2wd time all 3 years this show has been going on!
We felt this year that the Rabbit was needing a break, and is down and out for a while to undergo some new, major improvements. We also felt that the mk2 had the best chance at this particular event. With the WaterWerks Auto-X being open to any and all comers, there really is only 1 or 2 cars per class. So this even is ran in 2 groups, novice and advanced. The novice group competes for fastest raw (un-corrected) times, while the advnaced group uses the SCCA PAX index to determine the fastest car of the day. With the mk2 being prepared much closer to the limit of the SCCA Auto-x rules, it will benenfit from the PAX indexing in it’s class. The rabbit on the otherhand is very underprepared for its SCCA class, and if we had been competing in previous years, would have been hurt by the index time.
In the past week or so, we have done several Auto-x specific upgrades to the mk2. A good friend was getting rid of a very nice set of anti-roll bars, a deal was worked and now the car sports a very large 28mm solid Eibach rear sway bar. This piece coupled with the fantastic KW v1′s on the car already (actually runs re-badged v1′s called “DTS”) the car feels very neutral on transition with a nice hint of lift throttle oversteer. Just the way we like it!
Earlier today, we were able to use a good friends shop (Brad Greco, owner/driver of the TRAKS Clothing/RalleyTuned race car) and we set about getting our brakes in better working order. On the slate was a fresh set of Brembo front rotors and Pagid pads, and we were able to source a very good condition set of rear disc brakes with drilled rotors. After getting the brakes dialed in with some fresh ATE Super Blue, we were then able to test fit the race tires and set the alignment.
With the car now setup and stopping better than ever, we have only a few things left and it will be off to Cheney Stadium in Tacoma, Wa to try and end up on top of the group for 2011!
We just picked up our new tuning tool today and are very happy to announce the addition of several new services! We are now able to scan and clear codes for most OBD2 cars. Also the new LM2 will allow us to datalog up to 16 channels straight off the cars ecu. On top of that, we can also log 5 other external sensors, so if you own an older car, or something non OBD2, we still have you covered!
What does this mean for our customers? Having the ability to datalog your cars engine while running in real world situations gives us and the customer a better idea on how the engine is running. With that information we are able to adjust timing and air/fuel ratios to get any car running perfect! For you guys/gals out there running a chip to increase your cars performance, we are able to log the information to provide your specific information to the chip tuner to really dial in the chip to maximize gains on your car. This technology works on anything we can hook up a couple sensors to and drive around. For our race fans out there, we are also able to log real time while you are out on the track, so there is no need to try and tune on the street anymore. Just give us a call and we will meet you at the track, hook up and gather data as you fly around your favorite circuit!
This past weekend marked the beginning of a new conference race season! The weather turned out incredible and a lot of excited people showed up to dust the cobwebs off their race cars. We packed up the RalleyTuned GTI and started our 3 1/2 hour drive to Portland International Raceways on Saturday morning around 6:30am.
We arrived at the track just after Brad Greco and the #32 TRAKS Clothing/RalleyTuned car had pulled in from a disappointing practice session. The car had mad just a lap and a half before a mis-fire caught Brad’s attention and he pulled the car in to check it over. We hooked the car up to the computer to check things over, and after everything checked out, it was decided before we had arrived that a shotty distributor plug would be the first thing replaced. With that done and everything re-set, the car was read for the afternoon qualifying session.
The session went off without a hitch, we were able to collect some tire temps and got some good feedback from Brad about the car and we then set on to making some minor adjustment to the suspension setup to settle some cold tire oversteer. The next morning we were sitting at a comfortable 8th place out of 32 cars in our run group, and 2nd in class. One more qualifying session Sunday morning and we got bumped back to 10th. We still sat in great position, just ahead of a huge pack of BMW E30′s. The only cars we can’t catch were all tube frame cars making double to triple our HP!
At grid for the race, we noticed the first place qualified SPU car was not in place. It was actually still in the pits on jackstands. We are still not certain why they didn’t run, but it basically left the door open for us in SPU. Not the way we like to win, but at the same time, a win is a win! Brad took the green flag and held his position the whole race. There was a bit of drama when a pair of e30′s came together in one of the corners and were then rear ended by a third bmw. After all was cleaned the field was let loose to finish and Brad held strong to finish the race 8th overall and 1st in SPU!
