Hey-lo, GRM car and competition crazies! I am thrilled to see you here in Grassroots Motorsports magazine, which featured my VW Cup Golf racer on the cover at the very start of my career, way back in 1985. Congrats to Tim, Tom and Margie Suddard, David, J.G. and staff for making all this glorious coverage … Read more
I’d been trudging up to the Alps chalet, my feet stopped in their snowy tracks. A glimmering gold W126 Mercedes-Benz S-Class sat on winter tires, with chains on the rears. It looked perfect. Instantly I was transported to my Grandparent’s, Grandpa and Nonnie as I called them, garage in Fargo, ND. It was like…an out … Read more
Nobody, in Maserati’s near-80-year history of making cars, has bought one of its products because it made sense. Its cars have always been completely emotional purchases. And that poses a bit of a problem for the Maserati Grecale. See, it’s a mid-sized SUV. One that, in most forms, has a 2.0-litre four-cylinder. And comes as … Read more
What happens to tires after our tests? We keep running them–and we keep learning. Our latest findings: Some tires get better the more you run them. Specifically, longterm testing of the Falken Azenis RT660 and the Bridgestone Potenza RE–71RS showed that tread depth, heat cycling and rotation can impact performance over the tire’s lifetime. When we first … Read more
[GRM+ members read this article first. Subscribe and gain access to more exclusive content for only $3/month.] Your track car is no fun in the garage. Sure, maybe you give it a celebratory detail job after a weekend of hard lapping, but the place where you want your track car to excel is on track. And it can’t do that if it’s broken, or acting suspicious, … Read more
No, it’s not legal for SCCA competition. Yes, it’s still fast. After watching many other competitors jump into today’s market for streetable track tires–most of which fall under the 200tw heading–Hoosier finally has an offering with its new TrackAttack Pro. While it carries that ever-popular 200tw rating, it still doesn’t meet the current SCCA regulations. How’s that? This … Read more
Just send it. Success favors the bold, and what better way to succeed at time trials than by throwing caution to the wind, uncorking your wildest fantasies of speed, and going full throttle into tomorrow. Okay, let’s dial it back a little, tough guy. As the discipline of time trials becomes more popular, the techniques required for … Read more
[Editor’s Note: This article originally appeared in the October 2009 issue of Grassroots Motorsports.] A big part of being grassroots involves making things out of metal: brackets, supports, bearing holders, levers and more. Sometimes you’re making things from scratch; other times you’re modifying a part from one application to fit another. No matter what the task, one … Read more
The era of consolidation has fully arrived for the automotive industry, and we have electric vehicles to thank. Granted, that era almost certainly kicked off a few years ago when Fiat Chrysler and France’s PSA Group combined into Stellantis. And even before that, the now-late CEO of Fiat Chrysler warned that consolidation was the only … Read more
Why an NA Miata? Well, for more than 30 years, it’s remained a viable answer to nearly every question. Autocross. Hillclimbs. Time trials. Rallycross. Road racing. Modern-day or vintage classes. It works for all of the above. Sure, the newer Miatas feature many improvements over the original. However, there’s just something about the NA Miata. Maybe it’s … Read more