Those of you who have been following our activities have no doubt witnessed the untimely demise of our 2019-spec H23A1 motor. While it was an immense disappointment to see the Powertrain Wizard's hard work go up in smoke, we had no intentions of letting that stop us. Instead, we brought the car right back to Robert's garage and combined our rebuild plans with our pre-planned upgrade for the 2020 season. What Happened? The short answer is "oil starvation." The long answer is that we overwhelmed the stock oiling system of the H23A1 with the cornering grip of our wide tyres and functional aero. While the Honda OEM oiling system was perfectly adequate for SCCA Improved Touring levels of grip, the mild baffling of the OEM oil pan just isn't enough to prevent oil starvation from the high cornering G's generated by 245mm width Hoosiers, a big rear wing, and a 3" front splitter. With so little oil going to the oil pickup, the rod bearing under cylinder #2 spun, causing the OEM rod bolts to shear apart right below the retaining nut. What ensued was a catastrophic disintegration of the stock H23A1 rods which culminated in the remains of the rod bolt exiting the engine block and landing on the driver's side shock tower. Not even the best racing oil available would have saved our motor from this failure. Here's what was left in the oil pan: Yikes. What Are We Changing? As a result of this hard-learned lesson, we focused on two areas when building our 2020 engine: Upgrading the oiling system to prevent future failures Improving the flow of our intake and head to extract more top-end power While the oil system improvements were an obvious must-have, we also had a desire to get more top-end power from the H23A1. Based on past conversations with top Honda Tuner Jeff Evans, we knew that we that the Improved Touring-legal head and OEM intake manifold were not flowing enough air to take full advantage of our aftermarket cams and 12:1 compression bottom end. After several discussions with Robert, we decided it was the perfect time to make the motor more reliable while building it closer to the limit of SCCA Super Touring Under rules. And so, Robert went digging in his basement full of Honda parts in search of a new H23A1 head, while yours truly went looking for a clean block that we could use to start rebuilding StudioVRM Racing team's 2020-spec race motor. Beefing up the Bottom End If you just looked at the specs on paper, you wouldn't notice much of a difference between the short blocks of our 2019 and 2020-spec engines. The new engine retains the basic concept of our 2019 engine, using a H23 block with different rods to raise the compression to 12:1. But there is much more than meets the eye to our 2020-spec bottom end. An aggressively baffled Moroso Road Racing oil pan now adorns the bottom of our freshly honed block, increasing its oil capacity to 5.5 liters and providing much-needed protection against oil starvation from high cornering G's. A new Honda OEM oil pump will maintain a steady flow of engine oil and a KS Tuned Balance Shaft Eliminator kit will ensure that we get consistent oil pressure across the H23's wide powerband. The Powertrain Wizard replaced the stock connecting rods with aftermarket units that used standard rod bolts instead of the OEM press-in kind. This seemingly insignificant upgrade makes a huge difference in Honda H-series engines. This will let us run the motor at higher revs while without the risk of another rod bolt failure. King bearings are once again the bearings of choice in our new engine. As an added safety measure, we installed a 3 quart Canton Accusump oil accumulator. This device acts as a reserve tank for the engine oil. When oil pressure drops below a certain point, it automatically pushes fresh oil into the motor, acting as a safety net to prevent major issues. At over $650 for a full kit, it was easily the most expensive part on our shopping list. But considering how much time and money it takes to build and install a new engine, we see this as a very worthwhile investment. Improving Top-End Airflow Once we had a bulletproof foundation for our new engine, the Powertrain Wizard turned his attention to boosting our engine's power. During our last visit to Evans Performance Academy, Tuner-Owner Jeff Evans pointed out how much power we were losing from our restrictive stock intake manifold, mildly ported head, and OEM throttle body. SCCA Super Touring rules allow modifications to two out of three of those areas, so Robert went to his grinding station and began freeing up airflow. Photo by Robert Oliver Through weeks of meticulous shaping of both the intake and exhaust ports (punctuated by frequent trips to the flow bench), the Powertrain wizard was able to achieve flow numbers that far surpassed our original H23A1 head. He also bored out the stock H23A1 intake manifold and removed the intake butterflies to ensure that there was enough volume and airflow to feed the free-flowing head. Photo by Robert Oliver Flow bench testing provided very encouraging signs. Our new head and intake showed much improved numbers, similar to what you would see from a ported H22 VTEC head. Considering the difference in port sizes between the stock H23A1 and stock H22 head, this is a huge achievement. While peak flow numbers were a bit short of Robert's best race-ported H22 heads, he was confident that the gains we made here will make a noticeable difference on the dyno as well as at the track. Got Air? Need Fuel. Internal combustion engines need both air and fuel to make power. If you increase the airflow to the cylinders, you need to inject more fuel. Based on the Powertrain Wizard's calculations, the OEM Honda injectors in our