For those of you that know Phil, you know that he just can’t leave stuff alone. All it took was Cody, his son to ask if i could make it go faster. The answer to that question was…Phil and Bernie Dean doing some modding.

The Underwood family got a kick out of a question that popped up from a friend visiting that day who kept asking why Codys PW50 sounds different and pulls away from his kids PW50.

Some things are better left unsaid and some secrets (read: mods) are never told. We’re happy to see Cody enjoying his newly modded bike!

Fogueira das vaidades | O “mico” não foi informado pela “grande imprensa” nacional. E os poucos veículos que se detiveram a noticiar, fizeram-no de forma equivocada, talvez para benefício do governador de São Paulo, José Serra (PSDB).

Na mesma semana em que o presidente Lula foi homenageado na sede da Unesco, em Paris, com a entrega de um Prêmio pela Paz, o governador paulista inventou de viajar a Genebra para receber um tal prêmio concedido por uma das milhares de ONG’s espalhadas pelo mundo e que estão filiadas à ONU. Trata-se de uma homenagem da desconhecida WFO, Organização Mundial da Família (“World Family Organization”), cujo escritório da presidência fica em Curitiba, capital do Paraná, Estado vizinho ao que é governado por José Serra. Mesmo assim o tucano precisou se deslocar à Suíça para receber a honraria. Tudo às custas do contribuinte.

No dia em que chegou à Europa, Serra dizia no seu Twitter: “Desembarquei há pouco em Genebra. Cansado. E ainda tenho de escrever o discurso que vou fazer amanhã, no plenário do Conselho da ONU”. Na verdade, a homenagem aconteceu numa das dezenas de salas da sede européia da ONU. Nunca no “plenário do Conselho”, como quis induzir José Serra. Pior ainda: toda a iniciativa partiu de uma obscura ONG filiada às Organizações Unidas.

No dia da fajuta homenagem, o portal do governo paulista anunciava:  “Serra agradece homenagem na sede da ONU, em Genebra”. O site do PSDB, na seção de notícias, também se jactava: “O governador de São Paulo, José Serra, recebeu hoje em Genebra, na sede das Nações Unidas (ONU), uma homenagem por sua atuação à frente das políticas públicas de saúde”. Só depois o texto informou que a premiação não era da ONU, mas de uma tal Organização Mundial da Família, “filiada à ONU”.

Até O Estado de São Paulo, reconhecidamente simpático à administração tucana, deixou escapar a extemporaneidade da premiação haja vista que Serra saiu do Ministério da Saúde em 2002: “O prêmio foi dado pela Organização Mundial da Família, uma entidade internacional presidida por uma brasileira que resolveu homenagear o governador por sua gestão à frente da pasta da Saúde e suas políticas em relação à mortalidade materna e infantil.”

Assustado com tamanha repercussão, o escritório brasileiro da ONU divulgou nota para esclarecer que “a World Family Organization (WFO, Organização Mundial da Família) não é uma entidade da Organização das Nações Unidas. Trata-se de uma Organização Não Governamental (ONG) associada ao Conselho Econômico e Social da ONU (…) As ONGs associadas não representam a ONU nem podem, em qualquer hipótese, falar em nome da Organização.”

A presidente da ONG chama-se Dr. Deisi Noeli Weber Kusztra, natural de Curitiba, cidade onde também mantém o escritório da presidência da WFO. No cargo desde 1997, Dra. Deisi carrega nas costas algumas acusações, como a de não ter aplicado corretamente 6 milhões de reais repassados pelo governo de Sergipe para construção da maternidade Nossa Senhora de Lourdes. Noutra acusação, Dra. Deisi é apontada como suposta responsável de um rombo de 592 mil reais encontrado na Associação Saza Lattes, entidade filantrópica curitibana por ela dirigida entre 1987 e 2000.

Em Sergipe, a atuação da Dra. Deisi se estendeu também na promessa de erradicalização da pobreza no Estado através do programa “Via Rápida”, da ONU.

The WFO True Street Challenge Round One takes place at the San Antonio Raceway Friday, July 24th. This event is for street legal cars on street tires competing for trophies, bragging rights, and a little cash! Our goal is to get the racing off the streets and onto the track.

For full details of this event, including 2009 guidelines, rules, and general information, visit the WFO Forums: http://wforacingteam.org/showthread.php?t=539.

Trophies will be given to the winner and runner up.

