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Greetings Saturn Enthusiasts!
Please enjoy the latest July SPS Updates…
Performance Pilgrimage Participant Info Released
If you are planning to take part in the 1999 Performance Pilgrimage to Spring Hill, then you should be watching your mailbox closely for more details about the big day. Information packets for the 1999 Performance Pilgrimage to Spring Hill have been mailed to each registered participant.
Each packet contains a general itinerary, basic instructions, maps and directions to Pilgrimage sites, an official "entrant" decal for the car show parking access, and a numbered decal for car show identification purposes.
These packets were mailed on Saturday, July 10, so please contact an SPS representative if you have not received your packet by Friday, July 23. This same information has also been posted to the SPS website.
For more information on the Performance Pilgrimage, please visit the SPS website at http://www.spswebpage.com. Or to learn more about the Saturn Homecoming, please visit the Saturn Homecoming site at http://www.saturn.com/homecoming.
Product News
Momo shift knobs are a smart way to dress up the inside of most Saturns – and to improve the shifter feel in the process! SPS now offers the latest Momo knobs at extremely competitive prices. Check it out at http://www.spswebpage.com.
SPS is also proud to offer a new replacement cone filter for use with the Hotshot Powerstack intake kits. Like the K&N filters, the latest filter uses a cleanable cotton filter element. But unlike the RU-2820, the newest filter uses an open filtered front end, a tapered cone shape, and a chromed outer lip. The new JM3014 filter is available now for only $39.00.
Many more new products will be introduced very shortly. But although we are excited about the new items, we are trying very hard to use discretion about releasing new product information because sharing any information before solidifying all of the facts can inadvertently mislead customers, employees, and supporters. Please visit our web site often and watch for future updates. Many more exciting items are on the horizon!
Latest Tech Article Published
The latest addition to the online series of technical articles has been published at the SPS website. The latest article reviews the effects of anti-sway bars upon body roll and understeer. To learn more, check it out here.
July Specials
Our new Stage One Handling Package includes the SPS Front Strut Tower Brace and your choice of SPS Rear Sway Bar. This awesome package reduces body roll and improves steering response for better performance handling! Buy the Stage 1 Package in July and take your choice between a free SPS (or scR) T-shirt or a free SPSWB03 Window Banner! See PKG002 – only $214.29 with the non-adjustable 16.5mm rear sway bar.
Kayne’s 2.0-inch mandrel bent 409 stainless steel exhausts reduce back-pressure and increase exhaust flow for a noticeable increase in power. Save now on all 409 systems during July! Choose between the KAY409SL and the KAY409SS – only $269.00 each.
We also still have a few leftover items and returned items on hand that we would love to sell fast. These items include:
1 set of Forgeline LS 16x8 forged polished aluminum wheels – never installed – only $399.00 each.
SCRT001 – scR motorports T-Shirts – now only $14.95 each – Save $5.00 each!!
Please visit the SPS web site (http://www.spswebpage.com) for more details!
SPS Racing
Thundersport - The Thundersport Racing crew of Tom and John Brandlehner gave their racecar driver, Mike Kramer, a great Father’s Day present on June 20. They sacrificed a weekend holiday – normally reserved for dads - to prepare the Thundersport racecar for another SCCA showroom stock battle at Memphis Motorsports Park. And their hard work and effort helped yield the fifth victory in a row for the SPS and Texaco sponsored Saturn SC2.
Even though he qualified in the pole position, a slow race start caused Kramer to slip to third place during the first lap. This allowed two fast Dodge Neons - driven by John Buck Jr. and Jeff Luckritz – to steal the SSC lead from the Saturn. All three cars ran nose to tail for the first two laps of the 26-lap sprint. But during the third lap, Kramer found a seam, slipped the Saturn to the inside, and late-braked the two Neons into the first turn. Kramer’s lead remained unchallenged for the remainder of the race. At the checkered flag, Kramer’s Saturn finished 48 seconds ahead of Buck’s Neon and had outrun the 15-car showroom stock field to finish fifth overall – right behind the high-horsepower Chevy Camaros and Pontiac Firebirds of the American Sedan class.
Kramer followed-up on the win at Memphis with yet another stunning victory at Savannah’s Roebling Road Raceway on July 3-4. Having qualified on the pole, Mike conquered the SSC field with what seemed to be effortless expertise. His greatest challenge was chasing down the faster SSB cars ahead of him.