Prelude would not flow enough fuel to take advantage of the airflow from our new intake manifold and head. In response, we ordered a set of 410cc Acura RDX injectors and a Rosko Racing fuel rail to allow increased airflow. We also ordered a jumper that will bypass the OEM resistor box to ensure that the injectors operate as they were originally designed. Once installed, this should give us plenty fuel so we can get the maximum out of the 2020-spec motor. Cam Clearance Panic Photo by Robert Oliver One of the consequences of building an experimental engine is that you sometimes run into some unexpected issues at the strangest of times. Within seconds of starting the new engine for the first time, the Powertrain Wizard noticed a loud clatter coming from under the valve cover of the new motor. A closer inspection revealed that our custom-ground Racer Brown cams were hitting the adjuster nuts on the rockers as they turned. This was not good. After some research, we found out that the high rocker ratio of the H23A1 rockers demand an asymmetric cam profile in order to open and close the valves without causing clearance issues. However, the lobes on our Racer Brown cams appeared to have been ground to a symmetrical shape. This would allow the cam lobes to come in contact with the adjusters, causing the rattling noise and causing unwanted friction in the delicate valvetrain. A comparison of cam profiles between the OEM H23A1 intake cam (left) and the Racer Brown intake cam (right). Note the curved ramp on the left hand side of the lobe and the flat slope on the right of the OEM cam. These features are missing on the Racer Brown race cams. In response, Robert recommended that we make a switch to Crower Stage 2 H23A1 race cams, which boasts similar amounts of lift and duration while retaining the critically important asymmetric lobe profile that we needed. Even with these new cams, a test fitting showed that the cam lobes still came uncomfortably close to the rocker adjusters. So after some more number crunching, Robert sunk the valves 0.025" into the head. With this modification, we finally had enough clearance between the lobes and the rocker adjusters. I would be lying if I said I wasn't worried about this late breaking drama. Both the issue and the proposed fix were far beyond the understanding of someone who has admittedly limited experience building high performance engines. Thankfully, Robert has decades of Honda engine experience and has top notch problem solving skills. His calculations proved correct, and his fixes worked exactly as expected. The newly reassembled motor roared back to life with little more than a rhythmic light tapping coming from under its valve cover. How does it run? At this point, we know that the motor runs well in a test environment. Due to prevailing conditions, we have not yet had a chance to fully dyno tune the motor or put it through its paces on a racetrack. In truth, we don't really know how well our new powerplant will perform when it is being put through its paces. That will change in the next few months, as we will be taking the StudioVRM Honda Prelude back to Evans Performance Academy to be re-tuned by one of the best Honda tuners in the world. How much power will this new motor make? Check back soon to find out. ~R Disclosure Section: Neither StudioVRM, Roger Maeda, nor Powertrain Wizard Robert Oliver are affiliated with any of the manufacturers or suppliers mentioned above. All of the products mentioned above were bought at full price using Roger's own money, or salvaged from the deep dark recesses of our garages and basements.

If you have ever purchased a high performance summer tyre or a dedicated race tyre, you have probably seen the warnings: Don't store your tyres below freezing temperatures. But due to the fact that there are so few pictures of freeze-cracked tyres out there, no one seems to know what actually happens when a tyre has been subjected to freezing cold temperatures. The only site which seems to have a picture of a freeze-damaged tyre is TireRack.com, but the photo they show is not exactly representative of the most common form of freeze cracking: Well, due to unforeseen circumstances, the StudioVRM Prelude had spent a few nights out in some sub-zero temperatures. When we came out in the morning, we found that the front tyres had been severely damaged by the low temperatures. Here's what an actual freeze-damaged race tyre looks like: Can't see the damage? Here's a closer look: Those trypophobia-inducing grooves in the tread are actually deep cracks that go all the way to the steel belts. Contrary to popular belief, it's the outer shoulders of the tread, not the sidewalls, that crack in cold weather. While these tyres do still hold air, they are no longer safe to use. If you apply any load to this tyre, the tread will crumble and peel away from the location of the cracks, until you are basically rolling around on a steel belt held up by sidewalls. If you see this on any of your tyres, replace them immediately. How Do You Prevent Freeze Cracking? As boring as it sounds, the best way to prevent freeze cracking is storing them according to the manufacturer's instructions. Dismount them from the car and keep them in a cool, dry indoor location that is climate controlled above freezing (0 degrees C / 32 degrees F). Racing tyres are especially susceptible to degradation from ultraviolet rays, so keep them away from the sun as well. If you store them in your garage, cover them with a moving blanket or put them high on a shelf in the corner where sunlight will not reach them. Take good care of your tyres, and they should serve you well in the warmer summer months. See you at the track.

