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Emre
01-16-2005, 09:26 PM
Hi everyone,

Andrei and I left for Sebring Friday afternoon to attend the PBOC Winterfest event. Along the way, we'll be making stops at the Tail of the Dragon at Deals Gap. We're documenting the trip with a road diary, photos, and in-car video.

Please check this post for daily updates.

Emre

Emre
01-16-2005, 09:30 PM
EMRE (14/01/2005: 5:05 pm)

I managed to skip out on work at lunchtime. I think I made a clean break and hope no one will notice I’m gone until I’m out of pager range. The drive down to Place des Armes to pick up Andrei should have been uneventful, but it almost curtailed our long-awaited road trip before it began. I got squeezed by a city bus on one side and a rubber-necker in a Subaru on the other. The Suby driver was so busy checking out the Evo, he almost plowed right into the side of the car. Looks like the old driver’s school warning that you should look where you want to go because the car wants to go where you look is true after all.

Andrei had mapped out what promises to be the quickest, least trouble-free route from Montreal to Miami. It looks like starting with Route 81 and joining Interstate 95 somewhere well south of the Mason Dixon Line will provide more traffic- and trooper-free driving than just following I95 the whole way. At least that’s what we keep telling ourselves. The real reason might have something to do with the fact that following Route 81 South just happens to bring us awfully close to highway 129 at Deals Gap. This fabled ribbon of mountain road stretching between Tenessee and North Carolina somehow manages to pack in 318 corners into just 11 miles and has become known as the “Tail of the Dragon.” How can we resist?

We left Montreal and quickly tic-tacked from Route 20 West to 13 North and onto 40 West. We merged onto the 401 heading southwest and took the Thousand Island crossing into New York state.

http://bmwquebec.ca/gallery/files/1/leaving_montreal_--_winter_scene.jpg

So far the trip has been better than anticipated. The weather is warm and skies are clear. No rain or snow so far. We’ve only gone about 190 miles, but the Evo is already in need of fuel. A smallish 42 liter tank, hungry turbo, brick-like aerodynamics, and sprint gearing are not exactly the recipe for a long-legged highway cruiser. At least the whining from they drivetrain has stopped (for now).

http://bmwquebec.ca/gallery/files/1/leaving_montreal_--_thousand_islands_bridge.jpg

Emre
01-16-2005, 09:31 PM
EMRE (14/01/2005: 5:32 pm)

We're approaching Syracuse and Route 81 has opened up to three lanes with generous shoulders. The plan is to avoid Friday afternoon rush hour by skipping around the circumference of of the city on 481. So far so good.

Emre
01-16-2005, 09:32 PM
EMRE (14/01/2005: 6:50 pm)

Just awoke from a short nap to find we're in Binghampton, NY. Probably should have kept sleeping. Andrei's been keeping himself interested by trying to maximize fuel efficiency. He's managed 150 miles out of half a tank, which is a hell of a lot more impressive than I've ever been able to manage. Must learn patience.

As we approach Pennsylvania, we pass an E12 Funfer with Euro bumpers. Nice looking car. As for our car, I'm happy the whining is gone for now. I mentioned that our trip was almost over before it began thanks to a rubbernecker in a Suby that almost sideswiped us before we ever left the island of Montreal. In fact, our trip was almost aborted a week earlier.

On Saturday evening, I noticed the Evo making an ominous whining noise under acceleration. I recognized the sound as the same one that my old 1990 E30 325iX made when the bearings in the rear diff were shot. I took the car to Cite Mitsubishi on Monday and the techs quickly diagnosed the problem as a faulty transfer case. This was potentially a major disaster considering we planned to leave on Friday afternoon. The Evo is not sold in Canada and has a completely different drivetrain compared to mainstream Lancers. A couple of phone calls confirmed my fear that the transfer case and associated parts were not available in Canada. Our chances of getting the car ready on time were looking pretty slim.

Amazingly, the Cite Mitsubishi crew was able to locate a new transfer case in New Jersey, have it express mailed the same day, and began working on the swap Tuesday afternoon. At 5 pm on Tuesday, I received a call from the service manager informing me that the work was done and I was free to come by and pick up the car. All the work was covered under warranty and the Cite crew even performed a minor recall for a faulty thermostat relay while they were at it. Despite formidable obstacles, they got the work done perfectly and way ahead of schedule.

