Camaro5 Chevy Camaro Forum / Camaro ZL1, SS and V6 Forums - Camaro5.com
 
Vararam
Go Back   Camaro5 Chevy Camaro Forum / Camaro ZL1, SS and V6 Forums - Camaro5.com > General Camaro Forums > Member Car Journals


Reply
 
Thread Tools
Old 05-04-2018, 12:24 AM   #71
rocknroll_jeph
 
rocknroll_jeph's Avatar
 
Drives: 11 Camaro V6 RS, 03 BMW Z4
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Beijing & Michigan
Posts: 476
As much as I love living in Beijing, there are a few things that really bother me. One is wind, the other is rain. I love wind and rain when I am in the states, I love the wind for sailing and rain is usually pleasant in Michigan, but in China the wind and rain just bring dirt and sand... I must have washed my car 3 time in the past 4 days. The weather report didn't say anything other than partly cloudy or else I would have held off on the washing. Anyway, here is the morning after I washed and waxed my car...
Attached Images
  
rocknroll_jeph is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 05-04-2018, 12:36 AM   #72
rocknroll_jeph
 
rocknroll_jeph's Avatar
 
Drives: 11 Camaro V6 RS, 03 BMW Z4
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Beijing & Michigan
Posts: 476
And post 2 for today! This past weekend was a holiday. We went on a day trip to hike in the mountains. My health app said I climbed 138 flights of stairs that day... Going out there and back it is always fun to drive in the twists and turns of the mountain roads just outside of Beijing. Fortunately there wasn't too much traffic and I could take the turns with some fun speeds. My wife expected me to take a picture with my car, so I had to share the photo she too here too. Now that the weather is getting better I hope to go on more road trips. 18 years in Beijing and there is still so much I haven't seen yet.
Attached Images
    
rocknroll_jeph is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-14-2018, 03:22 AM   #73
rocknroll_jeph
 
rocknroll_jeph's Avatar
 
Drives: 11 Camaro V6 RS, 03 BMW Z4
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Beijing & Michigan
Posts: 476
We've been having a lot of rain in Beijing. I parked my car in my usual spot outside the school where I work. Half way through the day my friend sent me a picture and said I should probably move my car...

The picture of the small river next to the fence is a 3 foot deep ditch that runs the whole length of the street. Fortunately I moved my car to dry land before it got any worse. And it did. There was a Mini Cooper that started floating away on the street shortly after I moved my car.
Attached Images
    
rocknroll_jeph is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-14-2018, 07:32 AM   #74
KYVOM1LE
 
KYVOM1LE's Avatar
 
Drives: 2023 2SS 1LE
Join Date: May 2014
Location: Ky
Posts: 280
I hope the rain helps clear up Beijing's atmosphere. I will be back in Shanghai for a couple days in Oct and dont look forward to the pollution
KYVOM1LE is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 08-15-2018, 01:08 AM   #75
rocknroll_jeph
 
rocknroll_jeph's Avatar
 
Drives: 11 Camaro V6 RS, 03 BMW Z4
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Beijing & Michigan
Posts: 476
Quote:
Originally Posted by 13DuskKY View Post
I hope the rain helps clear up Beijing's atmosphere. I will be back in Shanghai for a couple days in Oct and dont look forward to the pollution
It sure did. The sky is a beautiful blue and the temps are perfect. I hope Shanghai is nice for you. October is always a good month to be in China!
rocknroll_jeph is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-29-2018, 01:45 AM   #76
rocknroll_jeph
 
rocknroll_jeph's Avatar
 
Drives: 11 Camaro V6 RS, 03 BMW Z4
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Beijing & Michigan
Posts: 476
Ahh, the yearly inspection weekend. My family and most of my neighbors and friends who saw me this weekend thought I was crazy...

A bit of a back story, every year I need to get my car inspected and re-registered and to do so it needs to have a stock appearance which means my splitter, hood, fog lights and taillights needed to be swapped. I am afraid of failing the smog check so I reinstall the air intake and change the tune to back to stock while I am at it.

