[uucdigest] Wednesday, October 1 2003 Volume 03 : Number 6790
_________________________________________________________________ | | Search the ARCHIVES: | http://www.mail-archive.com/[EMAIL PROTECTED] | | Visit Richard Nott's Ultimate BMW Database: | http://www.bmwdatabase.com | | For all available Digest commands including unsubscribe/subscribe, | visit the BMW UUC Digest page: http://www.uucdigest.com | | Send SUBMISSIONS to [EMAIL PROTECTED] | Complaints? Send 'em to [EMAIL PROTECTED] if you must. | Technical Problems? Send 'em to [EMAIL PROTECTED] |__________________________________________________________________ In this BMW UUC Digest: [uuc] Businessweek article on increasing popularity of amateur racing (NPC, NBC, NFC) Re: [uuc] Fan Delete Mod, anyone done this? [uuc] E36 M3 pre-purchase questions... RE: [uuc] E36 M3 pre-purchase questions... [uuc] BMW radio For Sale Re: [uuc] Anyone use Sta-bil in the tank during winter storage? [uuc] RE: Dash Repair Re: [uuc] Re: Lee's brakes ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 1 Oct 2003 16:20:03 -0400 From: "Dennis Liu" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [uuc] Businessweek article on increasing popularity of amateur racing (NPC, NBC, NFC) fyi... vty, - --Dennis _______________ http://www.msnbc.com/news/973901.asp A fast look at amateur auto racing Business people swap ties for helmets in hot new hobby By Thane Peterson Sept. 30 � Every weekend, otherwise-sane people spend large sums to hurtle around at breakneck speeds. Why? They say it�s more fun than golf. We�re watching 30 Mazda Miatas zoom around the 1.5-mile course at up to 120 mph. I�m keenly interested in whether car No. 40, driven by Ben Hohn, 33, a management consultant and up-and-coming amateur racer, can overtake the leader, Ken Payson, 59, the wily veteran in car No. 95. DelGenio, a pony-tailed 50-year-old who makes his living building race cars, is alternately barking instructions to one of the other drivers via a headset and explaining to me out of the corner of his mouth why Hohn has his work cut out for him. �See the way the car�s rear end is sliding around?� he asks me. �Watch Ken go through the curve and then watch Ben. Ben �s sliding a lot more.� This Miata sports an unconventional chopped windshield and open roll cage. I had been hearing about Ben Hohn�s racing career for two years now from his uncle, Chris Hohn, an old friend. The more I heard, the more I wondered: Why would a management consultant who works out of a Manhattan office spend weeknights bruising his knuckles in the garage and his weekends hurtling around race tracks at life-threatening speeds? WILLING TO CRASH This much is clear to me now: Amateur car racing is surprisingly exciting � and amazingly competitive. Most of the drivers are consultants, engineers, and other professionals who do it as a hobby. Yet, it really does have the feel of a hotly contested duel in which the tiniest miscue can make the difference. The day before, in the qualifying race, Hohn beat Payson for the pole position by just a few thousands of a second. As the two leaders pulled away from the pack in today�s race, a furious battle developed for third place. One of the three drivers vying for it ended up slamming into a wall and barely finishing. �The cars have to be expendable,� says William Casson, 45, a software engineer from Portsmouth, N.H., who ended up finishing ninth. �You can�t be a top finisher unless you� re willing to risk crashing.� Miata racing is one of the fastest-growing classes among amateurs. DelGenio, owner of an Acworth, N.H. company called Driven Performance and one of the original organizers of the sport, figures about 700 of the curvy little economy sports cars are now being raced nationally, up from zero five years ago. �We�ve all been a little dumbfounded by how quickly this has taken off,� he says. SHOPPING FOR SPEED You can race anything from expensive Porsches and Corvettes to battered Volvos and VWs, but Miata racing provides some of the best bang for the buck. The little sports cars first came out in 1990, so plenty of used ones are around at relatively low prices. You can buy one already tricked out for racing for around $12,000. Or you can rent a car for the weekend for around $1,300. (The disadvantage of that approach is that you have to pay for the car if you wreck it � no company will insure rented race cars, for obvious reasons.) Or if you�re on a tight budget, you can save money by doing what Ben did when he decided to get into racing three years ago: Buy a wrecked Miata for around $2,000 and rebuild it in your garage, adding the roll cage, racing suspension, seat, and tires yourself. Hohn takes care of all the mechanical work, aided by two friends who serve as his crew: David Hirsch, who works for a sail-making company in his day job, and Hohn�s brother, David, a contractor. The best first step in getting involved in amateur car racing of any kind, says Robert Davis, senior vice-president for marketing and product development at Mazda�s North American operations, is to bone up on the sport via the Web sites of the main racing organizations, The Sportscar