Cars, Mostly ours

Thank You Three Pedal Mafia

GHIT 0285: Thank You Three Pedal Mafia

We have four members of the Three Pedal Mafia come up to help Vicki and Bill work on the two Honda project cars for this winter. We had originally planned a full cage party work weekend but had postponed it until February or until the COVID spike recedes. What we were able to accomplish with their skills in such a short time was amazing. They came, they saw, and they fixed. Some day we hope to be able to perform at that level and repay them in some way.

If you would like to help grow our sport and this podcast:

You can subscribe to our podcast on the podcast provider of your choice, including the Apple podcast app, Google music, Amazon, and YouTube etc. Also, if you could give our podcast a (5-star?) rating or even better, a podcast review, we would greatly appreciate it and it would help us to grow the passion and sport of high performance driving.

For instance, leaving an Apple Podcast rating is very easy. If you go to your podcast library, under shows and click on the podcast you can leave a (5?) star rating and enter your review.

We hope you enjoy this episode!

PS Please don’t forget that if you are looking to add an Apex Pro to your driving telemetry system, don’t forget to use our discount code for all Apex Pro systems you will receive a free Windshield Suction Cup Mount for the system, a savings of $40. Just enter the code “ghitlikesapex!” when you order. They are a great system and truly invaluable in safely increasing your speed on track and/or autocross etc. The recently released second generation systems and app increases the capability of the system greatly.

Best regards,

Vicki, Jennifer, Alan, and Bill

Hosts of the Garage Heroes In Training Podcast and Garage Heroes In Training racing team drivers

Highlights for this episode are:

1) Details of the work plan for the invasion by the Three Pedal Mafia visit this past weekend including a surprise visit by Jim.

2) Shut up we are having fun, lol.

3) Driving skill review and training was an unexpected addition to the agenda for Miss Vicki.

4) It was so very cold (for Pennsylvania) that we had to create a micro climate heating area for Miss Chrissy’s feet.

5) Why we had to replace the exhaust on the 1993 Honda Civic since we will be endurance racing the car this season. Mental led the festivities on the exhaust project while we set up several of the other projects.

6) Bill’s planning failure. And yes, this bothers him greatly.

7) How the work went on the Honda Civic radiator and oil cooler installation and required fabrication.

8) While Vicki and I were distracted, the Three Pedal Mafia assaulted the rusting carcass of the Honda Fit that we are looking to race in Grid Life’s Sundae Cup at Lime Rock this year. The Fit has yet to fully grow into the warm spot in Vicki’s heart.

9) We try to describe the depth of the love that Mental has for rust, but may not have fully achieved a full description.

10) As always, Vicki loves to provide wonderful food and drinks as a thank you. We “bribe” everyone who comes over and this weekends was no exception. Bill added in some of the new thermal barrier coating for increasing the heat control of header and exhaust wraps. The coating also creates a protective layer to protect the system from abrasion and water/chemical attack.

11) Bill’s engine disassembly is nearly complete for a replacement engine after being guided by Chris, Our Mr. Honda. Now if anyone knows of any good machine shops in north east Pennsylvania, please let us know. Either by Instagram or via our email at [email protected]

12) Vicki had a bit of a heel toe down shifting discussion with Chris and Chrissy. This should help her with her down shifting, especially at the end of the long straights. Hopefully, she will get to drive and ride with an instructor this season, hopefully with Chris. She also has some practice that she can start with ahead of that while driving on the street.

13) Obviously much more to follow in coming weeks. We need a few parts, some tools, and some machining assistance, but we will keep you posted as we learn.

