Charith

What a small world. The guy in the white t-shirt who was setting you guys off is a really good friend of mine. He had emailed me a while back asking for me to come instruct at one of these events. Too bad I'm across the country. Would've been hilarious if I ran into you there.

Bloody awesome! Is this Vettel, Loeb, or Ogier??? Hope it isn't Bourdais. Can't bare to see a grown man cry in front of the cameras again.

Not much to it other than scheduling a tour and showing up. Best 18 euros I've spent. http://paganitour.com/

HAHA! I'll pass... unless it's a challenge car. That'll probably be the only type of Ferrari I'll buy... just for the gold insulation!

I had the chance to visit the Galleria Ferrari and the Pagani factory while in Europe. I was told that only those with the mula to buy a Ferrari or can pull some strings can get a factory tour of Ferrari. The Zonda factory on the other hand consisted of a reception area, assembly area, an autoclave, and a fabrication room. In the assembly area stood an 80% complete Zonda R (#4) and the shell of what would become the #5 Zonda R. The attention to detail on these cars are amazing, not to mention their own titanium incorporated carbon fibre weave. While I was there four engineers were huddled around the #4 Zonda R and testing it's Xtrac gearbox. That meant one guy hunched over a laptop, another guy playing with the column mounted paddles, and the other two guys manually rotating the rear wheels Amusing to watch such an amazing machine being worked on so casually Pictures: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2043...mp;l=4c09749154

So about two months after the race I finally got off my butt and edited the two videos I managed to capture. The camera bugged out on us on raceday so we didn't get anything. Car wasn't healthy at all on low rpm, anti-lag wasn't doing it's job either. You can see how much lag there is coming off the hairpins. If you think the camera exaggerates how bumpy the course is well then you're wrong My first run. Yep, I overshot the 2nd hairpin on this run. There was no way I was gonna even put a scratch on his car. Wouldn't hear the end of that! Then I stalled Damn race clutches! Nishan's 1st run

A great set of pictures showing the build of an Evo rally car. Gotta love the rotisserie http://forums.evolutionm.net/motor-sports/...sneak-peak.html

No news about how Pasindu destroyed everyone at Radella and broke the course record??!!

Racing Mahagastote was fantastic! As KLM pointed out to me the track surface was far from what it was when I last saw it. I tried to get used to the car before the event but only had very little seat time. Eventually drove it in full race trim (ECU, ALS and slicks) only for two runs on practice and once on race day because we had to save the ailing clutch for Radella as well. My first run on practice day I overshot the 2nd hairpin so that run was toast. My only two timed runs were the 2nd run on practice day (41.x seconds) and the first on race day (38.6 seconds). I left a lot of time between 2nd hairpin and Wakefield because the car bounced so much under power and I felt a wrong foot would have put me into a tea bush. Not to mention I was driving someone else's car! But in conclusion it was a great experience, and my hats off to those who have the balls to get into the 36 second range. Darin put in a great time! Also impressive was Romani in a COMPLETELY STOCK STi RAR on street tires, no ALS, and in full road trim. I think he said his car weighed in at around 1430kgs, and the minimum weight limit for the class was 1200kgs! I have some in-car footage from practice day that I'll try and upload once I get back home. Good luck to everyone running Radella and Foxhill! P.S. Thanks for the pics Devinda_Z

Too bad I'm going to miss this. PJ is one cool and calm driver.

Looks like we should have a manufacturers championship for the GT class!

Guys this will be my first time running Mahagastote and I'm looking forward to it. I was about 12 the first time I went to watch Mahagastote and I've been waiting for my chance to run it. I have never done a hillclimb event like this and even though I race an Evo IX regularly, Nishan's car will be completely different to mine in terms of the engine tune, suspension setup, tires, anti-lag, etc. Not to mention mine is left-hand drive. So while I'm trying not to hit rocks, tea bushes, culverts, avoid the potato plantation, and a para-balla running across the road, I'll also have to make sure I don't open the door thinking the gear shift is on the right side. I just hope I can get familiarized with the car before I pull up to the start line! Great to see such a big field in the class and the hillclimbs getting more attention. Hopefully the road surface hasn't gotten worse since I last saw it and it'll be a nice dry weekend of good old racing!

That's cos here in the US labor costs more than parts! You could pay $400 for a clutch and you'll be lucky if the labor isn't less than $600. I'm lucky I got the factory manual for my car. If you're half decent with LEGO then you'll be fine as long as you follow the directions properly.

No way! Small world indeed. Did your friend end up getting an S2000? This wouldn't happen to be him would it? http://www.s2ki.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=634752 I nearly sold mine to get an S2000, but then over the winter I did a few snow events and I realized that the S2000 would never be all the different cars an Evo can be. Track car, rally car, autocross car, rallycross car, snowcross car, bike transport, AND grocery getter!

They came off a friend's car. Might need a rebuild, we'll see. http://www.vishnutuning.com/evo_ohlins_coilover.htm

Pretty much stock right now. Ohlins coilovers going on this weekend. Did three years of autox, aiming for a NASA TT license this year. Filter through the personal pics and you'll find a few galleries here. http://www.thepadayas.com/galleries.php

Nice Evo. I'm over on the east coast with a IX RS.

I saw a Nismo 350Z just like that one heading north on I-95 one night. Don't see many of those around.

Nice. The Bear Mountain drive is fun, but sometimes there's just waay too much slow traffic going up the twisties.

Haha... you would think so, but with packed snow interfering with the airflow the intercooler is less efficient. Can't think of any cousins with the initials P.K.

There were a few FWD cars, some were rally prepped. Those didn't do too badly but can't compare to even the stock AWD cars. Some dude showed up in an M3 and got stuck on the reccy run! Glad you like it

More Pics: http://www.ponycars.net/wds013109.htm

A few pics from another event this weekend:

2009 Winter racing has begun! http://www.drivemmc.com The Monticello Motor Club had time trials on their unplowed track last Saturday. First few laps were awsome where the snow was still nice and hard on the track, but after a few laps the corners got very icy. Video a friend of mine took in a Suby 2.5 RS http://vimeo.com/2797769 Photo Gallery: http://photoremski.com:88/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=5121 That's me http://photoremski.com:88/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=6655

I really like how Nissan is pushing the benchmark with their cars and coming up with innovative ideas. Will your clutch last longer? Yes. Will you be more stable under braking? Yes. Will your laptimes be quicker? Probably. Can you take credit for it? No. I'm old school and I get the satisfaction by achieving that perfect downshift by myself. Even if that means 2 perfect downshifts for every 100 fukups!