Here is where I will chronicle all of the happenings of my automotive racing hobby. Not only will I be covering my racing events, but I will also be covering:
How-to’s to many regular vehicle maintenance tasks
Modifications I do to my vehicle
Performance driving tips and tricks
I hope that you enjoy the posts and might even learn a few things about automotive racing, and even working on your own vehicle!
Who am I?
I am the other side of KohlerCreated and Jessica. My name is Neil and I work as an IT Professional and while I do love camping, cooking, and the outdoors, I also love my racing hobby!
What do I drive?
Currently I am racing my 2003 Nissan 350z. I have had this car since it was new and it is a real joy to race. I currently participate in SCCA (Sports Car Club of America) performance driving education or (PDX). These events are non-competitive events where as a driver you learn and hone your skills in a safe and fun environment. After you feel your skills and budget allow, from there you can start the process of acquiring your competitive racing license!
Check out my racing posts blow!
Follow my season and automotive posts with me! Feel free to comment!
This is my 5th track day and my 3rd year of doing these after about 4 years of autocross.
These are just a few photos of the day. I suggest you check out the rest of the photos too.
My cousin took these. He is only 14 years old and takes amazing shots, you really should check out his other photos in his albums.
Here are my photos, we really don’t spend much time on photos because I am so busy with racing that there is little time for other mental thought.
I really encourage any one who is interested in these events to watch the videos! Yeah, they may be long, but they all give a real candid insight to the track and how a typical session goes. I warm up, I make mistakes at times, but in the end I get faster and faster. You will too if you do these events.
Write up of the day.
To sum up the day is to say that I love how my car is set up, and I love how much I am progressing with it. The day was a good day.
The morning started out COLD. Getting up at 4:00AM and to the track by 6:00AM is certainly not easy. The brisk morning wind reminded you of the first laps you would take under a lot of tension with the Hoosiers cold and traction limited. Nevertheless, after a safety tech inspection, and you more cars arrived you begin to feel the excitement grow.
The day starts and I take it slow. If you have raced on Hoosiers you know that its do or die when it comes to cold Hoosiers. After warming them up I eased back in to the familiar groove of the track and my line.
So, in all my videos the first lap will be slow and mostly a warm up lap for the tires and my mental readiness.
Second Session
Below is my second run since I did not record the first, but in this run was pretty no drama. While I was still getting in my groove as far as speed, I kept ahead of the pack with no one in sight and then caught up to a Volskwagen R32 GTI that was fairly modified and eventually passed him and a Pontiac Solstice.
Below is my third run and perhaps the most exciting from a viewer’s standpoint. Behind an Austin Healey kit car, around 2:45 in the video he goes off the track. I check my mirrors and since there was no one behind me I slow to see if he comes back on the track or not. He does not and I move on.
I finally caught up to my friend James in the black Supra. Slowly gaining on him we were both pushing it pretty hard. I was loving the excuse to focus and execute on the track but unfortunately at about 10:00 and shortly after my friend James brakes too late on the end straight and has to bail out on turn 1. Turn 1 is a pretty scary turn as you are coming down it at typically over 120mph and your brakes are put to the test. Thankfully he had no damage and no problems and did what was right in that situation and took the safe route.
Below was my 4th Session and it was a short one due to lunch crunch. However I did pass a chevy colbolt SS and a honda s2000 CR. I was moving pretty well through my lines and this session felt good, but short.
Below was the 5th session and starting out I always allow the tires to heat up. But after the second lap it was apparent that the R32 Golf was moving a lot faster than I was comfy with at that time so I pointed him by. Eventually a new Subaru STI came up on me and I decided to point him by as well and I would chase him the rest of the time. He would certainly take me through some turns that the AWD and superior power he had allowed, but I would catch him decidedly in some turns and really well in the hard braking areas. It was a LOT of fun having him challenge me.
Below was the 6th session of the day and I was rolling pretty quick through this since through the day I had been perfecting my line and driving. Unfortunately this run was cut way short because a Colbolt SS went off the track and into the wall and then resulted was a black flag to end the session. I am proud of this session as I feel that this session and perhaps the 5th session I was really getting into my fastest laps.
This weekend is finally here! Track Day! There is something about getting up at 4:00am and being at the track when its still dark, the peacefulness before the roaring motors that will fill the rest of the day. I always get video and pictures of my events so stay tuned for that next week! If you want something to check out now, check out my vidoes of me racing on my Youtube!
