backyard brawl

[bimmer3002]

this will be the recap of the races my brother (we'll call him Thew) and i run with various regulations, depending on our mood. he's a little younger than i and can only race when his college schedule permits. but being three time zones away, this allows us to stay in touch.

the first installment of the series will detail our selection of naturally aspirated 4 cylinder, four seaters with a tuning restriction of 250 hp and sport soft tires. all other mods are fair game. sorry for the lack of pictures, i'm technologically challanged.

Thew chose the track, and we both arrived at Autumn Ring with our cars in tow. as he rolled his 1996 Honda Prelude SiR from the trailer, i grew concerned over the difference in torque between our cars. although the 1.8L in my 95 Honda Integra type R matched his 2.2L in hp, it would suffer down low and off the line. i would just have to rely on my superior suspension tuning and lower curb weight to make it up in the twisty bits.

as we lined up for the off, i warned him of his track selection and suggested he might have wanted to go with a longer track to utilize his power advantage. 💡 but he felt confident in his 'lude and we prepared for the green flag to drop.

with equal horse power and running the same tire compound, the difference in weight and chassis tuning manifested itself by the first corner with the integra rotating beautifully through the apex as the prelude pushed wide. this was a scene that repeated itself throughout the remainder of the first lap as the prelude struggled in vein to match the type R through the tight sections of Autumn Ring. after two laps, the SiR was within striking distance, behind the leader by 2.7 seconds and not getting any closer. in an attempt to close the gap in the final lap, the younger brother started to take some ill advised risks and ended up pushing his car just a tad passed its limits as clouds of dirt swirled in the type R's rearview mirror. knowing the race was decided, the two cars completed the third and final lap without further drama, with round one belonging to the elder brother and the Integra type R.

licking his wounds, Thew decided to take his brothers advice and head to le Sarthe for round two. to be continued....

 

[bimmer3002]

for round two, the brothers arrived in france to shake down their aging hondas. immediately, it was apparent that the integra's transmission would need to be lengthened if he wanted any chance of keeping up on the long back straight. after a quick adjustment, both cars were ready for launch.

the prelude took advantage of it's torque off the line and jumped out to a slim early lead. after the porsche esses the cars were neck and neck headed towards mulsanne, where the prelude once again slipped into the lead. though with a little help from the slipstream, the type R was able to keep up with the slightly more powerful prelude heading into the first chicane. both cars successfully navigated the corner without incident and came out the other side again side by side, where the previous story played out yet again with the integra utilizing the slipstream to keep up down to the second chicane. where, this time, things played out a little differently.

with the two cars fighting for the same position on the track, a little paint was swapped and the prelude couldn't quite mantain control and found himself headed toward the dirt before being able to catch the slide before further damage was inflicted. both cars jetted out of the turn, with the integra finally able to catch a little breathing room as the prelude struggled to catch back up. pushing maybe a little too hard, the prelude found more of the dirt on the way to Indianapolis, which all but sealed the deal for the older integra.

being about 7 seconds behind, the prelude decided to go for broke and was able to slightly cut the final chicanes before the s/f line without the officials noticing, closing the gap to less than 3 seconds, so all was not lost. unfortunately, the distance between the cars would stay quite static for the remainder of the lap, and the prelude's quest for dominance would end in heartbreak.

with round two again going to the the older integra, the brothers agreed they had determined the champion, and headed back to their respective garages for their next battle for sibling supremecy. til next time.....

 

[jacobp51]

Nice report!

 

[bimmer3002]

for their next challenge, the regulations were set at front engined, naturally aspirated street cars with a tuning restriction of 450 hp, but racing hard tires were now permitted. the venue? the road course at indianapolis motor speedway.

as the older brother pulled his E86 M coupe out of the paddock and onto the track for the first time, the sight of a familiar car came into view and he had to chuckle. as he watched an E46 M3 pull away into turn one, he wondered what the odds were of both of them selecting a car with the same S54 engine. of all the torqier V8's available, both brothers thought it wise to go with the same 3.2L inline 6 and tune it to their tastes. this would really come down to a matter of styles over anything else. it promised to be an exciting race.

with the laguna seca blue M3 on the pole position, both cars launched forward with considerable sound and fury as the green flag fell. as was to be expected, the two BMW's were door to door as they headed into turn one to take them into the infield portion of the track, with the E86 squeezing into the lead. immediately, the M Coupe's desire to understeer made itself evident, as the younger brother was repeatedly forced to brake more heavily than he would have desired in an attempt to stay out of the rear bumper of the wide pushing coupe.

being able to be more aggressive in the twisty bits, the M3 kept the pressure on the momentary leader as he consistantly pulled even, however unable to complete the pass attempts. the wildly handling coupe was able to maintain an uneasy grasp on first place heading into the re-entry to the oval, where the 3 was able to use the slip stream to pull side by side heading down to the braking section just past the s/f line where again, the coupe was able to hold off his hard charging younger sibling and enter the infield still in the lead.

however, feeling the constant nipping at his heels, the older (not to mention wiser and far better looking) brother was finally no longer able to reign in the understeer and pushed quite wide as he clipped the dirt, allowing the M3 a clean overtake. undaunted, he set about the arduous task of reclaiming the lead, and proving his superior driving/tuning skills. hardening his concentration, the coupe crept back into contention, sneaking inside of the E46 before the sequential 90* turns leading to the final section before heading back out to the oval. but his triumph would be short lived as he, once again, understeered into the dirt on the final turn before the oval, as the M3 shot past him into the lead, as Thew celebrated over the intercom, cackling as he drove down the front straight.

with only one lap remaining, he felt no remorse for utilizing the slipstream to catch back up heading into turn one. looking for just the right moment to strike, he once again snuck in on the inside, forcing the M3 wide, off his intended line heading into the quarter mile back straight. remembering his lesson from the previous lap, the renewed leader kept his M Coupe pointed in the right direction and blasted back out onto the banked oval, heading towards the finish line. the M3 could only watch as the coupe crossed the line .8 seconds ahead.

undetered, Thew vowed to seek revenge as he headed back to the garage to retreive his turbo'd machine for the second leg of their 450 hp challenge. but he would have to wait, as his sister-in-law robbed him of his moment, forcing his brother to put the cars away and come home for dinner. til next time.....