His win at Roebling marked the Thundersport team’s sixth victory in a row, solidified his Southeast Divisional SSC championship – his second in as many years – and guaranteed an invitation to the Runoffs at MidOhio in October.
Kramer, now the two-time SCCA Southeast Division Champion, has won at Charlotte, Daytona, Memphis, Savannah, and twice at Road Atlanta. His Saturn also has five pole positions and one track record to add to the list of ‘99 credits. Kramer, a communications specialist for EDS at Saturn’s Manufacturing Complex in Spring Hill, TN, campaigns the only Saturn in America on the SCCA National Road Racing circuit.
Mike and the Thundersport team will rest for much of July and August in preparation for his bid for the SSC national title at the Valvoline Runoffs at the MidOhio Sports Car Course in October.
scR - The SCCA’s Central Division regional superstar – suspension engineer Mark Rushbrook – continues to collect checkered flags in the SPS-owned SSC racecar. And to go along with his collection of checkered flags, Mark has also managed to collect a few championships – including the Mid-Summer Madness Championship and the SCCA’s Central Division Regional Championship.
Since the last update, Mark has raced at Nelson Ledges, MidOhio, and Gingerman. And, as usual, he has expanded his collection of checkered flags and plaques.
Mark’s quest for a CENDIV Regional Championship continued on June 19 at Nelson Ledges. Having arrived at the track late on Friday evening, Mark and the scR team registered, unloaded the car (complete with luggage – doh!) from the trailer in the dark, and went in search of the hotel. Later that night, a review of the pre-registration sheet revealed who they would be racing against - nobody. SSC had been assigned to Group 3 along with SSA, SSB, and ITC. There were 14 cars overall, but only one in SSC: Mark. The team feared that it might be an uneventful weekend. Where was everybody?
On Saturday morning, Mark and Cindy prepared for the qualifying session and moved onto the grid. There were still no other SSC cars. But just before entering the track, they spotted a white SSC Neon airing up his tires by the tech shed. They rejoiced - finally, somebody to race against! The Neon came onto the track five cars behind Mark. For the first few laps, Mark struggled to find anything resembling a racing line (this was his first visit to Nelson Ledges). The track is fast, narrow, and relatively rough with crumbling edges. By the 3rd or 4th lap, the white Neon had caught Mark, and went screaming past on the back straight. (This Neon had some horsepower.) Mark attempted to learn from his line (which made sense since the Neon was much faster) and was able to stick within sight of him for the remainder of the session. (Fortunately, Mark’s vision is good at long distances.) By the end of the session, Mark had learned a lot from the Neon, but still did not feel comfortable with some sections of the track (like turns 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,9,10, and 11). When they posted the official grid, team scR was 2nd in SSC! (Of course, there were only 2 cars.) Mark was within 1 second of the white Neon, but there were 4 ITB and ITC cars between them at the start.
At race time, the scR car took its place on the false grid, and the team looked over some of the other cars in the group. While looking at the white Neon, they noticed that one of the right rear wheel studs had been sheared off! Was the driver aware of this? So they walked around to the left side of the car and noticed that the left rear wheel was missing a wheel nut! The team guessed that the Neon driver knew, and must have figured that he did not need them all – a mass savings perhaps? (Mental note for Mark: don't get too close to this car on the track, it might fall apart!)
The start of the race was very tight, and Mark was all the way through turn 4 before the field started to spread out into a single file line. Thanks to heavy traffic, the Neon managed to create a 5-second lead by the end of the first lap. For the ensuing laps, Mark kept him in his sites and narrowed the gap. By lap 8, Mark had narrowed the gap to 3 seconds. However, suddenly Mark had caught a VW in turn 1 and watched him pirouette in front of him. Mark lost 3-4 seconds as he braked heavily while trying to figure-out where the VW was going to end up. (The VW finally came to rest in the tire wall on the inside of turn 1). Mark resumed the chase after the white Neon, but was unable to close the gap, and took the checkered flag 1.9 seconds behind. It was a strong 2nd place showing and an exciting day of racing on an unfamiliar track!
Team scR’s adventures continued during the 4th of July weekend at the awesome MidOhio Sports Car Course. Unlike Nelson Ledges, this race offered a large field with 12 SSC cars entered for each day on Saturday and Sunday. There was also a large supporting crew consisting of Cindy (Mark’s wife), Jen (the car owner), and Jen’s fiancé John (who also happens to be the founder and chief exec at SPS). The famous James Walker, his wife Dana, and her sister Nicole also came to watch the activities on Saturday.