If it wasn't for rusted bolts on the splitter it wouldn't have taken much time at all. I ended up sawing off the bolts to get the splitter off and replaced them with rust proofed bolts, so that was a bit of an improvement.

While I had the back bumper off, I messed with the wires of the technostolgia tail lights because they haven't been working well with the China-spec taillight harness. I tried a few things and eventually got them playing nicely together for the first time since I installed them a few years ago. I also cleaned up the inside of the taillight housing where all of the leaves dirt and debris collected and got around to plastic-dipping my bezels black which is the first mod I've done in a quite a while. A few months ago I bought an extra set of bezels from a member here. Next year when I go to the inspection I'll pop the extra set on along with the old taillights. I'm pretty happy with the way the taillight bezels turned out. Its kind of like eyeliner subtly showing the lights.

Anyway, I think it is very good for me to have to look at my car so critically once a year. other than checking the engine, body and bolts, I also cleaned up the throttle body, MAF sensor and air filter and after reinstalling the tune I feel that my car is running perfectly. I have a friend who is a chassis expert (he works for KW, Porsche and a few racing teams) and after riding with me he gave me some advise on how to adjust my suspension settings (even though I have BC and not KW he's not mad)

So Saturday I took it apart, when to the inspection and put it mostly back together. I finished on Sunday and used most of the morning to clean and detail before going to lunch with my friends.

After I put my car back together it felt really solid and almost like a whole new car. Fall is beautiful in Beijing, I was so happy to spent the week outside the house playing with my car and making it better all while doing something that needed to be done I celebrated by taking some pictures on my school's campus for you all to enjoy.
Attached Images
   
rocknroll_jeph is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-29-2018, 02:21 AM   #77
rocknroll_jeph
 
rocknroll_jeph's Avatar
 
Drives: 11 Camaro V6 RS, 03 BMW Z4
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Beijing & Michigan
Posts: 476
Two Posts in One Day!

The first post was just to say how happy I am to spend time with my car and even when doing a task that most would find annoying and in the end my car is better than it was before the process.

Now I am going to go through a detailed account of Chinese DMV services. I hope it is enlightening.

First the place is huge, there is one main road running the whole length with about 4 warehouse sized building on either side. You go to a check point at the front gate and they check your papers and drive to lot "A" on that lot the attendant takes pictures of your car and makes sure it matches the photos on record. I can't get my rear carbon fiber spoiler off so they were giving me some trouble, but when they looked at the records it was on there last year so they said it would be ok. After the photos I took a piece of paper and my car's book into a building to pay the fee and start the process. I handed my papers to a worker and she stamps it tosses it to the person next to her who photocopies it, then it gets passed across their tabes to another worker who inputs the information into the computer. Then it goes to another worker who asks for money. There are about 8 workers in that building, each who have one task to do.

Now that my car matches the photo and records and I have paid I take my paperwork to the lot where my car was photographed and it goes into the first warehouse onto a rolling road where they test emissions. The attendants who are used to sitting in Jettas and work vans really enjoyed the sound of the Borla exhaust and I don't blame them for driving it a bit aggressively into and out of the station. I liked hearing my car as much as they enjoyed making my car sing.

After the smog test I drove my car across the street to another station where they did a few other tests such as headlight aim and brightness after that the tests were basically completed. I took the paperwork and went across the street again to another building where at least 8 people looked at my paperwork and either stamped it, scanned looked at it or just stared blankly at it. There was one middle aged women working there who was kind of looking down and bored, tired or unhappy. I asked her a question and she was surprised how well I spoke Chinese. (I try to be modest when people compliment me, but I have lived in Beijing half of my life, I am married to a Beijing girl, went to a Chinese university and have been studying Chinese for 20+ years, so by now my Chinese is pretty good) It was really nice to see her become very awake and alert when she started talking with me and we had a great conversation while I was waiting on another station to fill out the last bit of paperwork before I could go. She also looked at my car's paperwork and commented on how clean my car is. I was shocked to hear that. I never thought of our Camaros as "clean cars" but if you look at the acceptable levels of pollutants and what my car made it sure does seem to be a clean fossil fuel burning machine.

