Unstoppable Audi no more

Fans may make light of the Audi R10s trouncing on the streets of Long Beach but the fact remains the TDI diesel is one of the most advanced and competitive racing machines ever built. I won't rehash the technical mumbo-jumbo about why the R10 is such a beast of a competitor but instead I'll remind you why the Goliath of ALMS LMP1 went down so easily. The ALMS sought to partner with another racing series for whatever reason other than further promotion of the show. Champ Car was a natural match since the series races exclusively road courses albeit approximately 1/4 of them are temporary street circuits or airport runways.

As open wheel commentator Robin Miller has observed, street courses are most often "crash fests" where there is little to no passing and the guy that wins probably ran out front the entire day. However Champ Car loves to race on temporary courses because it's exciting for the fans and it allows promoters to turn a few downtown city blocks into party central. So what does this have to do with the Audi? For starters the R10 was designed for competition on the long, fairly level straightaways of Le Mans. The TDI has a power band of a few thousand RPMs and despite all of it's low end torque does not accelerate from a dead stop well and it's very touchy about maintaining traction at the rear wheels. That added to the fact that it's other major advantage of aerodynamics is partially neutered on the street courses means that the heavier R10 is at a serious disadvantage against a smaller, lighter LMP2 prototypes.

That being said the LMP2 prototypes should enjoy this victory because the next time the R10 hits a permanent road course it will be game over for the second rate class. With the exception of Detroit, Audi already has notes for all the remaining events this season. They also have the advantage of longer races that will benefit the R10's unstoppable endurance design over the quick but breaky P2 capabilities. But after all isn't tight competition what we want in American sports car racing? Sure we can't have ten cars in P1 so why not pit the two classes against one another? You know I'll be watching.

Lewis Hamilton: No Let Down

Folks that don't follow Formula One have probably never heard of Lewis Hamilton unless of course you've heard someone call him the "Tiger Woods of F1". True racers are a breed apart and over the last few events Hamilton has proven that he not only lives up the hype but rightly deserves to be called more than the first black F1 driver. McLaren boss Ron Dennis saw enough in this kid at the ripe old age of 10 that he made sure that Hamilton remained with the team and ultimate became one of his drivers. Hamilton won several karting championships, a precursor to European open wheel racing, but perhaps his greatest achievement was to be compared to the late Gilles Villeneuve by competitor Keke Rosberg who called him "totally fearless".

And fearless is what it takes in F1. So far Hamilton has netted three podiums in his first three starts, which sets a record for the World Championship. Sure he's made some mistakes along the way but nothing that doesn't cause one to reminisce about a young Michael Schumacher. It's very likely that Hamilton could win his first Grand Prix this season and even more likely that he'll win at least one F1 World Championship. The question is how far can he go and how quickly will he get there. For those of us that have seen him race the answer is pretty damn quickly.

Everybody hates Tony Stewart

I've heard Dave Despain call racers the whiniest bunch of people he's ever known. He of course caveats that by saying that when they aren't talking about racing they are the nicest bunch of guys he's ever met. He's obviously been hanging around with Tony Stewart lately. After his unfortunate bump up at Texas this past week Stewart remarked that he was tired of getting booed and that this sort of thing "doesn't make it fun anymore". Do you think that the Intimidator ever got tired of being booed? Who knows, but I do know that he didn't make quips on camera like that one. Suck it up man! It's not like they aren't paying you a million-billion dollars to go out there and cause a 10 car pile-up. Who cares! Your rich! Go out a buy an island or something and lay down the law that no NASCAR fans are allowed on it. Hey on second thought does anyone know how much a ticket is to Tony Stewart Island?

When it comes to basic car maintenance nothing hits your wallet harder than buying a brand new set of tires. On average I've paid around $400-500 for my most recent sets of tires, though sometimes you can find a deal if you look hard enough. The strange thing about buying tires is that although there is definite sticker shock you actually end up paying less per mile for tires than you do for gasoline.

For example: Say you pay $400 for tires that last about 40,000 miles. You will pay approximately 1 cent per mile for the privilege. Now assume that your car gets 25 miles to the gallon and that a gallon of gas costs $2.65. You'll average about 10 1/2 cents per mile. By a margin of 10 to 1 you pay more for gas than tires, still we don't bat an eye when we ring up $30-$40 worth of gas each time we encounter the pump.

I bring up the subject because once again it's time for new tires for the Passat. I like to do this little mental exercise each time I have to buy a new set for no other reason that to feel that the money has been well spent. As a matter of safety new tires are a no brainer as you can stop better especially in the wet. Studies on wet tracks and skid pads have shown that tires loose their grip in the rain long before the tread wears down to the indicator. From a drivability standpoint new tires will give you a little bit more grip but overall the experience is still the same. Still it's nice to know that you have a little bit extra just incase you need to conduct an avoidance maneuver or emergency braking.

Overall I feel like I get a good life from my tires especially since I'm a smooth driver and refrain from spinning or sliding the wheels. Of course I do apply some high lateral forces from time to time but only to enjoy the crisp sidewall loading and responsive handling characteristics. In other words I like to go around turns fast and living out on the fringe of the city provides no shortage of corners to feel the rubber meet the road.

