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The GT-R is sporting some new items since the last time I saw it run: carbon fiber front fenders, air jacks, as well as a new livery! The car appears to be vinyl wrapped in a black brushed aluminum finish. I say appears to be as as close as I could get to inspect the seams and even in the trunk the wrap was impeccable in terms of fit and finish. The car looks amazing in person.
In the trunk the GT-R has multiple heat exchangers for the transmission and rear differential. They draw in air through NACA ducts in the rear window and use blower fans across them. GT-R's are known for their propensity to overheat the drivetrain and even with these measures they are still looking for ways to improve cooling ability to these items. Also notice the fire bottle and nozzles for the systems located within the trunk.
Back in the pits we set up the Snail canopy and proceeded to try and stay in the shade while talking shop with none other than Reid Yoken from Whiteline suspension. Normally you will see Reid manning the Whiteline booth and talking product; not this weekend! Reid had his C6 out at the track for a little GTA action.
?Our friend Reid took a well deserved break from working behind the Whiteline booth to compete with his C6 Vette. Disregard the nerd in the background completely…
Tony Szirta and crew were gathering the UMS Evo and getting it ready to go out for the 2nd session. Also on grid for session two were all three of the Snail boys! Session two would see some serious action between Tony in the UMS Evo and Eric in the HRG Porsche. While it's tough to ever call a Porsche an underdog, in this case the power to weight ratio clearly favors the UMS Evo. To counter this power the Porsche has superior balance. In this session they would trade tenths and Tony would turn a 1:55.454 to Eric's 1:53.232; so far the only two cars sub 2:00 for the weekend! Also fast in the 2nd session was Will Wattanwongkiri in his Street RWD 240SX. Will would run a 2:01.520 and if I recall correctly nuke a rear diff. in the process.
?Will's 240SX was the fastest street tire car Saturday. The SR swapped S13's combination of usable horsepower and proper suspension setup allowed it to set down very fast lap times. His rear diff had other ideas though and would leave him needing to replace it if he wanted to run again on Sunday.
As this session ended the heat had completely arrived (as if it ever REALLY left) and we were all in full swass mode. The wide stances in the paddock would make you think it was the set of a bad western movie and I happened to use my spur jangling gate to approach the UMS pit area where the kiddie pool was in full swing! Covered by an EZ up and complete with a chlorine packet. While I am not sure it was up to the task of killing all of the foot funk, I had reached the point of not giving a single fuck. Frip Frops came off and in went the piggies for a soak and man was it heaven in the middle of hell! The next session was scheduled for 12:00 and I took that time to try and stay cool in the UMS camper and download my pictures. After reviewing my shots I quickly came to one conclusion; I had zero pictures of cars on track from anything other than the main straight. I also realized it was going to stay that way! There was NO WAY I was lugging my super cracker self in to the desert to take pictures of cars from another corner as I most certainly would burst into flames like a vampire in the sun!
?This is how hot it was out there. Even the “Toweliban” was soaking their rags and donning Ray Ban's. Ken Suen demonstrates how to stay “coor in da sun”. Engrish to english dictionary not included.
