2009 One Lap of America
DSM Tuners
DSM Tuners has put up a page dedicated to following our travels around the country and with the entire One Lap Project. This is a huge resource for us to be able to liason with the community, escpecially when we are on the road.
http://www.dsmtuners.com/sub.php?page=1lapvr4
0Rochester DSM One Lap 2009
The RochesterDSM club has formed a team to compete in the 2009 One Lap of America. The team includes Stephen Burke, Mike Hayes, Sean Caron, and Tim Harper. On this website you can find resources to follow the progress on this trip, as well as ways to help contribute or sponsor our journey. Be sure to check out Tim’s blogs on DSM Tuners and set your calendar to watch after May 1st as we intend to broadcast live along the trip on Ustream.
0The Donor Car
There are two reason we chose the Galant VR4 for the trip. First, we are bringing three drivers and my Eclipse has no back seats. Even if it did, Steve is a big guy and his head hits the roof of the Eclipse when he wears a helmet. So the Eclipse is out. Steve also just so happens to have purchased a new EVOX so he had plans to part out and sell the VR4 this Spring. After a few beers I convinced him let me work some of my magic on it and give it one last “going out with style” adventure.
Now I’ve got a butt load of time and effort into my Eclipse to turn it into a track monster. I’ve been posting my “Watkins Glen trip reports” for years now so we all know its a car that battles it out with
likes of GT3′s and ZO6′s. So the plan is to stip the VR4 of the parts he can sell now and then strip the parts off the Eclipse to build the VR4 into a track machine. Specifically the Eclipse is going to give up its front and rear suspension so we can have newish wheel bearings, urethane bushings, and 5
lug hubs. The 5 lug hubs allows us to use my 17×9 wheels and 255/40 tires. Also making its way over is the AGP L1R turbo, FP manifold, and my O2 housing. Although not a big turbo by todays standards its in the 20G size which is perfect for road racing. Here is what my poor Eclipse looked
like before it went under the knife.
0The starting point
The car we’ve selected to carry us accros the nation is a 1992 Galant VR4. The car was donated by team member Steve Burke and is 187/1000. The car starts life in a “street fighter” trim. It sports a
built engine with 9-1 JE pistons, Crower Rods, no BS, ported head, 1mm over Si valves, HKS 264/272 cams, big Spearco FMIC, and BR57 turbo. The car sports a Tein coil-over suspension, whitline rear sway bar, and a Baer track brake kit. Otherwise everything else is stock.
0Mike Hayes – 2009 Team Member
Mike Hayes was born on March 5, 1973 in Binghamton NY. Growing up as the youngest he watched his brothers re-build motorcycles, dirt bikes, mustangs and my brothers infamous 240Z…. That’s the car that got him started. Being a gear head was in his blood and would show its true colors when he got into the DSM world.
His first DSM was a 91 Talon non turbo. After trashing a transmission and putting it into a guard rail in the middle of winter the urge for something different came about. In the spring a Yamaha FZR 600 showed up in the garage to fulfill the adrenaline junkie’s need for speed. After racing it at Watkins Glen for a summer and knowing winter was around the corner something had to be done. What could he buy that he could tweak, make fast and would handle the NY winters? Hmmm … a 95 Talon TSI AWD seemed like just the ticket. With a few bolt on’s he was hooked.
In 2000 he moved to Rochester, NY where he found this little club called Rochester DSM and met a great group of friends. After being in the club for about an hour it was apparent that the bolt on’s weren’t enough and the true modding began. Mike started running auto crosses and Watkins Glen driving schools with Tim and Steve and he found his true passion for the road course.
Today Mike is an instructor with Trackmasters, Porsche Club of America and multiple other Driving schools, and spends as much time on the track as he can. Other hobbies include watersports, baseball and basketball. His day job as a Program Manager for ITT tends to get in the way of his passion, but hey, you gotta pay to play.
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