About a month ago, we conducted a head-to-head comparison between two popular chemical rust removers, with some very surprising results. Then the whole excitement happened around current events, and we kind of forgot about the samples. By the time we got around to cleaning up our workspace, our three rusty brackets had been soaking in their rust remover baths for an entire month. So we thought it would be a good opportunity to turn lemons into lemonade and use these neglected samples to test a claim touted by both manufacturers - That these rust converters won't damage clean metal. While it might seem like a minor point, it is actually something worth testing. After all, both of these solutions are more expensive than some very common rust removal products. For example, muriatic acid and media tumblers can also do a very good job of removing corrosion from ferrous metals at a fraction of the price. The problem is that they need to be watched carefully. Leave your corroded parts in too long and they might end up eroding away some of the precious good metal underneath. The value behind products like Deox-C and Evapo-Rust is that you can literally "set and forget" them. So let's test to see how true those claims are. How is this Even Possible? This does raise the question - What makes products like Evapo-Rust and Deox-C so special that they can even make such a bold claim? The secret to achieving this non-destructive rust removal is a chemical process called chelation. Chelation is a chemical process that involves using an agent which binds to a metallic agent and separates it from the surrounding materials, not unlike the way soap binds to grease and oils. It's the same principle behind how a household water softener works, and is the same technique used by hospitals to treat patients with heavy metal poisoning. There are a wide variety of chelating agents out there, and the art is picking the correct one for the application. Choose the wrong one, and it may end up disintegrating your work pieces instead of cleaning them. What this means is that this experiment is really a test of how whether these manufacturers did their homework in selecting their chelating agents, and how well they did in selecting the right chelating agents to do the job. Visual Inspection By the time we wrote this article, our three work pieces had been soaking in their rust remover baths for a full 30 days. In order to preserve the condition of the work pieces, we only gently wiped the brackets down with a dry paper towel and before bringing them to the workbench for a closer visual analysis. Evapo-Rust The work piece soaked in Evapo-Rust looks quite similar to when it had been in the rust remover bath for 24 hours. There is some noticeable pitting as well as some mild etching in the cleaned area, but the brackets do not seem to be any thinner or more brittle than they were when we filmed our comparison. Thanks to the effects of evaporation, all three samples have a band of de-rusted metal that ended up being exposed to the air for an extended period of time. This band of exposed metal is clean and nearly rust-free on the Evapo-Rust sample. It seems that Evapo-rust has an additive that prevents flash-rusting: A convenient feature for when you aren't able to seal and paint your work pieces right away. 5% Deox-C Solution The 5% Deox-C solution seems to have produced similar results to the Evapo-Rust, with some subtle differences. The pitting on the clean end of the bracket is less pronounced than with the Evapo-Rust solution, and the etching of the metal is very slightly less noticeable. However, the exposed band of metal near the untouched rusted portion had clearly flash rusted and is starting to corrode again. This is an indicator that you should immediately wash, prep, and seal your work pieces immediately after removing them from a Deox-C bath. If you are working on large work pieces, this is also an indicator that you should have enough extra liquid to keep your parts submerged, just in case some of it happens to evaporate out of the top of the container. 20% Deox-C Solution The higher concentration of Deox-C seemed to have zero pitting, in stark contrast to the other two samples. This is an indicator that some of the pitting had happened during the rust removal process, and the higher concentration rust remover had dissolved the larger chunks of rust before they could corrode the clean metal underneath. What is surprising was the extremely even etching on the freshly cleaned surfaces. We expected more pronounced surface etching on this sample compared to the others, as the Deox-C is very slightly acidic. As with the 5% Deox-C solution, the band of exposed metal on this sample also showed signs of surface rust, though not to the extent of the 5% solution. Measuring the Outcome Because none of the samples showed significant amounts of erosion, we broke out the digital calipers and measured the thickness of the brackets to see how material had been dissolved. We took multiple measurements of the freshly cleaned sections, the cleaned portion that was exposed to open air, and the original rusted section to see how the thicknesses of the brackets changed. In order to get the most accurate results possible, we took four different measurements of each section and averaged them together. Here are the results: Conclusions and Recommendations From these results, we can see that Evapo-Rust and Deox-C do live up to their claims of being safe for ferrous metals. While the process removed almost 1 mm of material from the original rusted brackets, we can see from the exposed sections of metal that the majority of this was rust and scale. The extended rust remover bath seems to have done little to affect the thickness or integrity of the clean metal within these rusty brackets. The biggest surprise of this test was the 20% Deox-C solution. We expected that the high concentration of powder would have eaten into the metals significantly more than the others. Our results showed that this was not the case. On top of this, the 20% Deox-C solution gave us the best results in the visual test, producing the least amount of metal pitting and the most even surface of our three samples. The added silver lining for us here is that it does seem to be possible to turn lemons into lemonade... Even if they have been abandoned in the garage for an entire month. ~R Disclosure Section: StudioVRM is not affiliated with Evapo-Rust or Bilt Hamber. All products were bought out of Roger's own pocket at full price so we could do these tests.

