When I visit Portland from Seattle, I've been connecting with Matrix Integrated's Jeremy Williamns to get gas at the track, but for various reasons (one being he was out of town) Jeremy was not available this week. Competition Motorsports' Ron Brown had promised to meet me at the paddock at 8 a.m. on Thursday. He didn't show until 10:30 a.m. (too late for me), so I went hunting for race gas around 9:50 a.m. (late starting event). I found it at the Jantzen Beach Union 76 (Unleaded 111 octane). It was not cheap, but it was available.

In a pinch, when you need race gas for a Portland track day and Jeremy is not available, I learned there are some (not cheap) options. In the immediate vicinity of PIR, there are a couple of current sources and one for next year:

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Baxter Auto Parts
Delta Park Store
9444 N. Whitaker Rd.
Portland, OR 97217
Manager: Skip Baxter
Phone:(503) 285-2548
http://www.baxterautoparts.com/Locations.aspx
(this is just down the street from the Delta Park 76)

Hours:
Mon-Fri 8am - 9pm
Sat 8am - 6pm
Sun 9am - 5pm

Baxter provides sealed 5-gallon drums of Unleaded gas in three octane ratings:

100 --> $64.95/5 gallon drum
101 --> $64.95
103 --> $69.95

(EP is the supplier)

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Jantzen Beach Union 76
Neighborhood: North Portland
12205 N Center Ave
Portland, OR 97217 (503) 285-2657

Unleaded 111 octane ==> $13.95/gallon

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Delta Park 76
9950 N Whitaker Rd
Portland , OR 97217
(503) 283-8962

They do not have race gas at present, but will provide it next season; both leaded and unleaded (100 unleaded/103 leaded).

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Prices, I'm sure, will only go up. I still believe your best bet is to get the Sunoco 104 from Jeremy if he's available, but it was great to know there were some options in an emergency. I would not rely on Competition Motorsports.

-------------<b>change of topic</b>--------------

In Jdog35's <a href="http://forums.audiworld.com/pacificnw/msgs/129375.phtml">thread</a> about the Gran Prix Imports track day, I mentioned that the track control put him out right in front of me during my last session. I posted a video to YouTube that includes this near the beginning. It was completely uneventful, but I still think it was a somewhat questionable choice. That was really my only concern about an otherwise pleasant day at Delta Park.

Also, Jdog35 asked why I did not get any images of Audis. Well, there weren't many there. This video clip shows the only image I captured. Sorry mang.

These home-brew videos are best viewed in the reduced resolution format.<ul><li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5i2WXeMjb8">Video Clip --&gt; Chasing down an Elise (takes a couple laps but I catch him)</a></li></ul>

Not really a pump...more like a hand crank on a barrel..

But like I said: These are options to use "in a pinch" as they are not cheap options. I only run race gas as a preventive measure against detonation. On a hot day, now with the SC, it can get pretty hot in there -- despite the heat exchanger/charge-air-cooler.

In any event, I'm just mixing whatever race gas I get with 91 octane. Seems to be working. No ping yet; knock (no pun intended) on wood. I definitely prefer to find gas near the track rather than tote it with me from Redmond.

I was out yesterday with BMWACA as an instructor and it was pretty obvious that they are letting the track surface deteriorate some now that they are approaching time to rebuild it. Turns 6, 7, and 8 are heading downhill fast and the corner workers are now offering up warnings during the driver's meetings about how much the asphalt is chunking up and disintegrating while we drive it now.

Seemed strange to teach a student how to handle the surface of the various parts of the track knowing that this was all based on the nuances of the present day surface conditions and all of that will be in the dumpster next year when we start over again.

Seems like a lot of E30 body cars have been popping up on bmwpugetsound.com, like this one:

<a href="http://bmwpugetsound.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=35168">http://bmwpugetsound.com/vbb/showthread.php?t=35168</a>

$2500 seems like a decent starter number, although 170,000 miles is rather high. Heh.

Colin Cantrell designed it and Brandon Higbee at Cantrell Motorsports did the work. They are basically supported by two small brackets (cut from square tube stock) that are welded to the lower control arm.

$15K with 85,00 miles and a good maintenance record. But I also had a chat with a guy from one of the PDX area tuning shops that handles BMW cars and he pointed out that E30 series engines are actually quite expensive to maintain. A short block for an E30 M3 costs more (just over $6K) than a fully prepped E36 M3 crate engine.