Finally with all of my paperwork input I was given a sticker to go on the windshield to prove that my car is road legal for another year. After that I went home and re-modded it until it was dinner time, and thats how I spent my Saturday.

Some explanation of the table
First column legal limit, second column my car, third column Pass, fourth column I'm not too sure how to say it.
Attached Images
 
rocknroll_jeph is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 10-29-2018, 04:01 PM   #78
KYVOM1LE
 
KYVOM1LE's Avatar
 
Drives: 2023 2SS 1LE
Join Date: May 2014
Location: Ky
Posts: 280
Very interesting read. I was in Shanghai last week for three days and only saw a mustang (4 cylinder) on the road. No Camaro's. Was pleasantly surprised to see the sun and enjoy lower levels of pollutants...Stay safe
KYVOM1LE is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-25-2018, 01:48 AM   #79
rocknroll_jeph
 
rocknroll_jeph's Avatar
 
Drives: 11 Camaro V6 RS, 03 BMW Z4
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Beijing & Michigan
Posts: 476
Quote:
Originally Posted by 13DuskKY View Post
Very interesting read. I was in Shanghai last week for three days and only saw a mustang (4 cylinder) on the road. No Camaro's. Was pleasantly surprised to see the sun and enjoy lower levels of pollutants...Stay safe
Thanks for the reply. The Mustangs defiantly rule the road now in China. The current generation sells very well and is pretty reasonable priced. A lot of guys buy a 4 cylinder and drop in a V8 crate motor. It’s cheaper to do that buying a V8 outright and you can avoid a lot of laws and taxes because it is still officially a 4cyl.
rocknroll_jeph is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-25-2018, 02:05 AM   #80
rocknroll_jeph
 
rocknroll_jeph's Avatar
 
Drives: 11 Camaro V6 RS, 03 BMW Z4
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Beijing & Michigan
Posts: 476
Love it or hate it today I installed some chin splitter struts I got off eBay over a year ago. They have been sitting in my glove box for all this time. The weather was unseasonably warm today so I went to work measuring and drilling. The splitter I got off taobao not long after I bought my car never really felt secure on the leading edge, it was pretty floppy and could be easily moved. I am afraid one day it will fatigue and break off so that’s why I bought the struts. I found them on eBay for under 10$ so I wasn’t expecting much but they secured the splitter and it doesn’t move around at all any more. The splitter itself is hollow so it was very easy to drill a small hole into the top and secure the bolf from inside. Drilling into it was pretty tough as it is very solid. The holes I put into the black grate were much easier to drill but really hard to secure the bolts to because I didn’t take off the bumper. I ended up putting tape on my finger and sticking the nut on the tape and jamming my finger into the grate and inside the bumper. I put them in that spot because if I ever take them off the holes I drilled would be almost impossible to see. In the end I’m satisfied with the function but I would have angled them differently if I did it again. We’ll see how long they will last. Hopefully a long time because I don’t want to put those upper strut nuts on again.
Attached Images
    
rocknroll_jeph is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 11-26-2018, 11:10 AM   #81
zlathim
 
zlathim's Avatar
 
Drives: 2010 Camaro 2SS/RS M6
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Idaho
Posts: 726
Great Journal! I'm enjoying reading through all of your posts. Thanks for sharing.
__________________
GPI SS2; EE E2 catch can; SP 1 7/8" LT Headers w/ hfc; FM AT 3" cat-back; CAI Cold Air Intake; AEM Wideband
Tuned by GPI
McCleod RXT; MGW flat stick; Ram Clutch slave cylinder & hydraulic adjuster
BMR cradle & diff bushings, trailing arms, toe rods & upper control arm bushings
Hotchkis sub-frame brace
Stop Tech Z-23 brakes
4.10 gears, Eaton Truetrac, LPW diff cover
Best 1/4 mile 12.073 @ 115.68 mph 3,300 ft DA
zlathim is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-10-2019, 01:37 AM   #82
rocknroll_jeph
 