It's funny how people bash Mitsubishi for their alledgedly poor after-sales service. I've been driving BMW's for over twelve years and have had countless encounters with BMW parts and service departments at dealerships all over the northeastern USA, Quebec, and Ontario. I can honestly say that I have never experienced better service than I have at Cite Mitsubishi.

Emre
01-16-2005, 09:33 PM
ANDREI (14/01/2005: 8:49 pm)

Finally had a chance to drive the Evo. Quite different from what I usually drive (E46 M3 and B6 S4). Just thinking about turning makes the car change directions. I do miss the cruise control. But then what kind of an adventure would it be if it had one?

Emre forgot to take any music CD's. No problem. I took some stuff off my iPod onto my notebook computer and burned a rewritable CD. Surprisingly the head unit did not complain and started playing. Sweet!

Emre
01-16-2005, 09:34 PM
EMRE (14/01/2005: 11:30 pm)

A Comfort Inn in West Virginia doesn't exactly sound like the ideal place to spend the night, but we're tired and it's looking pretty inviting right now. The fact that the parking lot is well lit and adjacent to a state police station is a big selling point, as I'm a little paranoid about losing the car, not to mention a couple of thousand dollars worth of wheels, tires, and tools. We roll into a spot just in front of the main door.

The plan is to wake up early and try to make Deals Gap by around 3 pm tomorrow. That way we should have plenty of daylight left to enjoy a couple of runs up and down the Tail of the Dragon. Must remember to charge the video camera overnight.

Emre
01-16-2005, 09:35 PM
EMRE (15/01/2005: 10:08 am)

The continental breakfast promised by the Comfort Inn turned out to be nothing more than some donuts, dry ceral, and a couple of waffle irons. Judging by how our waffles turned out, it's pretty clear than neither Andrei nor I has any Belgian ancestry. We left the hotel at quarter to 8 am, about 15 minutes ahead of schedule.

Andrei is driving this first leg and we're lucky to quickly fall in line behind a Nissan Sentra with Virignia plates travelling at just over 80 mph. We follow our rabbit for the next hundred miles or so before he turns off the highway. We've gone about 160 miles so far this morning (which isn't bad for a couple of hours driving) and the roads remain dry and clear. As I'm writing this, a Saturn is quickly approaching in our mirrors. Might we have found our new rabbit? We're exactly 800 miles from our starting point at Place des Armes. At this rate, we should have no problems reaching Deals Gap by 4 pm this afternoon.

Emre
01-16-2005, 09:36 PM
EMRE (15/01/2005: 4:49 pm)

Driving through Tenessee has been the highlight of the trip so far. State speed limits are 70 mph, but everyone was cruising comfortably in the 85-90 mph range. We made it to Deals Gap quicker than expected. We stopped at a little mom and pop restaurant called “The Home Place” just at the start of the park. I've never actually seen anyone with “LOVE” and “HATE” tatoos across his knuckles before. Our waiter is either a huge Robert Michum fan or has spent some serious time in the pen. A lady at the counter actually said, “you boys aren't from around here, are you?” Despite a script that seemed to be one part Cape Fear and one part Texas Chainsaw Massacre, the atmosphere was definitely welcoming. The down-home style porkchops with deep fried sweet corn balls and cornbread were as tasty as they were artery clogging. Even the coffee was good.

http://bmwquebec.ca/gallery/files/1/the_home_place_restaurant_02.jpg

We set up the video camera in the fantastic little mount built for me by Lee Vuong (more on that later) and set off to tackle the Tail of the Dragon. The car is loaded to the gills and we're running on Dunlop DS-1 Graspic snow tires and well-worn street pads. The road is unfamiliar and potentially dangerous. I think I'll be taking it easy!

We came to an initial high-speed section that could be driven comfortably in 4th gear. Without realizing it, I allowed my speed to creep up to close to twice the posted limit. We passed an STi (blue, of course) coming in the opposite direction. He gave us a little wave and we waved back. It would have been nice of him to try to signal that there was a state trooper hiding behind some bushes just some 100 meters or so down the road. Thanks, buddy! Luckily, I spotted the cruiser just in time to bring my speed down to a more reasonable level. Lesson learned. A few miles later we entered the mountain itself.