Bring your car, the challenge, and join us in the fun on July 24, 2009 at the San Antonio Raceway!

Hilário ver o José Serra mobilizar sua imprensa para anunciar que recebeu o prêmio de uma ONG (WFO) pelo trabalho de quase 10 anos atrás no Ministério da Saúde.

É como receber um Oscar póstumo ou indenização trabalhista atrasada. Já não vale nada, pq o defunto não viu e o dinheiro está desvalorizado.

A World Family Organization pegou uma sala emprestada para entregar o prêmio, que não representa a ONU, e dentre os 3 agraciados somente Serra apareceu. Mico.

Mas não pára por ai. O tiro no pé é maior. A tal ONGWorld Family Organization ainda deve explicações para a Câmara Municipal do Balneário Camboriú pelo uso do dinheiro público para construir o Hospital Municipal Ruth Cardoso.

Explicando: José Serra não poderia admitir que Lula ganhasse um dos maiores prêmios da Unesco, o Félix Houphouët-Boigny, em pleno auditório das Nações Unidas. Acabou cavando na mídia um prêmio de consolação, para se passar por estadista, aproveitando-se do boicote da imprensa a visita de Lula a Paris. É basicamente isso.

#eurialto

Acima, José Serra vai à Suiça receber importante prêmio diretamente de celebridades. (Clique na imagem para ver versão completa com mais celebridades)

Foi o maior espetáculo da Terra a premiação da Organização Mundial da Família (WFO) em Genebra, Suiça. Conhecida por ser completamente desconhecida, a Organização é presidida pela Dr Deisi Kusztra, uma ilusionista famosa por grandes truques em Sergipe. A WFO tem sede em Curitiba, mas achou mais bonito apresentar seu espetáculo na Suíça, fica mais chique.

O grande homenageado da noite foi o presidente Governador de São Paulo José Serra.  Mostrando que o circo é realmente uma tradição muito antiga, a WFO preferiu entregar em 2009 um prêmio ao Serra pela sua atuação de ministro que terminou em 2002.

Outras duas personalidades foram premiadas na noite, a ex-primeira dama do Reino Unido, Cherie Blair, e a princesa do Kuwait, Sheikha Fariha Al-Sabah. Infelizmente estas duas tinham mais o que fazer e não compareceram à cerimônia, enquanto Serra só tinha na agenda “ser governador de São Paulo e tentar ser presidente”

O prêmio recebido era composto de uma placa muito bonita feita de plástico e escrito “brinquedos estrela” no canto esquerdo. O Público presente na premiação considerou o show meio caidaço, fajuto e fake. Afinal de contas, pra que o Serra tem que receber um prêmio pelo trabalho como ministro oito anos depois de largar a pasta? E essa presidente da WFO maior picareta aê? É realmente coincidência que esse prêmio fajuto tenha sido entregue um dia depois do Presidente Lula receber um prêmio fodão da UNESCO? E pô, três pessoas são premiadas e só o zé ruela do Serra que comparece? Não é no mínimo suspeito que o governador Serra tenha tanta sanha de sair correndo pra Suíça?

Galera considerou o prêmio fake de Serra meio deprimente

Fontes:

Cidadania.org

Viomundo

Luis Nassif

Our previous post included an interview with WFO founder, Phil Underwood. In that post we mentioned that the Underwood family was no stranger to cars and racing, including Phil’s wife Denise Underwood. If you’ve viewed the video in the earlier post you’ll see Denise getting her game on and well…let’s be blunt – kicking some ass.

Much of the time you can find Denise being a Mother and wife, taking care of her family, but don’t let her fool you – she’s also a bad-ass drag racer who will definitely show you a thing or two if you’re brave enough to line up at the tree with her…

Denise Underwood - Wheels up!

I had the opportunity to interview one of the original founders of the WFO Racing Team, Phil Underwood. When it comes to being passionate about cars, racing, WFO, and let’s not forget – Grand Nationals, this guy has it. Phil found his passion with cars at the age of 16, when he got his drivers license. Well, his license and his 1969 Firebird.

WFO Hanger 1 - Phil Underwoods garage (shop).

Below is an excerpt from the interview:

* You’re one of the original founders of WFO. What made the decision to start this organization?

Phil: It was decided that we all wanted something to symbolize that we were a tight group of people with a common interest that enjoyed racing cars and helping each other out.

