Newish member, 4x challenger

DirtE30 wrote: James Hageman and along with my cousin we brought the gray widebody E30

Oh come on, of course Dave (and I) met you guys, we've spent half of the Challenges talking E30s and trying to surpass each-other! lol

This does sound like a damn AA meeting.

Hi, my name is Jeff and I like to spend countless hours away from my wife to work on well beaten and forgotten s-boxes until they are race worthy.

See you in October with something evil!

Nashco wrote: I brought the AWD Fiero hybrid to both $2009 Challenges. My name is Bryce, and I am a swapaholic.

My favorite part of the article in the last GRM about your car is the jack. I may never be famous or GRM article worthy but my jack sure is!

tb wrote: Hello David, I am new on these forums too. Since I have not been down to the challenge in about a decade, we have probably never met... There is a pretty good chance we will meet though, since the season starts soon and I need the practice in my 2010 car. I will keep an eye out for the e30 at the auto-x's; it should be easy to spot. I'm driving a black saab 9k, be sure to say hello if you see me out there killing cones...

nice, hope to meet you. what clubs are you planning to run with? jeff and i try to make it to every bmwcca event at devens as theyre very well run up here (8 runs, 70-90 seconds/run) but we'd like to try a lot of the other clubs too.

miatame wrote:

DirtE30 wrote: James Hageman and along with my cousin we brought the gray widebody E30

Oh come on, of course Dave (and I) met you guys, we've spent half of the Challenges talking E30s and trying to surpass each-other! lol This does sound like a damn AA meeting. Hi, my name is Jeff and I like to spend countless hours away from my wife to work on well beaten and forgotten s-boxes until they are race worthy. See you in October with something evil!

Hey, I remember drinking out by the pool at the hotel last year with all of you guys... barely, LOL!

And I might as well introduce myself to the rest of ya, AA style. The name's Tony, and I'm a member of Team External Combustion from MA. I went to my first Challenge last year with Pseudosport (Greg), Jeff (Miatame) and Dave (WilberM3). I have a 2009 WRX and two dirtball mulletmobile 1979 Trans Ams. I probably talked to most of you last year at the event, (I remember spewing some WRX knowledge at a few people last year) and I know I had some interesting conversations with many of you and took some pretty cool pics of all of the insanity. I can't wait until October to do it all again!

WilberM3 wrote: nice, hope to meet you. what clubs are you planning to run with? jeff and i try to make it to every bmwcca event at devens as theyre very well run up here (8 runs, 70-90 seconds/run) but we'd like to try a lot of the other clubs too.

I'm sure I will run into some of you guys in some paddock somewhere.

I have been away from motorsports for several years and and am new to the area so I have absolutely no knowledge of the local clubs or activities, I only just checked the new england region web page the other day. I'm meeting with the new england saab association guys tomorrow but I don't think they hold many events. Right now I am looking for any opportunity to clear off the old cobwebs...

How do you like the TBSS? I have been considering selling my RDX to buy one, could use something that can tow a little more! Anything to look for when shopping for a used one?

CLNSC3 wrote: How do you like the TBSS? I have been considering selling my RDX to buy one, could use something that can tow a little more! Anything to look for when shopping for a used one?

ive had it for a little over a year and i like it so far. mine's AWD but i think if i were to do it again i'd get a 2wd model and some 9-7x wheels/snows. 2wd is faster, better mpg, slightly higher tow rating (6800 vs. 6600), probably cheaper, less stuff to wear out, and somewhat less likely to blow the trans. the transmission is the weak point on these. i have a trans cooler on mine for towing and it towed really nicely. plenty of power, good braking, and it didnt get tugged around much at all, though it was an open trailer.

the only thing i'd really like to change is the transmission/transfercase. it uses a slightly stronger 4spd auto (4L70E) than the non SS but its still the weak point for sure. i find myself wishing i could take it out of awd for better mileage and big sloppy drifting, and if they'd put the 6sp 6L80E it'd be more agressive out of the hole while keeping rpms lower on the highway, but still i dont hate it for that. i hear that an engine/trans tune can make the trans feel really nice, improve mpg by 1 or 2, and obviously make a bit more power. it doesnt bother me much but the fact that its an LS2 means it wants 91+ octane, and it doesnt have the cylinder deactivation for mileage improvement (less crap to go wrong imo...) but it does add to the costs a bit.

the LS2 sold me on it, but i find myself enjoying the bilsteins, big sways, de-chevy'd steering feel, and generally nimble feel a lot more than i get on it. it's still heavy but it hides its heft awfully well. it reminds me of a refined version of my old cherokee with huge sways and street truck tires, and double the power. or a big guy in a well tailored suit.

i personally dont like the in-dash navigation system as it has only 1 disk slot and no internal memory so as far as ive found researching it and according to the dealer when you use the nav you have to put in the map dvd which precludes use of the cd player. the 6 disk player's pretty nice though.

check out http://www.TBSSowners.com for lots of info on all kinds of things.

found a pic from 08.

btw, that's me on the right and greg on the left ^