I sped past the Camry to catch up to the S15 only to have an SS draft me and sling past all of us with a deep roar none of us could match. I couldn’t shake the Camry. One corner, two, and then three. The S15 clamped his brakes early and we passed him in a rush. I was briefly distracted and the Camry took advantage taking me on the left. He sped off after the SS. In my rear view mirror the S15 got bigger and bigger and then disappeared only to appear in my right side mirror. Now in my peripheral vision. Now past me and pulling away. Up ahead a sharp right slowed them down enough for me to catch up. The light MX5 carried me further into the corner before I had to slow down. I accelerated past the S15 and was side by side with the Camry when all of a sudden we had to stop. Damn red lights.

Not a scene out of any fast or furious movie. Not a track day, nor an exhibition race. Just some random drivers playing off each other on public roads. It takes one driver to speed up a bit. Another plays off him and follows. Next thing you know a third has latched on with a fourth not far behind and they become a subconsciously driven mob. They overtake each other without need and speed past other cars. Swerving in and out of lanes pushing each other. Fanning out to take all 3 lanes at a set of lights. Vying for the best lane and always looking for the faster flowing lane.

There’s a certain peer pressure that takes over in these situations and all drivers are lulled into a false sense of safety. They each know they’re breaking the law even if the speeds aren’t high. If a police officer sees them there’s a 3 in 4 chance they won’t be the one caught. Pretty good odds for a few minutes of play. One peels off to visit his grandma for dinner. Another soon pulls over to return his DVD’s and the last two lose each other in the traffic. It’s all over. Back to 60.

No Comments 17 Jun 10 | Random

Phat Sliggity Zipties

Yesterday I spent the day at a friends’ place who was holding a ‘dodgy day’. It’s basically an excuse for friends to get together and help each other with dodgy backyard repairs over some drinks and a bbq. We even threw in a top down cruise in the evening through some back roads and let me tell you it was damn cold!

One of the last repairs was a Garage Vary lip that had seen better days. It was passed down from one friend to another who attempted to repair it with zip ties and some glue for good measure. There we were, half a dozen man-children supervising the one guy working. He was proud of his accomplishment. The lip actually looked good and would hang proudly from the front of his car. Sadly, someone suggested we ought to paint it and in the true tradition of backyard repairs we went to work without much thought or planning.

A spray on clear coat was applied with little fuss. Waiting for paint to dry is for wimps so the first coat of red paint went on a minute later. Well, I’m not sure you would call it paint. It was line marker used on roads by your local council. The can was old and dripped on the paint more than it sprayed it on. Another colour, yellow, was applied for extra dodgy effect. The pièce de résistance was black wrinkle paint, again only a minute later. The end result was the epitome of dodgy repairs and looked like leprosy had taken to the lip.

All the zip tie repairs reminded me of a Youtube video I saw a while ago. There is no line marker paint here and nothing really dodgy, just a cool video of some zip tie repairs so enjoy.

No Comments 13 Jun 10 | Videos

Winding Road #14

No Comments 07 Jun 10 | Roads

Winter Moss

It’s not enough to have to deal with the mostly damp b roads in winter, you also need to look out for moss! Sneaky little slimy slippery moss.

There are around 12,000 species of moss and they typically grow in damp and shady locations. During winter, b roads covered by a dense canopy are an ideal location and moss grows within the cracks of bitumen. As they grow and fill the cracks they spill on to the road and come in contact with your tyres.

No Comments 30 May 10 | Roads, Tips & Tricks

Don’t Worry, Be Happy

No Comments 27 May 10 | Images

Zip Ties #7

No Comments 25 May 10 | Images

Basics | Flywheel

A rather simple device that has three uses; the flywheel helps start the car, smoothing out speed and store momentum.

The flywheel is located between the engine and the transmission. It is a large wheel of considerable weight by design. At the engine end it is attached with bolts to the crankshaft. On the other side lies the clutch. The outer rim of the flywheel acts as a gear with teeth cut into it. The teeth of the starter motor engage the flywheel teeth and spin it to crank the engine.

Once the engine has started, the flywheel has two more jobs to carry out. As you accelerate, or free rev the engine, the flywheel smooths out the rotational movement of the crankshaft and stores energy. When people say the flywheel stores energy they really mean that it absorbs and returns energy with each combustion cycle. During the power stroke, the crankshaft is being twisted (pushed by the piston) and during the compression stroke the crankshaft is doing the twisting (pushing the piston). The flywheel absorbs the energy when the crankshaft is being pushed and returns it when the crankshaft is pushing. The faster the engine is turning over (high rpm), the more energy is being stored by the flywheel.

When selecting a weight for the flywheel, car manufacturers need to consider (among other things); engine acceleration (a lighter flywheel will build speed quicker than a heavy one, but drop revs too quickly) and inertia (a heavier flywheel carries speed further, but is harder to slow down than a light one). It’s a balancing act and production cars strike this balance well for their intended use. Also, the larger the car, the heavier the flywheel required.

A race car on the other hand is usually very light and does not need to concern itself with going to the shops to pick up milk and cookies. A lighter flywheel, within reason, is used to reach the redline quicker and to control the revs with greater precision throughout the range. Many weekend warriors buy lightened flywheels for their cars and nearly all video game racers have at some stage purchased the ‘lightened flywheel stage 1 kit’ which adds at least 35kw to their car. In reality, the weight of the flywheel is more of a preference thing and does not add power to your car.

If you accept that you will accelerate faster with a lighter flywheel, you also have to accept that you will lose speed faster and have to work harder (more frequent input) to maintain your momentum. There isn’t any power increase in the scheme of things, just a change in the rate of rotational momentum and the storage efficiency of this momentum.

1 Comment 22 May 10 | Basics