* At what age did you begin your interest in racing?

Phil: The day I got my license “age 16″ and my 1969 Firebird.

* Do you have a favorite race car?

Phil: Any 60’s or early 70’s muscle car.

* In your own words, what is WFO to you today?

Phil: A tight group of people who enjoy racing each other,  helping other members improve and progress with their cars.

If you’d like to learn more about Phil and the WFO Racing Team, venture on over to the WFO Forums and get to know the crew – http://www.wforacingteam.org/. You can also view more pictures of ” WFO Hanger 1″ here: http://www.gnttype.org/forums/showthread.php?t=12622

As you can see from the pictures, the Underwood family is no stranger to cars. Including his wife Denise who is kicking ass in the white Mustang below …

ABOUT WFO

WFO Racing Team is a close-knit group of friends that enjoy drag racing. The Racing Team has chapters located in Idaho, Missouri, Nebraska and Texas, with members all over the United States.

“WFO is more than just a racing team…it’s a brotherhood.”

WFO member who goes by the name of “Prez” says he’s traditionally been a drag racer.

Last couple years that changed though. Started with my white Evo 8, into autocross and a couple track days. I got hooked, got a raise, and went a little crazy.

He’s leaving for Kansas city in a few hours for it’s final tune and states that he’s looking for 400WHP on pump gas. Then Tomorrow is it’s first full day on a road course for testing.

Now the good stuff – Mods!

Engine/Drivetrain:

- Full-race pro-street manifold HPC coated with EGT sensor on #2 runner
- FP Green port fully matched
- FP High performance wastegate actuator
- FP 2” SS outlet pipe (custom cut to work with ETS LICP)
- FP stainless 02 housing
- Greddy Racing Titanim cat-back exhaust (11 pounds)
- DC sports 3” Stainless downpipe (with catalytic convertor elimination). Downpipe tapped for wideband and DEI exhaust wrap.
- ETS 3.5” custom FMIC designed to fit Cusco power brace
- ETS 2.5” ultra-short route FMIC piping (silver powdercoat)
- ETS 3” intake and filter adapter (silver powdercoat)
- ETS mini-battery kit with battery (silver powdercoat)
- MIL.SPEC ported Intake Manifold with custom NPT bungs for Zeitronix MAP sensor, AEM boost gauge and BOV pressure sources
- MIL.SPEC 65mm ported/polished throttle body with re-built seals
- Hondata Insulated Intake Manifold Gasket
- NGK BPR8ES spark plugs
- Zaklee clear cam cover
- Ralliart plug wires
- Ralliart Thermostat
- Ralliart High Pressure Radiator Cap
- Tomei Thermostat killer
- Fluidyne 7” puller fan installed on oil-cooler
- AC removed and Evo VIII RS AC eliminator serpentine belt installed
- XS Engineering Racemax 272 cams
- XS Engineering Ignition Amplifier
- Crower dual Titanium Valve springs and Retainers
- ACT 2600 Clutch and street pressure plate
- AMS full length stainless clutch line
- Aeromotive fuel rail
- FIC 750cc injectors
- Saikou Michi DC3 Split catch cans (black)
- PCV valve elimination
- Mishimoto slim radiator with custom 13” puller fan and brackets
- Gates high-performance radiator hoses
- Perma-cool 13” pusher fan mounted in condenser fan location for extra cooling
- Powerflex solid side motor mounts
- AMS chromoly lower engine brace with solid bottom motor mount
- AMS Moustache brace eliminator and solid rear diff bushings
- TRE Ralliart LSD and T-case re-built by Jon Ripple
- TRE Rear differential upgrade (1 way clutch pack) and re-build by Jon Ripple
- Beatrush solid driveshaft bushings
- Sound deadening removal from underneath (removed as much as possible to reduce weight)
- Beatrush radiator cooling panel
- Perrin Short Shifter
- Billet shifter base bushings
- Billet shifter cable bushings

Suspension:

- Whiteline 24mm rear swaybar
- Whiteline 25mm front swaybar
- Whiteline performance front swaybar endlinks
- Whiteline performance rear swaybar endlinks
- Whiteline precision-steer kit
- Whiteline roll-center correction kit
- Whiteline front LCA bushing
- Whiteline rear LCA bushing
- Whiteline rear lower strut mount bushing
- Whiteline rear trailing arm bushing
- Whiteline rear toe arm bump steer kit
- Perrin Performance rear swaybar stout mounts kit
- Perrin Performance PRSR kit with offset caster bushing
- GT-Spec rear trunk cage
- GT-Spec 5 point lower ladder brace
- Beatrush front LCA braces
- Megan Track coilovers
- Cusco power front brace
- APR flex-control upper strut brace
- All arms were painted bronze and clearcoated
- Hub and knuckle were beadblasted and painted black
- All axles were painted black

