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Toshi's thread

Toshi

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,528
7,855
ALEXIS_DH said:
its very informal around here, just a bunch of guys get together and rent an air base, until last year, we used to autox in the parking lot of a horsing club.
we have "peruvian" classes. "modified" being mostly the customary definition of "anything you cant replace in less than 5 minutes". :busted:

- 4x4 stock, japanese sti stomp.

- 4x4 modified, older (pre99) turbo imprezas stomp.

- 2wd stock. whoever drives best, lots of different cars.

- 2wd modified.

- vintage (cars 25 yeard old, or older). a real lotus super seven stomps the few times the owner registers.
Click to expand...
wow. very different from SCCA classing...

http://www.moutons.org/sccasolo/Lists/2006/stockc.html

class (my pick for the class)
super stock (C5 Z06, C6 Z06 is not eligible)
A stock (S2000, boxster S '04 and older, 993)
B stock (C4 corvette, E36 M3, porsche 968, mr2 turbo)
C stock (mazdaspeed miata, maybe pontiac solstice)
D stock (integra Type R without a doubt, maybe SRT-4)
E stock (normal miata, non-turbo mr2)
F stock (bmw M5)
G stock (mini cooper S, integra non-type R, ford focus SVT)
H stock (mini cooper non-S, civic Si old and new)

and that's just the stock classes...

the astute reader will note a lack of any subaru picks in the above. this is intentional: the subarus have notable shortcomings from the factory that are not addressable given the constraints of stock class rules, which allow for strut replacement, R compound tires, cat back exhaust, and front swaybar. and pretty much nothing else.

the subarus instead do well in the street touring classes, where many common mods are allowed:
STS (2.5RS/2.5i/whatever the normally aspirated impreza is called now)
STX (WRX)
STU (STi or Evo depending on the driver)

then you have my class, Street Modified, where swaps, turbo upgrades, different gearsets, the whole gamut is allowed. the national winning car in SM last year was already posted several months back in the thread, and i can't find a pic, but it's an E36 M3 using a normally aspirated V8, big flares and seriously wide R compounds...
 
ALEXIS_DH

ALEXIS_DH

Tirelessly Awesome
Jan 30, 2003
6,148
796
Lima, Peru, Peru
Toshi said:
wow. very different from SCCA classing...

http://www.moutons.org/sccasolo/Lists/2006/stockc.html

class (my pick for the class)
super stock (C5 Z06, C6 Z06 is not eligible)
A stock (S2000, boxster S '04 and older, 993)
B stock (E36 M3, porsche 968, mr2 turbo)
C stock (mazdaspeed miata, maybe pontiac solstice)
D stock (integra Type R without a doubt, maybe SRT-4)
E stock (normal miata, non-turbo mr2)
F stock (bmw M5)
G stock (mini cooper S, integra non-type R, ford focus SVT)
H stock (mini cooper non-S, civic Si old and new)

and that's just the stock classes...
Click to expand...
wow, thats a lot.
autox is usually limited to 35 cars. around 20 slots for subarus. otherwise there isnt much time to play around.
so it doesnt make much sense to have more than 5 classes.

i drove an evo 6 in the "modified" class (because of an apexi piggyback and boost controller). the same 4x4 "modified" class included a US sti with a 720hp crawford engine with a huge ass turbo (didnt spool until some crazy rpm, almost 4k), and others will full-on racing suspensions, but everybody was fine with that.... like i said, its pretty informal and laid back, grill and post-beer included.
 
Toshi

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,528
7,855
be very suspicious of claimed crawford horsepower figures... they are notorious liars.
 
ALEXIS_DH

ALEXIS_DH

Tirelessly Awesome
Jan 30, 2003
6,148
796
Lima, Peru, Peru
Toshi said:
be very suspicious of claimed crawford horsepower figures... they are notorious liars.
Click to expand...
i didnt know that. am gonna bust the guys ball later then.
i´m pretty impressed by the car. 2.7L shortblock, gt35r turbo nonetheless.

i just punched the guys name and crawford on yahoo and it seems his car is in the crawford website.
http://www.crawfordperformance.com/news/article_18.shtml
that was like last year i think, when the crawford dudes came down here to setup his car and sell their stuff.

now that you talk about that, it makes a little bit of sense. the owner is an older dude, so he doesnt hang out with us, the younger blokes. but i clearly remember that only once, a few months ago he took his impreza out one night to drag race next to an empty stadium, and he lost from roll to a low 12s celica (2wd on semi slicks), and he only won by like 2 cars from a dead stop. that made me wonder a lot.
 
