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One Month Free Of Auto Storage For SVMC Members

SVMC has partnered with Auto Keep where SVMC paid members are eligible for one month free when they sign up to store a vehicle at Auto Keep. To claim your discount you will need to access the discount code which is available to paid members when you log in here. If you are not a paid member of SVMC learn about all the benefits and sign up today. For just $25 a year you will not only help support SVMC but you will also gain valuable benefits such as one month free car storage valued at over $400. Need I say more?

Auto Keep is located in Redwood City near the 101 for easy access. The owners have 60 plus years involved in the automotive field as collectors, vintage racers and caretakers. They have indoor and outdoor storage for your beloved vehicle with 24/7 security. To learn more visit their website.

2020 SVMC Cars and Coffee Calendar

As most of you know I take off the winter from motorsports to focus on the holidays, skiing, and snowboarding. This also allows all of us to get our cars ready for the new season. So I hope you are finishing up your restorations, modifications, and detailing as the club is eager to see your beauty at the next Cars and Coffee come the spring. Speaking of the spring events…..I have posted the 2020 SVMC Cars and Coffee event schedule on our calendar page. So check it out and save the dates.

I have been asked what I am doing with the SVMC M2 during the winter break…..well that car is completely dialed in at this point. My latest tweaks increased grip, lowered engine temp, and gave it some more bling with a new hood. I am now focused on replacing the AIM data logging system with a VBOX HD2 system. Other than that all I need to do is swap tires, get an alignment, flush the fluids, and hit the track.

See you in May.

SVMC member discount - Apex Pro track coach

I have worked with Apex Pro to bring SVMC members a great discount on the Apex Pro system. Discount info is below but first let’s talk about what Apex Pro is…..

I have used this for over a year and love it. This device and smartphone app can not only be a great and simple way to get your lap times, but the real power in this setup is that it shows predictive grip compared to the amount of grip you are actually using in real-time! I don’t think there is another system that does this. So how this works is that you buy the Apex Pro device (a small bar with LED lights) that is packed with GPS, accelerometers, gyroscope, and a slick algo. It will then calculate (in real-time) the predictive grip your car has on that track at that spot at that moment and then show you with the LEDs how much of the grip you are effectively using. What you are not using is your room for improvement as a driver.

That device can (but it doesn’t have to be) paired with a smartphone app which is free. If you do pair it with a smartphone it will act as a dead simple lap timer for you with some pretty slick data logging and analysis tools. This is an inexpensive, wireless, way of getting some good data on how you are driving. You can go a step further and pair the Apex Pro and app with an OBDII adapter to then get even more measurements (car sensors) to analyze later. You can also use the smartphone app as an AUX display while you are driving.

What I love about this is that it is simple, wireless, inexpensive, and can be used as your only data logging system or as a separate system augmenting your AIM or VBOX or what ever pro data logging system you are using. The predictive grip compared to actual grip is a measurement those other systems generally don’t provide and certainly don’t provide it in real-time to the driver……as they are driving.

$30 off Apex’s OBDII Interface with the code “obdtester” - Purchase Now

So now that you are excited about getting an Apex Pro here is the discount. If you go to their website and put in the following code “obdtester” you will get $30 off Apex’s OBDII Interface. That OBDII can be used without the Apex Pro LED unit if you simply want sensor data but I would highly recommend getting the Apex Pro system with the OBDII adapter. The OBDII adapter is regularly $129 but if you use the SVMC code “obdtester” it will only cost $30.

The APEX Pro OBDII interface fits all OBDII compliant vehicles. Not only can you view real-time vehicle data in the OBDII Dashboard, diagnose check engine lights, and set 0-60 times, you can log all of the OBDII data for review. You can also use the new gear selector feature to show which gear you were using while on track.

The APEX Pro OBDII interface will log: Throttle Position (TPS), Engine RPM, Coolant Temperature, and MAP Pressure. OBDII channels do not include steering position or brake pedal pressure.

Check out this video for info on how to use the APEX Pro OBDII Interface.

If you want to learn more about the Apex Pro system visit their website here.

SVMC New Club Gear is Here

New club gear arrived today featuring the new logo and colors. Check out our gear page to see three new shirts, a sweatshirt, and stickers. In a few weeks we will have two new hats and a patch available as well. Show your support for the club and buy some gear today.

