New Guy Fancies Himself A Race Driver

[MoreInk]

Hey guys-

I'm a full time professional formula car driver with the F2000 Championship Series with my team SMR

(for verification, here are some youtube videos from VIR this season as well as some more personal ones from Mosport last season:

[YOUTUBE]zbiD5C-Y5as[/YOUTUBE]

[YOUTUBE]pakc9fTFypY[/YOUTUBE]

[YOUTUBE]XVDmuA8sPt4[/YOUTUBE])

Anyway, now you know a bit of my background, I am in the process of ordering a Monaco White 2013 Genesis Spec-R 2.0t. I am getting rid of my 2000 Trans Am and decided I wanted a new car, one that I could put the first miles on. I have always had a love of cars, especially fast ones, my first (street) car was an RX-7, and through the years I've had many more including a turbo '88 that made 403whp with a garret t3/4 turbo set up. Other cars include a host of BMW's, trucks and various other toys.

Long story short, the Genesis isn't nearly the fastest car I've ever gotten behind the wheel of, or even in the top 10, but what sold me was the value. 274 horsepower for under 30,000$ and RWD. I can't stand FWD or AWD, probably because of my background and the fact that I also sell myself as a private performance driving coach, and those other drive train layouts don't work nearly as well in a class room performance setting. It really is a wonderful deal for the money, and is an absolute pleasure to drive from what I've seen during my hour or so behind the wheel today on the test drive. I've also developed a huge longing for the old days of my turbo rx7's so I was very enthusiastic about the 2.0t over the (perhaps) bigger and beefier 3.8.

Anyway, I can't wait to meet you all and hopefully share the knowledge I have with you all and gain some new.

Cheers!

-Tim

(I solemnly swear I will never sign another post, ever. )

 

[Southern Boy]

Welcome to the blog.
It is going to be interesting reading your postings and options since you drive for a living.
All of us here are car enthusiasts and some of us old geezers still remember the muscle production cars of the 50’s and 60’s.
The ground shaking fire breathing beasts that I thought where gone forever when all the emission controls came about.
I felt sorry for the next generation, who would never experience those type of machines, but technology has made great strides to bring some of that back.
It amazes me that Hyundai can get the performance and HP out of these engines, using regular grade gasoline.

 

[EXBMWGUY]

Welcome to the blog.
It is going to be interesting reading your postings and options since you drive for a living.
All of us here are car enthusiasts and some of us old geezers still remember the muscle production cars of the 50’s and 60’s.
The ground shaking fire breathing beasts that I thought where gone forever when all the emission controls came about.
I felt sorry for the next generation, who would never experience those type of machines, but technology has made great strides to bring some of that back.
It amazes me that Hyundai can get the performance and HP out of these engines, using regular grade gasoline.

Amen.

 

[MoreInk]

Welcome to the blog.
It is going to be interesting reading your postings and options since you drive for a living.
All of us here are car enthusiasts and some of us old geezers still remember the muscle production cars of the 50’s and 60’s.
The ground shaking fire breathing beasts that I thought where gone forever when all the emission controls came about.
I felt sorry for the next generation, who would never experience those type of machines, but technology has made great strides to bring some of that back.
It amazes me that Hyundai can get the performance and HP out of these engines, using regular grade gasoline.

Those are actually the cars that I love, my all time favorite the 1969 Olds 442.... my Trans Am is on my dream car list as well, and I was able to scratch it off pretty quickly. All aluminum small block 350 with aluminum heads and 6 gears of joy. I absolutely love that car, and I've kept it the longest I have ever had a car, 4 years now. Before her I never had a car longer than 6 months, I tend to get bored very quickly. The difference and one of the reasons I chose the Genesis is because it's nice looking and there is going to be a LOT of modification potential int eh near future that will keep me occupied and entertained with the car.

Like I said I was also pretty happy with the dynamics of the car on the test drive (especially the Brembo brake package, which I knew would be good since it's Brembo but was still pleasantly surprised) and the handling is good. It's got a little too much understeer but I'm betting with the camber bolt for the front suspension it can be tweaked. (They wouldn't let me play with it on the test drive.) Worst case is a set of adjustable coilovers when the time comes. The other big incentive is the price for me. I have a truck for the winter and my Pontiac for the summer, but I can now sell both and have one vehicle I can drive through the winter and still sporty enough to enjoy driving in the summer. It will simplify my life that much more.

 

[MoreInk]

I finally ordered the car and picked it up yesterday, however I went with the base because it is apparently next to impossible to find a Monaco white r-spec. I am still very happy with the car, and now I don't feel so bad wanting to mess with it. Modifying the r-spec feels like it would have been sacrilege in some way.

The transmission is nice, I don't know what people were complaining about, I saw a thread saying first gear was sometimes hard to downshift into while rolling, but heel-toe rev matching apparently is the remedy because I haven't had any issue.

The clutch is a little bit tricky, but I find it's not because the clutch itself is tricky but because there is a delay between throttle blips and engine rev response, so I often let the clutch before the RPMs have risen from idle at all, and that makes it hard to be smooth at first.

Pedal placement is perfect for pedal strattling to rev match, the steering is nicely weighted, responsive and communicative. The trunk is enormous. The only real complaint I have is an aesthetic one and very small, the fake hood vents up close are incredibly cheap looking, but great from farther away. They will have to go ASAP.