Alfa Romeo at PIR (long)

[John Karasaki <johkar@teleport.com>]

Wow what a blast!  Just spent the day at Portland International Raceway with
the Alfa Romeo and Porsche Clubs.  Great fun was had by all.  I was in the
intermediate group with a slew of Porsches, a couple of Alfas, two old
British Ford racers (these guys should have been in the advanced group), a
Corvette, a Miata, a MR2, and a BMW M5 (The M5 could not keep up to my TQC,
straights or curves, BTW.  I let him catch me a couple of times going into
the straights, then punched it, leaving the car behind - in the dry no less).

What a great group of people.  Very friendly and willing to answer all my
questions (I know nothing about either Porsches or Alfas).  The cost was
quite reasonable.  $60 for the day.  This included scheduled run groups in
the morning, and a open (yes I said open) track all afternoon.  I got about
three hours in this afternoon and about an 1.5 hours in the morning.

BTW the P7s handled very good in the wet, slippery moss that was on the
track in the morning.  I was quite surprised.  These tires are old and worn
down to 3 or 4/16ths.  In the afternoon, the track dried up quite nicely.
Boy do these tires make noise!  They squeal like a stuck pig when cornering.
This happened no matter what speed I was driving (over 60 anyway) or how
smooth I drove.  Several guys commented on it.  Several others commented on
the "tremendous amount of speed I could carry through the curves."  One
quote, "I have a whole new respect for these Quattro coupes. "  And, "I
thought I should easily take you in the corners because of your added
weight...man you're a good driver."  To which I responded, "Thanks, but I'm
just learning this car, having not driven a turbo on the track before.  The
car made up for some of my short comings.  I've got many more track days
ahead of me before I even come close to using this car to its potential."

Of course, the SCCA race cars and the club racing drivers made me look like
I'd just got my learner's permit yesterday.  But it was great following
their line and getting pointers.

The Quattro Club needs to host events like this.  Inexpensive, fun,
organized, with a whole bunch of different car enthusiasts getting together.
If anyone is interested, the next PIR club track day (non-driver's training)
is April 26.  The BMW club is hosting this one.  You need to belong to a
national club to participate so plan accordingly.

P.S.  Al at A&P Specialties fixed the "pulsing" problem.  I had checked of
vacuum leaks and he did the same.  None were found.  Turns out the fuel
control pressure regulator (aka warm-up regulator) was "bad" and needed
adjusting ala a punch and hammer to the set pin in its face.  I say bad
because the Bentley manual says to replace these if they don't met specs.
They are "adjustable" however.  The 5kcst we sold also had this fix done.
The mixture was very lean a operating temperature.  Over 4 hours under
adverse conditions proves this fix works (I hope!).
Regards,

John Karasaki

The Karasaki's, proud owners of AUDI automobiles

1981 Coupe
1982 TQC
1984 5000S Wagon
1990 V8