Garage Heroes In Training

Latest Episodes:

GHIT 0059 Wendy from Porterfields - Everything About Brakes and More Aug 15, 2019

Show notes

Wendy Charlier has been our primary contact at Porterfield's since we started our team and has been with the company 20 years. Wendy has a racing background from her family that goes back many years.

Also, for those of you that are not familiar with them, Porterfield's is a private company that services all kinds of performance applications related to the braking your car and heat management, including brake pads, rotors, calipers, fluids, full brake kits etc., as well as other aspects of performance & racing like suspension components, oil coolers, starters, heat protection items, and batteries, and many others items. So if you need any brake pads for virtually any car or truck, they have them or will make them for you.

Highlights from this episode include:

Brake Pads Selection Factors

What tracks
What type of racing, historic, endurance autocross, dirt, etc.
What use
What car
What heat/temperature is expected

Rotors

Vented vs solid
Drilled and/or slotted (Hint don't cross drill if you are racing)
Slotted
One piece vs two piece
Proper sizing and selection

Calipers/Pistons

The effect of the piston size, piston quantity, and the total piston surface area

Brake fluids, types, uses, comparisons

Wendy also recommended several brake pads to choose from depending on your driving needs, autocross, sprints, HPDE/track days, road/endurance racing etc.

We also cover the brake pad torque performance and its impact on braking and brake feel
A good bit of discussion on our racing pads of choice the Raybestos ST43's
Other brands available include the Porterfield brand, Hawk, Performance Friction, Pagid, and several others from Raybestos
How brake calipers can affect brake pad selection, especially with respect to the available pad thickness

Brake Fluids selection

Dry boiling point vs wet boiling point
DOT 3 4 5 etc. (racing use DOT 4)
Frequencies and reasons to change, bleed, etc., like if it boils, bleed it …..
Hydroscopic effects on brake fluid and its boiling point depression and why brake fluid is hydroscopic
How varying local humidity levels can affect brake fluid performance
Brake fluid compressibility and its effect on pedal feel

Brake lines and selection and advantages of braided stainless steel lines

(real) Brake Ducting and cooling solutions (not using pool noodles), both neoprene and silicone, with wire reinforcement

Sizing of ducts and positioning tips on both the inlet and outlet sides

NACA Ducts and other options

Oil coolers

We also reviewed a reusable oil filter that we are absolutely dying to try.

Finally, Bill also attempted to talk Wendy off her personal cliff and start her amazing race career. We will get Wendy out racing soon.

So please join us for an excellent podcast reviewing all aspects of braking your race car. And no, brakes don't just slow you down.

GHIT 0058 Thompson 2019 Race Wrap-Up Aug 14, 2019

Show notes

This episode is dedicated to our friend Aaron Leinemann. He has had some unexpected bad medical news and a GoFundMe page has been started to assist. Please share whatever you can to assist Aaron and his amazing family. Link at the end.

On this episode, our team reviews the 2019 24 Hours of Lemons race GP du Lac Chargoggagogg(etcetera) AT Thompson Speedway in Northeastern Connecticut. We entered our Race Truck "El Jeffe" a 2004 Chevy S-10 with many Isuzu Hombre body panels and our new to us 1998 BMW E36 3-series car for our first race with it after buying it about two weeks prior. El Jeffe was updated from the former Stan Lee livery to and Avengers Endgame livery and the E36 was quickly themed in the paddock to be a Captain America car.

