Subaru of America invited a member of Snail Performance to attend a private test drive at Laguna Seca to try out the all-new 2015 Subaru WRX STI. Of course, I “Travis” couldn’t pass up this opportunity to try out the new STI on one of the top road courses in the United States.

Myself and a few others in the automotive industry arrived at Laguna Seca around 8:00am after a quick breakfast and an informative briefing about the improvements on the new STI. We headed down stairs to check out the STI for the first time. My first impressions of the STI were way different after seeing the car in person. I was unsure if I was going to like the new redesigned STI after seeing all the pictures of it, but after seeing it in person I was really impressed with the new look.

The chassis was completely reworked to provide greater handling over the previous models by greater use of high-tensile steel, stiffening the chassis in key locations and suspension-mounting locations. The STI engineers also made some changes to the suspension, by upping the front and rear spring rates, bigger sway bars “24mm Front and 20mm Rear” and added a quicker steering rack “13.0:1”. By doing this the STI now has 16% less body roll and 67% faster steering response; able of pushing up to 0.96g of lateral acceleration.

Yes, I know a lot of you were not happy about Subaru not giving us a new engine but the EJ is still a great engine. They did however do some remapping in the ECU compared to the previous years. The throttle mapping is better than before, with a more responsive pedal in the different SI-DRIVE modes. It has a smoother, more low-end power unlike the previous year STI’s. The engine is still connected to a 6 speed manual transmission with Multi-Mode Driver Controlled Center Differential (DCCD), a helical-type limited-slip front differential and a TORSEN® torque-sensing limited-slip. The biggest add on for this year’s STI is Active Torque Vectoring. This system helps by applying brake pressure to the inside front wheel to help with cornering. Subaru also stepped it up by totally redesigning the cabin. I would have to say my favorite part of the cabin would be the new seats. When I first sat down in the new seats first thing that came to mind was “It’s about time”. The seats are very comfortable to sit in and the side bolsters really help hold you in place while driving the car on track. Next on the list of favorites would have to be the D-Shape Racing Style Steering Wheel. It fits in your hands very nicely and provides exceptional grip over other STI steering wheels. Other key items on the inside are: the new Multi-Function display with 4.3-in. LCD screen provides rear camera display, boost gauge display, audio, Bluetooth and climate control settings, VDC screen showing traction control operation and a vehicle self-check and maintenance reminder, you can get Keyless Access and Start, and new for the STI a Harman/Kardon  440-watt, 9-speaker system.

Well enough of the over view I’m sure you want to know “How did it perform on track?” Well I could just sum it up in one word for you “AWESOME!”  The car is a night and day difference over the prior year STI’s. As most of you know I currently own a 2012 STI so that gave me a great base line to start from when comparing new STI. On track you can really feel the many the changes the engineers made in the chassis. It only took one turn at Laguna Seca to feel the difference. Coming down the front straight at Laguna Seca cresting over the hill in 4th gear throttle pinned to the floor doing 100+ MPH. I stepped into the brakes at the #2 brake marker; first thing I noticed is the back end of the car felt way more stable under hard braking. Down shifting into 3 gear turning into turn 2 I was waiting for the car to understeer like the STI’s in the past have always done. As I was about half way into the turn, the new STI was not understeering so I rolled back into the power to see if the STI would allow it and to my amazement I was able to apply power with no understeer. Finally an STI will turn without you wonder if you will end up off track. After a few more laps I started to push the car harder on track. The STI was very well balanced and a pleasure to drive on track so much that I noticed that I was more focused on driving the track and not having to worry about the STI being unpredictable on track. The new Torque Vectoring system really helps the turn in under power; it also allows you to get back into the power way quicker. I did drive the STI with the Torque Vectoring system off and there was a noticeable difference in the handling of the car. Not to say the Torque Vectoring system needs to be on to make the STI perform at its peak even with the system off the STI can still perform outstanding on track.

