Life is Great with a 6.0-liter V8
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  • A Metamorphosis is Coming

    Posted on May 29th, 2010 tcorzett No comments

    The G8 is going through a metamorphosis…
    What once was a nymph will soon be a beast of a machine…

  • One Year Later

    Posted on February 15th, 2010 tcorzett 1 comment

    It has been one year since I purchased my ’09 Pontiac G8 GT… after 16,264 miles and everything is great!

    I really think I made a great decision getting the G8. I have lost count of the number of times I’ve been glad to have four doors and a huge trunk. I have a real sense of pride for my car and really enjoy the car culture that surrounds it. So much of my life revolves around the G8 and the people I have met through cruises and car club events.

    While some things have changed, like my desire to modify more and more of the G8, some things have stayed the same. The G8 still has a split personality. I am surprised today, as much as I was when I first drove home, just how refined the car is for daily driving around town… yet give it some more throttle and it just takes-off. It’s always a total blast when I go for a drive… just remote starting the G8 and hearing the engine roar to life puts a smile on my face.

    The next year will be different… I’m not going to have as much time with the G8, but as a result (indirectly) I will be able to perform more extensive modifications. I’m sure that, despite the changes, the next year will be just as enjoyable as this one.

  • Traffic School

    Posted on January 20th, 2010 tcorzett No comments

    I’ve been putting-off taking the traffic school to keep the point from appearing on my driving record for too long… so today I bit the bullet and got it out of the way. The ability to do things online is MUCH nicer than the classroom sessions (driver’s education) they I had to do when getting my license. The information was basically the same, but being able to go at my own (faster) pace was nice. I more than likely could have just taken the final test and passed with the 80% required, but I do like to know the specifics of the laws (ie that it is legal to make a left turn on red, as long as it’s not a red arrow). Took me ~3hrs to read through all of the sections… and I actually learned a couple of things. It wasn’t a fun use of my time, but it could have been worse!

  • NorCal GOATs 2010 Calendar

    Posted on December 22nd, 2009 tcorzett No comments

    The 2010 NorCal GOATs 2010 Calendar is finally finished! It was a long process, but the results are well worth it…


    Cover
    00_Cover_v4o_blog

    January
    01_Jan_v1o_blog

    February
    02_Feb_v1o_blog

    March
    03_Mar_v1o_blog

    April
    04_Apr_v1o_blog

    May
    05_May_v1o_blog

    June
    06_Jun_v1o_blog

    July
    07_Jul_v2o_blog

    August
    08_Aug_v1o_blog

    September
    09_Sep_v1o_blog

    October
    10_Oct_v1o_blog

    November
    11_Nov_v1o_blog

    December
    12_Dec_v1o_blog

    You too can even order your very own, in two different sizes: ORDER HERE

  • NCG Christmas Party

    Posted on December 19th, 2009 tcorzett No comments

    Tonight the NorCal GOATs gathered to have a Christmas Party and celebrate the past year. I arrived at the event early to help setup, so missed the cruise out to Tracy, but it was quite impressive when everyone pulled-in.

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    The food at the GTG was great… having a pot-luck is always a great way to taste what everyone is capable of cooking. My favorites included the “chocolate balls” and the deep-fried turkey.

    At the Christmas Party we were finally able to take delivery of our NorCal GOATs club jackets (and hats).

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    They really turned out great! The quality of the jackets and the embroidery is just perfect. I know that I will be sure to wear this FAR more times than I did my letterman jacket in high school! I know there have been several cold morning meetings for NCG events in the past few weeks that the jackets would have been perfect for.

    This was also the first time that the club was able to see the finished 2010 NorCal GOATs Calendar!

    20091219_10069

    After spending several months working hard taking photos, editing, and selecting images… it was really great to see that people liked the final results. I also put together a slide show of the images that didn’t make the calendar that I had displaying on the big screen while people were arriving.

    The event had a great turnout and I was really glad that everyone seemed to have a good time!

  • Winter Test & Tune

    Posted on December 5th, 2009 tcorzett No comments

    My last two trips to the drag strip have been on less than ideal days. The session at the Las Vegas Motor Speedway had a DA of 4569′ which really killed my times. The previous session at the Sacramento Raceway was better, with a DA of 1247′, but when I heard that the DA today was going to be below sea level (a negative DA) I just couldn’t pass it up! After the Toys 4 Tots cruise I headed to the Raceway and joined-up with two other people who were running.

    I had not planned on running when I filled-up with gas the other day, so I had half a tank of fuel when I reached the track… way more than I’d like. I lowered the rear tire pressure to 29psi (similar to where I left off at the last Test & Tune), but left all the stuff in my trunk (full size spare, jack, bags/camera, etc.). After going through tech I headed to the line for my first run.

