Noise

Though my screen name on many forums is "Noize", and this blog is named Noize4, I don't really like noise.

I think life is so full of stuff that distracts us from what is important.  Junk like television, the internet, telephones, etc.  Don't get me wrong, I fully believe all three of these things have positive aspects, but they also have really negative ones.

The biggest type of noise that bothers me, though, is the noise of selfishness, the noise of myself.  Is is impossible to serve Christ and serve yourself, because they aren't really compatible.  If you find yourself tripping over that, check who or what you are serving.

I've had a distorted picture of love in the past, but the older I grow, the more it is becoming clear to me.  Real love is about denying self, putting others first.  This should extend everywhere, first to who we are in Christ.  Seek ye first the Kingdom of God, and His righteousness.  And all these other things shall be added unto you.  Amen.

There was an old video game I played called Jade Empire.  Its a bit of an open ended game where you have choices to make throughout the game.  There are two "ways" you chose: The open palm and the shut fist.  The way of the open palm is what I saw in your hands open in giving, loving, not taking stuff back for yourself.  The way of the shut fist is grabbing everything you can, holding it tight, and keeping it for yourself.

I think a lot of people want to act like they are the open palm, but they are really the exact opposite.  I had been the shut fist for years, and I am praying and working on getting out of it, because it is a picture perfect definition of the wide road that leads to destruction.  What junk can we grab?  What can I buy?  What makes me happy?  What do I need?  Me!  Me!  ME!  Do you do that?  Think about it a minute.  Because if you do, its really hard to love doing that.

Oh, I have loved, I have loved myself way too much.  But I am being called out of that.  I am learning about unconditional love and what that looks like.  How I can be transformed by the renewing of my mind, changed, hands open, holding nothing back.

There is no greater love than the God and Creator of the universe to give His only Son to die for us, to stand in the gap for our sins, being obedient to death on a cross and resurrection to wipe our sins away.

I am praying that I will love my Lord well, though I am unworthy.  I am praying that I will love my family much, much more than myself.  If you struggle with holding back stuff for yourself, I pray you will do the same.

The 18th annual Evo/DSM Shootout

Throughout twelve years of 4G63 enthusiasm and ownership, four Evos and a DSM, I had never been to the DSM/Evo Shootout. Recently, I was able to interview David here: [url]http://forums.evolutionm.net/evo-general/505902-david-buschur-interview-evom-shootout-article.html[/url] (this is also a link to the discussion thread). When we talked about doing a site feature on the Shootout, he invited me to Norwalk, because the only correct way to write about it would be to actually experience it.



I was glad to accept, and my friend Andrew (formerly of Dyno4mance) and I were in my car traveling to Ohio two weeks later. Honestly, I didn't know what to expect. I've been into these cars for years, and I envisioned Buschur Racing as some kind of Evo nirvana. Mitsubishi diamonds would fall from the sky, I would hear 4G63s and 4B11s in THX, and everyone there would drink C16 instead of coffee. Imagine my surprise, then, when we exited the interstate and saw... countryside. Lots and lots of countryside and mostly empty roads. Coming around a bend in mock tarmac rally qualification, the sight of an Amish horse and buggy stopped us dead in our tracks. I wondered if we turned the wrong way off the interstate. As we drew closer to Norwalk, I started to see a few Mitsubishis.



The next day coming into Wakeman, everything changed immediately. It was only 9am in the morning, but there were already 4G63 powered cars parked everywhere. The city of Wakeman literally shuts down the street in front of the shop, and becomes host for a giant car show and dyno day.



Buschur Racing is a complete facility. There is a showroom, a phone area for sales and customer service, a dyno cell, and they do their own parts designing and manufacturing on the grounds. This place really is a one-stop-shop for the DSM/Evo enthusiast. My first Evo VIII turbo-back came from Buschur Racing, and in addition to good power gains, I received great customer service and fast shipping.

[IMG]http://forums.evolutionm.net/members/noize-albums-shootout-picture17710-br1.jpg[/IMG]



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The vendors were set up next to the shop, and the food was phenomenal. They had sausage, brats, pizza, soft drinks, slushes, and more. There was no need to leave to eat.



The Evolution II in this picture was spun just over 10,000rpm and made 941whp on the dyno. It revs slowly until almost 7k, then the turbo comes on like a sledge hammer. The last 3000rpm went by very fast.