The Dragon was very lightly trafficed. There were a handful of pickup trucks traveling in the opposite direction, but our side was completely free...and it's a good thing, too, since there are basically no passing zones once the twisty stuff really gets going. The road was narrow, but the asphalt was grippy and nicely marked. If you don't think about the sheer drop-off to the right, the trees inches from the road, and the on-coming traffic, you can really have some fun.

http://bmwquebec.ca/gallery/files/1/the_dragon_08.jpg

http://bmwquebec.ca/gallery/files/1/the_dragon_07.jpg

About half-way through the park, we came upon a rescue vehicle pulling a motorbike out of the ravine. The rider appeared to be shaken (and maybe a little stirred) but unharmed. We stopped to offer assistance, but we were assured that everyone was OK. Sobered by the spectacle and considering our overheating snow tires and grumbling brakes, we naturally dropped our pace to a more sensible level. Entering North Carolina, the road surface became much more rough. We stopped to change drivers and check out our video. It looks pretty good so far. We'll post it as soon as we can.

http://bmwquebec.ca/gallery/files/1/the_dragon_03.jpg

Our little detour through Deal Gap probably added at least a couple of hours to today's leg of the trip, but it was definitely worth it.

Emre
01-16-2005, 09:37 PM
EMRE (16/01/2005: 9:15 am)

Yesterday's mountain roads took their toll. Andrei and I were both pretty wiped out by the time we checked into a hotel in Tifton, just a few miles south of Macon, Georgia. After a beer and a short episode of Initial D Stage 4, we were done for. It's no surprise that we're getting a late start this morning. It's already past 9 am and we've only gone about 50 miles. Of course, we did have to stop a few times to look for Lee's pecans.

I promised Lee I'd pick up a bag of paper shell pecans. Apparently, it's a Georgia specialty and we didn't expect to have any trouble finding some. After all, Lee told us that they should be available at every gas station in the state. It hasn't quite worked out that way! No one seems to know where we can find any. We'll keep looking.

Emre
01-16-2005, 09:37 PM
EMRE (16/01/2005: 9:30 am)

It's barely 5 miles from the last place we looked; the place where we were “informed” that there were no more pecans this season. And here we are: paper shell pecan paradise. Picked up a nice 5 pound bag and we're off. We won't stop again until we hit the Floridas Turnpike.

http://bmwquebec.ca/gallery/files/1/pecans_elevated.jpg

http://bmwquebec.ca/gallery/files/1/pecans_rear_quarter.jpg

Emre
01-18-2005, 12:53 AM
EMRE (17/01/2005: 11:00 pm)

I didn't make a journal entry yesterday. I've been enjoying Miami too much, I guess! Let me back up a step and tell you how we got here.

The last leg of the drive was the quickest by far. Shortly after we left Big Rosie's house of pecans, we left Georgia. Once we entered Florida, the average speed seemed to jump by at least 10 mph. We were lucky enough to catch a whole bunch of rabbits without any trouble.

The first was a group of three in a Cadillac CTS. The driver seemed to be auditioning for The Fast and the Furious 3. We had to let him go as we entered the Florida's Turnpike since we were running low on fuel and needed a quick stop. Soon enough, we slotted into a high-speed convoy consisting of a Chevy Tahoe, an E46 330i, and a Honda Accord. Speeds were in the 90-100 mph range; the last 275 miles to Miami blew by in no time.

http://bmwquebec.ca/gallery/files/1/andrei_driving_in_florida.jpg

http://bmwquebec.ca/gallery/files/1/andrei_driving_closeup.jpg

Once we hit South Beach, we settled into the hotel, and hit Ocean Drive for some dinner and a drink. We were lured into an overpriced seafood joint, but the wine wasn't bad and the Mahi Mahi was pretty good, so it was a success overall. Andrei got busy snapping some very cool pics in the Art Deco district. We walked around a bit, then called it a night.

Emre
01-18-2005, 01:18 AM
EMRE (18/01/2005: 12:35 am)

It seemed that my new mini dv camcorder crapped out after the Tail of the Dragon. At least we were able to get some nice in-car footage of our run. Andrei was in the market for an in-car camera for his E46 M3, so he figured now was as good a time as any to invest in one.

We woke up early Monday morning and had a light breakfast at the hotel. We decided to drive up to Fort Lauderdale today to check out the beach. We took the slow and scenic route along the A1A. Along the way, we found a BestBuy and Andrei picked out a nice Panasonic camera. We continued on towards the beach, but not before making one more stop.