Exterior:

- Chargespeed D1 20mm widebody FRP fenders (modified to shave blinker hole)
- APR front carbon fiber splitter
- APR carbon fiber dual canard setup
- Seibon Carbon Fiber trunk lid (keyhole painted black)
- Seibon Carbon fiber hood (OEM style modified by painting mesh black)
- APR GTC-200 Carbon fiber rear spoiler
- APR carbon fiber rear diffuser
- APR Carbon Fiber formula GT mirrors
- Custom aluminum sunroof block-off plate (paint matched)
- Rexpeed black vortex generator
- Rexpeed Carbon Fiber cooling ducts

Wheels/tires/brakes:

- Rota 18×9.5 P45R with 285/30/18 Kumho V710 (AutoX)
- Konig 18×9 Runaway Shadow Black with 265/35/18’s (road-course)
- H&R 25mm wheel spacers
- Ichiba 10mm wheel spacers
- Hawk HP+ front and rear brake pads
- Teflon coated SS brake lines
- Stoptech Slotted Rotors
- OEM brake cooling air diverters
- Hotlap Motorsports brake cooling ducts

Interior/Electronics:

- Autopower 4 point rollbar with diagonal brace and driver’s side rear brace
- Beatrush performance floor brace
- Sparco 5 point SFI/FIA certified harnesses
- Works Bell Slim steering hub adaptor
- NRG 350mm deep corn style black leather steering wheel
- Corbeau FXPro racing seats
- Corbeau seat sliders
- AEM truboost boost controller/gauge mounted on Autometer Steering pod gauge panel
- AEM Coolant temp, AEM oil temp and AEM oil pressure gauges mounted on Gruppe-S triple gauge pod
- Raptor performance shift-light custom installed on instrument panel garnish
- Zeitronix wideband display custom installed in clock location using S-AFC bracket.
- Zietronix ZAVT-1 custom installed in dash
- Zietronix ZT2 brain unit (boost and EGT options) installed in glovebox
- All door panels, seats, carpet, OEM seat belts, all plastic trim, unnecessary brackets removed to reduce weight
- All sound deadening removed including dash mat insulation behind dash
- Interior wiring harness was de-pinned to eliminate any unnecessary wiring (stereo, ETACS, power windows/locks, sunroof, SRS etc). Over 13 lbs of harness was removed.
- Full manual windows and door lock conversion from Evo VIII RS installed. Door panels will not installed to keep weight down
- Beatrush bulkhead division plate
- Tactrix and datalogging cable hardwired to car and accessible via glovebox
- Napolex 300mm wide rear view mirror

Looking for pictures and more information? Come take a look over at the WFO Racing Team Forums and see the post that Prez made here: http://www.wforacingteam.org/showthread.php?t=44

Alley – Lincoln, Nebraska

Car: 1995 Viper

Dyno: 400rwhp 468rwtq

Time: No 1/4 mile times yet.
Mods: headers/full exhaust, 3.73 gears, few other minor things.

Bill D. – Corpus Christi, Texas

Car: 1984 Mustang 4-eyed Coupe

Dyno: n/a yet

Time: 10:20s @ 136mph – all motor

Mods: Mufflers, DOT Houssirs, big block ford, back-halfed, NOS fed. Under 3000lb car and driver.

JesterMX6 – Lincoln, Nebraska

Car: 1988 Mazda MX-6 GT 2.2L SOHC 12v Turbo Intercooled

Dyno: Mustang Dyno -  171HP/256TQ @ 15psi

Time: n/a

Mods: IHI T-Bird hybrid turbo, 2.25″ Turbo Back Exhaustm ZombieSS Chip (fuel cut eliminator), HKS EVC, HKS SSQV BOV, 2.25″ Hardpipes

86Shelby – Lincoln, Nebraska

Car: 1991 Dodge Spirit R/T

Dyno: 228hp/232tq @ 17 psi

Time: No times with the current stock longblock setup.

