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Garage Heroes (In Training)

Garage Heroes (In Training)

Learning as we go. Come along with us and Enjoy the Ride!

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Spec E46

GHIT 0098: Ben Liaw from Rogue Engineering on racing BMW’s

Rogue Engineering
Rogue Engineering at the track

Ben Liaw from Rogue Engineering was kind enough to come on this week’s podcast.  Ben races and also supports his racing clients at Rogue Engineering in Upper Saddle River, NJ, where they not only assist with race car prep and on track support but design and manufacture many parts improvements for many BMW models.

Also, on this week’s Dominating with Dawson, we went over driving a new to you race car and what you should do prior to driving and how best to acclimate to the new vehicle.

Highlights from this week’s episode include:

1)  Stories of how his business grew from designing and manufacturing to mechanical and racing assistance
2)  Some thoughts on car prep for racing
3)  A great discussion of various BMW models that are used in racing, including strengths and areas where you may want to augment the stock parts and systems.  Most 3 series models were discussed including the E30, E36, E46, E92 as well as the more modern F series models, as well as a few 1 and 2 series models and Mini’s, including relative strengths and weaknesses between them.
4)  Our first real discussion about the AER endurance racing series
5)  Potential upgrades for racing our M240i
6)  Spec E46 race cars and priority the addition of upgrades, including the subframe issue
7)  Bill gets into a discussion while Vicki has computer issues
8)  Alan picks Ben’s brain throughout while he also goes shopping while we are recording “for Vicki” lol
9)  Bill put Ben in an unfair spot to compare BMW’s to other typical cars, like Boxsters/Caymans and Miata/MX-5’s etc.  Ben, you have our apologies.
10)  Vicki wanted to appeal to Ben for any assistance with her latest E36 rear wheel hub and bearing replacement project/debacle.  Ben offered his typical preventive maintenance program for hubs and bearings for his AER endurance racing.
11)  We even go into critical spares and critical spare philosophy and the potential tradeoff vs pre-race prep
12)  Several Dante references and a new level called “Wheel Bearing Hell”. Vicki views this as the hidden 8th level.
13)  Rogue Engineering’s incredibly smart wheel studs with a hex end on both ends in case of a sheared stud
14)  Bill finds a brand of power tools where he is fully qualified, and even Alan agrees

To contact Ben and his team or follow along with their various exploits, you can go to their website at https://www.rogueengineering.com/ or follow them on Instagram at Rogue Engineering.

Thank you for listening to our podcast.  Please subscribe to our podcast your favorite podcast source.  If you have any questions or topics you would like for us to cover, please feel free to let us know at:

www.GarageHeroesInTraining.com
or via email at:  [email protected]

and you can follow us on Instagram at Garage Heroes In Training
or on Facebook at GarageHeroesIT or Join our Friends of GHiT group.

And if you really would like to help us out, please leave a rating and review on your Podcast App of choice, Apples Podcast app, iHeart Radio, Stitcher, or whatever podcast app you use and we will address any questions that you leave on the review.

We hope to see you out there racing with us.

Bill, Vicki, Jennifer, and Alan

Hosts of the Garage Heroes In Training podcast and team members in the GHiT Immature Endurance Racing Team

Rogue Engineering
The Key Is In The Preparation

GHIT 0098: Ben Liaw from Rogue Engineering on racing BMW’s

GHIT 0079: Zack Klapman is Our Special Guest

Zack Klapman with Cobra
Zack Klapman prepping for a tough day at work

Zack Klapman is a car guy through and through and was our guest for this week’s episode.  You may know him from the Smoking Tire podcast and YouTube channel or from seeing him on air on the NBC /Drive show or as a producer for /Drive as well as several other television shows like “Proving Grounds”.  We were able to talk with Zack quite a bit about his overall car interests and how he began working in the area.  As usual, he was a decade long in the making overnight success who made it through perseverance and constant hustle.

  • Zack Klapman is not in Kansas
    Zack Klapman is not in Kansas
  • Zack Klapman on NBC Sports Proving Grounds
    Not On the School Run
  • Zack Klapman and some new fans
    Zack and some new fans

On this episode we covered:

1)  How the recent NASA 25 Hours at Thunderhill race weekend went in their Spec E46 with all the rain and then the mud

2)  Zack’s background and what he is involved with currently, both as on-air talent, as a writer, and as a producer. 

3)  How YouTube videos and channels have changed since The Smoking Tire originated

4)  How did cars get into Zack’s blood and what his interests are at this point and in the future.  Hint:  He does not seem picky, lol.

5)  His first Lemons race and the fun of passing a slot machine race car

6)  His goals include racing in virtually all endurance racing series including AER, Lemons, Lucky Dog, Champ Car, WRL, etc. and a whole host of tracks across the US and around the world

7)  We discuss his (hopefully) upcoming appearance on the “Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee” show.  We think it would be perfect for him.

8)  Crazy stories from his past TV and video work, such as his very hot lap with Chris Harris at the Nürburgring that involved some of Chris’s serious driving skills being on full display 

9)  Driving through Morocco while filming with a relatively small tv crew.

10)  His initial learning on how to wrench on a car in a pre-YouTube era without ChrisFix

11)  A very entertaining and funny Good, Bad and the Ugly segment that included some cars you never expected to hear on our podcast

12)  Several audience questions

13)  His upcoming driving lessons with Kevin Madsen

We ended with a few basic outlines of our team and how we started and a few tips that Zack wasn’t aware of yet as a relatively new to racing driver that may help you as well.

Zack Klapman with Jeep
Prepping for another video shoot

To follow Zack, please use his social media accounts or catch the following series:

Twitter @ ZackKlapman

Instagram:  FakeZackKlapman

The Smoking Tire Podcast

/Drive on NBC Sports and iTunes

Proving Grounds on NBC Sports

Best regards,

Bill, Vicki, and Alan

Hosts of the Garage Heroes In Training podcast

and team members in the GHiT

Immature Endurance Racing Team

GHIT 0079: Zack Klapman is Our Special Guest

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