The one given is that I really can't see tracking my daily driver any more. Our drive trains might be able to handle the abuse of track events but the rest parts and pieces of the cars I have owned over the past few years have shown wear and tear that felt like almost 5 to 10 times the actual mileage that was on the odometers when I traded them in.

Well, I took a couple at the time of the installation. Not perfect, but it's as good as I can do without putting it up on a rack.

<img src="http://shim1.shutterfly.com/procgserv/47b7dd08b3127cce98548a55677e00000017100ZasmbFixk">

A few more views of the diverter in general:

1. <a href="http://mysvtftoy.shutterfly.com/action/pictures?a=67b0de21b32e76abe4d1">Diverter attachment</a>

2. <a href="http://mysvtftoy.shutterfly.com/action/pictures?a=67b0de21b32e7c5ae425">General diverter views</a>

Nice choice on that whiny thingy!

It is charge-air cooled, but still, the engine internals get pretty warm. SC is putting out only about 11.9 psi peak observed, but with the stock 10:1 compression, well, I have not experienced detonation yet, so, I'll keep mixing in some high octane stuff.

It's hard to care at the end of the day who passed whom if you drove home with a grin on your face :)

That was not why I mentioned this situation. My only point was that (in my opinion) it was not good judgement for the track control to put a car out as I was rounding T12. In general, you do not want to lift at the exit or be WOT and pinching the turn off. Bad things can happen.

Jdog35: As for how fast you were going, it was definitely better that you did not try to drag race me out of there considering the timing of when you were put on the track.

Point allowing that car to go when you were just rounding turn 12 was not a good call at all. They usually do a better job than that.

Lifting coming out of turn 12 can have some very nasty consequences for some cars (like my old S2000). Can you say "snap oversteer"? I knew you could :)

Looking down the front straight through your passenger window as you pass point isn't a lot of fun and neither is trying to regain control with a side to side "tank slapper" rear end pendulum in effect while your momentum is carrying you towards the tire wall in front of the stands.

I'll bet you can guess how it is that I can describe this sensation in detail too.....

have seen you once he sent me. I always try and tuck over to the wall as best as possible on launch when someone else may be coming off T-12. I know my car isn't fast down the straights (I'm lucky to touch 125 on a perfect section), but it's what I can expect and then some from a stock turbo and no chip. I'll take care of those "go-fast" mods by next season though. Ran out of time (and money) for this year with all the routine upkeep and new tires/brake-pads for the track.

By the way, do you run a lap timer out there? I'm curious what your lap times are if you do. No reason, just general curiousity.

the corners except for those damned Elises!!! I can simply not keep up with those suckers for long! How in the hell are you rolling with them so well from what it sounds/looks like? What exactly do you have under that hood of yours that lets you eat them up like that (other than the driver's skill obviously)?

good stuff.

looks like a great day and well done on the lines around PIR ;)

sigh... it's been 2 months since i've hit the track...

You can see by the video that I'm exiting the apex just as you enter from the access area, so my car is kind of coming at you from the side. That's one instance where I'm glad my car was FWD. A RWD would not have have liked the adjustments I made there. I didn't really lift, but I held throttle and steered a bit to the right, instead of letting it all the way out.

As for your track car, think about going the route that Alan is going --&gt; toward a dedicated vehicle vs. modding out your TT. It'll save wear and tear on your daily driver and you can still have a ton of fun. The E30 racing and track community is big and friendly.

Having said that, I have what I have and it has transformed into a comparatively dedicated track car.

Timing? Well, I capture miniDV video to review what I'm doing and determine where I can improve. A side-effect is that I also can time from point to point. At PIR, I check the timing from the point I cross under the Bridgestone walking bridge (really when the edge just clears my windshield). My times have gradually dropped this year as I've become acquainted with the new engine setup. In the clear/chasing, I'm generally running 1:36 to 1:37 with the chicane in place. My best laps this event were a couple at 1:35.28, where the decimal appears to be in 30ths of a second (apparently indicating 30 fps). Not real fast, but considerably better than before the engine upgrade (~1:41).

