A fun trip to the scrap yard with my mom

I mentioned in my previous post that I would need to head back to the scrap yard for yet another side skirt for the Saabaru. Last time, I was unable to find a local Kenny-U-Pull with a Saab 92X, but my research showed that the side skirt from a 2006-2007 Subaru Impreza wagon would fit, even though there are slight differences in the design. Imagine my surprise when a search turned up not one but two Saab 92X's at close-by Kenny-U-Pulls... on top of that, both were black! 

I decided to head to the Laval location, because as a backup plan, they also had a couple of Subaru wagons. I invited my mom to join me, as she enjoys this type of treasure hunt. On top of the side skirt, I was hoping to find a new front driver-side fender, as the bottom of mine has rotted and disintegrated... it has aluminum tape on it to fill in the gap! I also hoped to find some leather seats, which I learned were also available on the base model (the 2 cars in inventory were both non-turbo models). I asked my mom to pick me up in her 2010 Honda Fit, as you can carry some pretty big items in one. As I drove us over there, I pointed out to her that a) her rubber steering wheel was looking rough and maybe we would find a nicer one and b) her driver side inner door panel was cracked right where you rest your arm, which I also found annoying. She also had winter floor mats from my dad's old Mercedes B200, which did not fit properly. 

When we arrived, I asked for the location of Honda Fits, but immediately headed for the Saab. It turned out to be in really poor condition. The interior was trashed (and not leather, even the steering wheel was not leather!). Still, it had an intact driver-side side skirt. When I attempted to remove it, though, I found that the weight of the car was resting directly on the plastic part. As jack stands, they use two steel rims welded together, the bottom one flat, the top one standing. I could not pull out the side skirt unless the car was lifted. I found a crew of employees with a fork lift and asked them if they could help me and they told me they were not allowed to lift cars already in place. I didn't argue and headed over to a black Subaru wagon to get its sideskirt. We then went to look at the two Fits. They turned out to be a goldmine... the first one had a leather steering wheel. There was a guy taking out the seats and door cards and I asked him if he was taking the wheel, which he was not. We decided to come back later so he could work in peace. The other Fit had an intact door card, and some rare factory rubber mats. I needed a philips head screw driver, but did not want to head back to our car to get one... I decided to look in the factory toolkit of a nearby BMW (to my surprise, it was a Chris Bangle-era 750il!) and found a bunch of non BMW screwdrivers in the kit. I took the one I needed and pulled the door card off the Fit. Then I pulled off the airbag to remove the steering wheel. The nut was easy to remove, but even without the nut, I was having trouble removing the wheel.. After a few strategic bangs with my fist, I got it loose.

A nice leather steering wheel for the Fit

My mom would have a leather steering wheel in her car for 14$! This reminded me of my Civic... I changed the crappy steering wheel and cracked door card on it to improve the driving experience, and now my Mom would be able to do the same. Our good luck would continue: the forflift crew saw me and waved me over to tell me that they were now allowed to lift the Saab for me. 

The Saabaru was in rough shape

They did so and I grabbed the side skirt. I thanked them, then decided to also remove the front speakers from the Saab, since one of mine buzzes when there is too much bass. I ended up buying both the Subaru and Saab driver-side side skirts, in case I lose one again at the next rally in a few days. My mom made out better than I did, but at least I got the stupid side skirt (and one extra). I was glad to have taken 2 speakers, because when I accessed my old ones, I saw that they were a slightly different design and seemed to be more powerful than the model I had picked up. As a result, I installed them both, to keep the system symmetrical. Knock on wood, but the Saabaru, apart from the rust, is in the best condition its been in since I bought it. It runs strong, no check engine light (for now) and the ride is great since it got new shocks this fall. All in all, it was a fun and satisfying day (my mom thought so too). I may visit the other location with a Saab 92x to try to find that elusive rust-free black fender.

TSD rally in the Laurentians

As I mentioned in my previous post, I participated in a TSD rally with my reliable co-driver Josée last weekend. The event, called "La Grosse Ride", began in Lachute and ended several hours and over 300 km later in Mont Tremblant.

As has been the case with every other TSD I have done with the Saabaru and Josée, the rally was really fun. The roads were sometimes very tricky, but the grip on the compacted snow was surprisingly good. When you drive around in the city or on the highway, you are not really "driving" your car that much. On these events, you really have to focus on the actual driving, the roads, the grip level, what the car is doing, the bumps, the snow banks... it is absorbing and just plain fun if you like spirited driving. As for our performance, I tried to focus on not arriving early at checkpoints and I think that the times I was late was not due to any fault of Josée, but because I simply wasn't keeping up with the average speeds. I am pretty conservative and like to maintain a nice safety margin.