Toshi

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,528
7,855
crawford reports their horsepower in "crawford hp" heh. basically they take their high reading wheel dyno results and multiply them by however much they feel like it. nice cars for sure, but go by trap speeds and results, not by self-reported numbers.
 
Toshi

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,528
7,855
went on my first trail ride in a long while:

- 5.2 miles, ~800 vertical feet + much up 'n down: http://www.vbcamps.com/ppCityCreek.htm
- a mostly granny gear + 1 or 2 cogs climb
- lots of anaerobic little bits + hot sun == tough, even tho my aerobic conditioning is pretty good these days
- xc bikes, especially rigid ones with v brakes, do not handle much like dh rigs
- me + rigid fork = 2 rides in a row with a front flat... i think i might be investing in some heavier tubes. already am running 35 psi with conti verticalprotection 2.3 tires
- i found that i say "aiya" instead of swearing when i fear that i'm running off of off-camber corners
- no pics. didn't bring the big or small cameras along
- the self-serve carwash cleans off bikes pretty well! and ck hubs are sealed, no? so no damage done

 
Toshi

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,528
7,855
ah, holidays: just spent about 2 hours disassembling and reassembling the dashboard/center console of my wrx.

with all the modding and demodding over the years, especially the battery relocation to the trunk (== big, thick cabling running all over the place), the wiring under the dashboard had become a HUGE mess.

i went in, took everything apart, snipped off all the old cable ties with uncut ends (lazy installers! grr), and then secured everything nicely. no more cables dangling down by my feet or poking out from the edge of trim pieces...

now time to go on a rare daytime drive to enjoy the newfound cleanliness-via-my-own-sweat. once i get back to seattle i'll start the next step, which is to get cheap replacement plastics for the hacked up bits in the interior and swap them out myself...

the side benefit of today's labor is some "new" junk to sell. alexis, buy my pocketlogger software/cable! :D

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?p=15127691#post15127691

 
ALEXIS_DH

ALEXIS_DH

Tirelessly Awesome
Jan 30, 2003
6,148
796
Lima, Peru, Peru
hmm, interesting.

i dont have any ecu-powered modified car right now, but it looks like a promising toy.
i do have an old palm i actually never got any productive use of (m125? :think:), and this might be a good excuse to dig it from the closet. something tells me if i dont jump on this, i´ll regret it later, at $25 cant be wrong!.

although it seems to have some limitations.
All GM and Ford cars.
1996-97 Toyotas
All Toyota Supras (including 1998)
1996 ISUZU
1998+ Chrysler Intrepid, 300's, and Concord
Dodge SRT4
99 Subaru Impreza
2004+ Subarus (Inc STi)
99 Mazda Millenia S

hmmm...
how big would be the package?
 
Toshi

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,528
7,855
package would be small. i'd email the software + reg key (keep in mind that if doesn't work it's $25 to the company to migrate the registration -- i don't know if my info would work). the cable itself is small when coiled.

right now it's at 1 cent, with the buy it now gone...
 
WTGPhoben

WTGPhoben

Monkey
Apr 21, 2002
717
0
One of them Boston suburbs
At long last I finished editing all the photos from my first wedding gig ever. Overall I was pretty satisfied with the results, but quite dissatisfied with the time it took to get them...

Here are the highlights: http://www.phoben.com/photos/pgal/gallery.aspx?AlbumID=521&subs=False

For you sick B$@%!@#s who want to see all the decent ones, they're all nicely organized here (I guess this one is worth looking at for the nifty print proof viewer I wrote...): http://www.phoben.com/photos/pgal/gallery.aspx?AlbumID=509&subs=True

pretty:



Jesus:



transrockies photos coming soon...
 
Toshi

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,528
7,855
i like the group photo on porch idea! good work. are you doing this pseudo-sepia conversion manually in photoshop? for ease you might want to try the presets in Adobe Lightroom, saves lots of work.
 