SVMC New Logo

While our shield logo is great, it is hard to work with at times given the shape. So I decided to post an online design contest to see what other logo ideas the community could come up with. I uploaded some ideas and gave some general direction which resulted in us receiving over 250 design ideas. Here is the one we picked (in a few different colors). You will see this roll out across our website and social media in the coming weeks. We will also create some new gear using this logo. If you love the shield, don’t worry. We will keep the shield around for certain purposes.

SVMC M2 Turner Motorsports Article

Turner.png

I love it when my SVMC M2 project gains any level of notice. While I have done this project for myself it is always nice to have your work appreciated. Back in November 2018 Turner Motorsports reached out to me about doing an article on the M2 for their newsletter. Turner is a great company so I was more than eager to help out. A lot has changed on the M2 since that article but I wanted to share the article link nonetheless. Here is a link to the article.

SVMC showing support for FemPowered

As you can read from SVMC’s vision below I created this club with the idea that motor enthusiasts should simply get together and not get hung up on gender, age, brands, or specific events.

“SVMC is a free to join social club for men and women drivers and riders that simply want to get out there and experience the road and track. We are a motor club that welcomes all enthusiasts, racers, and collectors alike to get together and talk, drive, ride, and race.”
— SVMC's Vision

I am happy to say that SVMC has a handful of women members which I am very proud of, but at the same time surprised there are not more. While I understand motorsports might attract more men than women in general, I have seen plenty of women at various car and bike events. That leads me to think that there is interest from women but there must also be barriers.

FemPowered is a new organization that is focused on breaking those barriers to create a welcoming environment for women to express their inner motor head. The founders of FemPowered (Nancy, Erika, and Rhoda) have just begun the journey to help women get more connected around motorsports and SVMC is happy to support their effort. I hope to do more things with FemPowered over the coming years because what they are doing should be supported by all of us.

Here is more about FemPowered:

FemPowered was born out of a wish.  A group of women who each were involved in motorsports in their own way but wished there was a community to meet others like them.  So over mimosas one summer day, FemPowered was born.

Our goal is to create the women’s motorsport community that we were looking for.  A place for all women, from the diehard weekend track warrior to the casually interested fledgling.  A place to meet others like them, to learn from others, and most importantly, a place where we belong and are not alone.

Each of us realized how lucky we were to have either grown up around motorsports or had the support structure in place to start our journey.  But many women are not so lucky. For these women, FemPowered will be there for them. We will guide them, support them, and show them the path.  And when they are ready to make their own path, we will still be there.

Winter Break - See You In The Spring

Club members, just a reminder that the club takes a small winter break between Dec and April. We have found that the weather (most years) is too inconsistent and frankly…..I want to ski and snowboard on the weekends. During this break get all those car projects done so that come April you can hit the track or our cars and coffee and show off all your hard work. Once we have our spring dates lined up we will post the event details on our club calendar. See you in April.

Winston, club member 0001

Beta Website Up and Running

I wanted to announce that after some technical issues I got the beta website for the Silicon Valley Motor Club up and running.  Some of you saw a test post yesterday and many have already signed up for the motor club which is great.  Sounds like there is interest for this club.  If you have not done so already go the Join page and sign up for the email list so you can stay updated on club news.  I will be posting to the website and the club Facebook page which is still being built out.

If anyone wants to help with website content (blog / pictures), website design using SquareSpace, graph design for more logos sizes and some merchandise design, or anything else you can think of.....shoot me an email at winston@siliconvalleymotorclub.com.

~Winston

So It Begins

There are many great car events (and clubs) out there, but none really had what I was looking for. I wanted a club of mixed cars and bikes, as well as drivers, that simply wanted to get out there and experience the road on their terms.  So after thinking about it for months I decided it was time to put all this together and create a motor club (not a car club or a bike club, but a motor club) that welcomes enthusiasts, racers, and collectors alike to get together and talk, drive, ride, and race.

The hope is that we can get together at local car and coffee events, the occasional bar, concourses, race events, and track days.  Because the goal of this club is to cut across cars and bikes and marquees and events, this club will tap into other organization events.  If you are interested in joining head over to the Join page and see how you can stay connected and informed.

Winston