Club of America and The National Auto Sport Assn. Then, sign up for driving lessons at an accredited school, such as the Skip Barber Racing School or the Jim Russell Racing Drivers School. If you find you like it, start going to races and talking to amateur drivers to decide which kind you want to try. The variations are endless, even within Miata racing. Tinkerers who work on their own cars tend to opt for older Miatas like the ones Hohn races, the so-called Spec Miata class that includes only 1990-97 models. On the other hand, Mazda�s Davis, a talented amateur racer in his off hours, competes in the �showroom� class, in which newer, more powerful Miatas are raced with relatively few modifications. A new showroom-class Miata costs around $20,000, though a 1999 model can be had for around half that. Of course, as with most hobbies, one thing tends to lead to another. Since getting into racing, Hohn has bought a second Miata, two trailers, a powerful Dodge pickup truck to tow the trailers, tools, spare parts, and a new engine and various other upgrades for the cars. His wife, Amy Wilensky, also notes that he has expanded a one-time farm-machinery building on their property in Connecticut into a rather large workspace. �I think it�s now a nine-car garage,� she says somewhat incredulously. Amy is supportive, but far from passionate about her husband�s hobby. Some other drivers� wives attend every race and help out as crew, but it�s hard to imagine Amy in that role. She�s an author whose memoir � �Passing for Normal� � was a great critical success when it came out three years ago. Her interests tend toward plays and book-readings, and she only rarely watches her husband race. �He loves it, and he�s really good at it, which makes me happy,� she says. �But I�m just not a car person. I probably wouldn �t even own a car if I weren�t married to Ben.� CRAZY FOR CARS So why does he do it? Hohn never did overtake Payson in the race on Saturday. He says his suspension got knocked out of whack in a minor collision with another car right after the start. Payson and DelGenio also think his tires may have been overinflated by a pound or so, which gives you an idea of the fine details that can determine the outcome of these races. Hohn ended up losing to Payson by 3.3 seconds. He seemed happy, nonetheless. �This isn�t something you get into lightly,� he told me before the race. �You have to feel your life isn�t going to be complete unless you do it.� If you�ve been �car-obsessed� since early childhood, as Hohn says he has, it beats playing golf on the weekend by a long shot. ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 1 Oct 2003 18:04:29 -0400 From: "Gary Derian" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: [uuc] Fan Delete Mod, anyone done this? You will gain nothing but risk something. You need it for cooling with the air conditioning. Gary Derian > I've been thinking about the Belt Driven Fan Delete Modification on my 2.5L > Single VANOS M50 engine. I live in MD and don't get stuck in to much > bumper to bumper. > > Has anyone done this mod? Comments? > > > Phil > > ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 01 Oct 2003 22:35:37 +0000 From: "Vijay Nuthulapaty" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [uuc] E36 M3 pre-purchase questions... Gruppe, I am contemplating purchasing a 97 M3 4-door. Car has 66k miles and has the luxury package. Previous owner says that he put in new radiator, fan, A/C compressor and belts. Car looks pretty good for its age and mileage (I have owned a 98 M3 Coupe which I bought new and sold last year at 45k miles). I have a couple of questions regarding this car: 1. The wood trim on the center console near the window up/down buttons is cracked a little bit on both sides of the shifter. Is this a common problem or might it have been caused by an accident. PO says that the car was in a fender bender when he hit a car in the front. 2. Can I take it to a dealer for a pre-purchase inspection. If so, is a compression and leakdown test part of the inspection. 3. Is the A/C failure common at this mileage? Does it signify any other problems? Thanks for all input and sorry for the cross-post. Vijay 00 740iL 97 M3 (Hopefully) _________________________________________________________________ High-speed Internet access as low as $29.95/month (depending on the local service providers in your area). Click here. https://broadband.msn.com ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 1 Oct 2003 15:53:20 -0700 From: Jim Bassett <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: RE: [uuc] E36 M3 pre-purchase questions... > 2. Can I take it to a dealer for a pre-purchase inspection. Probably, but I would suggest an independent BMW mechanic. > If so, is a > compression and leakdown test part of the inspection. Generally, they are not. > 3. Is the A/C failure common at this mileage? Dunno about common, but I'm a bit underwhelmed by BMW A/C. I did have the evaporator replaced on the '98 M3/4 due to a leak, at about 100K miles. > Does it signify any other > problems? Have the A/C vent temp checked as part of the pre-purchase; that will