Tiring weekend with everything that went on, but good nonetheless. On Saturday, my old buddy Paul Nathan Nacu invited me to take a test drive at an engineering open house event. He recently graduated UCI and this Formula SAE car you see here was his senior project.
Here he is standing underneath the infamous Engineering Tower at UCI.
The car itself was pretty cool. Rear mounted 250cc motor. I believe he said it was from a Yamaha motorcycle.
Some pretty trick pieces on the car too. The rear suspension featured remote reservoirs.
This particular piece caught my attention.. Carbon intake manifold. The team member who built this monster made sure to utilize Venturi tubes to increase flow velocity. Impressive to say the least, I think “badass” is more deserving.
Reservoir tank 1 of 2. Haha.
Full suits were required and wisely so since I saw two separate fuel leak incidents during the runs before me. Even so, I still got weird looks from people because I brought my own balaclava..
I was impressed at how well it stuck to the ground in corners and gotta admit that there’s nothing quite like driving a kart with their awesome power to weight ratios. Couldn’t quite come to terms with its throttle or shifter in such a short time though. Overall, it was a lot of fun to drive and I wish I was given more than the 3 lap max.
Later on that night I went to Philly’s Best. Love the atmosphere in the Irvine location. Lots of TV’s and booths filled with people just enjoying good food and whatever game happens to be on.
I haven’t had the pleasure of really being in Philly like Mr. John Choi has, but for someone stuck in Socal, these sure are good..
Be sure to get a bunch of pickled jalapenos too. Perfect complement.
And a side of onion rings too! I love that they’re covered in batter instead of bread crumbs. SO good.