Our last video spurred a few questions about what went into making our DIY rear wing. Between picking the right profile, choosing the right materials, and forming the required shapes accurately by hand, there's a lot of work involved in making your own wing. The skills and materials are often so specialized that it isn't possible for your average DIY mechanic to build his or her own rear wing. Fortunately for the budget-constrained of us, there is a big market for cheap, appearance-oriented aero add-ons. And some of those huge ricer wings can be made to work on your track or race car. Here's how: Find the Right Cheap Wing The first thing to do is to find the right wing to work off of. Not all cheap wings produce usable downforce. In fact, some cheap wings have so many problems that it isn't worth trying to modify them. Look for wings that are: Single element Have a simple profile (or bear a strong resemblance to the APR 3D wing profile) Have no holes in the endplates Are as wide as possible Include tall struts that bring your wing up to roof height (or higher) Here are some examples of wings that could be easily modified to produce downforce: Avoid wings that look like this. They have so many fundamental problems that they aren't worth fixing: Add Internal Reinforcement One common attribute among cheap wings is that they are more flexible than their more expensive counterparts. While it is ok for an automotive wing to be flexible, they do need to be rigid in a few key places. Those key places are the areas where the wing connects to the wing supports, and the trailing edge of the wing. Most of the cheaper plastic and aluminum wings out there have no internal ribbing to support these key points. So the first modification you will want to do is to add some reinforcement to these points. The "right" way to do this would be to cut the wing open, add in internal ribs, glue them into position, and glue the wing back together. But there is a much cheaper, much easier way to accomplish this. And that involves using our old friend, 2-part expanding urethane foam. Most of you who subscribed to car tuning magazines through the 90's and early 2000's will recognize this stuff. It's the same foam that enthusiasts used to pour into the side sills of cars to make their chassis stiffer. When mixed together in a 1:1 ratio, this two part foam quickly expands and hardens into a stiff, lightweight structure with properties similar to a light wood. We drilled a few extra holes near the mounting points of our plastic wing, and poured in a small amount of the 16 lb/cu ft density. We first poured in a bit of foam and stood the wing up on its trailing edge to make sure that it would fill the tall gurney flap on our plastic wing. After allowing it to set for 10-15 minutes, we laid the wing down poured a small amount of foam into the holes to reinforce the mounting points for the wing uprights. This will ensure that the wing wouldn't collapse when faced with a 100 mph headwind like you would see on a racetrack. Work slowly and pour the foam in small portions. You don't need much foam to fill the open cavities inside the wing. We used 1 oz shot glasses as measuring cups to make sure that we didn't overfill the wing. Sand off the excess and paint to match the rest of the wing. Why go through the trouble of doing all this? The picture below shows what can happen if you run a hollow wing without the appropriate reinforcements in place. A functional rear wing can generate hundreds of pounds of downforce at high speeds. These forces are easily high enough to crack the skin on these cheap wings. This wing had big cracks around their mounting holes from years of hard racing. If left alone, this could have resulted in the whole wing breaking off of the car mid-corner which, needless to say, would have been an extremely dangerous situation. Fortunately, this is easy to fix if you catch it early enough. If this happens, drill small holes at the ends of the cracks to prevent them from getting worse. Then fill the cracks with a structural epoxy to ensure that no new cracks appear. Choose Endplates that Don't Suck Most budget friendly wings tend to come with very sharp, angular endplates that are trimmed into thin teardrop shapes. While these designs do look good, they actually don't work very well. Why? It's because the main purpose of endplates are to keep the fast moving airflow from spilling over the edges of the wing. The most effective endplate designs tend to be simple squared-off designs that are large enough to cover the full chord of the wing. Very few cheap wings come with great endplates, but you can avoid the worst offenders by knowing what to look for. Try to find a wing that comes with large, flat endplates. The closer they are to a simple rectangle or square, the better they will work. Stay away from endplates with big slots or holes in them. These endplates are basically guaranteed to not do anything for performance: If you want to get the maximum benefit from your rear wing, you will need to make your own endplates. Fortunately this is quite simple. Drill a few holes into a piece of sheet metal or a 1/4" thick flat polycarbonate sheet and bolt them onto your wing in place of the endplates that came with your cheap wing. Bolster your Trunk Mounted Supports In an ideal situation, you would want your wing supports to bolt through your trunk and into your chassis. This ensures that all of the downforce generated by the wing is transmitted to the chassis and wheels. However, all of the cheap wings available on the market are designed to be mounted to the trunk or hatch panel, rather than the chassis. Fortunately, most car trunks and hatches are capable of handling the downforce produced by bolt on rear wings. The key is to spread the load as much as possible, and there are a few tricks you can use to do this. The first is to make sure that the wing is mounted as close to the rearward edge of the trunk (or hatch) as possible. The edges of the trunk panel are significantly stronger than the middle, and it will go a long way towards reducing unwanted flexing and bending. The second is to reinforce the underside of the trunk where the uprights bolt through the chassis. Most of the wing uprights that come with cheap wings tend to extend very far forward and are slanted rearwards at a fairly