Oh yes, the part you have been waiting for, “The Corkscrew” at Laguna Seca. STI managed it like a champ. When you come up the hill in 4th gear to turn 7, the car gets a little light as the suspension is unspun at this point as you come over the “Little Kink”. Just after the kink is where I got into the brakes hard and the ABS system got a little bit of a work out here but performed flawlessly. Downshifting into 3rd gear turning into The Corkscrew holding on for dear life but as soon as you see the bottom of The Corkscrew I can roll right back into the power and enjoy the ride down.

Overall impressions of the new 2015 Subaru WRX STI: I love it; the STI engineers did a great job. The Snail Performance family should have the new 2015 Subaru WRX STI in their hands very soon as we have already place an order for one. Big thanks to everyone at Subaru of America for the invite to test drive the new STI at Laguna Seca, it was a blast. Lastly, if you haven’t driven Laguna Seca you need to add it to your list of tracks to drive.

Snail Performance "Snail Racer" shuts down the Kart track at Speed Factory in Roseville. Here are some sneak peek photos from last nights shoot with Shelby Irey and the Snail Performance "Snail Racer"  that I took with my phone. Jay Canter from Jay Canter Photography is working hard on all the photos he took last night and we can't wait to see them. Also if you like the shirt's Shelby was wearing check out Rehv Clothing.

Linkage:
Jay Canter: www.HighRevPhotos.com / www.jaycanter.com

Shelby Irey: www.facebook.com/shelbyGT3

Speed Factory: www.speedfactorybyampm.com

Where to begin? Let’s go back to the beginning of May. It was like any other NASA event pre-party. Travis flew in to spend his week on the dyno while I finished making another splitter for his car. Road Atlanta was in our sights and we knew down force was going to be a major factor on the track. With a few new design ideas and yet another sheet of material, we finished up the car and headed out for Inde Motorsports Ranch. This would be the 6th Round for NASA AZ and with Inde being a high speed track; it was perfect for final testing before Atlanta. It was a full house over the weekend with not only the three Snail Cars, but also a number of our friends packed into the corner of the paddock. For Travis, he was all about the testing side of things, saving the car for Atlanta and not pushing too hard for fear of damaging anything before his 3000 mile round trip. For Markos and me, it was just another NASA AZ event, time to run as fast as we can and earn some more season points. Saturday was a blast and we each got faster throughout the end of the day. With a 1:43.724, I snagged 1st Place TT2 for the day.

Sunday everyone seemed a bit off. Travis’ was still having under boosting issues not being able to make more than 21lbs of boost. When competing against other 600+ hp cars this just doesn’t cut it. I went out for my first session having trouble making a solid right turn. Come to find out, there was a screw in my front left tire which scared me as turn 3 off the runway is a right hand turn at over 100mph. Markos decided to give Hoosiers a try and found a few extra seconds. Travis took 2nd place TT-U despite being considerably underpowered. I took 1st place TT2 and Markos was a few tenths from knocking the local Inde hot-shoe off of a podium position.

At this point we knew Travis’ car was not 100%, leaving it hard to justify a trip to Road Atlanta. We brought the car back to the shop that night and started working on it. We found a number of small boost leaks, but it still was not perfect. We worked into the night and in the morning until we had the little Garrett GTX3076 screaming over 600whp. Now the car was ready. Travis loaded up and left for his first stop in Texas. There he picked up Dale “Boss of the Sauce” Barnes who joined us for the race in Atlanta. Wednesday night I flew in and met up with them to get ready for the next few days. Thursday was a setup day and Friday the racing started. Taking his usual cruise laps, Travis went out and began learning the track, quickly finding that Forza does not do it any justice. Cresting turn 2 in his first session he found himself mowing the grass for the first time that weekend. In session 2, Travis began to pick up more speed with each lap. Now with a solid idea of the lines of the track, we looked forward to the following sessions to gain more time.