WTGPhoben

WTGPhoben

Monkey
Apr 21, 2002
717
0
One of them Boston suburbs
Toshi said:
i like the group photo on porch idea! good work. are you doing this pseudo-sepia conversion manually in photoshop? for ease you might want to try the presets in Adobe Lightroom, saves lots of work.
Click to expand...
the effect in the first image is simply a red photo filter at about 25% and a little desaturation. The second image is pretty much right out of the camera, barring a little extra darkening with the airbrush on the dark edge of the cross.

The thing that took the most time was fixing the really hgh contrast shots of the bridal party. They all looked like crap out of the camera, and as you may have noticed, only one or two actually made it into the summary gallery because in general I wasn't particularly enamored with them.

...I also don't have adobe lightroom.
 
WTGPhoben

WTGPhoben

Monkey
Apr 21, 2002
717
0
One of them Boston suburbs
Toshi said:
i like the group photo on porch idea! good work.
Click to expand...
Thanks, btw. It was pretty rediculous to watch me do it. I was standing on this sketchy chair in front of the deck shifting people around and making jokes, while trying not to kill myself and destroy my equipment in the process. The bride's family found my banter much more amusing than the groom's as far as I can tell from the pics.
 
Toshi

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,528
7,855
were all of these shot on film? they have a unique look to them, kinda undersaturated as if they were scanned. not so much any of the linked ones either below or in your post, except for the first ragbrai teaser...



 
WTGPhoben

WTGPhoben

Monkey
Apr 21, 2002
717
0
One of them Boston suburbs
Toshi said:
were all of these shot on film? they have a unique look to them, kinda undersaturated as if they were scanned. not so much any of the linked ones either below or in your post, except for the first ragbrai teaser...
Click to expand...
Yeah, nearly all the ones shot by me (as opposed to Amy), were on a P&S Chinon film camera, as the A70 I normally would have brought was unavailable when I left and I was stuck. I was pleasantly surprised at how well a lot of the film shots came out. Film proved to be much more forgiving in harsh light than the digital, but not nearly as sharp.

a lot of the undersaturating I find comes from the conversion in "Save for Web". The film images actually came out quite vivid as I went directly from negatives to the photoCD. I may have been a little overzealous in mellowing the saturation on some of them however.
 
Toshi

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,528
7,855
went autoxing again this weekend. 2 days, 12 runs. ended up 5th out of 14? in a very popular SM class, 76/125 in PAX on day one (ugh). gotta get on some R comps for next season!
 
Toshi

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,528
7,855
alexis, mark, luc: vote on my poll on autox tire choice at nasioc!

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1092739



linked thread said:
option 1: buy 225/45/17 or 245/40/17 Azenis RT615 tires, mount them on current BBS wheels
advantages: cheap! can drive all summer without wearing them out. would also be suitable for the occasional HPDE.
disadvantages: still bringing the proverbial knife to the gunfight, although the importance of this is up in the air considering the car's inherent heft, suspension design, my inexperience, the fast SM civics in my region, and the fact that i'm still at 2.0 liters.

option 2: bite the bullet and run V710 tires on 17x8+" rotas that i manage to scrounge from the nasioc buy 'n sell.
advantages: it's the tire of choice for autox. two sets of wheels == still use the WRs for what they're good at.
disadvantages: not cheap. left with no good option for HPDE days -- 710s too soft, WRs too slippery. inherent bother of carting around wheels in backseat, changing them (not a big deal but worth mentioning).
if i go with 710s what would be a good width rim and tire to shoot for, assuming ready availability on the nasioc classifieds? 9" and 275s?

option 3: as above but with RA1s: scrounge up dirty 2nd set of wheels, mount with Toyo RA1 meats.
advantages: not as expensive as option 2. decent autox tire, decent HPDE tire. still can use WRs on street.
disadvantages: not cheap, still. not ideal for autox. same deal with regard to changing wheels, storing them.

option 4: buy RA1s (245/40/17?, 100 treadwear version), mount them on my BBS. don't buy extra wheels. run RA1s all summer, street, autox, track alike.
advantages: cheaper than all but option 1. get to play with R comps on the street! don't have to deal with changing wheels. decent autox tire, decent track tire.
disadvantages: inordinate amount of tire wear? stigma of being like the california guys who run R comps on the street. possibility of losing the R compound advantage through hardening the tread/heat cycling tires like mad.

option 5: fix scrapes on BBS, sell them + Nokians after ski season, get two used sets of Rotas/equivalent, one 7.5" for 225 street tires, one 8+" for 710s.
advantages: cheaper than buying another set of wheels if done right. 710s for autox == teh good.
disadvantages: logistics, annoyance, now hunting for 2 sets of wheels.
Click to expand...
 