shallow angle. In most cases, this puts the center of pressure of the wing behind the rear feet of the wing supports. When a wing like this produces downforce, it will actually try to pivot around the rear feet of the wing uprights, pushing the rear feet down while pulling the front feet upwards. If the trunk is not strong enough to resist this motion, the wing will tilt upwards at higher speeds, resulting in a loss of downforce as you go faster. Adding a few fender washers on the underside of the wing uprights will help reduce trunk flexing and will help transmit all of that hard earned downforce to the chassis. Do You Need an Expensive Wing at All? With a few careful modifications, an inexpensive wing will get you very close to the performance of a more expensive aftermarket wing. So why would you spend the extra money for an expensive purpose-built racing wing? There are a few good reasons: Higher efficiency from newer wing profiles The profiles of cheap aftermarket wings are either copies of a popular wing or are modeled after a common NACA airfoil profile. While these profiles do work, they are older designs and tend to generate more drag relative to the amount of downforce they produce. The current generation of aftermarket racing wings are extremely efficient, and even the simplest looking of aftermarket wings boast a much higher downforce to drag ratio than the most elaborate looking "3D" wing profiles of yesteryear. With a cheaper wing, you will always give up a bit of efficiency compared to a well-designed modern racing wing. Better variety in profile and width options Need a dual element wing for your powerful hillclimb car? How about an extra wide wing for your unlimited class time attack car? You'll need to shell out for a proper racing wing. Unfortunately there are almost no workable cheap wing kits that fit the bill for these niche applications. Slightly lower weight As you might expect, purpose-built racing wings do tend to be lighter than these DIY wings. While the wing elements themselves are only fractionally lighter than a foam filled DIY wing, the wing uprights tend to be much lighter than the heavy steel pieces that come with cheap kits. If weight is a big concern for your car, going with a dedicated racing wing can mean saving 5-8 lbs off of the rear end. Conclusion and Recommendations With a bit of time and a few small modifications, you can make an affordable, functional wing that actually produces downforce. It might be a little more draggy and weigh a bit more than a high-dollar carbon fiber racing wing, but it will make your car much more stable through high-speed corners. It's a worthwhile modification for many track cars, as well as on club racing cars in classes which allow add-on aero. If your aero budget is closer to $100 than the $500-$700 that many racing wing kits cost, give this option a serious look. You'll appreciate the added stability as well as the low impact it will have on your wallet. See you at the track.

Photos by Sam Draiss Media and Denise Conner Millville, NJ – New Jersey native Roger Maeda brought home the Championship Gold at his home track, clinching the fast lap of the race from his pro racing competitors while securing his team's first USTCC Championship Trophy. This year-long victory would only come after a gauntlet of three close races in which the StudioVRM.Racing Honda Prelude fended off challenges from racers in both the Sportsman and Super Touring classes. When the dust settled, it was the privateer Honda team that emerged on top, clocking the fastest lap out of any of the US Touring Car Championship cars that raced this weekend. Saturday Heat Race 1 Cold track conditions and blustery crosswinds tipped polesitter Brandon Lewis into a Lap 1 spin, turning Heat Race 1 into a straight shootout between Roger’s Honda Prelude and Andrew Conner’s E90 BMW 325i. The series champions-to-be traded places and ran within striking distance through the entire 10 lap Heat Race before Andrew unleashed the full 300hp from his BMW’s S54 engine and beat the green Honda to the line on the very last lap. Saturday Heat Race 2 More lap 1 excitement ensued when Martin Szwarc’s BRT Honda Civic Si turned completely sideways directly in front of the Studio Prelude on the Ski-Jump Turn 5 corner. Roger dodged the sliding Civic and brought the car home safely in preparation for the all-important Feature Race ahead. Sunday Feature Race Roger’s fervent pursuit of the SP class leader was cut short by the untimely intervention of the Safety Car. Undeterred, Roger switched his sights to Andrew Conner’s Super Touring class On Q Racing BMW 325i in a revenge match from the first Heat Race. In the process, the StudioVRM.Racing Honda Prelude clocked a fast lap of the race of 1:16.092 – Faster than the 300hp machines in the Super Touring class. Roger Maeda - #22 StudioVRM.Racing Honda Prelude Si VTEC Feature Race: 2nd in Sportsman, 3rd overall in USTCC Fastest Lap: 1:16.092 “It’s a good day for us here at StudioVRM.Racing. All we can say is - Thank you. Thank you to our loyal crew who have sacrificed countless hours to keep our team running. Thank you to our amazing fans who came out to the track to support us all season. Thank you to our technical partner Bad Guys Worldwide and IT solutions partner Blue Leaf Technologies for lending us your tremendous skills while believing in us. Thank you to the members of the Honda Prelude Racing Group who provided technical advice, upgraded components, and the encouragement we needed through the good times and bad. Thank you to our competitors on both the East and West coasts of the US Touring Car Championship for giving us great battles and even better support. Thank you to all of you who follow us on StudioVRM.net and are subscribed to us on our YouTube channel for your kind words and never-ending support. Thank you to my exceptionally patient family – Especially my 7-year-old daughter, who I hope will one day join me on the podium as a pro driver in the USTCC. We would like to dedicate our championship victory to a fellow Prelude racer by the name of Gordon Forbes. Gordon was one of the first people to ever contact us through our tech tips website, StudioVRM.net. His unwavering support has often been the bright light that helped us get through our darkest days. Thank you, Gordon. This one’s for you.”