In session 3, Travis was determined to get a low 1:30, if not under that. He was launched as the first car in the second half of the B group and began his warm-up lap. Apparently this wasn’t a fast enough warm up lap as another driver passed him. Coming around the back straight, the same driver who just couldn’t wait became a moving road block, wasting the lap for Travis. This would end the day as after Travis made the pass and went for another hot lap, all power was lost from what we would later find out was the teeth of 4th gear exploding. Discouraged, we parked the car for a while. After some debate, Dale jumped under the car and I joined in to help. Each CV axle was fine, differentials seemed to be ok, but pulling the transmission pan, we found the teeth of 4th gear, along with the 3/4 shift fork. We spent the rest of the night cleaning out the gear box of metal shavings, gears, and contaminated oil.

Travis decided to go Honey Badger and run with a 1,2,5,6 gear box. If we weren’t going to win, we were going to make the rest of competitors work for their check. The first session on Sunday with only a usable 5th and 6th gear, Travis shaved 3 seconds from his time with his fastest of the weekend at a 1:32.6. It was here the weekend ended as in the next session, Travis tested the splitter as a lawn dart and failed miserably. That splitter has since been donated to Road Atlanta corner workers as we never saw it again.

In the end, we finished 3rd Place Unlimited AWD. We have to thank Global Time Attack for throwing such a great event as always. Also thank you to all of our sponsors for making this trip possible. From here, we look forward to the upcoming NASA events as well as Global Time Attack Pro Am in June. Yes June, two weeks from now. We should probably get started putting these cars back together.

Written by: Taylor “Dr. Koby D.” Wilson

Big Thanks all of our 2013 Sponsors:

Turbosmart USA, Whiteline US, Turbo by Garrett, LIC Motorsports, Wheeldude.com, Turbos Direct, Continental Tire, and Mothers

Facebook.com/SnailPerformance

Follow us on Twitter – @Tayloratsnail, @SnailPer4mance, @Markos_mylonas

Instagram – @Snailperformancetaylor, @PoweredbySnail, @Markos_mylonas

     It was that time of year again! Time for the Modified Magazine Tuner Shootout presented by Continental Tire! Having competed in many Continental shootouts including the Modified Magazine Shootout the past two years, we were excited to be invited back once again to compete with Markos’ 2006 Subaru WRX. The week before the event was very hectic managing customer projects while preparing each of our three team vehicles for the coming weekend. Luckily, reliability has been a key factor for us over the last year leaving only minor prep work. Changing oil, tires, and a few installs including converting Markos’ car to Cobb speed density were on the agenda. We spent every night at the shop after hours getting everything together including a new STI front end for our 2009 WRX and the fitting of Camber Tires on Travis’ 2003 WRX. The only night we left on time was to make it to the barber shop. You just can’t show up to a track event without a fresh taper and edge up.

     Anyway, Friday morning we made a quick stop at the shop and then headed to UMS Tuning, the annual host for the dyno portion of the shootout. For the second year, the shootout focused on the street car scene, but that didn’t stop a few cars from showing up with numbers well over 700hp. While exact results are not available until the magazine drops, we were satisfied with our results. Following our dyno run, we hustled off to Firebird International Raceway to setup the FAT Snail Compound. While we only field three cars, we generally close half of the paddock for our cars and 10 of our closest friends, plus their friends, and some other people we don’t know. Suffice it to say, we take up a lot of space.

    The next day started with shenanigans. Markos couldn’t keep the intercooler pipes on his car, Travis couldn’t keep boost in his, and I couldn’t keep the bumper on the back of mine. A quick run to the shop and everything was good to go for the remainder of the day, though the results had taken their toll for Markos in the Autocross event of the shootout. With only Time Attack and Drag Racing left we knew we needed solid results to finish well in the shootout. In Time Trials Travis was testing out the legendary Camber Tire’s brand tires with a built in 4 degrees of camber. I was getting used to Hoosier R6’s for the first time and realized by the third session that coming off track with 45lbs in them wasn’t ideal. (No I didn’t check pressures the other sessions, leave me alone). A drop in pressure was good for over a second and allowed me to snag 1st place TT2 in the last session of the day while chasing my nemesis in his GTR. Travis ran an awesome time but was outdone by Team Boost Medical in their Subaru powered Radical leaving him with a 2nd place finish TTU. Not all was bad however as the Radical also broke leaving Sunday wide open for Travis.

