When I'm Not Playing With One Expensive Hobby Race Car Content

Inspector 24

As if one expensive hobby weren't enough, grassroots level racing is strong competition for the audio bug. Of course there's a big sonic element in auto racing too. Locally they do a thing called Wintercross, neck down the turns at Miller Motorsports Park, run whatever conditions are present on the track, be it snow, rain, ice or dry. This day was dry and preceded by several days of rain so it was fairly clean and I had a set of Hoosiers to kill.

Managed to pull 4th fastest raw time out of 50 entrants, was beat by a couple Porsche 911's and a well driven Cobalt SS all on wider rubber than me, only 3.9 seconds back. Considering the power differential, I'll take it!

Car is a 1994 Mazda MX6, lots of suspension tweaking, mostly stock motor with bolt ons, lots of weight reduction.

Full Playlist has a couple full laps, Gag Reel and other misc engine noises. Enjoy!
1:54, 2nd Fast Run Miller WinterCross Mazda MX6 - YouTube

F1nut

Nice, love the hood.

Sweets10v8

I got out of high performance car stuff myself, used to do r&d for a big company too. Just getting started in home audio... Car looks good!

Inspector 24

Thanks Guys. You can imagine it's every bit as expensive as the audio habit...recently more so since I switched from a street tire to a race tire class. Just imagine having to replace your speaker cones every 40 hours of listening at $1300/set :eek:

Clipdat

Do you have the 4cyl or the V6?

Inspector 24

2.5L V6.

And here's a gag reel, just a few oopsies.

http://youtu.be/VzqBwmqjjrg

Dabutcher

Looks like fun! It that car front wheel drive or did you convert it? Peace. D

soundfreak1

Thats lots of fun! Used to run a lotus elan 2+2 in SCCA back in the 80's (auto cross) back when it was affordable. Enjoy.

Inspector 24

Still FWD, just set up loose in the rear to help the front end work.

sda2mike

i was into going fast down the quarter. then i had my pilot's license. now my hobby is home ownership.

exalted512

Nice!! I go to the track as well, but with only half the wheels.

Geoff4rfc

exalted512 wrote: »

Nice!! I go to the track as well, but with only half the wheels.

Nice shot Aggie, don't make me pull out my Gixxer 1K......ok I will


BTW, nice boots, they look similar to mine

Inspector 24

Your balls. They're bigger.

hochpt21

You guys know you can just walk right over and pick up those quarters. You don't have to do it going fast on a motor-bike

exalted512

Geoff4rfc wrote: »

Nice shot Aggie, don't make me pull out my Gixxer 1K......ok I will

BTW, nice boots, they look similar to mine

Man, not only do you have an extra 400 cc's, you got a bunch of extra horsepower from all those stickers too

Let me know when you come down to ride the tracks in Texas
-Cody

Geoff4rfc

hochpt21 wrote: »

You guys know you can just walk right over and pick up those quarters. You don't have to do it going fast on a motor-bike

Lol, I'm just picking up cones, Cody's the one dragging his elbow out there :cool:

exalted512 wrote: »

Man, not only do you have an extra 400 cc's, you got a bunch of extra horsepower from all those stickers too

Let me know when you come down to ride the tracks in Texas
-Cody

Yeah, 2006 was one of my best years on the track, that 1000 was the coolest bike I ever rode!! A learning experience for sure on what real horsepower can do. I wish I'd had a better suspension sponsor to set the front end up better than what it was.

I'd love nothing more than to have you tow me around, I'm sure we could get fairing to fairing in the turns with no problem!!

Sweets10v8

Nice bike!

Vette C6.r

Spend some money on yourself learning to drive before you spend it on your car.

Nice lap times. I love that you beat the 911.

Geoff4rfc

Inspector 24 wrote: »

Thanks Guys. You can imagine it's every bit as expensive as the audio habit...recently more so since I switched from a street tire to a race tire class. Just imagine having to replace your speaker cones every 40 hours of listening at $1300/set :eek:

I can so relate to the incredible cost of staying competitive, thank God I had the sponsors I did. I only ended up paying for entry fees, travel and half of my tire cost. My bikes, trailer, race fuel and bits and pieces were comped. That sweet looking exhaust on the Suzuki 1K was full race titanium and around 13 hun alone and was a 7 piece kit.

Inspector 24 wrote: »

Your balls. They're bigger.

No, just made of a different material

Vette C6.r wrote: »

Spend some money on yourself learning to drive before you spend it on your car.

Nice lap times. I love that you beat the 911.

I believe he said he was beat by two 911's

Geoff4rfc

@ Instector, I've never made it to Miller but have seen pics of the track and would love to ride it one day. I have Seattle and Portland and Spokane up here and recently "The Ridge" with a kind of cork screw that I haven't yet had the pleasure of, maybe someday...... Here are some shots of yester year ('05 and '06)

Inspector 24

Vette C6.r wrote: »

Spend some money on yourself learning to drive before you spend it on your car.

Is that a general statement or directed at me?