Photos by Sam Draiss Media Summit Point, WV – The 2024 USTCC East Series opener proved to be a tough test for StudioVRM’s Roger Maeda, as electrical problems with the team’s 2024 spec Prelude touring car brought their Feature Race to an early end. Despite this, Maeda would find himself on the top step of the podium after the class leader was penalized for a shock post-race technical infringement. Qualifying The team managed the Saturday qualifying session well, finding enough space on track to set two fast laps in a busy 29-car Big Bore group. Unfortunately, an issue with the #22 car’s transponder meant that neither of those qualifying laps were recorded by Timing & Scoring. To add to the team’s problems, the PGM-FI fuse, a safety mechanism designed to protect the Prelude’s core engine control electronics, blew at the start of the Qualifying Race, sidelining Maeda before the session had even begun. The lack of a fast lap from these two sessions meant that the StudioVRM Honda Prelude would have to start Sunday’s Feature Race from the back of the grid. Sunday Feature Race With some quick fixes made to the wiring and a new PGM-FI fuse installed, the team sent the StudioVRM Prelude out to mount a fight back from the back row. An aggressive charge through the tail end of the field allowed Maeda to catch up to Braci Racing Team’s Martin Szwarc, who was now enjoying a strong run of pace after solving the brake issues that had hampered his Civic’s performance on Saturday. Knowing that Szwarc would only get faster as the race went on, Maeda opted to seize an opportunity to launch an inside attack through Summit Point’s fast uphill turn 9, leading to a 3-wide race for the apex for the high-speed turn 10 onto the main straight. The Prelude’s Bad Guys-enhanced H22 engine allowed Maeda to pull ahead of the BRT Civic by the Turn 10 bridge, and the 2024 spec aero package gave him the grip he needed to muscle past the #60 Ford Mustang in an inside attack through the fast sweeper. This high-risk maneuver paid off handsomely, as the team’s green Prelude made it to turn 1 first while setting off in pursuit of Andrew Conner’s fire-red On Q Racing BMW 325i. Sadly, the StudioVRM.Racing team’s efforts would be cut cruelly short when the electrical problem from before returned with a vengeance, this time in the form of a Throttle Position Sensor failure. Maeda pulled off into the escape road at Turn 1 a few laps later to wait out the remainder of the race in the safety of Summit Point’s trackside Skidpad. However, Round 1 of the US Touring Car Championship East Series had one last twist to store before its curtain call. Braci Racing Team’s Martin Szwarc had missed the mandatory call to post-race impound and was penalized with a loss of position in the final results. This elevated Maeda and the StudioVRM.Racing team to first in class in the Sportsman class, gifting them a win on technicality. Roger Maeda - #22 StudioVRM.Racing Honda Prelude Si VTEC Feature Race: 1st* in Sportsman, 3rd overall in USTCC Fastest Lap: 1:24.791 “There is a big asterisk next to today’s result, as Martin Szwarc’s BRT Honda Civic actually finished ahead of us on the road. Our race pace was encouraging, and I think we showed that our 2024 spec aero and suspension package have a tremendous amount of potential. We need to eliminate the small reliability issues and preparatory mistakes so we can earn our next win on merit. Huge thanks to the team, especially guest mechanic Glenn Halfpap, who once again arrived at the perfect time to help tackle issues with our car as well as to brighten up the mood with a fresh batch of Mrs. Halfpap’s fantastic oatmeal raisin cookies. Thank you, Glenn. You were our team’s MVP this Sunday.” "Z" Jefferson – Race Engineer – StudioVRM.Racing “The first weekend of the season looked promising but gremlins were underfoot. They started with mild trouble in the form of a snapped hood pin before getting on track. A blown fuse before green in qualifying meant we absolutely needed to run the warmup before Sunday's race. After another blown fuse in warm up we were just hoping things would hold together for race distance. Even though full race distance wasn't in the cards this weekend we were able to get in over half race distance on the 2nd fuse replacement before succumbing to more trouble. Quickly catching up from the rear showed promise so we need to get the issues sorted before the next race."