Markos stepped up huge in the Time Attack portion of the Shootout stomping a killer time which you will have to wait to see. The last event was the drag race for which the keys were turned over to Travis, who looks best in drag. Launching Markos’ car harder than it ever had been before, we had a solid finish for the last event of the shootout. Travis couldn’t get enough of the strip and brought out his own Time Attack car. In full TA trim, he ran an 11.08 with the crowd losing their minds. We ended the night with the usual shenanigans at the compound around our trailer. Everywhere you looked were Snail shirts rocking all of our sponsors. It was an awesome sight seeing them and we are always stoked on the support our friends and the race community show us.

Sunday it was normal business as usual. Travis in his 3rd session managed to edge out both Team Arizona Pain in their radical and his long time competitor Tony from UMS. Travis also took home 1st place in the UMS Tuning Time Attack later in the day. In the first timed session I put down my best time of the day taking another TT2 win.  Markos was off having his hand at FWD taking a few laps in a HC2 car. I heard he now has plans to remove the driveshaft from his car. In the end it was another Snail track weekend success taking home a total of 5 podium spots and a full magazine spread.

Written by: Taylor “Dr. Koby D.” Wilson Photo's by Kyle "Bro Photo" Lewis

Big Thanks all of our 2013 Sponsors:

Turbosmart USA, Whiteline US, Turbo by Garrett, LIC Motorsports, Wheeldude.com, Turbos Direct, Continental Tire, and Mothers

Facebook.com/SnailPerformance

Follow us on Twitter – @Tayloratsnail, @SnailPer4mance, @Markos_mylonas

Instagram – @Snailperformancetaylor, @PoweredbySnail, @Markos_mylonas

     Firebird East shutdown! That’s right, last weekend the Snail Performance team hit up Firebird East with NASA Arizona. This is the third event of the year so far for us! Got to love that west coast living. Of course because we brag so much, it snowed in Arizona just yesterday. Good news is, the weekend of racing was perfect sunny warm weather!


    I would like to take this time to mention proper planning for Markos “The Hipster” Mylonas who planned ahead and made it to both days with the team for the first time this year! ( #properplanning #Markoshashtagseverything #hashtag)

and now for a commercial break!!

If you don’t know what just happened, you are a lucky sole.

    Saturday the team broke out early for the 45 minute drive from the westside and headed to Firebird Raceway East. When we arrived we were greeted as always by Russ “The Toolbox” Whelan, and his JDM tent full of awesome! (Be sure to check out Russ’s Silvia that will be competing in the Modified Magazine Shootout next month!) With Markos now stepping up to Time Trials, we all went out for our first big bore session of the day. Travis immediately went for the TT-U jugular and set down the fastest class time for the day securing his win early. My first session set the bar for TT2 but ultimately a tired set of NT01 tires would secure 2nd place behind Wes in his GTR. Markos grabbed 3rd place in TT2 on Saturday. At least that is until we noticed Gabe of Ortega Tacos snuck a quick lap in and bumped Markos from the podium.

     Saturday night the party was at the Club Snail Trailer. As always you can find us here after hours providing hours of entertainment to all competitors. With the cooler empty, everyone headed off to get some sleep for the next day of competition. Everyone but me that is, I made a late night stop at the shop for another set of wheels with another set of takeoff tires on them. This was a great decision as the next day my times immediately dropped almost a full second. In later sessions I found more time and secured 1st place TT2. Markos ran very consistent times all day taking 3rd place TT2 before parking it behind a corner station for the day. Travis thinking he had a little competition threw on a fresh set of Hoosiers looking to better his .59.970 time. Fortunately the Porsche cup car that looked to be stealing his podium was classed wrong giving Travis 1st place TT-U. For Time Attack we lined up to take 4 laps and see what damage could be done. Rolling out in group 1 Travis and I secured 1st and 2nd place TA-C respectfully.