As another racing season fast approaches, we are starting to really get fired up about this summer. I thought I would give a quick glimps into what we will be up to this season, and hopefully we will get to work with some new people and interesting setups!
Brad Greco and the #32 TRAKS Clothing/Ralleytuned sponsored race car are all setup for the season opener in Portland. Brad is boasting a moderatley built 16v in a proven race chassis this season and is hoping to humble some very heavy machinery in the mostly unlimited Super Production category. He races in the Under 2L class, but he gives the bigger displacement cars a run for their money!
Another season debut for this upcoming weekend is Tom and Don Burress and the RalleyTuned sponsored Demon Rally Team at the Olympus Rally held near Shelton, WA. Tom and his fabricator Jake@JRM Fabrication have been working hard since last seasons disappointing DNF and the Mt. Hood rally. The car features a 2L 16v turbocharged motor, custom rally spec suspension, KAAZ motorsports diff in a o2a cable shift transmission and a plethora of other rally goodies. The team has been off the pace lately due to the reconstruction of the new car, but things are looking better and better after every event. Watch out for Tom if he gets into his rhythm this weekend!
We have also gotten word from a long time friend and customer, Jake Tabor is making his return this season in the #28 GT-Lite Rabbit. Jake has taken the last couple race seasons off and sounds amped for his return. In past years Jake has won the GTL ICSCC Conference Championship, and it will be great to see him back in action!
Another update we are very excited about is the addition of a new tuning tool! We will very soon have the ability to offer datalogging services to those without standalone or the ecu capabilities to do so. What does this mean? It means we are able to provide the very much needed information in real life scenarios to help dial in you engine tune!
Combined with our already very successfully used Innovate LM-1 wideband 02 meter, we will be able to provide customers on-track or on street, real time info for tuning their engines. On top of AFR’s we can also log acceleration, Manifold pressure (vacum and boost), RPM, EGT’s, and oil/water temps. This will be a very powerfull tool for tuning!
Our friends over at JRM Fab have just launched their new site. This guys have some of the most impressive and innovative engine solutions around! Be sure to check out some of the projects, and if there is anything you are after for your latest project, definitely talk to this guy! WWW.JRMFABRICATION.COM or click on the company logo for a direct link
I thought it would be a good idea to give you folks that look here every so often a somewhat decent excuse for the zero activity I have had on the site the last few months. Essentially what myself and my wonderful girlfriend do every winter is leave society and “normal” life behind, and retire to our mountain home for the winter. We completely immerse ourselves in our winter passion which is all things snowboarding. Hopefully anyone who does stop by will enjoy the read as much as I did writing it and re-living this winters adventures so far…
Just before winter I scored a killer deal on a snowmobile. This was my first 2-stroke and also my first sled. This has turned into a fascinating hobby and a great escape from the world of motorsports and cars, while still getting my speed fix. I picked up a ’99 Polaris RMK 700 with a few ad ons, but in mostly stock condition. This thing makes about 130hp and weighs in at a bit under 500lbs…you do the math on that one!
Another project I dove into this winter was building a Splitboard. A splitboard is a snowboard that is cut vertically down the middle, when in “ski” mode, you can attach climbing skins and go up the mountain in very deep snow with little effort. When the board is hooked back together you can then ride down the hill you just climbed on a snowboard. Its basically taking the benefits of skis and being able to still ride a snowboard on the way down. This has allowed us access to an almost limitless array of terrain. Couple these with the sled and there is basically no powder that can hide!!
All three cut and sanded, ready to attach brackets
Girlfriends Gnu B-Pro all finished!
B-Pro in Ski Mode
With the split boards complete and the a loaner sled from my cousin we were able to get out and do some serious exploring and powder riding. With the sleds we can cover some serious terrain and with the splits we are able to access anything we can see! This winter we saw almost 5 weeks of no snow, and in that time we were still able to find fresh snow to slash!
