TM3 Times #7 - February 2009
TM3 Times – February 2009
Hello all, this is my first issue of the TM3 Times. I have taken the position over from Broli (Alex) due to his current travelling. I hope that I can bring the position justice as Alex did a phenomenal job with these when they were up and running.
Thank you again to all of you who provided feedback when I asked for input on this month's edition. I have tried to accomodate you all to the best of my ability.
Hope you enjoy the read as this month brings back Cardinal Fang's Thoughts from the Pulpit and a new monthly contribution of Tales from the Track- TM3 Motorsports by rotarygreg
We were missing some contributions to last month's Times so we have phil05gx writing about La Paloma Meets and 3GFX about the C7 Meets in 2008.18 Members Get Into Accidents in Winter Season
The 2008-2009 winter season has unfortunately brought some demise to our fellow Toronto Mazda 3 members and their cars. Accident reports have been on the rise since late 2008 which started with yours truly getting into her very first accident five days into her G2 license.
*contributed by She_Prime*
In total, we have seen approximately 18 members during this winter season currently meet the demise of accidents. Some at fault, some not, some hit and runs; but they all still occurred. This meant for our members dealing with insurance, dishing out extra money out of pocket and in some extreme cases, writing off their Mazda leaving them car-less.
*photo contributed by laksman91*
Thankfully due to the support of our forum many of our members found solutions and advice right here at home. Among overwhelming support and best wishes, our members were treated with the utmost dignity (with a crack or two put in for good merit (yes boys I remember the woman driver comments!)). I know personally I would have never got through it all without the support and help of my friends and fellow members.
Most of us are driving our cars once again fixed, and with more caution. Not only experiencing it firsthand but also reading about here on TM3 hopefully makes our members more cautious and alert about road conditions in inclement weather. Please, everyone, take your time, leave early, leave plenty of room when following other vehicles and make your cars as safe as they can be in the winter weather. And if you still do not feel comfortable driving please stay at home with your Mazda safely parked in the driveway.
All drivers must ensure that they do their part to keep our roads safe this winter season. Safe driving everyone!
By She_Prime
La Paloma Meets
On Jan 14, 2009 Toronto Mazda 3 holds their weekly meet at the Tim Hortons at the corner of Weston and the 400. The meet is always great with the same people coming out and bringing up interesting conversations. The weekly routine is bringing a deck of Briscola cards and playing a couple of games which can be very tense at time, but in the end its all fun. The brisk game was hilarious because Marco and Anthony who thought that they can beat me and Sabrina in Briscola were served a loss on a silver platter. It would be nice to see more people come out to the La Paloma meets including new members. It is also important to mention that this meet changes sites in the summer to La Paloma Geletaria and Café so we all can enjoy some lovely gelato and our cars!
*photo contributed by phil05gx*
Oakville Meet
On January 15, 2009, the Oakville meet was held in the starbucks at the corner of Trafalgar and Dundas. Those who made it to the meet were Sicsol, Pereira11, RJ3 and phil05gx. The meet was pretty small but it was good meeting other members you don’t see very often. Some of the topic of conversation was whether a CX-7 would fit in a single car garage and we found it its going to be a little tight. All in all it was a great meet but we need more members to show up regardless of the weather.
Our Newest Monthly Column: Tales From the Track- TM3 MotorsportsC7 Fall Tour 2008 (Oct 5/08)
With the coldest of weather nipping at noses there is no better time to reflect back on one of the greatest meets of every year. The C7 Fall Tour is the largest meet throughout all of Ontario and always brings one last spread of automotive cheer before the rides get put away or winterized for the harshest Canadian season. Nothing can be more terrific than a colourful fall cruise with over 400 cars in attendance.
Just as last year a few of us from the far west end of TorontoMazda3.ca (Kitchener) got up early in the morning just to get rolling. Members as far as London met up to cruise toward the event. Of course it calls for an early day when the cruise starts at 9am! As with all larger TM3 events there were numerous meeting locations throughout the GTA so that all members could arrive together in Oshawa for the beginning of the tour. Between early car washes and coffee everyone had their car prime to show off for potentially their last meet of the season.
The starting location of the 2008 tour was the same as last year which is always a sight. Pulling off the 401 into a parking lot littered with so many cars is jaw dropping. TM3 rolled in this year with approximately 20 members along with another 4 from LondonMazda3. We were among the largest of groups rolling out together for the cruise this year which demonstrates the fact that our wonderful club is happily growing. So after eyeballing some of the wonderful rides around the lot along with polishing up the ride for the last time everyone started to roll out at around 10 in the morning.