Mark headed out for qualifying fully intent on using up what was left in that set of tires. As Mark says, "It’s really fun when you know that you can beat on tires without any concern for future use!" SSC was the first group, so the air was as cool as it was going to get (about 90o with 99.99% humidity), and the engine was making pretty good power. Mark also reported an enormous amount of stick in the corners. Every lap felt great - which was understandable when Cindy reported lap times over the radio: 1:52.3 - a significant improvement compared to Mark’s previous best of 1:53.3! The official grid placed Mark 2nd in class and 2nd overall. He was surrounded by Ford ZX2s - which were positioned 1st and 3rd - with many other ZX2s, Civics and Neons close behind.
After lunch, the weather conditions were even better - 98o and 99.9999% humidity. Mark was not looking forward to zippering into his black racing suit, but he did it anyway and rolled onto the false grid, already soaking in sweat. As Mark entered the front straight, he was anticipating the green flag. The ZX2 got a small jump on him, but they were virtually side by side when entering turn 1. Mark gave the ZX2 plenty of racing room on the inside as he kept to the outside, only breathing the throttle enough to keep himself on the track. The ZX2 must have lifted off the throttle much more that Mark, since Mark had solid control of the race lead as he headed toward the keyhole. By the end of the first lap, Mark had earned a 2-second lead. Over the next several laps, the ZX2 seemed to be inching closer. But that ended at lap 7 when he put all 4 wheels off-course at the exit of turn 1. This gave Mark the breathing room that he needed to bring home a victory by a margin of 2.6 seconds.
For qualifying on Sunday morning, the scR crew mounted a set of brand new Hoosiers. But for some reason, Mark did not seem to have the grip of the previous morning, and was only able to turn a 1:53.0. Maybe it was the track, or maybe it was the non-heat-cycled tires. Everybody seemed slower, so we suspect it was the track. Nonetheless, 1:53 positioned scR in 1st in SSC and 3rd overall.
By race time, the temperature had seemingly soared to 999o and 99.999999% humidity. Mark had a good start and led the SSC field into turn 1, trailing behind SSA and ITC cars. For the next several laps, Mark struggled to get past the ITC car. Finally, on lap 8, Mark got to the outside of him in turn 6, inside of him through turn 7, and then outside again into turn 8. It was here when he slowly spun and stopped sideways in the middle of the exit to turn 8! The driving skill of two ITC pilots allowed them to narrowly miss the scR Saturn. But when Mark opened his eyes, he saw the 2nd place SSC ZX2 coming through turn 7 to take over the lead. Mark started the car (it stalls if you spin and aren’t quick enough with your clutch foot), engaged first gear, got the heck out of the racing line, and resumed the chase - now in 2nd place in the SSC class. Within a lap, Mark was upon the ZX2’s bumper and looking for a way past. He got beside him on the back straight, entered turn 6 on his outside, then moved to the inside in turn 7, and then outside again into turn 8. This time, instead of spinning, Mark edged past him and back into the SSC lead. However, on lap 10, Mark came upon traffic and "completely messed up" the carousel turn, giving the lead back to the ZX2. (Oops.) By lap 12 of the 13-lap race, Mark was again on the ZX2’s bumper going into the keyhole when the ZX2’s transmission slipped out of gear. Mark nearly contacted the ZX2’s trunk, but still managed to get a good run down the back straight to again regain the lead. One lap later, the scR team had earned another checkered flag, the second win for the weekend!
Mark’s latest set of victories took place at the South Bend Sprints, a double regional held at Gingerman Raceway on July 17-18. This time, the small crew consisted of Cindy and both Rushbrook dogs - Shoei and Cayman. But they also enjoyed the use of 4 brand new Hoosier tires. Mark had not raced the SSC car at Gingerman before, but he had turned some laps in his stock street Saturn on street tires at the SPC event one month earlier.
On Saturday morning, Mark entered the track with Group 3. As expected, the SSC car was markedly different than the stock street car. (It is amazing what a K&N air filter, Carrera struts, H&R springs, larger sway bar, racing brake pads, and Hoosier tires can do to a car!) Within a few laps, Mark had reduced his lap times to 1:43.1 which he turned consistently for the remainder of the qualifying session. When the official grid was posted, Mark was on the pole for SSC and 9th overall in the group!
