SBR SCCA Blog

Here’s the August 2010 edition of the PitBoard newsletter. Enjoy! August_PitBoard

Driving the Chevy Volt

By Mark Manninen

I had a chance to attend the Car&Driver/Road&Track Arrive and Drive preview event for the new 2011 Chevy Volt on Saturday 8/28 at the Tire Rack test track facility in South Bend, IN. My friend, Bill Loring, forwarded a link for me to sign up for the event on a reservation only basis earlier in the week. Having never driven a hybrid or electric car other than a golf cart, I jumped at the chance to experience the Volt.

The weather was perfect and the cars were shiny. They had 2 Volts and 2 Chevy Cruzes available for testing. GM Chief engineer for the Volt, Andrew Farah (I think), as well as Hybrid Car.com editor, Bradley Berman, were on hand complete with multiple camera towers documenting the first impressions of the “man on the street” as they get a chance to drive the car under a controlled course layout. The course utilized the Tire Rack’s main test track as well as the employee parking area to the north of the Tire Rack facility. They had a fairly open course layout on the inner and outer track skid pad areas with a few 180 deg. turns complete with an offset along the high speed straight section to the east. The north parking area had an autocross type layout with fairly open slaloms completing a down and back layout.

My first impression was that the car seemed a bit smaller than the press photos I had seen. The body design looked good in person with the edgy trend of the newer car designs. The proportions seemed right when seen in person. It was black with chrome accents which carried over to the interior. Over all, the look was tight and athletic to borrow a phrase. It looked nothing like the Prius or other early hybrid/electric vehicles which tended to look egg shaped and a little out of proportion to the wheels. None of the Volt design said “Hey, I’m an electric car”.

Stepping into the car, the interior had a comfortable seating position and the interior finishes looked well put together. Seats were firm with average lateral support for a factory sport seat. The center control console had a lot of touch controls finished in gloss white panel designed to look very much like an Apple product. If you dig Apple Mac Books you will feel at home. As far as interior volume, I would say it is about the same size as my Mazda 6 sedan. I would classify it a midsize car. The Volt is smaller than the Accord but bigger than a Civic to give you a reference. The back has a hatch that has a fairly high lift-over height but plenty of room for lots of stuff even with the rear folding seats in the upright position.

When it was time to drive, I was joined by Brad Berman who ran me thru the start up procedures and basic controls and driving mode functions. To start, you just press your foot on brake and hit the big blue Start button. The whole interior booted up with an impressive electronic techno whoosh coming through the Bose sound system as the driver instrumentation screen and center computer information screens came to life. Brad asked me what I thought of the sound and I commented that they might want to have a sound volume adjustment on it or an option for a personalized “ring tone” option to notify of system start up. I realize it is helpful to have some audible indication the car is running since there is a complete lack of engine or motor noise.

The car had three drive modes to choose from; Normal, Sport, and Mountain. The Mountain mode is the highest power conservation mode saving battery life. The car has a 1.4 liter gas powered engine generator to extend the electric power range for a couple hundred miles. It will go about 40 miles on battery power only. We kept it in Mountain mode for our first run and switched to the Sport mode for the second run.

We hit the track for a slow drive through to get a feel for the car. I was surprised how firm yet supple the suspension felt and the overall impression was the car felt nimble. The tires were a low rolling resistance all seasons brand I failed to note on what looked to be 17” rims. They kept the wheel package reasonably light and smaller than the current trend in massive wheel sizes. This is a big plus in my opinion. We chatted a bit about the features and I gave my first impressions while the interior camera documented it all. After the first run he said “Let’s put it in Sport mode and to feel free to give it a go on the second run”. Well he asked for it, didn’t he? I told him I’ve done some autocrossing and to hold on and away we went. I took the next run at about 80% autocross speeds and I could see him grab the door handles but he seemed to enjoy my tour compared to the previous driver and he talked a lot less on the second run. Under the hard breaking I got the ABS working pretty good and he mentioned “That noise was ABS”. Yes it was. The ABS noise, in fact, was about the only noise coming from the car other than the tires. Driving a car with no motor sound made me very aware of the tire feedback sounds which was an interesting auditory experience. On the short straight coming off the outer skid pad I gave it full throttle and the acceleration was surprisingly brisk. It has a 0-60 rating of about 9 seconds but the immediate torque was what gets your attention. Maybe the acceleration seemed more impressive and surprising with the lack of engine sound or any transmission kick down at all. Now I’m wondering what a Tesla sports car would be like to drive. It gets you rethinking the whole internal combustion engine thing. This car was actually kind of fun to drive.