GHIT 0285: Thank You Three Pedal Mafia

Our Annual Season Review and 2022 Goals

This Episode Kicks Off Our 5th Podcast Season

Our win at PittRace — **We Won Our First Race Ever**

GHIT 0278: Our Annual Season Review and Goals Episode Starts our 5th Podcast Season

We take a look back at how our team and drivers 2021 racing season went and compare it to our planned goals. We did have quite a year and accomplished quite a bit. How did we do versus how we wanted? As always, you will have to listen to find out. And as always, the episode ends with each of us giving our 2022 goals for ourselves and our team. We would love to know if you have any 2022 goals that you can share and wish you have the best year ever, both on and off the track.

Bill with Ross Bentley — We FINALLY Met Ross Bentley

If you would like to help grow our sport and this podcast:

For instance, leaving an Apple Podcast rating is very easy. If you go to your podcast library, under shows and click on the podcast you can leave a (5?) star rating and enter your review.

We hope you enjoy this episode!

PS Please don’t forget

that if you are looking to add an Apex Pro to your driving telemetry system, don’t forget to use our discount code for all Apex Pro systems you will receive a free Windshield Suction Cup Mount for the system, a savings of $40. Just enter the code “ghitlikesapex!” when you order. They are a great system and truly invaluable in safely increasing your speed on track and/or autocross etc. The recently released second generation systems and app increases the capability of the system greatly.

Best regards,

Vicki, Jennifer, Alan, and Bill

Hosts of the Garage Heroes In Training Podcast and Garage Heroes In Training racing team drivers

The Wilson sisters — Three Wilson Sisters Raced This Year

Highlights for this episode are:

1) Alan now organizes, preps, and runs his own car, the MooStang. We learn how this went for his first season and what we are still working on.

2) Looking back at where we were going into this season versus where we are now, there has been a ton of progress.

3) While the goals we all had were great, some of the discussion helps us to better define both the progress we made, as well as refining the path forward from here.

4) We did a great job of getting a bunch of new people to the track and several drivers to the track that raced with other teams. That is the primary reason we started this podcast and is fantastic!

5) Guess who says “I’m not just here for the Slurpees, lol”. Not a big surprise for you long time home gamers.

6) We all are looking forward to trying as many different tracks and racing series as we can this year and maybe for the first time working with a coach at the track.

7) We managed to make a Max Headroom reference within the episode. You never know where we may wander.

8) Vicki and Alan cannot seem to remember when they each earned their black flags this year. We also had a few black flags from several of our friends that drive with us this year. Notably, none of our all ladies team earned a flag a the Thompson event.

9) Every year we go over what issues our cars had at the track and what we did (or are going to do) to resolve the issue long term.

10) We have determined a key indicator that implies that a specific spare part is required for our race cars.

11) Tips we learned on testing and replacing wheel studs for our cars.

12) Vicki is bored winning???

13) Our traditional Good, Bad, and the Ugly for the 2021 season.

GHIT 0278: Our Annual Season Review and 2022 Goals Episode Starts our 5th Podcast Season

shifting points — **Training for Our First All Ladies Racing Team (That Kicked Butt!)**

The Buillac Trunk — **We Painted Amanda’s Awesome Buillac Trunk**

Racing with Chris Fix — **We Raced With Chris Fix and His Team**

Mia learning to drive — **Mia Started Learning to Drive**

Strong theming game — **Out Theming was on point**

Mike Kramer Honda Challenge Racing Driver

GHIT 0276: Mike Kramer Honda Challenge Racing Driver

Mike Kramer has been racing in Honda Challenge and is the two time H2 champion with NASA Southeast. In addition, he also races in endurance racing with the 24 Hours of Lemons and Lucky Dog. We have several goals for this episode and one of them is not so subtly aimed at convincing Vicki the our 1993 Honda Civic being a front wheel drive car is not so bad and how much fun we will have in 2022 using it as our primary endurance racing car. Mike is a great example of how to start out and grow into an accomplished racing driver by simply making the choice to jump into the high performance driving pool and see what types interest you. It sounds like we will be at several common racing events in 2022 and we can’t wait to catch up with him again.