Mods: Turbonetics T4/T3 hybrid 50 trim, E housing/.63 housing, stage 3 wheel, 3″ exhaust, 52pph injectors, Aftermarket calibration, Spearco FMIC

T/A Tom – San Antonio, Texas

Car: 2000 Trans Am

Dyno: n/a

Time: 11.56 @ 119

Mods: Stock engine with Headers & full exhaust, 3500 stall, 100 dry shot

RiceKiller- Corpus Christi, Texas

Car: 2007 Mustang GT

Dyno: 434RWHP/500RWTQ

Time: 11.86 @ 118

Mods: C&L Racer Cold Air Intake w/95mm MAF, Steeda UDP’s, BBK LT Headers, Corsa X-Pipe with Flowmaters, ZEX n2o (150 shot), HP Tuners, Ram PowerGrip HD Clutch w/Spec Billet Steel Flywheel, Hurst Shifter, Full UPR Solid Rear Suspension, UPR Lightweight Radiator Support/Swaybar Delete, UPR Subframe Connectors, Ford Racing 4:10 Gears, Mickey ET Street Radials 28’s out back with runners up front, Harwood 2 1/2″ cowl hood

More to come!

Hello Again!

Information can cost money, as can lack of information. This is an important principle in management and particularly in engineering. In this post I want to cover this ground quickly, and then look at call centres and the use of information in decision making in subsequent posts.

Suppose I can invest $1,000 tomorrow to improve the fuel efficiency of my car by 25%. Pay the mechanical person, and instead of getting 10km per litre I’ll get 12.5km per litre from now on. Isn’t that a great deal?

Well, it depends. If fuel is really cheap, I’ll be nuts to spend anything to improve fuel efficiency. At a cost of $0.01 per km, one cent, my investment will only save me $0.0025 per km travelled. That means I’ll have to travel 400,000km before I break even! I’m unlikely to own a car for that long, so whoever buys the car from me will be better off, and I’ll never recoup my initial investment!

If on the other hand fuel is really expensive, I reckon I’ll be nuts NOT to invest. At a cost of $1 per km, I’ll recoup 25c per km travelled, and I’ll start showing a profit after only 4,000km – a few months travel for me! My investment will keep paying me back as long as I keep the car AND I get to feel superior and brag about my great deeds around family and friends, no extra charge (though there might be hidden costs for the latter).

But what If I don’t know what fuel is costing me? I risk either blowing my cash or missing out on a good opportunity. That’s not a problem if I just don’t care about fuel efficiency.  I’ll pass up the opportunity and buy a new super duper pocket protector instead. Nor is it a problem if I happen to have $1,000 to spare, and I decide this is a good thing to do regardless of the bottom line.  You know, for the environment …and the bragging rights. After all, if I bet wrong, it’s my money and I get to claim environmental kudos. And if I’m right I get to let Mom know she’s right, her sonny boy IS indeed a genius!

But notice that without information I’m no longer ‘investing’ but have started ‘betting’. Without actually knowing what my fuel is costing me per kilometre, my decision to bet or not will be based on my opinion, my gut feeling.

While I can bet my own money to my heart’s desire, I can’t bet with other peoples’ money, which is what I’m playing with, I mean ahem engineering with, at work. When it’s the company’s or shareholders’ money it had better be a sound investment. (I know this concept is alien to the current denizens of Wall Street and The City, but it’s been a fairly well accepted principle elsewhere in the business world since, about, the start of time ) This is why business directors control budgets – particularly the FD – and why I’m usually required to make a business case before I can get my hands on the cash. A smart FD might even check up on me after I’ve spent the cash to see how close to the business case the reality turned out.

At last we get to the point of this post: How do I make an investment decision, supported by a business case that will stand up to scrutiny, if I don’t have the right information? The simple answer is I can’t.

In my next post I’ll look at this problem with regards to call centres, and some consequences.

TTFN

Hello there!

I’m in the business of helping call centres work properly. I’m also an engineer, so I always have to try to get back to first principles before I’ll feel happy tackling any problem.  As you can imagine this drives my wife nuts, and my kids won’t let me near their Lego any more, but it really cuts down on the time I have to spend pretending to choose curtains.

In the case of call centres, contact centres – whichever you prefer – the starting point for me has to be: Why bother?  After all it’s not as if Joe Public admits to liking them, even though he should!  When you read the complaints in the media you sometimes have to wonder how a company could be so crazy as to build a call centre in the first place!

