woo hoo, SIR time trial

[Larry C Leung]

Glad things worked out for you. BTW, if your ex's had real R rubber on it
(vs the 032R, which is a compromise tire) that was also worth about
another 2 to 4 seconds. And, if you don't have your own pyrometer, I've
got a cheap deal for you. Find a FULL RANGE digital meat thermometer, oh
between $5 - 10. It'll do a fine job, and you'll also know if your tires
are medium, or medium rare from reading the chart on the front.
Incidentally, my particular model actually reads and holds high and low
readings. 

LL - NY

On Tue, 21 Aug 2001 15:20:16 -0700 (PDT) Tessie McMillan
<tessmc at drizzle.com> writes:
>Thanks to everyone who gave me ideas, advice and help regarding the 
>recent
>suspension mods to my '88 80 Quattro. The Jamex strut tower brace, 
>stiffer
>urQ tower mounts, and toooooootally radical negative camber settings 
>made
>my car a blast to drive this weekend at SIR! Our Alfa club hosted a 
>time
>trial, and I was able to set a 1:53 for this 2-3/4 mi. track. So fast 
>time
>of the day (in a 2000 'Vette, set by my ex-BF) was in the 1:30s, but 
>hey!
>1:53 is pretty darn decent for my 3500 lb. Quattro! ! !
>
>Yanking the back seat, spare wheel, and trunk out had its weight 
>benefits,
>too; I actually managed to spin the car on my warm up lap. Kind of
>an expensive way to warm up the tires, but what the heck! &:-). First 
>time
>since I've owned the car I've been able to get it off-kilter! A 
>friend
>who races a Mustang with SCCA and a GTV in SOVREN used a tire
>pyrometer to help me get control of my tire pressures on the Yoko 
>Advan
>A032Rs. (You know, the ones I was b*tching about recently?) When I 
>got
>down to about 36/34 (cold -- I only knew the hot pressure at the 
>time)
>and the car quit feeling like butter, his measurements were verifying 
>that
>the temps were even across the tread with just a tiny bit hotter on 
>the
>inside. Hey I managed to keep all my tires on, with wheels mounted in 
>the
>locations they were in when I drove the car to the track. None of 
>this
>lunch-time wheel swapping, even though I had the presence of mind to 
>take
>my floor jack and stands with me this time. And the wear was 
>incredibly
>even. Heck, I'm even satisfied with the Yo-Mamas now. Also with the 
>back
>out, I can listen to them quite easily; they sound like an airplane
>taking off.
>
>The car was *so* responsive and quick (well, relatively speaking, 
>we're
>talking about an 80 here), it was like driving a totally different 
>car. A
>friend rode with me for a session who had never ridden the track at 
>speed
>and he nearly tore the door handle off on the first couple of laps. 
>The
>car had much more acceleration and braking ability and it tossed 
>well,
>and I think that surprised him.
>
>Chris Darringer from San Francisco drove up to Seattle just to 
>participate
>in this event. It was fun meeting him and introducing him to all of 
>my
>Alfa friends. I am hoping he will post to us about his experience and
>will convince you all what a wonderful track SIR is. And hey! He even 
>tore
>out his back seat too! ! &:-) Since we had a wet track in the morning, 
>he
>even got a chance to experience the motorcycle chicane, which is 
>oh-so
>fun! (A little off-roading here, a little off-roading there...)
>
>What a fun day!
>
>Tess
>in Seattle WA USA
>
>
>
>
>