Sorry for the camera bouncing/shake, the rubber stabilizer on my camera mount is starting to die. Car is on Koni DA’s with Pilot Sport Cups (265’s on all 4), weighs approx 3100lbs, it also had a ton of entry/mid corner push due to no front bumper cover, lower lip, or splitter. The two laps in the video were both 2:15.4~
I would call it a “toy” if it weren’t something bolted into place and you were able to carry it around with you. Alas, Neil received his new exhaust on Monday and had it installed within an hour of receiving it, despite feeling a bit under the weather. You might remember a few weeks ago, during his PDX Racing event in St. Louis, a piece of his exhaust (the canister) detached and shot into the air, *ping-pinging* several times before coming to the rest at the side of the fourth turn. It was something he was looking to replace, and after a short discussion and search on the for sale threads, he found a replacement for a reasonable price that would do the job.
And it does the job, albeit quite a bit louder than before. You’ll see he used to have dual exhaust, and now its single, pumping everything straight through, creating more noise. But its 9 lbs (titanium) compared to the 48 lb. stock exhaust. That will be perfect for the weight reductions he’ll have to start thinking about in order to prep the car for more serious racing. A complete gut and roll cage are hopefully in store for 2010. All in all, its still a beautiful car, we just have to start adjusting our thinking of it in more realistic terms of racing, and not something you buff with a diaper and obsess over. Sometimes I think I have a harder time with that than Neil.
Oh and in case you’re curious, the new exhaust does to your ears what the cleaning brush at the dentists’ office does. Its like that high pitched piercing, cable outage, electronic sound that feels like its swiveling down your ear canal before reaching the drum and turning it in circles. But only in the ear thats absorbing most of the sound. Actually just watch this. Feel me? Good.
STL SCCA PDX at Gateway International Raceway
Driver: Neil Kohler
Car: 2003 Nissan 350z
*if videos are not up check back later, youtube has to process them, can take a couple hours*
**Also, please view them in High Quality if possible, they are much better that way**
Begin
The day went well aside from a couple small mishaps. I learned a few better lines through turn 3-4 as well as how to use my grip and exit speed using all of the track. My instructor said I just need to get more confident with the car and start using the power earlier and braking later. He said I am ready to move into the advanced group and go solo as from here out its mostly just seat time and thus will come more confidence/speed.
This run I was trailing a viper and we were gonig pretty good back and forth through the infield, of course he would eat me in the straights. In the first video around 3:19 I almost lose it because I ran too tight of a line with too much throttle. In the second video around 1:25 you can hear the welded tip of one side of my exhaust fall off. Pretty comical. I heard the sound then looked in my rear view and saw what looked like a coffee can flying 6 feet in the air. Thankfully no one was behind me.
This run I got to go out solo and after getting by the camaro I had a pretty wide open track for the rest of the session. I am not sure if my fastest lap times were in this session, but it sure felt like it. However during my 4th session pushing the viper really made me go quick as well. I timed out a couple 1:17’s on this video which is not too bad. A lot of really good drivers are around the 1:14C area. While I do not consider myself a really great driver yet, it is encouraging to see that I am at least a couple seconds off of those that are. No drama on this run really, I was pretty happy to end the day with it.
Finè
This may be my last event of the season, not sure yet. I need to buy an exhaust and I have new brakes and end links to put on, and of course quite a bit of maintenance items. Looking forward to maybe 1 more event this year, or if not, next year. I hope that James and I can get more people out next year as well. I also hope to visit different tracks like Hallett or Mid America Motorplex in Omaha next year.
I think they day went really well. The weather cooperated and it was pretty nice out. My goals for the weekend was to work on a faster race line, get my heel-toe shifting smoother, and just get more comfortable with my car and setup. By the end of the day I feel that I was moving quite a bit faster than the last track day. I learned a few race lines through turn 5 and 6, and started consistently executing turn 7 which always seemed to give me a bit of trouble. My instructor said that he thinks I am ready for going solo.
The highlight of my day was probably passing the Ferrari (video to come on that) and in my last session consistently nailing every race line and heel-toe. I was really booking and I looked down at my speed and noticed that my gas light was on, lol, so I let my instructor know that I was out of gas and we pitted in.