Post drive, he showed me the charging features and charging equipment stored in the trunk. The cord plugs into a port on the drivers side front fender and can be plugged into your home 115VAC outlet. It will take an 8 hour period for a full charge. You can also get a faster charge with the provided 240VAC plug and the appropriate outlet in your garage. They did a brief on-camera interview and asked if the car met or exceeded any expectations. I answered honestly that the car was a lot more fun to drive than I thought it would be. OK, it was not going after a BMW 3 series but it certainly held its own in the sporty midsize sedan class regardless of power plant.

The follow up survey in the hospitality tent asked if I would consider buying this car in the future. I would have to say yes, I would consider it. It was not what I expected and I would not hesitate to get more time behind the wheel of this capable sedan if the price was competitive. I understand the sale price will be in the $33K range if you factor in the $7,500 gov’t tax rebates for green vehicles. It is priced a few grand higher than an equivalent gas or hybrid sedan but this additional cost may be offset by it’s more fuel efficient capabilities. An actual real-world electric car never seemed so accessible. The future is here.

WOR Games

PDX – Enduro – Double Regional

Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course

October 15 – 16 – 17

For information: http://www.wor-games.com/

For entry forms: http://www.motorsportreg.com

A full complement of students spent the day at the Tire Rack learning the limits of their car and themselves in a safe environment. Instructors came from as far away as Ohio, Chicago, and Indianapolis to help The South Bend Region put on this vital school, originally created by the BMW club. Special thanks to the Tire Rack for their support, to UPS for providing a semi and driver for a special demonstration, and to Doug Campbell of Campbell Ford who provided lunch from Mancino’s, as well as a fearsome Raptor truck for display. Congrats to Sam Centellas for putting on a fine -and useful- event.Photos of the event have been posted on my Fotki site here and can be downloaded or prints ordered from Fotki. Enjoy.

–Lloyd Loring

SBR SCCA BOARD MINUTES                   07-06-10

ATTENDEES: Jeff Luckritz (Regional Executive), Kim Bollinger (At Large), Paul McBride (Race), Mark Manninen (Solo), William Loring (At Large),  H.C. Colwell (Treasurer), Leon Krauss (Secretary).

Approved minutes from 06-01-10.

TREASURER’S REPORT- H.C. Colwell:  Solo had a BIG income month in June along with a number of membership dues being paid and a very generous gift from Lane Automotive for our support of their MotorState Challenge put us in the black once again for this month.

MEMBERSHIP: 196

SOLO- Mark Manninen:  Very successful June 5-6 events with 91 entries in spite of the rain.  The June 19^th event had 24 entries (Fathers Day weekend) at LMC followed by the Lane Automotive MotorState Challenge on Sunday with 51 entries.  15 SBR members competed well in the July 3-4 Grissom Aeroplex Peru National Tour which had 305 entries.

RACE- Paul McBride: As of this date there are 87 National entries and 57 Regional entries representing 110 cars with potentially 20-30 more expected this week.  35% of the entries are non-GLD drivers!  We will be renting radios to be used by F&C, Medic 1 and Paul to assure good quality communications out on the track.  The remainder radio requirements will be filled by the Gingerman track equipment.  Nyloncraft Industries will be providing the Saturday evening meal.  Stewards may be assigned to work F&C due to an expected shortage of workers and an abundance of Stewards.  As of this date, the new track extension is not ready to handle off-track vehicles and as such will not be used for our Race.

STREET SURVIVAL-Sam Centellas:  Next School August 14 at the Tire Rack.

OLD BUSINESS:  June 19-20 was the Lane Automotive MotorState Challenge at Gingerman and LMC where 18 SBR volunteers worked vigorously to pull off a very successful two-day event.  Gingerman hosted about 70 cars and 51 cars took advantage of the LMC Autocross event.  Lane Automotive rewarded SBR SCCA handsomely for our efforts.