The majority of the cars in the rally were Subarus and the event kicked off at one of Quebec's premier Subaru shops, Lachute Performance. I haven't taken a shop tour yet, but the cars parked around the place were generally of the turbo Subaru variety and the setup of the shop seems very professional.

We did not have too much trouble staying on course during the event. We missed a couple of turns, but realized our mistakes very quickly and didn't lose too much time. We didn't see anyone stuck in the snow anywhere, although most of the field started behind us since we were 6th on the road. The car performed flawlessly, although I somehow again lost the driver-side side skirt! We didn't hit anything, so I don't know how I lost it. This would mean another trip to the scrap yard... Also, at one point, the exhaust made a sort of pop/burp noise, and I noticed afterward that the check engine light had gone out... for the first time ever since I've owned this car! I don't know if it happened then, but that's when I noticed it. It's still off now, 5 days later.

The toughest part of an event like that is the drive home. We finished the rally at 2:15 am and I left Tremblant around 2:45, just as it started to snow quite heavily. I took it easy on the way home and planned to stop if needed for a power nap. In the end, the snow kept me concentrated on the road and I drove non-stop. I went to bed around 4:20 am... very late for me.

The results just came our and I see that we finished right where we usually finish, in 8th place out of 25 cars and last of the 4 expert class teams (you're supposed to register in expert class if you have done more than 3 events). I don't know what we have to do to finish higher... we still had a few early arrivals. There is another event in 9 days, so we'll see if we can improve. If not, we're still having a great time trying!

The Saabaru, washed and ready for action

Cool old Legacy Turbo in front of the shop

We had a prime parking spot

I'm sure this cool grey STi was not stock

The trusty car after the event, as it started to snow

Josée and I and our traditional after-rally photo

I miss my Civic!

I actually don't mind winter, and since we bought a dedicated winter car a couple of years ago, I have no problem with winter driving either. In fact, one thing that makes winter more fun is TSD rallying, and I will be heading up to the Mont Tremblant area this weekend for a rally with my habitual co-driver Josée. We usually have quite a good time together.

I miss the Civic though, and driving on the track in general. I hope that Pat will be able to install the new engine as early in the season as possible so I can start driving it again.

The somewhat strange looking AMG GT63

A rare sight in winter

Cool winter wheels, a Urus and further ahead, a Jaguar F-Type

Another winter-driven M2

Another winter-driven M5!

Excellent choice for tinter fun

... and an unexpected choice.

A loud modified STi

Jules seemed interested in this clean Land Cruiser

My intro to sim racing

For my birthday, I decided to treat myself to a basic sim racing setup. My computer has a fairly powerful video card, so I downloaded IRacing, a well-known simulator. I bought a used steering wheel, a Logitech Driving Force GT, for 50$. The combination of this steering wheel and this game was a real revelation to me. I didn't think the driving experience could feel so realistic with only one screen on a desk. What I didn't like about IRacing was that you can't just jump online and find a race at a track you like with a car you like. Also, you have to pay for additional cars and tracks. This prompted me to buy the game Assetto Corsa. The driving is very slightly less realistic than IRacing, but the car choice is much better, and there are pretty much constant track day simulations at the Nurburgring. In only a week of playing in my free time at the office, I feel I have learned more about lapping the Nordschleife than in years of casually playing Gran Turismo. I am not fast compared to the people I race with online, but I have a much better idea of what types of corners are coming up next. I have always been a bit slow to learn new tracks... I hope this will help if I get the chance to travel to the Nurburgring.

Low-buck racing setup

Saabaru after a wash in the garage

After years since its appearance, this was the first time I have spotted one of these on the road

Oscar with the clean Saab

There are quite a few M cars on the road in winter

At the country house, we tried making our own bread... it was a success!

I bought an upholstery cleaner and used it on the passenger seat of the Saab, to great effect.

Another winter-driven M2

I didn't go to the car show this year, but I saw them unloading the new Land Rover Defender

A lovely and clean Maybach

One of my favourite versions of the Miata

These Lambo SUV's are becoming quite popular...

... here is an unwashed one.

V8 M3 convertible in winter? Why not.

Current M3 with nice wheels

I am starting to really like the current Civic Si's 

People are still driving their sports cars in winter, which is great!

Those 2 sports cars are in the background here, overshadowed by this Rolls coupe