I’ve taken to asking this question as often as I can with execs and managers, and their answers almost always surprise me. First of all, I’m often surprised at how uncomfortable people get being asked this question. If my company was spending the kind of money it takes to run a call centre, I’d have a damn good reason on the tip of my tongue as to why we’re doing it!

Second, the actual answers can be surprising. “A single point of contact”:“A central point of control”:“A way to offer better service”. Yes, all these answers contain an element of truth, but to my mind they miss the real point.

Call centres are built to save money.

Now if serving people is your LIFE, and NOTHING makes you happier than a compliment from a customer whose problem you have just solved, don’t get upset. That’s still what customer service is all about, sort of, and I don’t for one moment propose to change that. But guys like me have gathered you and your colleagues into a group – physically or virtually – with one purpose in mind: To save money.

It’s OK if you don’t believe me.  Confrontation ain’t my thing and I know I’m right and your wrong.  So there.  But if you need further proof, consider this.  There is nothing done to serve, support, sell or collect in a call centre that can’t be done without a call centre.   The only problem will be it’ll cost more to have a bunch of people serving customers out of individual offices.  Remember when that was how the world worked?

One flavour of this approach was called a bank branch.  The customer would wander in, hoping that nice young man  with the bad hair would be available to ….well you get the idea.   It involved queuing, disappointment, spotty service and lost paperwork.  Pretty much the way it is today!  But not quite because today it’s costing the bank, and you, less.  Less time, less money, less effort.

Which is why Joe Public should stand up and admit that  he LOVES call centres – though he probably won’t – and why call centre professionals should never, EVER, forget why we build call centres:  To save money.

“Wow!” I hear you say. “Did ya figger this out all by yesself big feller?”

Yes, it is pretty obvious.  After my next cup of tea, I’ll tackle the facinating question of what call centres cost.

RTR Becomes WFO Radio on Monday
(For Immediate Release)

Chicago, IL (January 23, 2008) – Are you among those XM listeners that miss “Power Shift” with Joe Castello and Thommy Noodlez? For one night (at least) RaceTalkRadio turns over our airwaves to keep the heart and soul of WFO alive! Join Lori Munro and Dennis Michelsen on “Doin’ Donuts” as they welcome in our very special guests!

“Somebody needs to bring these guys back on the air,” said Dennis Michelsen. “Until radio land comes to their senses RaceTalkRadio.com will give Joe and Thommy a home!” The heart of WFO is still beating on RaceTalkRadio.com this Monday night at 8pm ET!

From NASCAR to the Dirt Tracks We Cover It All… Now streaming 24/7!

Join sponsors such as the Rockingham Speedway, GLOCK, Great Clips, Office Depot Racing, Rowdy.com and Casite that reach new customers via our innovative shows. Contact us today and learn how our radio shows and websites can be put to work for you!

Also This Week on RaceTalkRadio!

Sunday Afternoon- 12:30pm ET

Speedfest 2009 live from Lanier National Speedway! NASCAR stars Kyle Busch and David Stremme do battle with short track stars Brian Campbell and Snowball Derby Champion Augie Grill!

Tuesday Night- 7pm ET

Speed Channel’s Bob Dillner hosts Speed51 Radio!

Tuesday Night- 8pm ET

Join the “Thunder Crew” with host Mike Harper as we preview the ARCA race at Daytona and more!

Wednesday Night- 7pm ET

“Live to PASS” with host Alan Dietz looks at the Pro All Star Series

Wednesday Night- 8pm ET

Join Lori Munro, Dennis Michelsen and a very special guest on “Quick Change.” This lively timed format discussion show discusses the latest NASCAR news!

PR Contact
Dennis Michelsen
E-mail: dennis@racetalkradio.com

On September 5, 2008 some of our WFO guys drove up here to San Antonio from their homes in Corpus Christi, TX to make a few passes at our local racetrack. Friday night at the San Antonio Raceway they had a motorcycle shootout along with test & tune.

WFO member who goes by the name “T/A Tom” on the ccstreetscene.com forums has recently put headers on his
TransAm and decided to come out to the track and have some fun. Before the headers,
his best time he says was a 12.5 and that was his time to beat last night. And he did:

My best was my last pass where I had 850 bottle pressure and a 75 shot:

1.717 60ft
7.684 1/8 ET
89.62 1/8 MPH
12.070 1/4 ET
112.16 1/4 MPH

Can’t wait for a little better weather and a bigger shot!!