     Firebird East was another great event in the bag. We now focus our sights on March. March is going to be quite a busy month with four events! First is the Modified Magazine Tune shootout. This will be our third year competing in the event, this year rocking Markos’ 2006 WRX. Each year we have moved up the podium and hope to continue that trend this year. Next is NASA AZ annual one day night event!... which will be held during the daytime over 2 days? Either way it is always a great event with huge coverage, lots of spectators, and of course great racing. Don’t forget the UMS Tuning Time Attack which tags along with every NASA AZ event. Finally, March will bring Global Time Attack Pro Series round 1! We are very excited to have a GTA event right in our own backyard.
     The best thing about all the March events is they happen on the same 2 days! Combined this means we look to be on track for a possible 17 sessions over the course of the weekend! That’s a lot of track time, even more E85, and definitely means no sleep. With that busy of a schedule I think I am going to start catching up on sleep now. Until next month everyone, we will see you…ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ. 

Written by: Taylor “Dr. Koby D.” Wilson

This writeup is brought to you by #.

Big Thanks all of our 2013 Sponsors:

Turbosmart USA, Whiteline US, Turbo by Garrett, LIC Motorsports, Wheeldude.com, Turbos Direct, and Mothers

Facebook.com/SnailPerformance

Follow us on Twitter – @Tayloratsnail, @SnailPer4mance, @Markos_mylonas

Instagram – @Snailperformancetaylor, @PoweredbySnail, @Markos_mylonas

     Barbeque at Willow Ranch and Global Time Attack’s new Pro-Am Time Attack Series in conjunction with Shift-S3ctor at Buttonwillow Raceway sounds like a great way to spend a Saturday.

     As most of you know I, “Travis”, moved up to northern California due to my wife Meghan getting orders to Beale AFB. After getting settled in, we decided to make the trip back down the I-5 to attend the first ever GTA Pro-Am event with Shift-S3ctor at Buttonwillow Raceway. Not having my normal Time Attack Wrx I decided to go with “Plan B” and run my 2012 Subaru Sti. I had a good feel for the car as I just ran it at Firebird West in the rain so I figured additional seat time at Buttonwillow would be a great idea.

     First session of the day didn’t count and was meant to get times for everyone to get a grid position. I thought it would be a great time to give Paul Kuzma a ride along so he could check the track out. We took to the track and ended up with a 2:05.154, which was not too bad for just getting started. Second run of the day I went out for few hot laps and a quick swing into the hot pits to pick up Ulrik Szirka for a few laps around the track. I was able to shave 2.3xx seconds off my time running a 2.02.784, putting me in 3rd place in limited AWD with my little street car.

     During lunch, I reviewed the track in my head and after talking to Jeff Westphal I knew I could find more time in the car. The third session of the day came and I took the Sti out putting down a 2.01.945. knowing that I made a few mistakes on that run I couldn’t wait to get back out there in the next run group. Fourth session of the day came and I hit the track like a mad man giving it all I could in the little Sti. This session was my best all day! I was able to find my groove on track and laid down an impressive 2:00.743. A little story about my car and why I was happy with this time. The Sti is 85% all stock. lol Power is only around 330whp with a 20g-8cm turbo controlled by a Turbosmart IWG. Suspension is stock struts, Swift Spec-R Springs, Whiteline Front and Rear 22mm Adj Swaybars with Endlinks, and Whitelines H-Brace, while rolling on Wheeldude Rota T2R’s with Hankook RS-3 Tires. So needless to say I was pretty happy with the car for the day.

     Of course, after looking at the results I saw that I was only .072 off of 2nd place. I had to go back out for the final session of the day to see if I could find more time. On the warm up lap I was plotting my course in hope of shaving some time when I hit the Esses it was game time. Pushing the Sti as hard as I could, I made it to Cotton Corners without flaw and just as I was about to make the right into Club Corner, the car lost power like a intercooler pipe blew off. So I just coasted for a second with the car at idle. I didn’t hear anything so I just decided to call it a day as I was coming up to Magic Mountain, I heard a noise coming from the engine so I shut the car off and coasted on to the drag strip. Knowing everyone would be looking for me I got my phone out and texted Tony Szirka to tell him what happened. “I’m pretty sure I will be fined for using my cell phone on track like some NASCAR drivers LOL”

     I ended the day being towed in and with no way to get home took 3rd place. Luckily my Time Attack family did everything they could to help us out. Jason from GTA got us hooked up on a place for the car to sleep until I got a truck and trailer to come and get it. Tony, Ulrik, and Paul took Meghan and I to get a rental car to get us back home. Noah and Adam at LIC Motorsports are letting us use their truck and trailer to pick the car up and bring it home.

