Less than two years ago, we welcomed Zhaan into our family. Zhaan’s arrival set-off a chain of events that led to the acquisition of many tools and jacks, the purchase of Ginger in October 2008, a summer spent doing autocross and lapping events, and most recently, the acquisition of Private Caboose for snowx. Zhaan was the first car that I ever drove in competition and in her six event career, we managed two podiums. With all this history, it was with a heavy heart (more…)

Tonight, Jeff and I agreed on a name for our new NX 1600. After careful reflection, and in consideration of its colour, condition, and mission, we have christened the little NX, Private Caboose. Yes, we named him after the lovable, if idiotic, Blue soldier from Rooster Teeth Productions’ hit series, Red vs. Blue.

While I stood in line at registration back in August 2008 for my first ever autocross event, I was pretty sure I was going to like this driving quickly through cones thing, but I never imagined that first day among the cones was going to be the gateway it has since proved to be. I never thought that within three months of that first event that I would own a second car and that I would be purchasing it primarily to be an autocross toy. I didn’t envision spending countless hours under that car (more…)

The cooler weather has revealed the cost that accompanies the simplicity of the manual boost control — it starts to peak much higher than desired. So, for $50, I purchased the Ingersoll-Rand boost control solenoid sold for Hydra by Flyin’ Miata.

As expected, install is easy as pie, but set-up is pain, although its all done from the car using the laptop. I’ve been tweaking for a couple of weeks now and I’m getting closer to a pretty nice set-up.

If you have the patience and you drive in wildly variable conditions (sub-freezing to over 30C), then this thing is for you.

Where do I begin? First off, I guess I have to say that the autox crowd is full of incredibly helpful folks. Everyone is willing to lend a tool, a hand, or a safe place to park. Some, will even offer a trailer or a tow to a comrade in need.

And was I ever in need! It was run 2 on the 19th — you know, the massive screamer SPDA course — and I was entering the final third of the course, starting to accelerate (more…)

Yeah, I fell behind on my updates, but I have a good excuse: things didn’t go quite to plan, there was an autocross, and I nearly pulled an all-nighter. (more…)

I made the trip to Ogs this morning to pick up the four boxes of goodness containing Flyin’ Miata’s Big Enchilada and the Energy Suspension differential bushing kit for Ginger. Now that the gear is in my hands, I’ll be maintaining an installation log here to document progress, (more…)

After guilting pedwar into updating the site with her recent automotive pursuits, I guess I should do an update to.

Ginger: The Pioneer deck is in and working, but the install (more…)

Peanuts, figure eights, trapezoids and slalom, that is.  Today, I proudly completed the MCO (Motorsports Club of Ottawa) Performance Control School with a certificate to prove it. (more…)

In what has become a truly epic round of teasing directed at a new club member who has yet to attain the age of 18, or secure a running car, a couple of the guys raised the game to a whole new level last night at M&M with some modifications of their beloved cars. (more…)