The cruise itself followed much of the same route as last year with a few new turns and stretches thrown in for some new scenery. From the starting location in Oshawa we aimed for the Kawartha Downs racetrack near Peterborough. The total cruise time was somewhere between an hour and two hours from start to finish (roughly 100km); full of great scenery and roads to delight those with white knuckles. The ending location was cause for much debate both this year and last year, only because of the spread of time at which all of the participants arrive. Although there is a casino there is not much to do at the ending location. This thought was clearly abolished this year by the addition of arguably the best part of the cruise!
This year for the first time the organizers of C7 allowed for an open lapping day at the Kawartha Downs oval. A small donation of only a couple dollars to M.A.D.D. got you 3 laps around the oval. Not only was this a great opportunity to put your car on a track but also to donate to a great organization!
All in all this year’s tour was a great success with more participants, a wonderful cruise and a great ending location. C7 is always a highlight for many members year. Some members have been going for many years, and I know I will as well. For those who are looking for a fun day to spend with their car and a bunch of great people set aside some time next fall to participate.
Picture Thread: http://www.torontomazda3.ca/forum/sh...2&highlight=c7
More info to follow on TM3 for 2009 & here: www.falltour.ca
Cheers,
David Balazic
3GFX
And last but certainly not least for this month is our lovely Cardinal Fang's Thoughts from the Pulpit.Tales From The Track
2009 Rolex 24 at Daytona (Jan 24th/25th)
The "SuperBowl" of the grand-am rolex series is, oddly enough, the season opener. Its a 24 Hour race around the street course at Daytona International Speedway with two classes running at the same time.
DP (Daytona Prototype) consists of race only chassis made by Riley, Crawford, and Dallara to name a few. The engines that are in these premade chassis are what determine who gets bragging rights if the car takes a podium. Porsche, Lexus, Pontiac, Ford, and BMW would be the only manufacturers entered in this class. These are the fast cars. The meat and potatos of the rolex series.
However, the GT (Grand Touring) class has alot of excitement to offer. Consisting of cars built on production car chassis and moddified drivetrains. The main contenders for this class would be the Porsche GT3 Cup, the Mazda RX8, and the Pontiac GXP-R. All three having previous class wins here. In 2007 Mazda broke Porsches 15 year winning streek at this race by taking a class victory with the Speedsource rx8.
This year looked promising for Mazda as well. Unfortunately, a rule change last year for the rx8 is still in effect. A mandatory Rev limiter has been installed on all RX8s, limiting the RPM to 8600. This is a huge handy cap for the rotary teams as the cars are designed to run at speeds well over this. Even a 100% stock RX8s rev limiter is at 9500RPM. Despite this, one mazda had the second fastest lap time in class during the race and the fastest lap time in class during qualifying. That, however, is where their success would end.
Shortly after the beggining of the race, Speedsources #70 Rx8 dropped a wheel too far off the track in a corner and split the fuel tank open. This was a crippling blow to the team right from the get-go. By the time the repair was completed, they were 41 laps behind the leader. There was more trouble for Speedsource to follow. Their other car (#69 Rx8) had a spin, followed by a small collision with a porsche. The collision bent a lower A-arm and needed replacing. This put them 25 laps behind the leader. To put that in perspective, 28 laps on this track is roughly an hours worth of racing. The bad luck would not end there. The #70 car had a cracked header which needed replacing, followed soon after by a broken axel.
Two other teams entered rx8s to represent the mazda brand. Patrick Dempsy of Greys Anatomy has his own team, Dempsy Racing (sponsored by MazdaSpeed). With "Dr. McDreamy" himself behind the wheel, the team was delayed with 2 spin outs and then an extra pit because of flat spots on the tires and an early driver change. Racer's Edge's RX8 entry was the most consistent and trouble free, only being delayed with a broken windshield during the 24hrs of racing. In the end Speedsource (with two entries), Racer's Edge, and Dempsy Racing took 9th, 16th, 20th, and 27th in class respectively. When the checkered flag dropped, the #69 car had bitten back 5 of the 25 laps it had lost which is really a huge accomplishment. to have lapped the lead car 5 times shows how hard the team was pushing. Although this was not the result us mazda maniacs hope to see it was still a great effort.It's a long season, and hopefully lady luck will be on their side from this point on.
