Hot Rod Power Tour Report

[darren@ridetech]

We have some videos and photos up on our site from the Hot Rod Power Tour. Yesterday was the Autocross in Ames, IA. As soon as I get some times I'll post them up. The day starte out a bit wet, but it looks like it dried up....
Here is complete event coverage. http://www.ridetech.com/more/2008/06...our-reports-2/

[4OfaKind]

Thanks for the pics.
So who won the autocross? How did that Atom do?

Mal

[Tony@AirRideTech]

hey D.... there is alot of similarities that I am seeing here..... I think Britt's super secret indian name should be "Cone Gnome"


Larry... can we change his username ?

[BA.]

good pics and video, thanks for sharing!

[BossaNova]

Man that camaro has seen its fair share of rain.
You passed me on I-75 in Cartersville, GA on the way to Road Atlanta. Of course it was raining.
Who "gets" to clean the bottom of that car?

[darren@ridetech]

hey D.... there is alot of similarities that I am seeing here..... I think Britt's super secret indian name should be "Cone Gnome"


Larry... can we change his username ?

That's hilarious....I was thinking the same thing. Poor guy doesn't even have a computer to defend himself with!!!

[darren@ridetech]

Man that camaro has seen its fair share of rain.
You passed me on I-75 in Cartersville, GA on the way to Road Atlanta. Of course it was raining.
Who "gets" to clean the bottom of that car?

Yea since we finished that car it has spent more time on the road and track than in the shop. Thankfully we have a couple high school kids to help keep the cars clean.

[esscott]

The Velocity Camaro has seen its fair share of road grime to be sure - I took this shot after the car pulled into the Ames stop. It is a good testament to its use:

[whytry]

That's awesome! A true showing of it actually being driven and hard...

Nice! Also thanks for the pics

[bret]

Just got home from the Power Tour. I have been on every one since 1996 and this has been the most intense one yet. We used to go all the way from LA to Detroit, but never had to outrun natural disasters like the flooding that we saw last week in Iowa and Wisconsin. On Friday morning the ONLY road into Madison, Wisconsin was Highway 14, and one lane was already half under water. I drove past the Ring Brothers shop in Spring Green, WI...they may loose everything yet. Our display rig got stranded up in Stevens Point, WI after they shut down I 90 on Thursday night.
Besides the obvious problems with detours, this Power Tour was the best yet. By definition, one would think that the Power Tour would be decimated by fuel prices and a down economy. Not so. I don't know specific numbers but from our perspective the traffic and the mood was definately great!
The Velocity Camaro performed flawlessly all week. I had to be in Indy [where it rained 12 inches on Saturday as well!] for the first couple of days of the tour but picked up the tour in Topeka on Monday afternoon. My wife and 2 kids joined me in Ames on Wednesday where we did the autocross. I thought we would be racing in the rain but we got an 8 hour break in the weather and a beautiful day. The track was tiny, tight and slow, but was also challenging and exposed the cars handling characteristics like it was supposed to. I told the promoters that my wish list for next year included a larger track, bleachers, and a better traffic flow for the participants. Our 66 Chevell and a black 06 Corvetter were the fastest that day...I was about a half second slower in the Camaro. I do't remember exact times but we'll have them on our ridetech.com website shortly.
Someone asked who had to clean the Camaro. It seems that my 5 year old daughter and my 9 year old son are just about the right height to rub around on the bottom half of Velocity. I'm not sure how much "cleaning" actually goes on, but it entertains both them and the spectators!
After a week of 4 of us in the Camaro it looks like a pack of mules have made camp there...chip bags, toys, water bottles, dolls, maps, power cords for GPS, cell phones, etc. I will say that we have proven that a 68 Camaro WILL hold 4 people AND luggage for 5 days. "FULL" would be the caption on that picture! My next car will have to be larger because next year my kids won't fit.
The fixit list is shorter every time the car goes out...exhaust rattle, a vibration at 2400rpm, gear noise from the rearend, take some timing out at low rpm/low vacumn, need a better gas tank vent system, fix the odometer...and that's about it.
The Vintage Air A/C system, the Electric Life power windows, and the DSE intermittent wiper system were noticable neccessities on this car...I would have enjoyed this car much lees without them. I also LOVED the Bowler 4L60 trans and Twist Machine paddle shifter..this IS the future of fast cars. The World Products 427 LS1 got around 15mpg [best I could tell without an odometer] and will just scare you to death. My wife made sure I didn't have a chance to explore that area too much!
I also loved the RacePack IQ3 dash...highly legible in the sunlight, but not overpowering at night...perfect. Now that I am home and have access to the communications cable I can install the odometer that I forgot when we first set the car up.
Somehow my 2 kids had a great time in the backseat of that Camaro for 5 days seeing a different city every day and watching the flooding. Somehow my wife made sure that happened. Because of that this has been not only a great fathers "day" but a great fathers "week".

[Larry Callahan]

It sounds like a great time and you have no idea how bad I want to be there next year. The bug shot above will make a nice wallpaper on my PC to keep me focused on a plan to attend next year.

Keep the pictures coming!

[dropit69]

sounds like alot of fun i did only 2 stops last year and had a blast..yes the midwest here is geeting hammered with rain and floods..i feel for the people losing all there stuff..the town south of me had bad flood this past winter lots of stuff lost..and Larry you are right that makes a killer wallpaper..lol..its on mine now..

[nvr2fst]

Awesome car Brett. The cage is the best. Nice talking to you on Fri. Its great to hear your kids had fun. My daughter also had great patience when I talked to you and enjoyed the show. Its good see see this events as somewhat family oriented.
Dave

[jesus]

thats a nice ride