When Mark saw the green flag, later in the afternoon, he got the jump on the EP GTI beside him and used the GTI as a buffer between the Saturn and the Neons close behind. While exiting turn 1, Mark was greeted with a front view of one of the ITS Datsun Z's. As he wiggled through the dust and debris, he managed to keep the GTI and the Neons behind. Mark continued to race with the EP car for the first lap, until it finally out-powered the Saturn on the front straight and never looked back. When Mark looked back, the first car he saw was a Neon. But, luckily, it was a SSB Neon, and not a SSC competitor. For the next 7 laps, the SSB Neon filled Mark’s mirrors. That is until it went off-course in turn 7 and filled Mark’s mirrors with dust! The SSB Neon climbed back onto the track, and Mark watched him from a distance for the remaining 8 laps. Mark finally passed the checkered flag just ahead of the SSB Neon, and over a minute in front of the SSC Neons! It was another victory for the SSC Saturn!
On Sunday morning, Mark hit the track with some fresh Hoosiers, hoping to better his time from the previous day. He had a lot of fun (although some corners were more exciting than they should have been) but was unable to improve his lap times. Nevertheless, Mark again qualified on the SSC pole and 10th overall.
At race time, the EP GTI got the jump on Mark, but both cars got the jump on the Neons. Upon exiting the decreasing radius turn 6, Mark checked his mirrors in time to see the leading SSB Neon take out one of the SSC Neons. This slowed everybody behind Mark and provided a lot of breathing room. Later in the race, two other SSC Neons also took each other out in turn 6 - this time leaving one stranded on the side of the track and the other limping (and leaking) for the last few laps. With all of the SSC cars hitting each other and spinning out, all that Mark had to do was turn consistent laps to stay ahead of the mayhem. In the meantime, a SSB Neon had caught Mark with 2 laps to go. But knowing that he was not supposed to be racing against the SSB car (even though he wanted to), Mark let him pass on the front straight. In the remaining 2 laps, Mark dodged the limping Neons and Rabbits in front of him and tried to stay out of the way of the leading (and screaming fast) ITS cars that had caught him from behind. When he received the checkered flag, it marked his 10th victory of the season!
Preparation of the new scR ITA racecar is nearing completion. After months of agonizing preparation, James Walker is anxious to finally begin his season and work hard to get an invitation to the American Road Race of Champions in Atlanta in November. Currently, the scR/SPS designed Koni coil-over suspension is completely installed and the rebuilt motor is finished and ready to be installed. Updates about the car and the 1999 schedule will continue as the car’s build-up progresses. Please watch the 'SCHEDULE' page at the scR motorsports website (http://www.teamscr.com) for new 1999 target events.
SPS Project SL2 still for Sale!
The gold 1996 SL2 project car is still for sale. Someone, please buy this car! It deserves a good home!
Factory options include manual transmission, A/C, cruise control, power windows, power locks, power mirror, keyless entry, sunroof, spoiler, cassette w/equalizer, co-ax speakers, and tan leather seats.
Modifications include 10.5:1 ported and polished head, 52mm throttle body, ceramic Powerstack, Hotshot headers, Borla 2-inch mandrel exhaust plumbing, Kayne Sport muffler, Magnecor wires, NGK plugs, Carrera dampers, H&R springs, front and rear SPS sway bars, strut tower brace, Stillen Metal Matrix brake pads, Carbotech rear shoes, CATZ XLO lamps, Schroth harness, 16-inch Forgeline LS rims, and Toyo 205/50/16 T1 tires.
The price of $10,000.00 includes an extra set of Saturn Teardrop II alloy wheels and Firestone Affinity 185/65/15 tires. Current mileage is around 53,000.
For more information, contact John Comeskey. Or visit the SPS web site at http://www.spswebpage.com.
SPS Events
The SPS schedule for 1999 is starting to fill up. But if you have suggestions for a 1999 event that you would like us to attend, please Contact Us.
SPS 1999 Schedule (tentative): July 29: Caravan from Dayton, Ohio to Spring Hill, Tennessee
July 30-Aug 1: Saturn Homecoming/SPS Performance Pilgrimage in Spring Hill, TN
August 8: SPS project cars and racecars on display at Kings Island Amusement Park
August 14: Kevin Svarda ties the knot with his fiancée, Susan!
Sept 12: SPS project cars on display at the Columbus Zoo
Sept 17-19: Super Street Tour/NOPI Nationals
Oct 8-10: Valvoline Runoffs at Mid-Ohio
Nov 13: ARRC ITA National Championships at Road Atlanta
If you have any questions about anything in this newsletter, please Contact Us.
Until next month, HAVE A GREAT SUMMER! |
