Welcome to April!
My Motorized Lawnchair was recently featured in an
obscure automotive column called "Curbside." I checked in all the newspapers I could get in
Vancouver (local papers, as well as Ottawa, New York, Toronto, Seattle, etc.), but couldn't find
the column. It was, however, posted on their website, and is essentially a direct copy of what I
have here.
I may look into copyrighting some of my work....
Anyhow, the grade 8's are now into the Flasher Project, and I have uploaded new pictures of the best cars into a new page (GPV Photos) for easy viewing and reference. The Electronics 9/10's are finishing the 10 LED flasher enclosure design, and will soon be onto their final bonus projects. Electronics 11A is finishing the Digital Electronics unit and some have started their final projects. Electronics 12A students are into the construction of their power supply enclosures.
A new section is in progress here, as I'm trying to get some Electronics Theory pages started. The initial layout is there now, but they are not complete yet. I do have Reading Resistor Codes operational so far.
I ran the first autocross race of the season, and didn't do as well as I had hoped. My first
time was my best, at 51.8 seconds. Fastest time that I recall was about 47 seconds for a
"streetable" car, and about 55 seconds for other beginners like me. I imagine they got faster,
because I sure didn't. My second run was a DNF (Did Not Finish) because I missed a few cones to
go through (blast!!). My third time was about 52.5 - I was still miffed at myself for blowing the
second run. I also forgot to shift into second early on, which probably cost me the second right
there. Oh well. That's what's learning is about. I will find out within a few weeks how I
placed.
I find that I am too high-strung when I am racing (and probably too high-strung in general),
so I will be trying to find ways to make myself relax and take it easy - my times should improve,
as with a relaxed mind should come fluidity of movement (wait, isn't this tai chi?), and smooth
driving wins races.
I am running Yokohama AVID T4 all season tires now, and they are a reasonable tire. (They're cheap!) They don't stick as well as the Defender tires I had did, but at least these ones don't dart around so much (probably because the toe is set within specs - toe is how the wheels are pointing: "toe-in" means the tires are pointing in towards each other slightly at the front of the car (enhances stability), toe out means means the tires are pointing out (very "darty")). With the same tires all around, it's harder to push into oversteer, and I may have to stiffen up the back end more to get it loose. I will probably open the toe up a bit, too, to get it "into" a turn better.
You have GOT to see this (you need real player): Ferrari 312 Model
© 2000 G Wellwood