September 2001

As the Stomach Churns

A couple of new updates this month.

1. Landyachts R3 Longboard has now been included in Crazy Projects. The RIII is a prototype competition longboard. Lots of pictures, that lovely flashfile, as well as some history of the R3.
2. 3G Civic White Gauges are available in the Download section, courtesy of Pasi Törrönen, who spent countless hours perfecting this technological wonder! Just print and paste! Woo Hoo!
3. Driving and Your Brain By Warren Chamberlain Has been uploaded. It is an excellent look at the science and philosophy of race driving, and beneficial for anyone wanting to run just a bit (or a lot) faster!
   The page previously existed, then dissapeared. I emailed Warren with respect to the article, and am awaiting his reply
4. School section has been updated as well, with information new for the 2001-2002 school year. Won't my old students be surprised?
5. General Tech Ed pages are axed. I received no feeback from them in the past three years, and there was exceptionally little traffic here based on the counters, so down the drain they go! (I can use the space, anyway!)
6. The Mighty Mazda, my Arch Nemesis. Guido and I have been racing together in H/Stock for the past two years. He has put together a brief page on his 323 which is worth taking a peek! And yes, we're kings of alliteration here!
   If all goes well, next year we may both be competing in F/Super Stock!
7. Downloads had some missing games replaced (funny how things always get lost in a move)
8. Coming Soon, pages for Power Mechanics and Art Metal!

This is the new section for the new beast: "The Sinister Sentra."

Last month I bought me a new project: a 1995 Nissan Sentra XE. During August I had it stored while I was selling the Honda.

Once the Honda was gone I did a bit of maintenance on the Sentra, changing a stuck theromostat, replacing an inner tie-rod end, and freeing up a sticky window crank. I bought a set of 15x6.5 mags, and transferred my Kumho Ecta Supra 712's over. Unfortunately the Sentra uses 12x1.25mm stud threads, so my nice chrome lug nuts and McGuard lock nuts from the Honda (12x1.5mm) would not fit.

I am glad I didn't use the 15x7's off the Civic. The rims were too wide, too far offset, one was bent, one was out-of-round and one was off-center - they were impossible to balance! Even if they were any good, they would definately stick past the fenders up front, and I bet I'd have to roll the rear fenders too. Not what I want to do on a car with fairly good paint and no rust.

Within the next few months I'll begin ordering the performace goodies I want. I'm planning on:

• SunPro Tachometer with shift light (Done!)
• Tokico HPK225 kit: 1.25" springs and struts (blue)
• Suspension Techniques' front and rear sway bars
• Energy Suspension polyurethane bushings
• Pete Paulsen's Mini Stock 13x6 or 13x7" rims

August 19th I took the Sentra out to it's first autocross. I took 1st in H/Stock, but felt the car was a handling nightmare. It was nothing compared to the Civic.

August 25/26th I ran the Prairie Challenge and took 1st for the Challenge and 1st in Regional #6 (the Sunday). I think I nabbed a very quick overall time, but I have to wait until the results are mailed out. The Saturday I was beaten in raw time by a novice driver on street tires, but he never got a clean run in. I went home and reflected on my driving, and then came Sunday to drive as though I was driving on street tires in the rain - this made me super smooth!

I had the opportunity to drive an F/Street Prepared Sentra set up with all the components I want to run - what a difference! The car was absolutely predictable, responsive and quick! I am so envious! I am so looking forward to setting up my Sentra like that one.

September I will also take the Sentra to compete in the BC Autoslalom Championship in H/Stock - I hope I do well! I have to be totally smooth!

The Heinous Honda will no longer be updated as the car was sold in August, 2001.