We review Friday practice and spend most of the episode covering the race on Saturday and Sunday. Highlights include:

New Drivers, several first timers at Thompson
Thompson track walk and review
Saturday and Sunday within El Jeffe
Saturday and Sunday in the BMW E36
El Jeffe brake issues and a potential fix and path forward to alleviate this ongoing problem.
Our 4 black flag debacle and how it impacted our position in the race (HINT not well)
Bill got to make two signs with Connor to slow the cars in the pits
A minor incident where a car came across the bow of the El Jeffe and removed moist of the front end facia
Saturday night's Potluck Dinner hosted by the Three Pedal Mafia team for Stuntin' and Explodin' fest
We show our exceptional math skills several times this episode
Team awards for the weekend
Hella Sweet or Butt Terrible idea of the week
To do's and improvements for our next race
Radio and Helmet communication issues
Then things devolved from there

Aaron's Go Fund me link:

https://www.gofundme.com/calling-all-racers-support-a-teammate-in-need?pc=tw_dn_cpgntopnavlarge_r&rcid=r01-156579899205-2044fc655aa44466&utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=tw_dn_cpgn

GHIT 0057 Peter Krause on Using Data to Improve Your Driving Aug 06, 2019

Show notes

We were honored to have internationally renowned racing coach Peter Krause join us for an introductory discussion of data collection and analysis to improve your track driving while minimizing the addition of risk. The conversation was exceptional and covered a wide range of areas and topics. Some of the highlight areas we covered include:

Data collection systems, options, and comparison
What to use, how to use, and several options for how to analyze the data
His virtual track walks with Ross Bentley, especially the Road Atlanta Vicki, Alan, and Bill studied prior to our race at Road Atlanta last December
We also discussed the use of Video to compliment the data and several ways to get to intelligent video which includes the track video with several displays of the data
Several stages of progression in data collection and analysis
Predictive lap times and the use and implications in car
Keys to breaking through stagnation and plateaus in driving
A simple and clear delineation between good and great drivers
Several different ways of presenting the data including tabular formats, strip charts, and colored maps which can aide in the use and interpretation of the data collected.

We also cover several of the more popular commercial systems including:

Race Monitor app
Harry's Lap Timer
Aim's Solo, Solo 2, Solo 2 DL, MXM, and MXL
GoPro Hero 7
VBox Sport
Race Render
Use of OBD blue tooth dongles
Race Chrono
Porsche Precision Track App
BMW M App

Peter also recommended two books that he finds useful in introducing more detail into the use and the analysis of the data. We have already ordered our copies.

Making Sense of Squiggly Lines by Chris Brown
Practical Race Car Data Acquisition by Bob Knox

If you ever wondered what the top three key data collection parameters are, Peter shared his views as a driver coach who hopes everyone can use these three metrics to help with their self-learning.

Engine speed/rpm
Throttle position
Brake Pressure

If you have any more questions or wish to talk with Peter in more depth, he is easily contacted through his website at www.PeterKrause.net and please pay special attention to his websites area on Track Wisdom.

Other references we also recommend include:

AIM sports YouTube channel

Race studio Analysis

And of course, the Virtual track walks Peter made with Ross Bentley that are available on the speed secrets website.

We can't wait until we can go into a bit more depth with Peter after we utilize his wisdom in our coming races and HPDE's.

GHIT 0056 John Santiago of NASA Great Lakes - Guest Driver and Instructor Aug 02, 2019

Show notes

On this episode, we were happy to have the lead instructor of the NASA HPDE group that Bill attended a few weeks ago. We tried to cover John's background, NASA Great Lakes teaching philosophy and approach. We think this is one of our best episodes yet and hope it serves to get at least one of you to go out and try performance driving. We would love to see you at the track. Please make sure to say hello

GHIT 0055: Capri Project and Post NASA HPDE Review Jul 23, 2019

Show notes

For our main topics, Alan, Vicki, and Bill go over where we are with the Capri resuscitation progress and Bill's recent NASA HPDE event at Pitt Race. Additionally, we talk about a how Alan's Yankee ingenuity has "helped" in mocking up the Capri build, his "free" source of "new to us" metal, wheel spacers.

We also have a detailed explanation in how to alleviate the potential pressure involved with having a racing hobby and any potential friction that may cause with your significant other.

And, yes, we may need an intervention to get the Capri to Thompson. Anyone free and/or bored want to meet in CT?

We are trying new software so please let us know what you think, etc, especially nice would be to leave a podcast review from wherever you subscribed. Thanks again.