     I am looking forward to attending more of the GTA / Shift-S3ctor Pro-Am events in the future with the Snail Racer and the rest of the team later this year. The turnout was great, many awesome cars we there, and guys at Shift-S3ctor are top notch!

     See all you guys at the GTA Pro Series event on March 16-17 at Firebird Raceway!!

For more info on Global Time Attack and Shift-S3ctor check out the links below.
www.GlobalTimeAttack.com
www.Shift-S3ctor.com
www.Facebook.com/GlobalTimeAttack
www.Facebook.com/ShiftS3ctor

Big Thanks all of our 2013 Sponsors:

Turbosmart USA, Whiteline US, Turbo by Garrett, LIC Motorsports, Wheeldude.com, Turbos Direct, and Mothers

Facebook.com/SnailPerformance

Follow us on Twitter – @Tayloratsnail, @SnailPer4mance, @Markos_mylonas

Instagram – @Snailperformancetaylor, @PoweredbySnail, @Markos_mylonas

    Anyone that signs up to live in a place that uses hair dryers for weather forecasts in the summer, is obviously looking to escape the snow and cold climate. Unfortunately, avoiding unfavorable weather is short lived when torrential downpour ensues. NASA AZ had their second event of 2013 just last weekend. That’s right, 2 events before January is over and the east coast gets to play a match of curling with what used to be their spare tire, while we get to continue racing. With temperatures in the high 70's within the middle of the week before the next race event, we were all excited for a beautiful weekend. Mother Nature unfortunately had a better idea followed with three days of rain.
   
     On Saturday we woke up to a drenched hotel parking lot. As we pulled into the track we noticed that turn 3 had become the black sea and the entire track was covered with puddles and rivers of moving water. With nothing else to drive and no better tires than NT01 slicks, I jumped in my car and went ice skating. Travis had his 2012 STI with him which, had Subaru been smarter, would have advertised it as a boat since it was destroying the wet corners. It may also have had something to do with the fact that Travis drifts first and asks questions later. Without anything better to drive and wanting to secure some TT2 season points, one of the team’s friends loaned me their Honda Civic SI to take on the slip and slide. Loi Song and the nuts over at Sport Car Motion must be on to something because the Civic was a blast to drive. Pushing the high horsepower guys out of the way, the little Honda killed it in the wet corners. Down the straight, Vtec hit and I was like “whoa.” With the rain not letting up, Travis merked the wet track record for Firebird West and I finished in what would have been 2nd place TT2 had I declared my class earlier. Not bad considering I only lost to a R35 GTR.

    Due to poor planning, Markos wasn’t able to join in on the fun Saturday, but made it out Sunday with AD08 tires ready to splash around in his Time Trial debut. With a few laps in, Markos knocked out a 1:08.735, missing out on 1st place for the day by only .061 seconds. I planned on running in TT2 for the remainder of the season so I looked for another replacement vehicle to get a few laps in. Jeremy Ward was there to save the day in his new 2013 Subaru WRX with a whopping 400 on the odometer. While being gentle and trying not to be the first person to fly off track in his new car, I ran it around the track for a 1.12.257 which threw a couple points next to my name. Travis’ 1:13.404 was holding on to 1st place TT-U until the Radical found wet slicks and put down a 1:09.481 in the morning. A slightly drier track later in the day allowed Travis to find a 1:07.700 and take 1st Place once again.

