BigMike's Forum

24 Hours of LeMons (Now Open To The Public!) => Let's do it!! => Topic started by: BigMike on January 29, 2010, 07:23:45 PM

Title: Welcome to the team Bryan!
Post by: BigMike on January 29, 2010, 07:23:45 PM
With great pleasure I welcome BryanH to our team!! It has been a good 6 or 7 years since I last saw Bryan and it was a real pleasure meeting him again after all these years.

Bryan is doing very well & lives near Cedar & Sierra. I look forward to hanging out a lot more and catching up on old times!! Glad to see ya again buddy! Check these out:

(http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/ww46/rakudasama/MR2/MVC-228F.jpg)

(http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/ww46/rakudasama/MR2/MVC-270F.jpg)

(http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/ww46/rakudasama/MR2/MVC-290F.jpg)

(http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/ww46/rakudasama/MR2/MVC-286F.jpg)

(http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/ww46/rakudasama/MR2/MR2-MM-Tire.jpg)

(http://i704.photobucket.com/albums/ww46/rakudasama/MR2/MR2-MM-Snow.jpg)
Title: Re: Welcome to the team Bryan!
Post by: Sirdeuce on January 29, 2010, 08:06:05 PM
It's been a long time. Time to have some fun! Hope you nlike FWD Bryan. Thanks for the memory of that flat tire Mike.
Title: Re: Welcome to the team Bryan!
Post by: BryanH on March 16, 2010, 04:18:26 AM
What a dork!  ;)  I was 18 in those first few photos, just got my red MR2 a couple months before and was discovering what I liked in a car.  Ten years later, I'm on my 4th and 5th MR2s and I'm sure they won't be the last...

Here's #4, a 1993 NA hardtop I call "Nerves of Teal."  Love it.  I drive it everywhere.

(http://www.pbase.com/bryanh/image/50065823/original.jpg)

It's the car that got me started going to national autox events.  At local events it was just as fast as my modified SC MK1, simply because it handled so well.  In 2006 I drove this car 28 hours to Topeka, KS, fully loaded with race tires and tools, won the E-Stock National Championship, then drove it home, averaging 35mpg (high of 39.5mpg!).  Great car.  I've since retired it from racing duty and it's now my daily.

Deuce #5 is the same except that it's different. :) 

(http://www.pbase.com/bryanh/image/72101469/original.jpg)

It's also a '93 hardtop, but this one's a turbo car, with ABS, LSD, and power steering - all good options to have when autocrossing these cars.  It's 2755lbs in race trim which is heavy but much lighter than most 93+ Turbos since it lacks cruise, T-tops, etc.  After Toyota made a small initial run of '93 MR2 Turbos (back in early 1992) with hardtops and sunroofs, T-tops became standard on the Turbo model.  There are approximately 11-13 known 1993 Turbo hardtops in the US.  Mine was used in Toyota's press fleet back in the day and has been autocrossed since new. 

I took part of 2007 and most of 2008 to develop this car into a nationally competitive machine.  It was mechanically mostly there but I wasn't happy with the setup and felt there was a lot of room for improvement.  I tried a lot of things - including one thing everyone told me wouldn't work; stuffing 275/35/15 tires onto the rear 15x7" wheels.  That was actually the single best thing I did to the car.  It was overheating the 225 rear tires halfway through a run.  The Hoosier A6 is constructed almost like a cantilever slick and doesn't seem to mind being squeezed on narrow wheels.  Some transitional response is lost but the added lateral grip more than makes up for that.  Anyway, I took this car to Nationals in '08, knowing it wasn't "the" car to have in the class (the RX-8 was), and finished 3rd, just a couple tenths out of 2nd place.

(http://www.pbase.com/bryanh/image/122776624/original.jpg)

For 2009 I succumbed and co-drove a 2005 Mazda RX-8.  During a bit of pre-season testing I found I was over 1 second faster in the RX-8 on a 60 second course.  And I wasn't even familiar with that car yet.  I had a nearly perfect season, winning every national event except one (which I should have won if not for two computer glitches that threw out my best times!).  That car was very easy to drive and lots of fun.  I'd say it's the best handling stock sports car I've ever driven - with a close 2nd place going to my old FC RX-7 GTU.  But it's nowhere near the challenge of the MR2s.  I sold my RX-7 partly because after a morning at the track there was no more challenge to it - it was almost too easy to drive, and by the afternoon sessions I was a little bored.

(http://www.pbase.com/bryanh/image/110564682/original.jpg)

This year I am running a semi-limited campaign in another Mazda: a 2007 MX-5 MSR.  Mazda offered the MSR package as a racing trunk kit for the softly sprung NC MX-5.  Only a few have actually been built.  The MSR suspension is extremely stiff for a stock car, making it a twitchy challenge to get the most out of. 

(http://www.pbase.com/bryanh/image/115051485/original.jpg)
[The owner's wife is driving in this shot]

Anyway, my FWD experience is limited, but it is there.  I drove a well-prepped Civic Si (http://aventurero.smugmug.com/Cars/Autocross/10271013_LCQuz#708987784_Kwapc-XL-LB) recently, and did well with it, so that's encouraging. 

If y'all are bored sometime I have lots of in-car footage at various events on my video channels.
http://www.vimeo.com/user569760
http://www.youtube.com/user/bryanmr2

Ok, that's enough about me and what I've been up to! 
Title: Re: Welcome to the team Bryan!
Post by: BigMike on March 21, 2010, 08:52:29 PM
Awesome post Bryan, it was nice seeing all the pictures.

I see there is a Lotus Elise behind your RX8... How do the Elises and Exiges do autocrossing??