NEW BUSINESS:  The Little Hoosier 100 USAC .25 cars will take to the track at Newton Park in Lakeville July 30-31.  250 race cars could potentially show up to compete at this event!  SBR members are encouraged to assist in working this event as Hoosier Racing Tire is a generous donator of door prizes for our Bert Olson Race and our January Awards Banquet. Contact Rod Markowicz or Leon Krauss for details.  Tom Mittler memories were fondly discussed.  Tom had been an SBR member for many years before his recent passing.

GENERAL MEETING:             21 in attendance.

Respectfully submitted,

Leon Krauss
Secretary

You can still pre-enter the last SBR solo for 2010 at Lake Michigan College in Benton Harbor, MI, but you must hurry. Online registration closes Saturday at 4 PM. Just go here and sign in. Great fun awaits!

Have a teen that needs more skills behind the wheel? Know a teen that scares you out on the road? Are you a teen that would enjoy driving your car and learning some new skills at the Tire Rack? Or maybe you want to volunteer and help at the school? We all want to help avoid this from happening….

Well you are in luck because on August 14th, 2010 the South Bend Region of the SCCA will be sponsoring a Tire Rack Street Survival program. The program runs from 7:30AM to 3PM at the Tire Rack in South Bend, IN. We still have a few student spots open, so take advantage of this great opportunity. Details on the school can be found at: www.streetsurvival.org

We are in need of volunteers. We provide you with some Tire Rack swag, free lunch and the opportunity to help make our roads a safer place for everyone. If you want to help email: streetsurvival@sbrscca.org

See you on August 14th!

Jeff Loewe, a Cincinnati Region member, has offered to share his photos of the 2010 South Bend Sprints Regional and the 4th Annual Bert Olson National race at GingerMan with you. To see the Saturday photos you can can log in here, while the Sunday photos are located here. Thanks, Jeff!

Here’s the July edition of the PitBoard newsletter. Enjoy!
JULY 2010 Pitboard

Anyone planning to be at the Solo Divisional Championship August 6th-8th, drop me a line or get with Stan Jones at the next event. He will be happy to save you a paddock space with the other SBR group competitors. Maybe the group can do a cook out together Friday night like we did at the division solo event #1? He will heading down to Grissom early Friday 8/6 for the Test and Tune.  Sounds like he has new cams for his DP Miata he want s to try out!

Mark M.

solo@sbrscca.org

or call me evenings 574.271.0810

PAYBACKS CAN BE FUN

WHO:   HOOSIER TIRE

WHAT:  “HOOSIER LITTLE 100” USAC .25 SERIES RACE

WHERE:  NEWTON PARK – SW Corner US 31 & SR 4

WHEN: July 30, 31, August 1, 2010

WHY: Help us help Hoosier for all the help they give us.

There are already 250+ entrants, so an additional competition date was added on August 1^st.

CONTACT:  Rod Markowicz   574-232-4206 (leave message)

More info: http://www.usacracing.com/quarter_midgets/news_qm/2203.html

Story about last year’s race: http://www.hoosiertire.com/L100_09.HTM

The Bert Olson Nationals and SBR Sprints were a great success.  120 cars took to the track over the weekend for the five Regional Champ Series races and six National points races.  Weather steward Jeff Luckritz planned a perfect weekend of ‘not too hot’ and ‘not too wet’.

A special thanks goes out to our sponsors.  They include Nyloncraft, Inc., Campbell Ford Lincoln-Mercury, Inc., Lane Automotive, Hoosier Tire, and Tire Rack.  Your patronage of those sponsors will be appreciated.

SBR drivers of note:    Dave Dawson – 1st in FST on Saturday with a new track record
Vic Richter – 2nd in FV on Saturday
Jim Krzyzewski – 3rd on SRF on Saturday
Mike Jones – 1st in SSC on Sunday
Jeff (Lucky) Luckritz – 1st in SM on Sunday

Congratulations to them and all the other drivers at the event.

Full results can be found at the SBR website racing page.