I reckon there is probably another second or two that can be extracted with little effort if I do a better job of setting up next to the wall coming in to T10, scrubbing less speed, and sustaining some real speed into the braking zone at T12. I'm also leaving some on the table in T4 and T6. However, I'm not sure how that part of the track will be affected by the coming changes. And, truthfully, I'm not sure how far I want to reach for a few seconds -- the car is just not that fast.

An Exige S? Forget it. Those two S2000s in that group were also faster, although both are far from stock (having said that David and Alan in their S2000s were still faster, despite being stock). The STi also ran right around me. But that's as it should be and frankly the passes happened so effortlessly that they had *relatively* little effect on my laptimes (typically a couple of seconds). The main thing was: No trains, which can make these days tedious.

I caught the blue Elise in all three of the sessions run in the advanced group, although I could not get by in the second a.m. session due to letting faster traffic by while approaching him. No matter, it was great fun running in that group with all the clear laps (my main objective).

My car has a MAHLE-built, charge-air cooled supercharger (branded as a "Powerworks" product). It was designed by Cosworth Technologies before MAHLE bought CT in 2005. It was installed in Nov. 2006. I've spent this season getting used to it and am pleased with the results. It is consistent, with no power loss during sessions and holding up well to all day flogging at HPDEs. It has the "factory" Powerworks tune and so has some cushion to its top end. That's fine by me as my main thing is sustained high-output operation in preference to maximum HP/TQ. It's added about 46 percent to the HP/TQ numbers, having dyno'd at 223 HP/182 TQ to the wheels on a Mustang dyno. Those are certainly not big numbers, but definitely an improvement that I am happy to have made.

I also have a KW V3 suspension, stiffer rear antisway bar, camber plates, adjustable rear LCA, "solid" (poly) motor mounts, and many other adjustments to this car. It's explained at my car's <a href="http://home.comcast.net/~mysvtftoy/">blog</a>.

I have an aversion to the wall on the back straight which is limiting my speed entering T10.

You'll have to come out here when the new PIR configuration is in place.

TTYL.

interesting and I love the invite, thank you !

I've got one for you on this coast as well ;)

And someone reposted it to one of the forums or to the FOPIR mailing list. I cannot find it. The PIR site does not have the specifics, but apparently one of the projects for this winter involves adding a sequence of turns from T4 through T6ish. That's all that I can remember. There's a new pedestrian bridge, and other features planned, but maybe it'll just be repaving. Who knows? I can't seem to find the thing that was posted before.

away from buying a dedicated track car (for now) because I enjoy having my car capable of a track day with two hours notice (swap pads, wheels, etc.). I don't drive but maybe 3 miles to work every day, so I really don't put the mileage on. Honestly, most of my mileage in the car from March-August is at the track. I just don't drive a ton in the summer because if it's sunny, I'm on the Harley.

Maybe some day though I'll build a dedicated car, but it'd probably be a tear-down on a totalled TT that I'll rebuild from the bottom up. I love my car and the looks (I know I'll get flamed for it but whatever), and think it'd be cool to have a dedicated TT for the track. Nobody else around here does. I love having things 100% unique (much like the Carrera GT out there yesterday...OMG!!!:).

When gutted, with a cage and a single seat, the weight is not *too* bad. RWD and a <b>ton</b> of aftermarket. If I had some $$$ to continue on beyond the Focus, I think I'd head that way. However, I when the Focus is done, I believe I will return to my gardening. Probably at a relocated and smaller homestead. Maybe a little more pitch-n-putt golf. Hiking. Digital photography.

Someone mentioned on Friday that the actual repaving might not get started on time but we are the point where the rumor mill is rampant and honest facts are hard to come by....

I was stuck, so I got by with splitting 5 gallons over the day. Worked fine.

I don't usually land in Portland until 9:30 p.m. the night before the event, so you guys are not available (normally). Then in the morning, your location is a bit out of the way. That's why you meeting me at the paddock has been a huge benefit. Thanks so much. The plus to the Jantzen Beach 76 on this occasion was that it was easily accessible at the very moment I needed to get the gas. Pure luck really. One of the exotic owners (an ultra buff weight-lifting Lambo-owner) mentioned that the 76 up there had race fuel. He overheard my, eh, consternation while talking to the event organizer. We were trying to figure out just WTF had happened with Competition Motorsports (about 9:30 a.m.). I would not recommend relying on that vendor for these kinds of events. Might be fine for race day, but (based on this experience) not reliable for small-demand situations.