After over 2000 miles on the road, the Evo was looking pretty sorry. We were in sunny Florida and on our way to cruise the beach...the salt and road grime would have to go! We couldn't find a proper hand car wash, so we eventually settled for a scratch-o-matic:

http://bmwquebec.ca/gallery/files/1/evo_in_the_scratch-o-matic.jpg

Ahhh...that's better. We parked by the beach, walked around a bit, then popped into a crab shack for some cold beer and a leisurely bite before hitting the road again. We were hoping to check out some exotic car dealerships. I remember there being quite a few in the Fort Lauderdale area, including one that had a gorgeous BMW M1 with ProCar style fender flares. But it has been a couple of years since I've been to this area. We weren't able to find anywhere interesting this time. Time to make our way back to South Beach. We took I95 this time as it was getting close to rush hour by this point.

http://bmwquebec.ca/gallery/files/1/big_pimpin.jpg

admin
01-18-2005, 07:44 PM
EMRE (18/01/2005: 5:50 pm)

This morning we woke up early to get the car looked after. We needed a tech inspection to be done and I wanted to get that whining sound looked at. We made our way out of downtown Miami and headed west towards the airport. Our destination was Dynamic Turbo. We arrived at the shop around 9:30 am. There were several tricked-out Supras in the parking lot. Inside, we spied the distinctive round taillights of a Skyline GTR. We'd need to check this out!

Inside, we were greeted by Humberto and we explained our needs. He arranged a quick drive with one of the techs. The news wasn't good. The tech felt that the transfer case was shot. How could this be!? We'd installed a brand-new transfer case less than one week ago! We'd need to get the car to a dealer asap.

http://bmwquebec.ca/gallery/files/4/img_1361.jpg

http://bmwquebec.ca/gallery/files/4/img_1386.jpg

But first we'd need to check out this Skyline! It turned out to be an R33 GT-R with active rear steering. The seats and wheels were aftermarket and the exhaust was a massive Blitz "Nur Spec" unit, but other than that the car appeared pretty stock. According to the boys at Dynamic Turbo, the car puts out just over 400 hp from it's twin-turbo RB25DETT powerplant. The only fly in the ointment was the dodgy home-painted finish of the brake calipers. Yuck!

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http://bmwquebec.ca/gallery/files/4/img_1368.jpg

We made our way to a dealer in Fort Lauderdale that seemed to have a very extensive service department. The tech was not convinced that the transfer case was at fault. He felt that the problem was in the rear differential. The fluid seemed ok both front and rear. Could it be possible that the techs at Cite Mitsubishi had failed to put limited slip fluid in the rear diff? Well, it is certainly a possibility. It was pretty clear that this tech was not keen to work on the car and he made it clear that he wouldn't be able to touch it this week. Not much help then, is it?

Now we need to decide what to do. It doesn't look like swapping diffs is a viable option at this point. There just isn't enough time to do it. I had a lingering doubt that maybe the correct LSD fluid wasn't put into the rear diff. I remember the tech at Cite using a generic Mitsubishi gear oil. Could this account for a noisy rear diff? Sure. One alternative seems to be to return to Dynamic Turbo in the morning to have them flush and fill the transfer case and rear diff with proper gear lube. They carry Royal Purple, which has an excellent reputation in this regard.

It seems that the most reasonable choice at this point to to try flushing and filling the two diffs with LSD-rated Royal Purple lube. Then we'll see how the car does. If the noise stops, we'll continue on towards Sebring as planned. If the noice continues, we'll need to consider other alternatives, such as renting a car for the school.

Check here to see how we do...

Emre
02-21-2005, 06:19 PM
EMRE (23/01/2005 2:20 pm)

So much has happened since my last entry. I mentioned that the Mitsu factory tech felt that the black, stinky goo they drained out of our transfer case was “normal.” Considering the t-case barely had 2000 miles on it, we weren't convinced. Turns out we were right. The guys at Dynamic Turbo had flushed and refilled our t-case with Motul gear lube. By the time we got to Sebring (barely 180 miles from Miami), the t-case was whining louder than ever. This was bad. There was no way we could expect to spend four days on the track with a bum t-case and then drive all the way back to Montreal.

http://bmwquebec.ca/gallery/files/4/img_1382.jpg

We arrived at Chateau Elan at 3 pm on Tuesday afternoon. The track looked gorgeous, We quickly registered for the event and took our place at the back of a very long line to enter the paddocks. We unloaded the car and, in a fit of wishful thinking, went ahead and bled the brakes, installed our brand-new Carbotech XP-9 pads, and swapped on the track tires. We bedded in the brakes, then made our way back to our hotel. We knew full well that there was no way we were going to track the Evo at this point, but we really didn't know what else to do with ourselves.