Next was WFO member who goes by the name 95 BLK Cobra on the ccstreetscene.com forums.
He says:

I love running the car…and it was fun to get smoked off the track by another WFO member…TA Tom plays it cool then hands you your ass ….lol

The quickest the car ran last night was 12.61 with a 1.64 60 ft (the best 60 ft ever for the car) -

60 ft 1.64
1/8 ET 7.99
1/8 mph 85.71
1/4 ET 12.61
1/4 mph 107

The burn out box and tree guys are very cool….the tree guy has been qute helpful (sorry dont know his name) but he helped me line up in the groove…and even coached me on a launch or 2…SAR track people are excellent -all of them…makes the long drive worth it.

And finally, suprakid24 also from the ccstreetscene.com forums.
He made several passes in his Supra with his last run being a 12.0. Before he made the trip to San Antonio, another forum member posted that he had better see some videos of low 11’s, hah. Well, suprakid24 went back to Corpus Christi saying the following:

I wish I would have broke the 11s again, I was spinnin to much… But a 12.0 is still good spinnin all first.

.8384 —– REACTION
1.8536 —– 60 FT
5.2602 —– 330 FT
7.9143 —– 1/8 ET
91.87 —— 1/8 MPH
10.1745 —– 1000 ET
12.0397 —– 1/4 ET
121.36 —– 1/4 MPH
2.1664 — FINISH MARGIN —
WINNER

The entire night was a great being able to hang out with the guys from Corpus and watching them have fun. Looking forward to seeing them come up to San Antonio again.

To view the videos taken from last night, click here.
To see some pictures taken from last night, click here, then select the “Events” album.

A few of the boys from WFO Racing Team came up from Corpus Christi for the night to have some fun at the track. One member of WFO who goes by the name of 07StangGuy on the CCStreetScene Forums, just had his car tuned a few days ago saying,

The AFR would jump around between 12.6 and 13.0. As far as leaning out, it took me a while but finally got it to 13.0. Hopefully I can get HP Tuners and learn how to fine tune it.

Also did a couple of bottle passes after pulling some timing and I must say… Wow…. Those cams felt like it opened it up alot. Some poor caddy found out the hard way, lol. He tried to race me but I shot out ahead of him like a rocket haha.

He had a good time with some good runs at the track, and it’s only going to get better.

Another WFO member who goes by the name of SEWERGAS on CCStreetScene Forums had some great runs. He came up from Corpus to run only to test his suspension, trying to lower his 60ft time. He’s definitely creating a name for himself here in San Antonio at the Raceway. Each pass, the crowd cheered him on as he made his way up to the tree.

We had a little trouble with WFO member BLOWNGOAT’s GTO (also on CCStreetScene Forums) on the way to the track and he’s not too happy with the cars performance, stating that he was having transmission and traction problems. We hope to see some more out of this GTO soon.

You can view the videos of last nights runs from the WFO guys on YouTube at: http://www.youtube.com/saraceway.

You can also find a few pictures of our guys at: http://www.wforacingteam.org. We just opened up the gallery, so keep checking back for more pictures to be added!

This past Saturday the board members from Corpus Christi Street Scene and WFO Racing Team got together for a BBQ out on Mathis Lake. It was a great turnout with lots of good food, good friends, and lots of laughs. We had a couple of boats out on the lake, people tubing and water skiing, and some little ones enjoying the water keeping cool.

We’ve got some pictures up over at http://www.ccstreetscene.com as well as in the WFO Photo Gallery. Check ‘em out and take a venture on over to the Corpus Christi Street Scene Forums and say hello!

Welcome to the WFO Racing Team Blog. Here you will find much information on the current events that take place from the Team, along with pictures and videos. If you enjoy what you read here and want to check out more, come visit us at the CCStreetScene Forums and say hello!

You can check out some local videos of our members on YouTube by clicking here and view WFO member photo’s by clicking here.

I promise. No more sarcasm from my side, anymore, (till the next post I mean). I was just browsing for my daily dose of news when I was stopped dead on my track by this article on Rediff. For the common benefit let me quote Dubya when he sought to justify the growing prices of food crops in an interactive session in Missouri.

Its an interesting thing surely.The logic seems to be holding its ground pretty well. “Look! India is growing. China is growing. Both has a huge middle class”. So what do you do?