Other than that, we had one viper spin out on the first run, then we had another viper spin out and hit the wall on another run. I didnt take any pictures of it as they asked that no one takes pictures of incidents if they happen. However I did see the car and it was a shame, the whole left side of the car will need body work.
Pictures
Here are a few of my favorite pics:
You can view all the pictures using password: “skidcity” HERE
What is Rally? Performance Rallying is one of the world’s most challenging and popular motor sports. Unlike any other type of car racing, rally teams must face a “track” which is unknown to them, and which consists of rugged unpaved roads across terrain ranging from deserts to mountains, including sand, gravel, mud, or snow.
At the start of a Performance Rally, the co-driver (navigator) is handed route instructions with exact mileages and simple course following directions.
For a day and a night, or several days, the team’s task is to drive as fast as possible on every “racing” section with only the “transit” sections in between to repair their vehicles or relax a moment. Racing full speed on unknown dirt roads requires courage, teamwork, an incredibly tough vehicle, and a sideways-through-the-corners driving style that is thrilling to watch.
Rally cars, all street licensed and registered, are usually compact sport sedans, with the fastest being turbo-charged for extra power and all wheel drive for traction. At the national level there are five classes; two for production -based cars and trucks, and three for highly modified vehicles.
From local rally-sprints to four-day international events, rallies share the same attraction: Real cars on real roads, but driven at speeds which are difficult to believe!
This national rally event happens every year in Salem, MO. I heard about it in years past but never was able to make it. I am glad I did this year. The event is free if you are a spectator, and you are handed guides that tell you how to get to each “Spectator Area” and approximately what time the cars will be arriving.
We got there Friday evening with another couple and decided to stay in Friday night. We hit the local bar called “The Roadhouse” because the hotel told us it was the ONLY place you could get a beer with your food. Somehow I doubt that being that in order to live in Salem you would have to get drunk as often as possible to keep yourself entertained.
Anyhow… The place turned out to be pretty darn good. The steak was awesome and probably local beef, and a live band turned out doing covers and was pretty good as well. I was pleasantly surprised.
Saturday morning we shower up and hit the lobby and most of the drivers are there taking in the free breakfast. It was pretty cool to chit chat with some national drivers. We take off to the car show and check out the cars that will be competing.
You have drivers like Ken Block, Travis Pastrana, Dave Mirra, Tanner Faust, and national teams like Subaru Team, Monster Team, NOS Team, Exedy Clutches, DC Shoes, Rockstar and even teams from Poland and other places in Europe.
From there we head out to the first spectator point. I have google maps up and we end up on some really remote back roads. A bit lost we try to backtrack and head in the correct direction according to our GPS. We are headed down some gnarly looking back roads and all of a sudden in my rear view I see rally cars hauling butt towards me! I nearly soil my pants and pull to the side quickly and let them pass. We find out that we are on the roads that is the route the rally cars are taking. We end up meeting the officials at the end of the road and they tell use to leave because we shouldnt be here. LOL
We turn around and eventually make it to the next spectator point where I get some good video and Jes got some good photos.. Jes is going to work some photoshop on them to get rid of some blur because it was so cold we were shaking, and submit a few to a contest for the best spectator photos. Photos were taken with my nikon d50 with the standard oe lens.
Next year we may try to go down and camp because they allow camping and it seems like that would be a lot better of an avenue as far as being out near the spectator points and we can have a bon fire and etc.
If anyone is interested for next year let me know! Even if you arent a big rally fan, or car fan, its still pretty sweet to see this event. Plus its free.
With my car budget mostly consisting of paying for track time, it leaves little to do actual upgrades or modifications. However I spied this new pedal on MY350Z.COM and decided it was worth the $40.00 at Z1Auto.com.
This pedal will help immensly with a technique called “heel toe”.
Watch the video demonstration of the “heel toe” technique
You can see why this pedal makes this much easier. Being that I have a relatively small foot (size 8-9US) it is often tough to get my heel over to the gas pedal on heel toe. When you are coming into a corner at 100mph+ you really need to feel confident that you will not mess up your heel toe and downshift for the corner.
This weekend was my second SCCA PDX event at Gateway International Raceway.
Gateway International Raceway
We arrived at the hotel in Collinsville, IL Saturday afternoon and discovered that Jes forget her bag (doh!) so after a quick trip to Wal-Mart for the essentials we decided to grab some food. Now Jes and I are not usually ones for fast food, but it seems like a ritutal that when we go to Gateway that we grab some White Castle because it is directly across the street from the hotel.