Toshi

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,528
7,855
nice panning shots, keith. i like the ones that aren't cut off at mid-thigh better :D
 
WTGPhoben

WTGPhoben

Monkey
Apr 21, 2002
717
0
One of them Boston suburbs
Went up to the UVM race this weekend, and man did it rain. UVM didn't reroute the course despite the soggy conditions and the trails rapidly went to the crapper. It was so slippery, sometimes it was impossible to accelerate even on the flat. On the photofront, I tried using a zoom-blur effect in some of the shots with mixed results. It was hard enough just keeping the camera dry in the rain, let alone do anything creative.

the pics: http://www.phoben.com/photos/pgal/subGals.aspx?albumID=545

 
Toshi

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,528
7,855
that was a zoom-blur one? very nicely done if so.

in my own camera-related news i find the front element of many of my lenses is marked up with dried up rain droplets. gotta get some cleaning junk, methinks... the sigma 12-24 is especially prone to this with its bulging front element and lack of possibility of front filter usage.

in non-camera-related news i got 3rd/10? or so in the Stock AWD at my first rallycross. as you might guess from the Stock class it wasn't in my car, but rather in my buddy's own black 2002 WRX. was 0.5 sec out of 2nd place and 2.5 out of 1st (cumulative out of 3 runs), and one of my counted runs was marred by a 2 sec cone penalty... grrr.

not bad for my first time out tho. :) said car-owning buddy got 5th, 12 seconds back, again with that difference being cumulative over 3 counted runs of 5 undertaken.
 
Toshi

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,528
7,855
speaking of seizures, this may well be the greatest video ever posted on youtube (faint praise, i suppose :D):

 
Toshi

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,528
7,855
oh, here's a real question for y'all:

i want to do video compositing, or at least i think that's the proper term. in particular i have 4 source video files and i want to make one video out of all of them.

the videos would not be played in sequence, as could be done in iMovie, but instead would be going simultaneously, two of them side by side with a small "picture in picture" of the other two at the lower right corner of each. (if it helps to visualize this the videos are footage of in car and outside of car views of the rallycross runs of me and my co-driver, and i want to have them synced to the "5, 4, 3, 2, 1, go!" of the starter so as to visually show where time was gained and lost.)

my question is what application i need to do this. iMovie won't. i don't think Final Cut Express will. will Final Cut Pro do the trick? how about anything open source? i looked very briefly at jahshaka but couldn't make heads or tails of its interface, let alone how to do what i want to do.
 
Toshi

Toshi

Harbinger of Doom
Oct 23, 2001
38,528
7,855
Toshi said:
oh, here's a real question for y'all:

i want to do video compositing, or at least i think that's the proper term. in particular i have 4 source video files and i want to make one video out of all of them.

the videos would not be played in sequence, as could be done in iMovie, but instead would be going simultaneously, two of them side by side with a small "picture in picture" of the other two at the lower right corner of each. (if it helps to visualize this the videos are footage of in car and outside of car views of the rallycross runs of me and my co-driver, and i want to have them synced to the "5, 4, 3, 2, 1, go!" of the starter so as to visually show where time was gained and lost.)

my question is what application i need to do this. iMovie won't. i don't think Final Cut Express will. will Final Cut Pro do the trick? how about anything open source? i looked very briefly at jahshaka but couldn't make heads or tails of its interface, let alone how to do what i want to do.
Click to expand...
it turns out that the venerable ol' Quicktime Pro can do this:

poster on forums.macnn.com said:
QuickTime Pro. Open all the movies, and copy each of 3 in turn, Edit -> Add them to the fourth (moving the playhead back to the beginning before each add). Then open Movie properties, select each track, go to Visual Settings, and go nuts. Very easy and fast.
Click to expand...
and here is the result:

http://tinyurl.com/pdmmt (click on fourth thumbnail then on resulting large image)

note that the in- and out-of-car videos are a bit off even tho the initial sync is correct since they are from different runs. i picked up 2 seconds between the out- and in-car recordings, for instance.
 
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