A big THANK YOU to Ken (JethroBodine), Ben (WeatherSpotter) and Tony (arcosine) for making the 2012 Michiana Meet-Up a successful and enjoyable event! It was truly an honor having the guys here with their cars. After watching their modifications being implemented and improved upon here on the forum, it was a real treat to see them in person and put a face and voice with their online persona.
Ben arrived first with the AeroTrix. As he pulled into my driveway, I couldn't help but notice the TEETH! Ha ha! Neither could an elderly neighbor as she drove by; I think she may have wrenched her neck as she passed.
About ten or fifteen minutes later Tony rolled up in his Saturn. Front wheel skirts!? Nice! The closer I looked at his car, the more I was impressed. Belly panel, wheel skirts and boat tails, restructured bumpers. I'm gonna have to check out his mod thread.
Another half an hour and Ken arrived in the FrankenJetta. Wow. All I can say is, the machine does not disappoint when seen in person. Totally awesome.
We wasted little time sticking on some tufts and getting some video. I guess I should have told the guys to forget the P&G for a bit, as it was difficult getting shots when the speeds weren't steady!
I posted the video of Kens car in
his Bonneville thread.
Here is Bens AeroTrix;
And Tony's smoooooth Saturn;
Then we went out to a quiet country road and did some coast-down testing. We decided to try it from a dead stop at the top of a shallow rise, just for fun. I went first and marked my stopping point at the edge of the road. After I pulled forward, Ben rolled past my mark by several yards. As he was marking his spot, Tony had to go around him, as he apparently hadn't waited long enough before starting his run! Tony beat Ben by several yards, and then Ken pulled up behind with his engine running. "I didn't even make it down the hill", he said. The road flattened out just a bit about halfway down the shallow hill, so his new H-rated tires just couldn't keep him going.
Next we tried a coast down from 55 mph. I stood at the edge of the road to mark the spot for them to begin coasting. Then I jumped back into the Insight and made my run. Ben coasted so far that I almost turned around and started looking for them on a side road, thinking they had turned off! Ben won that one handily, and Ken and I came to a rest pretty much at the same spot at least 3/4 mile behind! (How far behind Ben were you, Tony?)
I don't think any of this coast down stuff really proves anything, but it was fun!
When we got back, Ken started looking for a noise he thought he heard in the suspension. That led to popping the hood and finding an unrelated problem; a leaking fuel injector. We tried to help as much we could, but basically just sat back and let the master diesel mechanic do his thing.
He ended up swapping out the leaking injector with an older injector he had brought with him. We're hoping that will get him to Bonneville, where the VW guru's he's meeting with out there can help him out.
I made some burgers on the grill, and we hung out a bit. Tony had to get on the road to make it home at a decent hour, so we said goodbye and saw him off. It had turned out to be such a warm, humid day, that I elected not to have a bonfire in the fire pit. Instead we stayed inside, in the AC, and talked and watched an episode of Top Gear on Netflix.
The guys left this morning before the sun was up to take advantage of the cooler temps.
Thanks again, guys, for making this such a fun time!