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4g63girl's (STM/Street Tuned Motorsports) very clean Evo VIII

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After a fun day at Buschur's, we ate dinner in Sandusky. Southerners take note, restaurants in Ohio don't serve sweet tea, and they'll think you came from another planet if you try to order it. At that point, it was dark outside and we decided to cruise into Norwalk. There were Evos and DSMs all over the place, and people were very friendly, honking and waving. The camaraderie is awesome, because everyone loves the same kinds of cars you do. Maybe this was Evo nirvana after all!



The hotels are filled with cars, and the people sit outside, socialize, eat and drink together, and watch others drive by. There were a few guys acting a little crazy on the street, but the police were all over them in a hurry. One quick 2G had mechanical trouble instead of police trouble when he goosed the throttle past the crowds. Later, we saw him stuck on the side of the road about a mile down with his hood up and hot coolant steam pouring out.



The next day was the shootout itself. Andrew and I arrived early, which turned out to be a good idea since shortly after traffic was lining down the highway from people waiting to get into the dragstrip. Summit Motorsports Park in Norwalk is an awesome track with a helpful staff. It is extremely clean, very well maintained, and is probably the nicest dragstrip I've ever been to.



All the cars that weren't at the show the prior day at Buschur's came out of hiding from their trailers for the main event.



We headed over to Max Effort, where the members of David's Highboostforum had decided on an event where there would be an autocross and a drag race, so the car with the lowest combined time would win each class. There, I finally was able to meet David, so Andrew and I asked if we could make ourselves useful. It turned out that wind from the night before had blown most all of the cones over, so we helped duct tape wheel weights into all the cones, and some of the other guys helping with Max Effort set them back up.



Cars at tech for the autocross portion of Max Effort.

[IMG]http://forums.evolutionm.net/members/noize-albums-shootout-picture17714-maxeff1.jpg[/IMG]



Hiboost's wicked One Lap Evo X

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Cars on track autocrossing. The track started with a slalom. A few of the higher powered cars had quite a bit of wheelspin here.

[IMG]http://forums.evolutionm.net/members/noize-albums-shootout-picture17717-maxeff4.jpg[/IMG]



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The drag portion was the main event, and seeing all these cars in action was just insane. I've seen a couple local Evos run high tens, but tens were the norm at the shootout! Tens, nines, eights, fast 4G63 powered car after car were staging at the tree. The sheer number of cars that trapped higher than 135mph was mind boggling to me.



The respectfulness of the participants continued at the track. Guys that had mechanical failures immediately stopped on track so the cleanup crew could get the mess picked up easily and the action resumed quickly.



Results of the different Max Effort and drag racing classes are here: [url]http://forums.evolutionm.net/drag-racing/509505-18th-annual-dsm-evo-shootout-results-pictures-video-thread.html[/url]



In the lanes, ready for mayhem!

[IMG]http://forums.evolutionm.net/members/noize-albums-shootout-picture17719-strip2.jpg[/IMG]



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I know it took many hours of work for the crew to pull this off. Caleb from CBRD told me the Buschur guys call it “hell week”, and it was very easy to see why.



David says that this event is bigger than Bushur Racing, as it is really all about the fans. And this is true. If you are an Evo/DSM enthusiast, and have never been to a shootout, it is high time you head up to northern Ohio and check this event out next summer! There's even a water park and roller coaster park in Sandusky if you want to bring your family!



[IMG]http://forums.evolutionm.net/members/noize-albums-shootout-picture17718-strip1.jpg[/IMG]



Special thanks to David Buschur, Buschur Racing, the towns of Wakeman and Norwalk, and all the fans for the best car fun weekend I've had in a very long time!

August 2010

Two years, and I've managed 10 posts.  That's pretty sad.  The reason for this is because I don't have the material I need to make meaningful car posts very often.

So what I've decided to do is start writing about real life, my life.  I guess since nobody sees this, I can use it as an online journal, something to pass on to my children.

At any rate, I'm going to start making changes in content.

All dressed up. A 2010 Volkswagen GTI review.

Its probably an unfair bias, but I've disliked Volkswagen for years. I think it was a sum of the quirky styling, rubbery long throw shifters, lackluster performance of the VR6, the over-small stock turbos on the 1.8T and 2.0T cars, open differentials, and VW owner friends who were plagued with mechanical and electronic maladies that turned me off to the brand.

There is a VW dealership near my workplace, and I've driven by and shaken my head more than once. This feeling largely remains with most models, but I have always liked the GTI best of their lineup. Things have been improving, and the 2010 GTI is the first in the past several years I can fully appreciate.