Photos by Sam Draiss Media Millville, NJ – A close quarters duel with BRT’s Martin Szwarc ended in disappointment as the StudioVRM Prelude’s H22 powerplant expired halfway into the Round 2 Feature Race at NJ Motorsports Park. Adding to the frustration was the fact that the East Series Championship contenders were enjoying their most competitive race weekends of the year and were gearing up for a fantastic fight before mechanical gremlins struck for the second time in two races. Qualifying Fast lap: 1:15.373 The team’s debugged 2024 aero package showed its strength in Qualifying as Maeda weaved through traffic to post a 1:15.569 on his first attack lap. As the track rubbered in and other cars pulled off early, Maeda continued to improve his lap times, ultimately recording a 1:15.373. This was fast enough to place the StudioVRM Prelude 11th overall and fastest of the USTCC SP class cars. Saturday Heat Race A strong start allowed Maeda to immediately overtake two cars and jump up to 9th overall, with Braci Racing Team’s Martin Szwarc following closely behind. This position would be short lived, however, as the battling duo would have to cede position to allow some of the higher-powered cars to race with cars in their own classes. By lap 5, Maeda and Szwarc found themselves locked in single combat while running behind the Corvette Z51 of Chuck Burns. As the straight-line speed of Burns’ Corvette made it difficult for the two Sportsman class Hondas to overtake cleanly, Maeda was forced to defend against attacks from the BRT Honda Civic while patiently waiting for an opportunity to get past the crimson V8 sports car ahead. Ultimately, the Saturday Heat Race ended in Maeda’s favor when Szwarc experienced a splitter support rod issue on his Civic and was forced to back off. Sunday Feature Race Sunday’s feature race saw the grid reshuffled slightly due to some of the competitors improving their lap times during the Saturday Heat Race. Maeda managed a strong start once again, lifting the StudioVRM Honda Prelude up to 12th overall by the end of the first lap, with BRT’s Martin Szwarc once again following inches behind. The two Sportsman Class runners navigated both faster and slower traffic, only for this time to catch up to the fight between brothers Jim and Robert Benson in their exotic high powered GT cars. Maeda once again found himself working to fend off Szwarc’s attacks while trying to keep his distance where the Prelude’s aerodynamic advantage made it faster than the cars ahead.While the USTCC SP class drivers dueled for top honors, trouble began brewing deep within the StudioVRM Prelude’s H22 powerplant. A problem in cylinder #3 of the car’s engine was allowing combustion gasses to get past the piston rings and blow engine oil into the catch can. That oil eventually overflowed the can, causing some of it to spill out onto the track, to the unfortunate peril of other cars behind. Faced with the possibility of creating an even more hazardous situation for other cars on track, Maeda decided to retire the car early and ceding the SP class lead to BRT’s Martin Szwarc. Roger Maeda - #22 StudioVRM.Racing Honda Prelude Si VTEC Feature Race: 2nd in Sportsman, 4th overall in USTCC Qualifying Time: 1:15.373 Fastest Race Lap: 1:17.422 “It's been a tremendously frustrating weekend for us, and we have no one to blame but ourselves. The engine failure looks almost identical to the issue we experienced at Pittsburgh in 2022 and is one we would have been caught if we hadn’t compromised our race preparation to run the car at an exhibition event on the weekend prior to this one. Our apologies to the competitors who were behind us when the car’s catch can overflowed and laid down oil on track. We are down but we are not out. With the help of our technical partner Bad Guys Worldwide, we are building a new engine to the limit of the power rules allowed in USTCC’s Sportsman class. With that extra horsepower and some of the chassis upgrades we have in store, we should be able to bounce back with a competitive showing later in the summer.” Z. Jefferson – Race Engineer – StudioVRM.Racing “We were elated at the end of the first session where the Prelude managed all qualifying laps without incident and with a respectable time. There seemed to be a handful of adjustments to make for the following races but nothing major. After completing all laps of the first race, the Prelude came back with oil on the splitter and a full catch can, giving us flashbacks of prior gremlins and massive oil cleanups. After retiring early in the final race of the weekend we know this will take a bit of time to correct but are hopefully the majority of the setup is in good shape and we can return with a reliable fast car.”

StudioVRM.Racing is returning to the US Touring Car Championship for the 2022 season. The plan for is to run our Prelude in the SP class, with some potential one-off entries in the ProjectCRX Honda CRX and the Chasing Tarmac Subaru Impreza 2.5RS Look for us in the paddock at the following events this season: 2022 Season Schedule See you at the track.

StudioVRM.Racing is coming for the US Touring Car Championship, against faster and better prepared competition. Wish us luck, and look for us in the paddock at the following events this season: 2023 Season Schedule See you at the track.

Photos by Andy Yoon, Denise Conner, and Aziza Jefferson May 28, 2023 (Millville, N.J.) – An unusual set of circumstances forced StudioVRM.Racing driver Roger Maeda to start from the back of the Big Bore field at the 2nd round of the 2023 USTCC East Series. Undeterred by the setback, Roger fought his way through the field before a broken outer CV joint relegated Team StudioVRM.Racing to a distant 2nd place in Sportsman class. Sunday Feature Race A family emergency prevented Roger from arriving at NJ Motorsports Park’s Lightning Circuit until late Saturday, preventing him from taking part in Qualifying or the Heat Race. This meant that he would have to start from the back of the Big Bore field during the Sunday Feature Race. Our Prelude pilot made a flyer of a start, streaming past a classic GT1 Corvette and a Fox-body Mustang in fervent pursuit of the USTCC cars that had qualified further up the grid. By lap 2, Roger’s green Prelude managed to get within half a second of the Sportsman class leader, Martin Szwarc in his newly christened Braci Racing 8th gen Honda Civic Si Sedan. The silver Civic, equipped with high-lift cams from engine gurus Bad Guys Worldwide, used its prodigious straight-line speed to keep our StudioVRM Prelude behind. Roger neutralized the Civic’s power with the Prelude’s superior speed through the Lightning Circuit’s high-speed Lightbulb turn before making an assertive outside pass through Lightning’s Turn 1. Unfortunately, this victory would prove short-lived. The Prelude’s left outer CV joint boot had popped loose during this move, allowing the grease inside the joint to escape the joint. A huge plume of smoke erupted from the green Honda’s left front wheel well as Redline CV2 grease evaporated against the Prelude’s red hot brake rotors. Despite this, Roger did his best to get the car to the finish. But it wasn’t to be. On lap 12, the exposed CV joint failed entirely, forcing an early end to our race. Because Team StudioVRM.Racing had completed over half the racing laps of the 22-lap race, the team earned a 2nd place in Sportsman class. It was no doubt a disappointing result for the East Brunswick based team, but the team left the track with valuable points which would keep us in the title fight. Roger Maeda - #22 StudioVRM.Racing Honda Prelude Si VTEC Qualifying: N/A Race: 2nd in Sportsman, 4th in USTCC, 22nd Overall Fastest Lap: 1:17.476 “An exploded outer CV joint ended our race before we could show our true pace. But we clocked enough laps to classify P2 in Sportsman and brought the car home in one piece. More importantly, a big congratulations to Martin Szwarc and the Braci Racing Team for a well-deserved debut win. I know the team was absolutely thrashing to get the car ready for this weekend and we couldn’t be happier to see their long nights of wrenching pay off in a big way.”