That sums up the action pretty much. I hope you enjoyed reading, or better yet, enjoyed watching the race if you managed to catch any of it.
-Greg
rotarygreg
Personally though Fang, I wanna keep you around for our monthly contributionSomewhat Incoherent Thoughts from the Pulpit
The opinions expressed are those of a slightly on edge online character named Cardinal Fang and not necessarily those of the TorontoMazda3.ca. Any resemblance between Cardinal Fang and a an actual Roman Catholic Cardinal is purely coincidental.
Mrs. Fang - (from Latin meaning to utterly infuriate at a drop of a hat)
More than twenty years ago when I was a naive know-it-all I had “thing” for this girl in high school. So I dated her. When she started to piss me off and I realized she was just after me for her “arm candy” (stop laughing!) I decided to call it off. But not before I decided to get her back out of spite. Enter the then now Mrs. Fang. At the time, her best friend. So I enacted this plan to date, fall in love, become engaged and marry Mrs. Fang.
That’ll teach her! Unfortunately, there have been times where I think I may have carried this plan much further than I should have. But I digress. Mrs. Fang is great in every respect except when it comes to cars. In particular….my car. You see she has wide variety of opinions when it comes to what I’ve done to and would like to do to my car. Invariably the arguments always follow the same line of logic. “You’re acting like a kid,” “why can’t you be happy with the way things are,” “what’s the point they’re all cosmetic changes and you’re still a full 35 hp down on me and I own your Mazda ass every which way to hell.” I may have embellished that list bit but I know she’s thinking it. But I have 4 more cup holders than she does. So suck on that Acura. HA!
So here’s a glimpse of my last discussion with Mrs. Fang over, of all things a “lip spoiler.” Watch how she carefully guides/hi-jackes the conversation until there’s virtually nothing left to remember. It started off with me showing her a picture of a black lip attached to the spoiler on a white hatch.
Fang: Have a look at this. I’m getting this for my car.
Mrs. Fang: You’re getting a white spoiler for your car?
Fang: No, I’m getting that black lip to fit on my car’s rear spoiler.
Mrs. Fang: Black? Won’t that look strange given your car colour.
Fang: No. It will look like accent trim. It’s fine really.
Mrs. Fang: Looks better on a white hatch if you ask me. Why didn’t you buy a white hatch if you wanted to do this?
Fang: Well.....in the first place, I never contemplated doing this when I first bought the car two years ago and secondly, white hatches suck donkey balls. (No offense to those white hatch owners reading this)
Mrs. Fang: I think white hatches look good.
Fang: Of course you would think that.
Mrs. Fang: No really I do and what exactly is this “lip” supposed to do.
Fang: It adds more sex appeal to the car.
Mrs. Fang: If you wanted sex appeal why didn’t you just buy an Acura.
Fang: Because the RSX was more expensive given the same options and that’s not pertinent to the conversation we’re having here. This is about the lip. FOCUS.
Mrs. Fang: Why don’t you paint it the same colour as car?
Fang: If I did it really wouldn’t stand out.
Mrs. Fang: You want it to stand out?
Fang: Of course. I want people to notice it.
Mrs. Fang: If you want people to notice your car more why don’t you….
Fang: NO, no, no, no, no. I’m getting the lip. It’s going to be black and it will go on the spoiler of my car. People will look upon it and wonder in amazement that a Mazda3 can look so good.
Mrs. Fang: Until a TSX pulls up along side of you and….
Fang: I HAVE 4 MORE CUP-HOLDERS GOD DAMN IT!!!!!!!!!!
All our arguments usually end with me yelling that I have 6-cup holders. I don’t know why but it just seems appropriate. And that’s Mrs. Fang greatest gift. She’s able to use a tangent in any conversation and you never see it coming until it’s too late. I’m sure you’ve all seen 'Good Will Hunting'? Of course you have. I was watching it with Mrs. Fang the other day and she squeezed my arm and said,
Mrs. Fang: “That's how I'd like you to look.”
”Ahhh,” you're all sitting there saying, “But Cardi (I really hate that name by the way!!!!!), you're already practically Ben Affleck's double.” True enough. But Mrs. Fang was talking about Robin Williams. Aged 45. With a beard.
Kill me please.
What a way to do up my 700th post!
In closing from our friend Krakor:
"The two of you will one day bless our home with the pitter patter of sweet little grandchildren as ugly as sin."
This is obviously referring to the love children of Cardinal Fang and Broli.
Thanks guys!
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Originally Posted by SilentJay