Either way I totally agree and I've spent lots of money on both. Very active SCCA member for ten years, 20-30 events/year, lots of local trophies, couple regional ones, long time instructor at Miller, list goes on.
All too often I see newbs eager to mod their car in search of speed, while they may find a second or two, a day with myself or someone like me usually nets them 5-6 seconds faster.

Nice lap times. I love that you beat the 911.

I wish I would have caught them! And the stinking Cobalt SS, a fellow autocrosser. But, there's only so much one can do against cars with 2-3 times the HP/TQ when they're decently driven. That said, being ONLY 3 sec back is basically even, and good enough for 4th fastest for the day. Especially considering I whoop the Cobalt by a second or so on an autocross course.

No, just made of a different material

Steel Vs Titanium? But really, I respect the two wheel guys a LOT. I just feel so much better going into a turn at triple digit speeds with a steel cage around me.

Also, those are some great shots! You've got a good photographer going there!

txcoastal1

Geoff4rfc wrote: »

.....No, just made of a different material

We'll just call you Sparky, dragging around the track

exalted512

Geoff4rfc wrote: »

I can so relate to the incredible cost of staying competitive, thank God I had the sponsors I did. I only ended up paying for entry fees, travel and half of my tire cost. My bikes, trailer, race fuel and bits and pieces were comped. That sweet looking exhaust on the Suzuki 1K was full race titanium and around 13 hun alone and was a 7 piece kit.

Sponsors like that are almost impossible to come by now-a-days unless you have a single digit number on the front of your bike
-Cody

Inspector 24

Pic somewhat related...

Geoff4rfc

Inspector 24 wrote: »

Steel Vs Titanium? But really, I respect the two wheel guys a LOT. I just feel so much better going into a turn at triple digit speeds with a steel cage around me.

Also, those are some great shots! You've got a good photographer going there!

Thanks brother, but I've been around car racers, you guys are just as nuts about your sport as the bike guys, it's just a different............:cool:

txcoastal1 wrote: »

We'll just call you Sparky, dragging around the track

Thanks Tex, but I've been looking into changing from steel balls to a Kevlar sack since my wife has ripped it so many times. The track is a breeze compared to the boss

exalted512 wrote: »

Sponsors like that are almost impossible to come by now-a-days unless you have a single digit number on the front of your bike
-Cody

Cody, I feel you man. I made my return as an old man after taking eight years off. At 43 I brought my mothballed GSX-R 750 ('91) out to play and ran it in the 10yr or older class, shoot, I wiped 'em up man, the next year, I was given an '03 750 to run and qualified 3rd in the region in 750 and open super sport without ever getting a podium finish. After that, I got my choice of CC's each year until '08, that was about the time the economy took a dump and so did my sponsors.

I'm 53 now but I'll tell you, I still know which way the track goes.........let me show you how these brakes work.....ahh heck, who needs 'em? :cheesygrin:

Geoff4rfc

Inspector 24 wrote: »

Pic somewhat related...

Yikes, that's going to hurt!! Highsides are the worst!!! Here you go, the proper way to fall off of a race bike (me falling off the 1K)

Inspector 24

Geoff4rfc wrote: »

Yikes, that's going to hurt!! Highsides are the worst!!! Here you go, the proper way to fall off of a race bike (me falling off the 1K)

See, this is what I'm taking about, you guys have a right and a wrong way to crash! In a car, the only right way to crash is NOT CRASHING!

Glad you did it the right way there, and I know you guys can walk away from some scary looking schizz...

And I applaud you sir for keeping at it in your 50's. When I hear guys say they miss something because they got to old, I wonder if they just stopped doing whatever it was they enjoyed.

My father in law seems to be an example...claims to miss skiing...stopped trying to ski regularly years and years ago...

Geoff4rfc

Inspector 24 wrote: »

See, this is what I'm taking about, you guys have a right and a wrong way to crash! In a car, the only right way to crash is NOT CRASHING!

Glad you did it the right way there, and I know you guys can walk away from some scary looking schizz...

And I applaud you sir for keeping at it in your 50's. When I hear guys say they miss something because they got to old, I wonder if they just stopped doing whatever it was they enjoyed.

My father in law seems to be an example...claims to miss skiing...stopped trying to ski regularly years and years ago...

LOl, in our game we say, "If you're not crashing, you're not going fast enough", I never liked that saying, nor did I care for "That's racing".

Yeah, I've been slammed around some, esp growing up in Texas in the 60's and 70's then going hog wild into the AF and going to then NW and going absolutely crazy.

But, you know, I figure if you keep yourself in shape and have a sharp mind (still working on that one), what the heck, do what you can.

Clipdat

Nice, I had a 96 Probe GT with the same engine for a number of years, I always liked the feel and response of that motor.

Inspector 24 wrote: »

2.5L V6.

And here's a gag reel, just a few oopsies.

http://youtu.be/VzqBwmqjjrg

Inspector 24

Me too, it's a huge reason why I've kept racing it all these years. The fun factor it brings is hard to beat.