If you would like to help grow our sport and this podcast:

For instance, leaving an Apple Podcast rating is very easy. If you go to your podcast library, under shows and click on the podcast you can leave a (5?) star rating and enter your review.

We hope you enjoy this episode!

PS Please don’t forget to use our discount code if you are looking to add an Apex Pro. With all Apex Pro systems, you will receive a free Windshield Suction Cup Mount for the system, a savings of $40. Just enter the code “ghitlikesapex!” when you order. They are a great system and truly invaluable in safely increasing your speed on track and/or autocross etc. The recently released second generation systems and app increases the capability of the system greatly.

Best regards,

Vicki, Jennifer, Alan, and Bill

Hosts of the Garage Heroes In Training Podcast and Garage Heroes In Training racing team drivers

Highlights from this episode include:

1) Despite having won two NASA SE championships, some of the difficulties Mike has encountered at the recent national championship event, including his overcoming some of the bad experiences at Daytona.

2) How to get started in high performance driving and what to expect and how to improve most quickly. We especially break down some of the common misconceptions that may be preventing you from starting.

3) What we have and should do to our 1993 Honda Civic DX race car build this winter. The discussion goes into several options for racing the car in endurance racing, sprint racing, and HPDE events.

4) How to choose a racing series and what to look for in your area.

5) Advantages and Disadvantages of a front wheel drive and a rear wheel drive. Plus a few of the primary differences between the two types of cars.

6) Some of the differences between regional events and national events.

To follow Mike and his racing exploits, please go to:

Instagram: @argylecivic

GHIT 0276: Mike Kramer Honda Challenge Racing Driver

Mike’s Sponsors Include:

Our Autobahn Country Club HPDE

October 2021

GHIT 0246: Our Autobahn Country Club HPDE 2021

Vicki and Bill attended the recent NASA Great Lakes HPDE at the Autobahn Country Club. It was the first time Vicki was on this track and she was in the HPDE 2 run group. Bill was in HPDE 4 and instructed a HPDE 1 student Saturday and Sunday. Bill also completed his MSF Level 2 instructor in car training on Friday and had a great time with the drills and the mentors.

We cover a lot of the Autobahn South track and here is a track map if you need it: https://autobahncc.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/2019-south_circuit.pdf

If you would like to help support our podcast:

For instance, leaving an Apple Podcast rating is very easy. If you go to your podcast library, under shows and click on the podcast you can leave a (5?) star rating and enter your review.

We hope you enjoy this episode!

Best regards,

Vicki, Jennifer, Alan, and Bill

Hosts of the Garage Heroes In Training Podcast and Garage Heroes In Training racing team drivers

Highlights from this episode include:

1) Right off the bat, Bill mis-speaks during his joke, Herb vs Abe, my apologies.

2) Vicki goes over her track prep since this was her first time at this track. Luckily, the track is relatively flat and fairly easy to learn. Vicki’s favorite section was the 8-9-10 turn complex.

3) We both shared the 2019 Mazda Miata (ND2) and Vicki was able to settle into the new track car. We also go over her impressions of the Garmin Catalyst which is especially useful at Autobahn since the track is relatively short and you get a lot of laps in each session.

4) Our car prep issues with the 2004 BMW M3 (E46) were quite a story. We thought we had our prep processes under control but found something else we can do wrong. And then it snowballed, lol.

5) Lifting on the long straightaways? Vicki had that problem. Emphasis on “had”.

6) How did the MSF Level 2 evaluation go for Bill?

7) What trailer does Vicki envy? ALOT.

8) Vicki was unintentionally “that guy”. Or was she? You can be the judge.

9) We also cover how Vicki’s Instructor (Brandon) did vs the Garmin Catalyst? (Quite well)

10) Vicki (and Bill) had some major accomplishments during the weekend. Any guesses?

11) Some of the issues Bill had instructing at the event.

12) TREC Racing. Ever heard of it? We discuss it and we finally have a plan for this next season.