Also, Bryan skipped his first love of Autocrossing back in 2005 with his 1988 Pontiac Fiero. Bryan won two regional championships before he sold his Fiero, looks good Bryan :) That #13 was a great car, you got some amazing times in that thing!
(http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/media/img/events/special/Autocross.jpg)
Title: Re: Welcome to the team Bryan!
Post by: BryanH on March 22, 2010, 08:57:35 PM
Hey!  Get that thing out of this thread!   :P

[And no, for those wondering, it wasn't mine :)]
Title: Re: Welcome to the team Bryan!
Post by: kdogae86 on March 24, 2010, 09:31:08 PM
i knew it wasnt brian cause the suspension is sagging cause of that dudes fat ass ;D
Title: Re: Welcome to the team Bryan!
Post by: BryanH on March 25, 2010, 12:25:37 AM
Quote from: BigMike on March 21, 2010, 08:52:29 PM
I see there is a Lotus Elise behind your RX8... How do the Elises and Exiges do autocrossing??
They're fricken fast...  if you think an MR2 is nimble, try an Elise/Exige.  They're like an MR2 squared... no, cubed!

Used Elises are under $30k now. :)
Title: Re: Welcome to the team Bryan!
Post by: Sirdeuce on March 25, 2010, 09:04:24 PM
How close to an Elise do you think we can make an MR2? We are going to be removing a B-load of weight.
Title: Re: Welcome to the team Bryan!
Post by: BryanH on March 26, 2010, 03:49:06 PM
IIRC they weigh just under 2000lbs fully dressed, with 190hp.  And a much stiffer chassis with better suspension geometry.

In other words, good luck. ;) 
Title: Re: Welcome to the team Bryan!
Post by: Sirdeuce on March 26, 2010, 06:49:38 PM
Sooooo, not even in the ballpark? We can maybe get the 2 down to 1800-1900 pounds with the added weight of the necessary safety gear. The 4AGE will put out 120hp without all the smog garbage. Probably get another 20hp with mild tuning. if you can get away with a little more, you can look at 130-150hp. The car already has urethane bushings and swaybars. We need to see about springs and dampers. Mikey can machine roll center blocks to pretty much any thickness. We are still stuck with struts, but there is a lot you can do there....... if you have the tooling and know how.
Title: Re: Welcome to the team Bryan!
Post by: BigMike on March 27, 2010, 12:50:02 AM
Quote from: BryanH on March 25, 2010, 12:25:37 AM
Quote from: BigMike on March 21, 2010, 08:52:29 PM
I see there is a Lotus Elise behind your RX8... How do the Elises and Exiges do autocrossing??
They're fricken fast...  if you think an MR2 is nimble, try an Elise/Exige.  They're like an MR2 squared... no, cubed!

Have you autocrossed one yet?
Title: Re: Welcome to the team Bryan!
Post by: BigMike on March 27, 2010, 12:54:23 AM
Quote from: BryanH on March 22, 2010, 08:57:35 PM
[And no, for those wondering, it wasn't mine :)]

You can never trust the fine print
Title: Re: Welcome to the team Bryan!
Post by: BryanH on March 27, 2010, 01:55:11 AM
Did my name somehow get attached to a photo of that Fire-o somewhere?

Quote from: BigMike on March 27, 2010, 12:50:02 AM
Have you autocrossed [an Elise] yet?
I did, when they first came out a few years ago.  My SC MR2 was faster, but only because it had R-compound tires while the Elise was on all-season garbage (the owner had already worn out the nice OEM tires ;D ).  Let's put it this way.  In Stock class the Elise is competitive with the Corvette Z06, Porsche 911 GT3, and Dodge Viper, among other "super" cars.

I don't know a lot about weight savings on MR2s (all my cars have been street machines...) but I think under 2000lbs might be a challenge.  The AW11 chassis is hefty for its size.  The t-top chassis is also somewhat flexy, but I suppose a proper roll cage can fix that. 

Roll center adjusters would be sweet if we lower the car a lot, but I bet the BS judges will see those and laugh as they pile on the lap penalties.  :D
Title: Re: Welcome to the team Bryan!
Post by: BryanH on March 27, 2010, 01:59:00 AM
Speaking of Elises in stock class, this is as good an excuse as any to post this video:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5-rQuXxvqg

:D
Title: Re: Welcome to the team Bryan!
Post by: Sirdeuce on March 27, 2010, 12:32:01 PM
I have got to get one of those!!!
Title: Re: Welcome to the team Bryan!
Post by: BryanH on March 27, 2010, 10:27:01 PM
They keep on getting cheaper (http://www.autotrader.com/fyc/vdp.jsp?ct=p&car_id=276239619).  This one has the sport suspension too. :)

That's not much more than I could sell my S2k for...
Title: Re: Welcome to the team Bryan!
Post by: Sirdeuce on April 04, 2010, 08:56:37 PM
Bryan, do you have any spare shifter cables?
Title: Re: Welcome to the team Bryan!
Post by: BryanH on April 05, 2010, 02:24:02 PM
I don't think so.  They probably went to the crusher still inside the SC.
Title: Re: Welcome to the team Bryan!
Post by: Sirdeuce on April 05, 2010, 03:54:22 PM
Thanks anyway
Title: Re: Welcome to the team Bryan!
Post by: BigMike on April 05, 2010, 11:08:37 PM
Hey Bryan, of the many you've owned, do you have a spare Fiero I could borrow for a while?
Title: Re: Welcome to the team Bryan!
Post by: BryanH on April 22, 2010, 12:41:24 AM
I bet I could scrounge up some ashes around here somewhere.  ;)