Hey Calvin,
I think I can answer your query regarding drag racing.
The reason we're racing is because we are a bunch of mindless idiots that
are fanatical about our cars, believe them to be one of the finest and most
desirable automobiles on the road, like to test the limits of our sharks
and ourselves, and above all else, we like to hang out together and watch
each other do silly things. (Can I get an AMEN BROTHER?)
With regard to the half shaft issue, I've inserted an (edited) email
exchange between myself and DR which all of you might find of interest:
Hi Adam,
Darn you guys are going to have some fun, this looks so tempting to me it
might be worth flying out just to watch !!!!
....and I'd send you the airfare if I didn't think you'd get flamed on the
list for the next two months straight for taking a weekend off just to have
a life :).
Wally was nice enough to impart some comforting words of wisdom on a slight
mishap I had on my Nology wire install. Just to show my thanks for that
and for 928SP's ongoing support of my 928 habit, I'm going to be sending
y'all (trying my best southern accent here) a Pac NW Shark Drags T-shirt.
Since you folks won't be here for the event, I thought I'd send a piece of
the event out to you. They should be ready in the next couple weeks. I
figure with you getting the event shirts coupled with all of the orders to
replace broken half shafts after the event, it'll be just like you're here.
In truth I'm hoping for no mechanical failures, and will probably be giving
an "it's all about consistency, not quick e.t." speech prior to everyone
running. I'd feel really terrible of someone damaged their shark as a
result of the event.
So, can we get a bulk discount on those half shafts?
Discount heck, if anyone breaks theirs at your event I will sell them the
parts they need at my COST !!!
Now, now,..... I don't want to tell them that. Knowing these guys they'll
probably interpret that as an incentive to be breaking parts. :)
I kid you not when I talk about the competitiveness of these guys, they're
insane!
{End email}
........so, there you have it Calvin. The half shafts are covered :).
There are several different reasons for owning a shark, and I don't think
that one is more valid than the other. You can buy a low mileage show
piece and save it for sunny weekends, you can buy a high mileage mule and
run it through the paces (yours truly). Or you can do both with the same
car (Redinger, you kill me!)
I don't discount pride in ownership at all, for many having a shark in the
garage is the most satisfying part of ownership. (I'm not saying that this
is you, it's just an example).
For many of us locally here, pride in ownership is just a piece of the
pie, our intrigue goes into other areas like performance driving and
upgrades.
One of the reasons that I enjoy putting together these gatherings is that
there are so many local owners that share my philosophy of pushing these
cars deep into their performance envelope and trying different means to
extend that envelope.
Its kind of self serving, but I organize these Pac NW Gatherings because it
an opportunity for me to share ideas and stories with like minded
individuals.
I realize that many out there don't share the same philosophy regarding
their sharks, and prefer to preserve them and drive them occasionally. The
first local gathering, The 928 Owner's Showdown which was held last fall,
was tailored to allow all local owners to participate in an event (Kart
Race) regardless of everyone's personal philosophy about their own car, and
just share in our pride of ownership.
I wanted an event designed around getting people together without putting
any of the sharks at risk. Much to my suprise, I discovered a lot of
owners were interested in pushing their cars and discovering and improving
performance benefits much like myself. We did a dyno day next. I couldn't
believe the amount of willing participants that attended. As almost a
joke, I threw out the idea of bracket drags for the next event. I really
was hit with a sense of pride when there was an almost unanimous "when's
the date?" for a reply.
Breakage is costly, there's no doubt about it, but a lot of us accepted
that long before we purchased our sharks.
A lot of the crazy things we do with our sharks provides R&D opportunities
to help the 928 community as well. Louie is actively developing and
designing modifications for our cars, some of which I can proudly say he
tested at our last event. Ultimately, these performance items may end up
on your car. If you have a set of steroid drop links, than you already
have benefitted from someone else's high performance testing.
I hope this kind of explains things Calvin. I wouldn't fault any shark
owner for not wanting to race his car, I can see how it may be seen as
abusing the vehicle. For some of us though, part of ownership means
finding shortfalls in our cars and improving them.
So, are you going to come out and watch the carnage on the 25th? Someone
may need to ask you for a ride home if their shark goes home on a flatbed.
:)
-Adam Birnbaum
'88 S4 A/T - "Ready to romp on June 25th!"
----------
From: mmayn43508@...
To: PacNW928@...
Subject: Re: [PacNW928] A day with ProFormance
Date: Friday, June 02, 2000 11:22 AM
I have heard that at high revs the some of the journals get starved for
oil
and that may be what happened, it is corrected by buying a redrilled
crankshaft, I am curious as to why everyone wants to quarter mile these
cars.....they really are not setup for this, doesn' t anybody worry about
the
half shafts on the rearend?
Calvin
90 928 S4
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Old school buds here:
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