Whether in our garages, on our sim rigs, in our offices, or in our living rooms, there is a good chance that every one of us owns a flat screen TV or monitor of some sort. And if you have ever invited a small child into your home, that TV is guaranteed to have at least one big scratch on its screen. The TVs here at StudioVRM HQ are no exceptions to that rule, as every single screen and laptop in the Studio has been scratched or gouged at some point. And yet, the only way you can see the scratches on our TVs is to shine a bright light directly at the screen and look from a very specific angle. What's our secret? Here it is: This is a TurtleWax clear coat repair pen. You can find it at some auto parts stores for about $8, or as part of the TurtleWax T-234KT Scratch Repair Kit for about $13 US from Amazon. While the whole kit is admittedly pretty average for fixing scratches in car paint, the clearcoat pen that comes in it produces one of the most durable, optically clear finishes of any liquid clear coat repair kit. The method listed below was inspired by a YouTube creator by the name of Bob Does it All. Check out his original version of the fix here. What does this work on? This fix will permanently repair medium to deep scratches on TVs, computer screens, and laptop screens with a gloss-finish screen. It will also help reduce the visibility of scratches on matte-finish screens, but will not work as well as on a glossy screen. Based on our testing, this fix works better on plastic screens than glass screens. Unfortunately, this method will not fully repair scratches on tinted screens. How to Fix Scratches on Your TV or Monitor - The Step-By-Step Here's what you need: One TurtleWax scratch repair pen A brand-new razor blade A small roll of masking tape A Magic Eraser or similar Melamine cleaning sponge A handful of alcohol screen cleaning wipes, or a bottle of 70% isopropyl alcohol and a lint-free (preferably microfiber) cloth And here is the step-by-step guide, demonstrated on this scratched touch screen of a Lenovo X1: 1. Use the alcohol screen cleaning wipes to remove any dust and dirt from the entire screen. Focus on the area of the scratch, and if possible, try to get some of the alcohol inside the scratch to remove any plastic or glass dust that may be trapped inside. The better you can clean the scratches, the better the end result will be. 2. Shake up the Scratch Repair pen and wipe the tip of the pen with one of the alcohol pads. This will remove any "crust" on the tip of the pen so that you won't end up embedding any of it on your TV screen. 3. Lightly press the pen against the screen and squeeze the body to let out the scratch repair liquid. Use a generous amount, and don't worry if it drips or spills over the sides of the scratch. 4. Let the liquid dry for 3-4 hours. 5. Cut some small strips of masking tape and wrap the corners of your razor blade as seen below. This will keep the corners of the razor from putting any new scratches on your screen. 6. Scrape the razor blade at an angle to the scratch to remove any excess clear coat repair liquid. Try not to scrape perpendicular to the scratch, or you may end up removing some of the repair material from the scratch that you are trying to fill. 7. Soak the Magic Eraser in water and gently rub it against the area surrounding the scratch to remove any excess clear coat material. The excess clear should flake off easily. 8. Wipe the screen again and inspect the scratch. If it is still visible, repeat steps 3-7. In our experience, shallower scratches took only one pass, while deeper scratches took 2 to 3 applications to fix. And that's it. Even with the contrast turned up on our camera, the scratches on our laptop screen are much less noticeable than before. With the laptop turned on, these scratches are completely invisible: The results were even better when we used this method to fix the ballpoint pen gouges on our Sony Bravia TV. Even when we turned the contrast up and held a finger up to the screen to get the camera to focus on the scratch, we couldn't get the repaired scratches to show up on camera: We hope this trick serves you as well as it has us. See you at the track. Disclosure Section: All products shown here were purchased out of Roger's own pocket, at full price. StudioVRM is an Amazon Associate, which means that we get a small amount of referral income if you buy a product using any Amazon links above. StudioVRM and Roger Maeda are not affiliated with TurtleWax. While the USTCC series that we race in is sponsored by TurtleWax, the products in this review were purchased from retail sources at full price.

StudioVRM.Racing is defending its US Touring Car Championship East Series crown with a faster, more refined machine and team. Wish us luck, and look for us in the paddock at the following events this season: 2024 Race Schedule **The team anticipates that we will miss these events due to a major mechanical issue with our USTCC car. See you at the track.