Accolades go out to the many workers who made the event happen.  They are all volunteers and without them we couldn’t make it happen.  A great Saturday evening party included a Polish Buffet sponsored by Jim Krzyzewski and Nyloncraft.

We look forward to next year.  Have a safe remainder of the season.

Paul McBride
SBR Race Chairman

The Bert Olson National and South Bend Sprints Regional Champ Series results are now online at sbrscca.org. Follow the link below to view the PDF files.

Bert Olson National and South Bend Sprints Regional Champ Series results

If anyone has pics to share, please let me know. I’ll post them.

From Velma Boreen and Marlene Obenour, GLDiv Solo Series Co-Chairs:

The 2010 Solo Season is quickly making its way towards the Great Lakes Divisional at Grissom Aeroplex in August!  If you haven’t registered yet, there is still time.  Online registration is through MyAutoEvents.com or you can print off a hard copy of the entry form found on the www.soloseries.org website in any of the bulletins, fill that out and send a check to the registrar, Lorien Feighner.  All of the information is on a flyer on the www.soloseries.org website.  Registration without a late fee is available until August 1^st and then the late fee will apply after that date.  Register early – register often!

We have some exciting things going on again this year at the divisional.  Once again, we will be offering a test and tune on Friday from 9 am – 3 pm.  Check the flyer for details.  Of course, Tire Rack is our major sponsor and they are helping out in two different ways.  The first is that there will be twenty-$50.00 “Tire Rack Bucks” cards that will be given out at the trophy presentation on Sunday afternoon.  These will be given out for a variety of reasons and you must be present to win!  Tire Rack will also be helping out with breakfast each day.  We will have fruit, pastries, coffee and juice available each morning so if you get out of your hotel too early to stop for breakfast, we will have something to get you through the morning both Saturday and Sunday.

We will also be having a free lunch on Saturday – Subway will be the menu for lunch and those of you that require/request something veggie, we will accommodate you on that as well.  We ask that you patronize the local restaurants on Saturday evening.  There is a good variety in both Kokomo and Peru

Hoosier Tire and Jeff Spear have once again agreed to help out with the Hoosier Tire Raffle!  This has been extremely popular at the last few divisionals – who among us can’t use new tires!?

SPS, the official merchandiser for SCCA, and a major sponsor for the Great Lakes Solo Series, will be there with their trailer.  They also supply the trophies for the series and for the divisional.  Ron VerMulm has indicated that he will be attending our divisional and will be able to offer tire service to anyone that requires it.

Register now for the divisional and we’ll see you at Grissom in August!

The Bert Olson National and Regional road races this weekend will be using the OLD TRACK CONFIGURATION. The new configuration is not yet ready for SCCA events.

Hundreds of folks from all over met at Three Rivers, MI in and around the “Boat Barn” to celebrate the life and passion of a remarkable man, Tom Mittler. I was privileged to be invited and shot a few pictures that can be seen here. The fly-bys of four WWII fighters was a moving moment. No speeches, just stories told and memories shared. While we had seen part of Tom’s car collection twice, this was the first chance to see his boats. SBR presented a certificate in honor of this member.

Lloyd

Solo Year-to-Date points have been updated on the website. See where you stand in your class, and on the Tire Rack Index, Novice Index, or Ladies Index.

Year-to-Date Solo Points

As usual, let me know if there are any errors.

It’s almost half-way through the 2010 season and to date we have listed points for 73 of our SBR members, or about 1/3 of the 224 total. Of these just 14% attended a meeting of some sort (usually no more than 10% come to a monthly meeting) and about 17% have earned points at a solo. 15 worked the Street Survival and 17 helped with the Lane event at GingerMan. No points for our race yet, but that will come July 10-11. Points are posted on our website and are in PDF form that must be enlarged about 400% to be readable. If you see any errors, let me know.

Lloyd Loring

Tire Rack needs your help. They are in need of several driving instructors for their July 10th Street Survival event.

If you can help out, please contact Sue Blasko at Tire Rack.

1985 Porsche 944, Guards Red exterior, black interior, 102,000 mi, manual, 2 sets of tires (winter), includes shop manuals. Asking $3,500. Located in Mishawaka. Call Jack Hofferth Cell 574.315.2815