The food was greasy and good as usual and a great way to put you asleep when you must be in bed by 9pm in order to wake up at 4:30am to make it to the track.
Waking up was hard when the alarm went off at 4:30am, but knowing you will be racing all day makes it a lot easier than waking up for work. I showered, grabbed coffee, and waited for the rest of my crew (Jes, Aaron) to get ready.
We headed out to the track ON TIME. We arrived at the track at 6:05am and it was odd because sunrise was not until 7:15am. You must be early and on time to the track if you want a good garage space and we did manage to get just that.
Garage Space
I was assigned to the Intermediate class this go around and I was surprised, but eager to learn more and push myself.
Getting started on the day I was assigned an instructor who was pretty cool and directed me well on some points to get me going quicker. The first session out I started slow. The track temperature was still quite cold and cold tires lead to some very dangerous situations. So I took it easy and gradually started pacing faster.
After my first outing, my instructor wanted to show me a few tips so I let him in my car and we went out for a spin. All I can say is “wow”. He really drove my car and showed me how much the car has in it and what lines and braking points I could make. This inspired a ton of confidence in me because now I knew how fast the car could go with the right line and confidence.
My next outing was very different than the first. After seeing what the car could do I pushed my speed a lot harder and focused on my line and keeping my driving smooth. And it worked well. I was passing everyone in the pack and challenging the fastest runners in my group.
Passed the Porsche
As I got more confident in the car I started moving faster and faster. During my 3rd session a Porsche boxter and a 2007 Corvette I was able to pass and challenge the whole session. It feels good to tail a 400 horse power Corvette and then him wave me to pass in my 287 horse power car. I was really getting into a groove. Having a car right on your tail is fairly unnerving. I focused on keeping him in mind but keeping my eyes ahead and reading ahead and down the track.
When under pressure a lot of people tend to drive abnormally or over drive. Unfortunately for this Subaru it ended very badly. Just prior to this I was behind him and he was driving very erratically. I think he was nervous and driving beyond his skill. I passed him and by the time I came back around the track the corner workers were waving black flags (black flag means slow down something bad happened). I soon came to see what happened.
Subaru crash
Aaron was doing some timing on his watch and saw one of my bests at 1m:14s for a lap. That was one second faster than the $70k Nissan GTR’s time. I was proud of that, but wasnt too worried about everyone else, but focusing on my own line and driving.
Aaron doing some timing
By the end of the day I was completely exhausted and very satified with my driving and the day in general. Its going to be a very long off-season as I already cant wait to do another event.
Here is a complete gallery of all 250 pictures from the day. Please use the password “skidcity”.
With a few years of autocross under my belt I decided to step up to some PDX events. It was a great experience and I learned a lot of driving skills even apart from my years in autocross. I attended the stlpdx.com PDX at Gateway International Raceway in St. Louis (illinois really).
The instructor I got was great and very knowledgeable. I caught on quick and had a blast in my car. I have to say it was probably the most fun I have ever had in my car in the 4 years ive owned it. I am going again for sure. I recommend this to anyone looking for the next step. Start at level 1!! I learned soooo much and I am very glad I started at the very basic level.
My instructor said I did extremely well and was performing on an intermediate level even though it was my first time on a road course. It was a lot of fun to go down the straight at 120mph and slamming the brakes to get down to 40mph to make the next turn, the car turning in flat, precisely where I put it with loads of grip and plenty more performance left for when I become a better driver.
James and Andy came with and it was a really great day devoid of big egos and BS that seems to come with the street group and the immature racers of columbia and springfield. It was also amazing to have a significant other who seemed to have just as much fun as I did just because I was happy. Thats a great thing to have, a great support system and someone who I feel is totally rooting for me and love me. <3 Jessica. We all had a great time and I am sure this will not be my and our last event.
The Track (we ran the infield course in bold:
My car:
my setup:
cusco zero-2 coilovers
cusco R&F sways
CCW wheels 9.5F 10.5R
275/40/17 hoosier R6 on all 4
intake, exhaust, etc etc minor bolt ons
Kohler Created chronicles life as we grow our freelance business and live as healthfully and actively as possible. Learn more about our miscellany HERE.
