I don't know what I'm doing, it's late, kids are alseep, had a few. What the heck.
I don't know what I'm doing, it's late, kids are alseep, had a few. What the heck.
In reply to OjaiM5 :
That's awesome!
If Travis prints shirts, I WANT one!
SVreX (Forum Supporter) said:In reply to OjaiM5 :
That's awesome!
If Travis prints shirts, I WANT one!
Me too. I wish I could see it run at the Challenge, but at least I had a chance to contribute to this.
In reply to OjaiM5 :
Yesss!
Yassssss
Patrick (Forum Supporter) said:Yassssss
Indeed!
In reply to Mr_Asa :
No guard. Like a boss!
I couldn't risk gouging tires I didn't own
Mr_Asa said:
This makes me smile
Yeah but worth pulling the tires and then using a guard. Don't ask me how I know.....
Can't wait to see how you do today!
Looks like towards the top of the pack in autocross so far.
Awesome!
I'm so excited!
This car is ridiculous. Fast. Level. Super fun to watch and I got to help mangle the fenders last night even if most of that work was removed later.
It is currently 4th overall!
I feel vindicated! Haha!
OjaiM5 said:I don't know what I'm doing, it's late, kids are alseep, had a few. What the heck.
That's a berkeley load better than the one I did two years ago.
What a great time! Roll-Ovalon did exactly what I wanted it to do - have a fun weekend of racing for very little money. Thanks to Chris' double-edged sword of peer pressure and generosity, at the last minute I swapped out the cheap Infiniti wheelset for his massive 18x11 Forgestars wrapped in chonky 315 BFG Rivals. Though fitment was difficult, this was a game-changer. The wheels also bumped me out of the $1000 sub-class, which would have been a class of one anyway this year.
Last-chance build deserves a last-chance wheel and tire decision. Required 1.25" of spacer up front, 1" of spacer out back, and an excessive amount of fender beating and cutting. There is less than 1/4" of gap between tire and rear strut.
Somehow we did the swap with the car still on the tow dolly. For some reason this made more sense at the time. I was also a few beers in. Luckily I had plenty of help from Shaun and John Brown, and a few others.
As you saw in previous pictures, I ended up cutting a lot of this out anyway.
Autocross - 4th Place - 49.425 (FTD 45.99)
This was the biggest surprise to me. I knew it would be quick and handle okay, but I didn't expect top 5 for autocross. I was the fastest on 200TW tires. Faster than both turbo Miatas, a V6 Miata, and both C4 Vette-carts on slicks. I drove all 6 runs, though the first 2 were botched due to a weird electrical issue. Turns out the battery terminal wasn't tight enough. Since the battery is over 6 years old, I have to jump-start it almost every time, so I just kept it running all morning. To jump-start it, I usually have to disconnect/reconnect the terminal so the ECU stops freaking out. I guess I forgot to tighten it that one time... But after that it was Toyota reliable.
Strategy was to put it in "manual mode" and leave it in "2". Same thing I did with Datsaniti's automatic. Due to the gearing, I never rang out 2nd, so it never even tried to dump into 3rd, and there were two places on course where it downshifted to 1st. Smaller wheels or gears would have helped a bit, but dang those 315 Rivals gripped so well it was worth it. The car felt very flat through turns, and would predictably understeer if pushed too hard. I think more front camber would have helped increase that limit, but for the low amount of prep work I could not be happier.
Drag - 9th Place - 14.125 (FTD 11.027)
Something I noticed about the field this year - the drag times are FAST! 6 cars under 13s. Amazing. The Avalon did about what I expected. Stock it should do 14.8, and I did 14.125, so I'm very happy with that. I did some awesome smokey front wheel burnouts by holding the parking brake pedal with my left foot. So much fun!
Concours - 12 points (opted out of judging)
I decided to take the 12 because let's face it, this car is literally a wrecked scrap heap. The other "death-kart" style builds were far better executed. The MR2 and both Vette-karts were painted, rough edges smoothed down, no dented panels, had a coherent livery, etc. Especially the red/black/white C4 Vette-cart...it genuinely looked good and not just for a kart. Yeah my car has a story of building it in one weekend, but "haste" isn't a good theme.
Overall - 12th out of 32
Not bad for a car built in a week! Really makes you wonder what's the fastest you can go for the least amount of effort and money.
Other awards: 200TW Tire, Spirit of the Event, and Last-Chance.
I also bought a Solara V6 5-speed...
I kept getting asked about future plans for the Roll-Ovalon. It will likely be scrapped by the end of the year, once I remove the drivetrain. I have way too many vehicles right now. Thanks everyone for making this build happen, and for making the $2000 Challenge the great time it always is.
Proof positive that everything looks better with steamroller meats.
My wheels and tires now have Challenge provenance!
So glad you were able to put them to good use, and congrats to you for placing so well with so little time to prepare.
Hey, those wheels lived in my shed for the better part of a year. Now I feel pretty good about taking care of them.
Amazing! Just amazing!
this was awesome to witness.
Good getting to see you this weekend. Great job with the Avalon!
Congratulations!
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