S12 AND BUTTONWILLOW RACEWAY

Man, what a fucking trip! I had a BLAST, thanks Son for hosting such a dope event! There was so much seat time and it was really chill.

Driving there wasn't too bad, until the whole tread of a tire flew into my car. I was driving close behind a friend and it just went right under him and flew out right into my lip, smashing off one of the lip supports and a few zipties so it was saggy the rest of the day. And right before my group went out for their first session, I find out that the tire bent my exhaust up enough that it grinded against an axle and made a hideous noise. Luckily, it was metal to metal and it didn't do any real damage. I spent a good half hour fixing that and then hit the skid pad.

After drift-o-cross last September, I didn't think I was really ready for the track. It's intimidating man! During drift-o-cross, I wasn't really feeling the car and spun out more often than I liked. But after the new tension rods and alignment, the car felt like a whole 'nother car all together! Went out and did a couple figure 8's and decided to hit the track with group C immediately since I missed my group. Went around for the cold lap, and it's pretty scary at first(especially phil hill, jesus) but right after the cold lap I clutch kicked into the zorro(check the track layout) and the car felt great. The seemingly narrow track felt much wider after the confidence kicked in and I got that GROOVE ON.

With the new caster (6ish, stock is 4 for s12), the steering return was really great. The car responded super well and I started trying to connect the turns in the zorro. Started the day with mostly power overing, only to realize how dope some clutch kicking would do. So, Matt9000 sat in the car for a couple sessions and helped me master clutch kicking the entire sweeper at the bottom of west loop with a single clutch kick (with KA!). I revved the crap out of this thing and hit the rev limiter like all day! (thanks again Hung for wiring up that digi tach, haha so I know now)

The car was also really, really reliable. It lasted longer than a lot of others at the event. It was 95F there and my car stayed at a consistent 185F the entire time, no spikes. I dirt dropped a lot and kept sliding until I hit pavement again and also slid into a lot of burms, making the front of the car bounce all over the place but the car just kept sliding and handling like a champ. Every time I hit the dirt and rocks, I'd feel it under the car and immediately eyeball the oil pressure gauge.

OIL PRESSURE?

GOOD.

And kept it going!

It was great to finally reap the benefits of all my work/time/money. The car was really amazing this time around. The tires lasted forever too! Didn't expect that with -5.5 camber and 1.1 total toe-in the rear. I started the day with some super DEAD 195/50/15 federals and that lasted me a good two sessions, could have lasted one more. And the entire rest of the day the car was on semi-new 205/50/15 falken ziex 512's that were bought before JCCS last year. I drove the dick out of those until they started flapping against the car and that was pretty much the entire day.

The driving was pretty much all day from 9-5pm and it was really casual with a ridiculous amount of seat time. There were groups but eventually people just went out whenever they wanted to. Track etiquette was also good and all the guys present were good peoples. Lots of bromo times and just all around too much fun. Can't wait for the next event!

On another note, I was really, seriously planning on swapping the rear end to a ford solid axle. But after how well the car performed at buttonwillow, fuck it. Even the tire wear was great so I honestly won't even bother. Money better spent on tires!

There was NO MEDIA there, pretty bummed. But I did give my camera to Trinh and Yuta and they got some pics from a spectator area though only from a couple angles. I think there might have been some people video taping with point and shoots so I hope stuff like that eventually floats around to me.

DIDN'T RAISE MY CAR! I was surprised how well it drove, no problems whatsoever at my height. The PBM coilovers too! Bouncy and horrid on the street but rides like butter on the track. It's like night and day.


rubber from full lock after first sesh




Manny's car getting super dug in


Alex's car also getting dug in... Hahaha!


Yuta bro checking it out


Of all the rest of the dry dirt Alex, jesus
















BRYON STUTTS (drftwerks) DRIFT QUEEN








Trinh, Sarah, Ryan


















hit the burm and keep going man!




Bryant getting stuck, nice meeting you dude! this guy was crazy on the track




Bryon


And the falken ziex 512's that lasted me most of the day, not bad!


end of the day


and incredibly tired, home. car made it in one piece and gave me absolutely no problems! Damage was pretty minimal too, a ton of dirt and rubber, lip support, lost a couple interior pieces, snapped a sunroof cover bracket, and the rear pleather from my hatch is like falling off.

And you can probably tell how excited I am with all those exclamation marks, I'm stoked on just talking about it!