    For Time Attack the team lined up positions 2, 3, and 4. With a mostly dry track, we did our best to stomp some solid times. Turn 3 unfortunately still had a river running through it which caused most of us to check up pretty hard. Travis on the other hand having actual grooves in his tires and floaties on his arms didn’t miss a beat and took 1st Place for the 3rd time that weekend. While showing off my drifting skills (no one cared because I wasn’t missing my hood, bumper, and or fenders) took 2nd place and Markos came in a mere .238 seconds behind 3rd place Russ “The Tool Box” Whelan.
   
    All in all it was a great weekend at the so called “Tsukuba of the West.” Driving in the rain always teaches you something new, especially on Rcomp tires. We look forward to our next event, that’s right, only 2 more weeks away at Firebird East.

Thanks all of our 2013 Sponsors:

Turbosmart USA, Whiteline US, Turbo by Garrett, LIC Motorsports, Wheeldude.com, Turbos Direct, and Mothers

Facebook.com/SnailPerformance

Follow us on Twitter – @Tayloratsnail, @SnailPer4mance, @Markos_mylonas

Instagram – @Snailperformancetaylor, @PoweredbySnail, @Markos_mylonas

    Wake up snowbirds! While everyone on the east coast is digging their homes out of 100 inches of snow, the west coast is already back to racing. Actually, we never stop racing, except December because we are broke after spending money on presents for family we see once a year but that is a different conversation entirely. The NASA AZ season kicked off at Chuckwalla Valley Raceway running counter clockwise which everyone promised was much better than the opposite and they were right. The track in this direction flows much better and is a lot of fun.

    We arrived Friday night just in time to freeze. East coast people, I don’t want to hear it. Anything under 70 and I am not a happy camper. The best part of the night was realizing about 20 miles from the track I had forgotten the keys to my car. Luckily, we have slacker friends who leave late and they were able to swoop them up on the way out of town. We unloaded cars and fired up the heated blankets hoping to stay somewhat warm during the night.

    The weekend was filled with issues for us. With new aero still being tested, Travis’ splitter cable decided it was done holding on and snapped going onto track leaving his splitter acting more as a snow plow without the snow. This wasn’t much different than the supports for my splitter giving up a session later and becoming active aero with no control. We used the lunch break to bandaid the cars. Thanks to Russ Whelan and his mobile Harbor Ace Freight Hardware he carries in his truck, the cars were ready to go back out.              

    During this session Travis’ splitter chassis mount snapped leaving half the splitter hanging once again. At this point I had to ask if teaching myself to Tig weld starting with aluminum (granted I had never welded before) was a good idea last month. I then reminded myself that the splitter survived Buttonwillow at Super Lap so it must have been Travis’ fault it broke. 

   
    Sunday came and we were still freezing but ready to drive. Travis with no other options went splitterless. With all new suspension and aero on my car, I was becoming more confident in the car. So confident in fact, I thought a detour through the dirt would be the best way to a fast lap. In reality it only tore my splitter. It seems the FAT Snail cars were in sync during the weekend. Over the course of two days we had both of our splitters quit, and managed to pop intercooler couplers during the same sessions.

    


    For time attack, I decided to try the splitterless approach, though my bumper doesn’t hold on as well as Travis’ without a splitter. After 2 hot laps the bumper was still there and Time Attack was over. Apparently the only thing that had kept my bumper on was air pressure. When I slowed to enter the hot pits the bumper fell to the ground being pushed and within a few seconds found the underside of my car, well half of the bumper did anyway. The other half torpedoed forward at the timing tower. Travis on the other hand, decided he didn’t need a splitter and ran a 1:52.017 good for 1st Place TA-C. My 2:00.791 was not at all what I was looking for, but enough for 3rd Place TA-C.

Want to thank all of our 2013 Sponsors for a great start to the 2013 Racing Season:

Turbosmart USA, Whiteline US, Turbo by Garrett, LIC Motorsports, Wheeldude.com, Turbos Direct, and Mothers

Facebook.com/SnailPerformance

Follow us on Twitter – @Tayloratsnail, @SnailPer4mance, @Markos_mylonas

Instagram – @Snailperformancetaylor, @PoweredbySnail, @Markos_mylonas