GHIT 0054: NASA HPDE Day 1 in Review Jul 21, 2019

Show notes

Bill reviews how his first day with NASA Great Lakes went at Pitt Race. It was hot, but the instruction in the car and in the classroom was excellent. Chris was able to be his instructor. The day ended with another few laps on the kart track. An excellent day one. Really looking forward to day 2.

GHIT 0053: The Night Before NASA Pitt Race HPDE Jul 20, 2019

Show notes

Bill is going solo this weekend but going to cover what he is expecting at the HPDE event with NASA Great Lakes at Pitt Race. Having raced here earlier this year, it may have helped, but we shall see. Hopefully the brakes will not catch on fire this time. Bill is driving a 2017 Toyota 86 TRD this weekend for the third time ever on a track. And hopefully home after Sunday, lol.

WOOT 0052: Spiderman Far From Home Review Plus some Jul 14, 2019

Show notes

On this episode, Benny and Bill review the most recent Superhero movie Spiderman Far From Home. We also cover the entire Spiderman movie history including the three Spiderman movies, the two Amazing Spiderman movies, the most recent two Spiderman "Home" movies, as well as Venom and Into the Spiderverse. Our discussion also includes a deep dive into both end credit scenes and their implications moving forward.

GHIT 0051 Randy Pobst - Special Guest Racing Driver Jul 12, 2019

Show notes

Randy Pobst is a well known professional racing driver for many series, organizations, and manufacturers including the testing driver for Motor Trend on the endlessly entertaining "Head to Head series" for many years. During this interview, we cover a good amount of Randy's extensive racing history as well as many other topics including our Lucky Dog Honda race car and front wheel drive car setups in general.

Unfortunately, we missed a great discussion on the importance of tires due to a microphone failure. Tires are the first thing Randy recommends toward improving your track performance, followed by brakes, then reliability improvements. We also took this opportunity to discuss with Randy what he would recommend in terms of driver improvement, including key driving skills, weight transfer, and controlling the weight management. He offered many insights during our talk, but one we had not applied yet was to "Think power out of a corner, brake into a corner and then roll onto the power to go fast".

We were in the pit area with a lot of background noises, as well as one microphone failure until about 24 minutes in, when we were able to fix one of the microphones so please bear with us, some of this information is incredibly valuable. We apologize for the higher background/hiss than we would have liked. We hope you enjoy the episode. Randy is a great driver, but an even better person. We would love to have him on again at any point.

GHIT 0050: Our Lucky Dog Race and Portland International Raceway - 2019 Jul 09, 2019

Show notes

Alan, Jennifer, Vicki, and Bill with a few drop ins cover our race weekend with the Lucky Dog Series at Portland International Raceway. It starts with a review of practice Saturday morning, then our 7-hour endurance race Saturday and our work to get back out late Sunday.

We compare Lucky Dog to our home series the 24 Hours of Lemons. While similar, there are differences, pluses and minuses for each, so we compare the two in the continual pursuit of the perfect low budget amateur endurance car racing.

There were a ton of great teams there, most of which passed us on Saturday as we were towards the slower end of the field.

We recorded this shortly after we completed Sunday so there is a bit of echo since we were in the pit. However, we did manage to give out our team awards for the weekend.

Racing Results for those who are keeping track at home:

Saturday: We were in 37th place when our engine went away Saturday and ended up at 41st for the day. We did not get to participate in the 2 Saturday endures due to the engine issue. Our fastest lap was 1:38.664 by our guest driver Randy Pobst, but we managed to 1:45.870 as our internal team best. (Randy was able to get to 48th fastest lap of the day and Alan's time would have placed us as the second slowest car in the 60 car field that ran a lap Saturday )

Sunday: We ended up getting on track after a long day of engine swapping and rebuilding and finished 3 laps and ended up finishing around 48th out of the 64 cars this weekend and 48th fastest of the 48 cars that ran on Sunday.

Fastest lap of the race weekend was 1:29.932 by Blue Bayou for reference to the relative performance to the field.

We came, we saw, we were conquered.

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