We were sulking in our hotel room thinking of what we were going to do. One option was just to run the car on the track and see what happens. If it blows up, then we get it towed back to the Mitsu dealer in Miami and force them to acknowledge the problem and deal with it. This wasn't much of a plan at all. Then it hit us...one of those eureka moments. Weren't there an awful lot of V6 Mustangs in the Orlando area? Who in their right mind would buy a V6 Mustang? Doesn't Hertz have some kind of a deal with Ford? Could it be that all those V6 'Stangs in the Orlando area were rentals? Wouldn't a 2005 Mustang be kinda' fun on the track? Looks like we have a new plan!

Emre
02-21-2005, 06:29 PM
Wednesday morning, we attended the 8 am driver's meeting then stuck around for a passenger lap around the Sebring racetrack. For both Andrei and I this would be our first time on this 3.7 mile long, 17 corner circuit. I slotted into the passenger seat of a very nice Dutch ex-pat in a metallic blue 996 GT3. He warned me that he was still on street tires, so he would be taking it slow. As we made our first few laps, the character of the track started to emerge. It's dominated by medium and high-speed corners. Most corners seemed to have very late apeces (some blind), all were very rough, and there were at least two braking zones that were deceptively short. This would be fun!

We hopped into our crippled Evo and made our way up to Orlando and got us a 2005 Mustang. By the time we returned to Sebring, they were already 15 minutes into the final instructor run of the day. I made my way out of the pits and into Corner 17. After only a handful of laps, my session was over. The 'Stang was comprehensively blitzed by the parade of GT3's, GT2's, and force-fed Porkers of all varieties. Maybe we had bitten off more than we could chew. We had an overweight, underpowered, underbraked, slug riding on wooden all-season radials. To top it off, we had a slushbox and a live rear axle without even the dignity of a limited-slip diff to help us along. Not exactly a Porsche killer, is it?

Emre
02-21-2005, 06:30 PM
EMRE (23/01/2005 3:00 pm)

Porsche killer or not, we sure had fun with our 'Stang. By the end of Thursday, we each had five sessions under our belts. Sebring turned out to be a lot tricker than we had anticipated. There were mutiple lines through many of the corners and it took lots of experimentation to find a fast way around. My arm practically cramped from giving point-bys all day! But the PBOC folks were very polite and we never felt pressured or crowded by the other drivers in their much faster machinery.

The Mustang was fun for what it was, but it was very frustrating at first. There just wasn't enough front-end grip to get the car turned in at anything approaching a reasonable speed. Entering a corner with any real speed would mean missing your apex by a mile and heading towards the grass. However, braking to the point where the car would actually turn in meant crawling through corners at a painful pace then waiting 15 minutes for the auto tranny to kick down to give you something approximating acceleration. It was clear that a “non-conventional” driving style was in order.

The solution was to forget smoothness and just go for broke. A few years of driving in Montreal winters with AWD cars (first a 325iX and now the Evo 8) helped me refine my trailbraking and left-foot braking techniques. Some winter driving schools taught me a thing or two about Scandinavian flicks and pendulum turns. So let's see if we can get this pony to turn...

Emre
02-21-2005, 06:32 PM
Approaching Corner 1, a fast left-hand sweeper with a very late and blind apex, I could get away with the traditional cornering technique of braking hard in the straight and trailbraking slightly to get the nose turned in followed by a quick transition back onto the throttle. Keeping my left foot over the brake pedal and my right foot over the throttle made the transitions from brake to throttle very smooth. Once the you hit the apex, you can let the car out slightly as you apply more throttle. You end up more or less in the middle of the short straight between Corners 1 and 2. The weight transfer coming out of Corner 1 helps rotate the car in the opposite direction, stretching the braking zone heading into Corner 3. Corner 2 becomes just a short kink that you drive stright across as you set up the car to brake into Corner 3, which is the first left-hander in a series of esses.

The braking zone for Corner 3 is very short and requires a lot of braking. Go in too fast and the whole sequence of esses is thrown off. I would brake hard then literally throw the car into the corner by abruptly lifting off the brakes and booting the throttle. Corner 4 is a throw-away. You need to get your car all the way to the right side of the track to enter Corner 5 properly. Corner 5 is a very critical one as it leads to a long, sweeping right-hander (Corner 6). A late apex on Corner 5 sets you up to enter Corner 6 at full-throttle. Then you never let up until the generous braking zone heading into the haripin Corner 7.