rocknroll_jeph's Avatar
 
Drives: 11 Camaro V6 RS, 03 BMW Z4
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Beijing & Michigan
Posts: 476
Super excited! I am going to track my Camaro for the first time in 4 years. My (now ex) wife wouldn't allow me to go to the track in the Camaro, but now that we are separated, I can have fun again. I have new tires, catch can just drained, my check list all ready made up, my journal with my tire pressures and suspension settings prepared.I am going to check the brake fluid, oil and lug nuts in the next few days. I don't want to get over excited and forget something.

I've seen the signup sheet and it looks like theres a Lamborghini, McLaren, R8, Porsches amongst the normal Subarus, BMWs, VWs and my car.

I've never been to this track before but lately I've been doing a lot of AutoX in the states in my Z4 so I am not too worried about learning a new track, and besides, I am just going to have fun.

The whole day which includes door number stickers, driver (training/ safety) meeting led by a Formula E driver, lunch as well as multiple sessions from 10 am to 5 pm only costs about $85 and there will be less that 30 cars out.

Even though I have a lot of experience doing track events, I would still love to hear some advice from you all. I have BC coilovers, stock PZero tires, Hypertune and throttle controller so there are a few of variables to play around with. The weather should be dry and warm. I think maybe 60's. I'll take some photos and hopefully some video to share if you are interested in seeing what a track day in Beijing looks like.
rocknroll_jeph is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-10-2019, 05:59 PM   #83
bertie
 
Drives: 2001 Camaro
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: GA
Posts: 177
Incredible journey in China. Good luck and have fun on the track.
bertie is offline   Reply With Quote
Old 04-15-2019, 07:25 PM   #84
rocknroll_jeph
 
rocknroll_jeph's Avatar
 
Drives: 11 Camaro V6 RS, 03 BMW Z4
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Beijing & Michigan
Posts: 476
The recent track day was a lot of fun. Its very different from track days in the states, in that everything is a lot less structured and everyone kind of just works with each other with out worrying about a time table. We were put in to groups A B C, but after a while the organizers just let anyone on the track when it was clear to go. In the context of Chinese culture I think it worked very well. Part of the reason that this worked out is that their timing equipment wasn't working so it was purely for fun and to improve your own skill without the pressures of who is faster or beating a time. There were no problems, the slower cars always made way for the quicker ones and there was a lot of smiling and laughing. Only about 5 of the 30 drivers had previous track experience so it was a learning experience for most of the drivers there.

At the end we did some drag racing and my V6 lost every race. In my defense all the races that I chose to do, I was up against heavily modified light weight turbocharged cars. We just all drove to the straight away, picked a contender and off we went.

In the states, usually I see a lot of Miatas, Focus, and maybe some Corvettes out on the track. In China its a little bit different. While those cars are sold here the cars that I saw at this track day (and the few others I have participated in China) are vastly different from what Americans would expect to see at an event...

Finally, I don't know if this will open up in the US, but here is the video that was made by the sponsor, CARBEN. The founders of CARBEN were there and this was the first event they put on. According to them CARBEN is like an instagram for cars in China, so this event was to get more publicity and content for their company which I am fine with. They stress safely and to take racing off the streets and on to the track. They also would like to hear about my experiences participating in track days and auto crosses in the states to see if they can make their next event even better.

https://www.xinpianchang.com/a10414904
Attached Images
        
rocknroll_jeph is offline   Reply With Quote
 
Reply

Thread Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -5. The time now is 08:58 AM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.9 Beta 4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.