One of our new found secret stashes
Sunset in another secret riding zone
Beutifull day up at the top of Mt. Baker Resort, looking out the Shuksan Arm
Fresh lines even on an icy day
One of the sled zones I have been going to, looking forward to some epic riding when the snow is right...
Sled packed up for a trip up the Gallagher, out of Salmon La Sac
Well I hope you have enjoyed the update and in case you were wondering where I have been the past few months, now you have a good idea. Also, if you were not wondering, perhaps you just enjoyed looking at some nice scenery? We have some exciting new projects coming up this spring and I will post updates as they come. But for now, i’m heading back out into the mountains…See you in the spring!
After the successes and dramas that we encountered at the Wild West event, the DemonRally team regrouped and rebuilt for the 2010 Oregon Trail event. The issues we had at Wild West would almost all be attributed to stock parts getting too hot. The easy remedy here was to carry out the already planned gear box change. By changing from the stock 020 linkage shift transmission to the much more stout 02J cable shift box, we knew we could gain some much needed reliability. There was also some wiring changes that needed to be made, which we were more than happy to handle.
Another issue we had was some excessive oil coming out of the crankcase, upon our post-rally tear down we found what we had known all along. the #1 cylinder getting some extra oil from the wrong place. Tom (owner/driver) decided that not only would the motor need a rebuild, but a plan was hashed to get him some more ponies. The end result was a ABA/9a 16v combination, built with forged pistons and H-beam rods of course. Atop the ABA sat the robust 16v head that had been previously (and heavily I may ad) by Steve Hanaford. Strapped to the prepped head would be a Garret GT28 turbo. In the end the motor put out a very healthy 191whp and 181wtq!
Car getting strapped in at Kito Autosport for some dyno tuning
We arrived at Portland International Raceways for the 2010 Oregon Trail event with a lot more power, a much stronger drivetrain setup and the confidence that came from a good result at our last event.
Arriving at PIR:
Setup service for the first day: You can see Jake from JRM Fab checking over the exhaust before Tom heads out..
The new dash setup:
The boys had a good start on Day 1 but it was cut short when they managed to shear off the out axle stub nose. With the car unable to move under it’s own power they were done for the night. This failure unfortunately also ended their chance at the Max Attack 2wd Series podium.
Day 1 Highlights:
Service crew working way too late into the night. We finished the event around 11pm and had to pack up and head about an hour east to the next days first service location. After a hearty denny’s breakfast we set to fix an overheating problem and also the broken axle:
Parc Expose for day 2:
Tom ran the car hard on day 2 but the overheating issue kept him from pushing for a win. The car ran well all day but the team ran too low on fuel and got stuck on stage which cost them valuable time on day 2. Exhausted from a late night on the car we packed up and headed south to Dufur for the final service of day 2 and for the final day of the rally.
An unfortunate incident late in the day sat involving a hay bale and speeds of around 80mph brought the car into service on a trailor. Once again the crew set to work in the dark hours of sat evening to get the car back in action. A snapped rear control arm bolt would prove very difficult to fix due to a battery issue with our drill. After we nearly lost a crew members finger in the mayhem of fixing the issues, the car was set down and the crew finally was able to retire back to the hotel for some much needed sleep.
Day 3 brought some awesome weather and with only one service scheduled for lunch time the crew was able to relax most of the day aside from a short and un-eventfull service stop. The car was not making boost and with no time to fix it since no more services were in the schedule, Tom was forced to push on as it. Incredibly though, he was able to shimmy the car through the stages on day 3 down on power, running on 3 cylinders some of the time (faulty spark plug wire) and somehow managed to best all other 2wd competitors!
Coming out of this event with a lot of new knowledge about our setup and even a Day 3 gr2 win, we are heading back to the garage quite happy. We were not able to push for an overall win or even a Max Attack podium, but it was a very successful rally in the eyes of the team. We are making some new additions and planning to come out to Wild West in September with a much better sorted car and be able to run hard and compete for the top spot!
Don’t miss out on our newest feature car! We are happy to share with you a local PNW Rally Rabbit that we had the pleasure of doing some tuning work on.