Corner 7 required more left foot work: flick the car into the corner and boot the throttle. The open diff meant the inside rear wheel would spin up and leave a nice streak on the asphalt. I would aim well inside the curbing, since the car would wash out as the power came on. The quick left, right of Corners 7B and 7C could be taken flat out and lead into the “Fangio Chicane” of Corners 8 and 9. In our car, this whole sequence was flat-out and smooth.

The wide-open section following the hairpin means we were entering “Cunningham Corner” (Corner 10) at high speed. Another brake, flick, boot the throttle entry into Corner 10 meant more tire-smoking action for the corner workers to enjoy! You'd need to apex Corner 10 fairly late to carry enough speed through the left-hand double apex “Collier Curve” (Corner 11), which leads to a quick right-hand kink (Corner 12), then flows into the tricky, curved braking zone of “Tower Turn” (Corner 13). In a grippier car, this corner could probably be taken at high speed. In our 'Stang, however, we needed to let the car out after Collier to extend our braking zone going into Tower. Once we got the car slowed (and performed another brake-flick-boot maneuver) we found that Tower could be apexed much earlier than we originally thought. An earlier apex meant carrying more speed onto the short straight leading into the very high-speed “Bishop Bend” (Corner 14).

Bishop Bend seemed scary at first, but turned out to be a lot less tricky than we first thought. There's no need to brake at all. In our car, we didn't even need to lift. Just dial in a tiny bit of steering lock, then keep the wheel locked in position and the throttle pinned through this double apex left hander. You end up charging into the braking zone for Corner 14 (by the north paddock). In the 'Stang, this was the most enjoyable corner of all. Brake hard, then trail off the brakes into the corner while smoothly bleeding on the throttle. Bump the curbing on your way past the apex and enjoy the sound of all four tires squealing and the sight of the corner worker reaching for the yellow (sure that we were about to wreck).

Coming out of Corner 14, you could allow the momentum of the suspension unloading to get the car pointed to the left for another throw-away turn, Corner 15. You'd need to run over the curbing on the inside (left) of Corner 15 to set yourself up for the next corner (Corner 16), a critical right-hander leading onto the seemingly endless back straight. To exit onto the back straight at maximum speed, we'd need to maximize the radius of Corner 16. The trick is to flow over the curbing exiting Corner 15 and actually drive off the track surface and onto the concrete run-off area to the left. This allows you to transform Corner 16 from a very late apex corner to an early apex corner and just fly onto the absurdly long back straight at full throttle.

At the end of the back straight you (eventually!) come to the very generous braking zone for the last corner on the track, Corner 17. This massively wide, sweeping, decreasing radius right-hander leads onto the long front straight. There were many, many lines through Corner 17 and we tried as many as we could. In our car, the fastest way through seemed to start with braking lightly into the corner, entering in the middle of the track and using the tires to scrub off some speed as we drifted into the turn. A light tap with the left foot on the brakes would get the car rotated a bit more in mid corner, allowing us to progressively unwind the wheel while opening the throttle wide. This technique allowed us to carry considerable momentum through the corner and make our exit without too much understeer. Once on the front straight, we would gradually move the car back across the track and line up along the right side to set ourselves up for the rapidly-approaching Corner 1.

Whew! What a lap!

Emre
02-21-2005, 06:33 PM
EMRE (23/01/2005 7:45 pm)

Once we figured out how to drive the 'Stang, we started having some real fun. We spent all day Friday blasting around the track, trying different lines, and actually managed to keep pace with some of the (slower) cars. Our speeds increased dramatically. We tried to minimize wear on the car by rotating the tires and bleeding the brakes. Even though we tried hard to save the brakes, it wasn't long before we had some serious fade. Bleeding the brakes helped to a degree, but we were running low on pad material. We figured this was just a small set-back as there were several auto parts stores and even a Ford dealership right in the town of Sebring. And, hey, we were driving a bread-and-butter Ford Mustang here...not some exotic. How hard could it be to get some pads?

Amazingly, we could not get 2005 Mustang pads anywhere. We tried an Autozone, two Advanced Auto Parts, and even the Ford dealership itself. No one had the pads! We bought 2004 Mustang pads and hoped they'd fit. They didn't. Now we were in trouble. We had one car that wouldn't accelerate and one that wouldn't stop. Two DNF's in two days. Nice.