GHIT 0246: Our Autobahn Country Club HPDE 2021

EveryDay Driver Hosts Todd Deeken and Paul Schmucker

GHIT 0242: EveryDay Driver’s Todd Deeken and Paul Schmucker

Everyday Driver started as one of the early YouTube channels in 2007. They then started an early podcast in 2014 that Bill first discovered in late August. The fundamental premise for Everyday Driver is that ours cars can and should be fun. Paul and Todd work tirelessly to help by testing virtually all types of new cars and many used cars. In addition, most podcast segments are aimed at helping their listeners find the car that matches their needs. And that also maximizes the fun of driving everyday.

Paul and Todd were eventually able to grow this into a full time business. Now each of them and have a television show that is on its 9th season on the Motor Trend channel. they have also produced several of the finest automotive feature films, including the history of the 911, each of the BMW 3 series M cars, and every generation of the Corvette among others. At one point, we were even going to race Road Atlanta with Todd, Paul, and Chance. Unfortunately, things fell through due to scheduling issues. We do have a rain check issued and we hope to cash it in post Covid. Paul and Todd are usually asking the questions or answering car related questions, so we tried to learn a bit more about them and their background during this episode.

Everyday Driver provided the final push to our team starting racing. So you can blame then in part for our podcast, lol.

If you would like to help our podcast,

You can subscribe to our podcast on the podcast provider of your choice. This includes the Apple podcast app, Google music, Amazon, and YouTube etc. Also, if you could give our podcast a (5-star?) rating, that would be great. Even better would be a podcast review. We would greatly appreciate it and it would help us to grow the passion and sport of high performance driving.

For instance, leaving an Apple Podcast rating is very easy. If you go to your podcast library, look under under shows. Then click on the podcast you can leave a (5?) star rating and enter your review.

We hope you enjoy this episode!

Best regards,

Vicki, Jennifer, Alan, and Bill

Hosts of the Garage Heroes In Training Podcast and Garage Heroes In Training racing team drivers

Highlights from this Everyday Driver episode include:

1) We start of talking about our postponed endurance race and the potential for Todd and Paul to join us in a coming endurance race.

2) Paul and Todd were kind enough to go into their respective pasts and go through their individual processes that has allowed them to transfer from a part time YouTube channel to a full time operation that has a show on Motor Trend, several feature films, two YouTube channels, and a twice weekly podcast that is closing in on 650 episodes with well over 1,000 hours of the podcast content. And in their spare time, lol.

3) If you have ever wanted to drive the Nurburgring and/or Spa, Paul and Todd also run an annual tour of both that allows you to arrive and drive both tracks as well as the transit between.

4) Paul and Todd share the passion for cars and driving, but each are different in their preferences and driving style to compliment each other. They often end up discussing the different cars and end with different preferences. It is close to watching a version of the “Siskel and Ebert” show that is aimed at cars and driving. (with a bit less disagreement lol) Bill seems to usually be a “Todd” and Vicki seems to usually fall into the camp of “Paul”.

5) We also go into how they transitioned from a part time, side operation to the more than full time operation that they now have. The highs and lows, as well as what was a bit harder than they expected.

6) Bill takes the opportunity to ask his Ladder question to Todd and Paul. It is roughly stated as what is the lowest price car available to you that you want to own. And then moving up the ladder. What car would be the next rung up the ladder. A rung car is defined as one that you like that is better “to you” than everything else that is less expensive. Repeat until we get to cars in excess of $100,000 or so.

7) We inadvertently almost broke news on this podcast of a future series that they have yet to announce. Tune in to the Everyday Driver YouTube channel in the next few weeks for the reveal.

You can follow Paul and Todd at:

Website: https://www.everydaydriver.com/

YouTube Site: https://www.youtube.com/c/EverydayDriver

GHIT 0242: EveryDay Driver’s Todd Deeken and Paul Schmucker