be one indication of how well the system is working. In general, ask for receipts for the work that was done. That will let you know that the work was in fact done, and when, and sometimes there is diagnostic and other info as part of the receipt/work order. Hope that helps and good luck, Jim Bassett 1998 M3/4 1993 325is #44 JP/A5 ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 1 Oct 2003 16:48:06 -0700 From: "BMWBits" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: [uuc] BMW radio For Sale What we have here is a radio-cassette player made by ALPINE Elex for BMW cars specifically . It shows FCC ID :A269ZUA027 and what I presume is a serial number plate ..40772060A. It is obviously the standard DIN size and comes with the metal carrier the unit slides into in the dash (couple of release-pins ,one ea side ). It has a single control knob on the LH side and 5 pre-set buttons on bottom, a pair of slide-controls for treble and bass and a BMW roundel on the cassette door .Plus the other controls all in buttons . The metal carrier has the following BMW specific cars identified (stamped )on it ..318i ,633csi,528e, 528i, 320s, 320i, 733i . That is ALL I know about it . Period .Except that it is very clean . I don�t know if it works , I don�t know if it was your Aunt Sarahs ....I don�t know if it needs a code to make it work . I suspect as it is SO clean that it's been in a box in a garage for a looong time , but I was wrong (once ) before ... $25 plus shipping from Seattle puts it in a box in YOUR garage ...just for spare-parts?? Bill & Shirley Proud Seattle Summers , Tennessee Winters . Long Commute between , ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 1 Oct 2003 19:14:14 -0500 (GMT-05:00) From: M Kittock <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: [uuc] Anyone use Sta-bil in the tank during winter storage? Mike, Yes, Sta-bil is what you want to use. I used it when I had a 944turbo and stored it during winter. I'd put the appropriate amount in, fill the tank, drive at least 50 miles so the Sta-bil treated gas flows through the entire fuel system. I'd top off the tank if I drove more miles. I still use it in my lawn mower, boat (for winter storage), and snow-blower. Mark Kittock '96 328i Sport pkg, etc... - -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Oct 1, 2003 1:54 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [uuc] Anyone use Sta-bil in the tank during winter storage? I just saw this stuff advertised on Speed, and I'm going to be putting the car away for winter soon. I'm curious to see if other BMW folks use this in the fuel tank when the car is stored for prolonged periods of time and what they have to say about it. TIA, Mike Kozitka ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 1 Oct 2003 17:35:25 -0700 From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: [uuc] RE: Dash Repair Anyone have experience using the "Classic Trim Coat" product for dash repair? Happy with the result? Thanks- Kevin ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 01 Oct 2003 21:34:48 -0400 From: "Mel Abrahams" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: [uuc] Re: Lee's brakes Yes- Hawk HT10's in front and HT10's in the rear work great on our 2.5 litre E30 M3 racecar at Sebring where it's HOT HOT HOT! Have used HT10's on an E34 M5 with no problems too. Blues are too messy. Mel A www.abrahamsmotorsport.com "Date: Tue, 30 Sep 2003 22:06:12 -0700 From: Bora Akyol (BMW) <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Subject: Re: [uuc] Re: Lee's brakes I personally don't see why anyone would run anything other Hawk HT10s on the front and Blues in the rear of an E30 M3 on the track. As long as you watch the ducting of the brakes as in not having ducting fully open in cold temps, they work well" _________________________________________________________________ High-speed Internet access as low as $29.95/month (depending on the local service providers in your area). Click here. https://broadband.msn.com ------------------------------ End of [uucdigest] V3 #6790 *************************** | | In memory of Michel Potheau - friend, enthusiast, founder of the BMW CCA. |________________________________________ | Please visit these UUC-approved BMW parts vendors/service providers: | (listed alphabetically) | | Autoscope-Motorsports - http://www.autoscope-motorsports.com | |==================================================== | | Koala MotorSport . BMW technical information, special tool sales/rental | http://www.koalamotorsport.com | |==================================================== | | Taylor BMW - http://www.taylorbmw.com - Doc Bimmer! | |==================================================== | Turner Motorsport Inc . The Ultra-High Performance BMW Specialist | 207 Elm Street, Amesbury, MA 01950 | 978-388-7769 / fax 978-388-4202 | http://www.turnermotorsport.com | |==================================================== | | UUC Motorwerks - BMW Performance Fine-tuning | and home of the Ultimate Short Shifter - accept no substitutes! | 908-874-9092 . http://www.uucmotorwerks.com |__________________________________________________________