I will say that the tread life of my last set of Yokohamas was subpart even though it was the best driving tire I've ever had on this vehicle. Since there is no standard for tread wear ratings, as the manufacturer determines them, I'll blame the Yoko's "AA" traction rating in part for the shorter life. Of course some blame also rests on the negatively cambered rear wheels of the Passat which tend to wear out the inside edge of tires prematurely. Oh yeah, and those turns tend to wear out a tire as well.

At any rate I've now outfit my ride with a brand new set of BFGoodrich T/As from Costco and I'll test them out on the long haul this weekend as we head down to Bald Head Island. So far they've been just as quiet as the Yokohamas at city speeds but are by far a much smoother riding tire. I'm curious to see what the cabin noise is like at Interstate speeds as the cabin of the Passat is typically quieter than most midsize sedans. For whatever it's worth I'm sure the Michelins are even smoother and quieter but I still don't see the need to spend an extra $30 per tire just for the pleasure.

Anyway, I'm still a little stoked the nice weather I enjoyed while waiting for my car along with the chance to spend some quality time breathing the smell of "brand new rubber". Special thanks to my sister-in-law who works at Michelin down in Greenville, SC who convinced me to buy the BFGs.

I almost missed out on it again this year! The Iditarod is underway right now. Check out the official site which features video clips and news items. I'm not sure if anyone is covering this on TV, so let me know if you see any dedicated programing.

From the site:

The Last Great Race on Earth

You can’t compare it to any other competitive event in the world! A race over 1150 miles of the roughest, most beautiful terrain Mother Nature has to offer. She throws jagged mountain ranges, frozen river, dense forest, desolate tundra and miles of windswept coast at the mushers and their dog teams. Add to that temperatures far below zero, winds that can cause a complete loss of visibility, the hazards of overflow, long hours of darkness and treacherous climbs and side hills, and you have the Iditarod. A race extraordinaire, a race only possible in Alaska.

The site has several cool features including an interactive flash based map, leader board and pictures. Go husky go...

I'm both looking forward to and near dreading this weekend

As I mentioned before it's time for a timing belt change on the Passat. Though I have the factory service manual for the car and my dad's shop is fully stocked with every kind of tool imaginable, there is always the chance that we could run into something unexpected.

It was only a year and a half ago that I conducted a similar procedure on the Beetle, which was well documented. Before we started on that job I had the same sort of apprehension about doing the change myself. You see while the internal combustion engine isn't very complicated, the hunk of plastic and sheet metal that surrounds can be. In other words you can sometimes find that you either don't have the tools or the necessary space to use those tools once you are under the hood. It can be very frustrating and often times leads to removal of large chunks of the car.

Luckily the VW Beetle was incredibly easy to work on, and we were able to complete the change in a matter of hours. I'm hoping that the same will hold true for the Passat, but as I said you never know until you try.

Your probably wondering why I do all of this car maintenance myself. Well, aside from the fact that it's usually cheaper, sometimes faster, and usually of better quality than most general service garages, it's also something that is interesting to me. Ever since I was a kid I've torn things apart to see how they work and the more complicated the better. I've also had a good teacher who's spent many years working on cars.

I suppose that explains a little bit of who I am, though I know some people would find it hard to believe that I have interest and talents outside of the world of bits, bytes, ones and zeros. It also explains why I like car racing, and why at the same time I refuse to call myself a fan of several series.

Take for example the 24 Hours of Daytona this weekend. Since it's become part of the Rolex series the competition has become less about the car technology and more about who has the biggest driver personality. Rolex has taken a cue from the NFL, NBA, and even NASCAR in promoting the competitors above all else. Yes, there is a human element to it but pressing the man-vs.-man element into our faces doesn't make car racing any more of a "sport".

I hate to open up an old wound here but as a friend of mine once said: In order for it to be a sport you have to not only do something to win, but also be able to do something to keep your competitor from winning. Simply put there is no such thing in auto racing except for purposefully plowing someone into a wall. In most series it's considered bad conduct and usually discouraged. Of course there are always an exception and this could explain why there are so many wrecks in NASCAR.

Now I'm not here to argue the merits of auto racing as a "sport". In all truth I believe that racing is just that, a race. There are two kinds of races: sprint races and endurance races. Both test man and machine, both are a contest of technology, strategy and resolve. Touting the next big race as Driver A vs. Driver B is ludicrous. If anything is true it's that the race is between Driver A and the track, the car, the weather, and just about anything else this side of luck and charm.

Why does this matter? Well I could ask you why it matters whether you buy an HD-DVD or a Blu-Ray player. To people who don't watch high-def movies it doesn't matter. To people who don't like cars or automotive technology racing doesn't matter. I don't think people who don't like racing are stupid, or missing the point. Hell I just figure they'd rather watch football or hockey or America's Next Top Model. It's all entertainment and everyone is going to watch what they think is interesting.

I've heard a lot of people say that they hate NASCAR. Guess what? I hate NASCAR too. But I also hate politics, yet I find myself strangely drawn to it. Perhaps I'm a masochist or just like being assaulted by stinky, uneducated slobs, and that's just the politicians. Needless to say I'll watch at least a little of the 24 this weekend, but I won't wrap my weekend agenda around it. Besides I have too much work to do which involves something truly interesting: If I can take my car apart and put it back together before Sunday night. If it still runs I'll consider the project an outstanding success. Hey, at least if I have to stay up all night working on the car I'll have some company from the television windbags.