Blame them, boy. What are you waiting for?

I will not be biased, nor will be irrational.How much ever, the Indian neo patriotic extreme right wingers claim, Dubya seems to have got his cause and effect right perhaps for the first time. But only the cause and effect not its scale or enormity.

Yes, India and China and South East Asia has a huge middle class who have suddenly started demanding better lives and right to basic amenities. Unfortunate, yes it is, that its a bad news. Chinese demand for meat and poultry has trebled and pentupled since 1980’s. It alone demands 8 billion bushels of livestock feed, more than what US spends for its biofuel consumption, around 2.3 billion bushels.

Take 2: The Perspective from another lens:

Bush may have got the cause to a certain extent right, but not its scale.

There is something skewed in this whole pogrom of “Blame Middle Class, Blame Asia”. Let me talk about something like ethanol and biofuel in US alone. Heard about it? Heard about the Hummers and SUVs? I have. Well then sample this: An average person,like me, or you, will eat calories worth 750 pounds of corn per year. An SUV takes that much of ethanol produce, (all produced from the same corn mind you!) in one shot. 25 gallons of pure ethanol. Go figure out the numbers. You know what does it mean?It means :

Go out and complain loudly about your hungry bellies and malnourished children. We will burn the food right in front of you!

And by the way, India is a net food exporter and not an importer!

Screw You!:We love our SUVs more

The irony couldn’t have been timed better. Its hilarious, seemingly delectable bout of self destruction.During 2004 and 2007, the growth in global maize production hovered around 51 million tonnes. Biofuels mostly ethanol rose by 50 million tonnes. Read that? It soaked up almost the entire production hike. And the joke came right when the global leaders were busy holding plenaries and meetings and more meetings and yet more meetings about the food crisis and around the same time, UK and US mandated the use of 2.5pc of biofuel to the motorists. To be risen to 5.75pc by 2010. Whoops! You know, I am wondering though what does that mean. Does that mean, go to hell, we love our SUVs and LandRovers way too much to see them lying idle or does it mean, go to hell we wont give you any food.

The global food market has seen a huge revolution of sorts since the past three decades. Once food was just that, food. Food was used for putting in your mouth. Today it is snatched away from the mouth and put through that pipe onto the fuel tanks. To quote Josette Sheeran, executive director of the UN World Food Programme (WFP),”We are seeing food in many places in the world priced at fuel levels,” with increasing quantities of food “being bought by energy markets” for biofuels. [ Read an excellent article here.] In fact could it have been any worse, when Gordon Brown and his Darling [I mean Alistair Darling, not Mrs Brown] walked up and said, oh yes we do understand, its bad, its sad and its mad. But doing a U turn in the same week, proclaiming in the UK parliament that “All Hail Biofuel”.

The Lesser Culprits: Why should we be left behind?

For that matter, why dress US and UK black and blue, even the lower us, India, China, Thailand are perhaps lesser or maybe even equal accomplices in this crime. In Thailand, a gallon of biofuel costs around, 4 bahts around USD .485/gallon, more than even premium petrol which is around $0.4/gallon. And petro-diesel for USD 0.125/gallon. All these in the light of 1000% surge in biofuel demand in Thailand. The issue is, India and China are yet to catch up on this death race, but its high in the ’so called’ affluent middle class population. With global wheat futures at an all time high, corn futures rising way too much, it is not moksha for the farmers. No, it is not, trust me! For the oil prices have grown, factor in the price of fertilizers, and the natural gas and the electricity and the inflation and…
The so called upholders of tomorrow, are thinking of a fantastic stuff. You know what? They are talking about using woodchips and agro-by-products like corn stalk to fuel the growth. But to me, it seems to be another disaster in making. And to think, that miles of miles of rainforests being destroyed just to keep a few SUVs running on the road

Some good links to read:

• Swaminathan Aiyar on Washington Post
• Mark Lynas on New Statesman
• Raj Patel on Comment is Free, The Guardian
• C. Ford Runge and Ben Senauer on How Biofuels could starve the poor

[The author is a passionate global economy observer and an active stocks trader.While he is not blogging with his pragmatic sense of humor on JUMP UP!,he spends his time earning his bread as a hardware engineer with a hi-tech startup based in Chennai.Apart from economics and electronics, he loves hearing from his readers. He can be reached at sohamdas at gmail dot com]