2010 marks minor changes to the exterior styling, but they completely resonate with me. The front fascia on the 2009 was not as appealing, and the headlights on the 2010 look infinitely better and blend much nicer with the car. Modern hatches are odd shaped, fat in the middle if you will, to accommodate more interior room. The downside of this is that at some angles, the GTI looks like a miniature SUV, but at most angles it looks great.

One part of the exterior I can't get my head around is the optional 18” Detroit wheels, which I hear will become standard for 2011. Hideous. They look just terrible with their black paint in the middle and bring the whole appearance of the car down a notch.

The MK V (previous body) GTI marked the return of the interlagos interior, which is a fancy way to say it is covered with plaid material. The first time I saw this, it looked like someone stole a golfer's trousers and made seat coverings out of them. When I heard it was a retro thing, I studied and learned that the original Mk I GTI from the seventies featured this. Knowledge of that fact has been swirling in my mind for a couple of years, and either I've adapted or maybe gone a little insane, because I think the interlagos interior just looks phenomenal now, especially since I understand the heritage.

The greatness of the interior does not stop with the seat material. Those seats are also very supportive, and the back seat room is just astounding in a car with a footprint this small. I am 6'1”, and had ample room in the back. The four door version is great for carrying friends or your kids around.

The plastics used for the dash are quite nice. The flat bottom steering wheel, the aluminum (fake or not) bits, everything is a huge stretch beyond other cars in this pricing category. The gauges are illuminated well and look very nice.  The overall fit and finish of the interior is awesome.

Power delivery feels surprisingly strong for 200HP, at first. The low end torque comes on early due to the work of the small turbocharger. The fuel economy the GTI returns is lofty, 31-32mpg is attainable on the highway according to the ratings and some owner testimonies I've seen.

This car has all the appearances of a dancer, of a vehicle that is a jack of all trades and the master of them as well. And you'd be content to believe that until you ask it to actually dance. Herein lies the problem: The Germans and Japanese couldn't be more opposite in their engineering approaches. A GTI owning friend of mine remarked that the Germans spend their money in the cabin. The Japanese spend their money under the hood.  And when you feel that low end grunt of the GTI as you accelerate onto the freeway, it begins to pull nicely. But nail that off-ramp with some gusto, and the fact that this dancer has two left feet rears its ugly head.

Enter a corner fairly hot, and you're greeted with a terrible disconnected feeling and body lean that is much more like what you'd expect from a Camry than a GTI. There is abrupt floatiness that makes it difficult to place at turn in, which is very unfortunate. Admittedly, part of this problem was this particular car had been fitted with all season tires from the factory.  To add insult to injury, it has an open differential and traction control that is not fully defeatable.  This is no a track star.

Continue to rev the tachometer, and the trade off for that great low end punch is immediately apparent.  This engine falls over and dies after 5200rpm, which is exactly 1000rpm before the disappointingly low 6200rpm redline. The clutch is overly light, with all the pedal feel of a Civic DX. The shifter is still a little rubbery, but much better than Volkswagens of the nineties. The sixth gear for cruising is welcome.

Secrets under the hood clear up a lot of the confusion from the test drive. The GTI's "TSI" engine is an Audi borrowed mill code named "EA888", a platform share that makes its home in several non-sporty cars. It is a direct injected two liter that is undersquare, with an 82mm bore and a long 93mm stroke designed to get you moving at low RPM. Other items in the TSI's list of compromises are a rather small IHI turbocharger that is integrated with the exhaust manifold, and a “sandwiched” central front mount intercooler.

While I've said a lot of unkind words about this engine, it does have an iron block, and there is potential for more power with tuning. I had a chance to sample aforementioned friend's APR Stage 2 equipped GTI with much sportier summer tires. The transformation is quite nice, improving low end and midrange thrust dramatically, but still remains unrewarding to rev deep. The tires help grip very much, but the floatiness and difficulty to place in a corner are still a little too apparent.

I think this car has a ton of potential. I know front wheel drive cars can be made to handle brilliantly stock, anyone who has driven an Integra Type R can attest to that. I also know that Volkswagen needs to offer this engine tuned closer to 240HP to really make their competition eat dust.

In spite of feeling letdown by the performance, the best way to sum up this car is value. I can't think of anything else in this price point that checks so many boxes. For a dad whose pennies are pinched by daycare and wants a sensible and economical automobile choice with a little bit of performance and a whole lot of comfort, this is one heck of a buy!