    I spun the rear tires to clean them off and quickly staged… the other car staged really quickly, so I tried not to lag. I launched from idle when the third yellow light illuminated (my RT was a nice 0.247s) and proceeded down the track very smoothly. I crossed the line in 3rd gear (Drive mode) and was really pleased with the way the first run had gone. I had reason to be impressed, as I ran a 13.44s @ 106.4mph (DA -172′)… which is a new personal best!

    I emptied out all the stuff from my trunk and spent the rest of the day battling traction issues. I had several runs (in both lanes) where I just couldn’t launch without getting nasty wheel hop as I went into the power. I was typically able to get-out and back-on to salvage a 14-second run, but that wasn’t what I wanted. On the last run I was even breaking-loose as I was shifting from 1st to 2nd! Because of this I was unable to better the time from my first run… looks like I’ll need to spend some more time learning how to launch!

    I had hoped to get into the 13.3’s (what I’d estimated I could run with a nice DA), but I was content with bettering my personal best. If I would have been able to hook-up, I’m sure I would have put down a better time. I think the next time I come to the track I will be sporting an upgraded suspension, a set of drag radials, and more than likely a nice power-adder.

  • G8 advertising the NorCal GOATs

    Posted on December 4th, 2009 tcorzett No comments

    Today after washing my car for tomorrow’s cruise I added a little more GTO to the G8

    nor_cal_goats_bw

    I have been trying to figure out the best location to put the NorCal GOATs club logo and I decided in the bottom-center of the rear window would be a good location. It is in silver, to match the GoatRun decals, and looks really nice.

  • Puppy Kicking

    Posted on December 4th, 2009 tcorzett No comments

    I’m not a big fan of Puppy Kicking (going up against a vehicle you know is going to have no chance) as you really stand nothing to gain, but today driving to lunch I just had to…

    I was heading out to get some gas (for tomorrow’s cruise), some money (for donations at tomorrow’s cruise), and to get some lunch. I was driving the same route I always do (I’m a very predictable person) and was just minding my own business. I looked-up into my rear view mirror to see a black car quickly changing lanes in/out/around other people. I had a hunch it was the same guy that a few weeks ago asked me “What’s that thing got under the hood”… and I was right.

    I kept my lane and was cruising along at 40mph when he raced-up along side of me and slowed down. I glanced over (knowing it was him), and just as I thought… he had the same look/smile as before.

    At this point (given the road in front of us was clear for a while) I had a feeling that he was going to want to try and strut-his-stuff. I put the transmission into Manual mode and dropped down to 3rd gear (from a 40mph roll 2nd gear would have been more appropriate, but I didn’t want to be revving at 3,500rpm if nothing happened).

    While it wasn’t ‘official’ (three honks, etc.) he was about half-a-car in front of me when he hit the gas. I figured I’d have some fun for punched it (still in 3rd gear) and pulled-up along side and then past him. I would have done it much quicker if I was in 2nd (I probably should have just left it in Drive mode – now that I have the TCM tune – and let the car shift as it needed). Nothing too extreme (and barely working for the G8), but doing a little puppy kicking was fun.

    While I’m not a proponent of doing unsafe things on the street, I’m sure this guy would be shocked just how quick the G8 really is from a stop or a 20mph roll. Again, a lightly-modded Impalla SS (supercharged V6) wouldn’t stand a chance (hence the puppy kicking comments)… but I’m sure he’d have fun.

    Now, I can only imagine how the same situation would have unfolded if I too was supercharged…

  • Photo in ‘The Legend’

    Posted on December 3rd, 2009 tcorzett No comments

    The December issue of ‘The Legend’ (the GTO Association of America monthly publication) was recently delivered in the mail… and to my surprise one of my photos was in it! The Vice President of the NorCal GOATs was the subject of an article titled ‘A Tale of two Goats’ highlighting his 1968 and 2004 GTOs.

    Pg1

    A little over a month ago (seriously, it seems longer ago than that) a few of us headed out for a cruise around the East Bay. After the cruise we stopped to take a few photos, and one of the shots with the car owner made the magazine!

    Pg2

    This isn’t the first time that I’ve been published, but it’s still cool to see your work in print. It is also really cool to see my work appreciated by the GTO community (given I am the owner of a G8). It sounds like the NorCal GOATs will be trying to get several more articles into ‘The Legend’ in the coming year… I think I’ll try to put something together to highlight all the work that has gone into producing the calendar (I’m sure there will be a few photos that the magazine could use for that article).

  • Infineon Raceway Photo Shoot

    Posted on November 20th, 2009 tcorzett No comments

    In an attempt to get some additional photographs for the NorCal Goats 2010 Calendar (yeah, it’s November and I’m still working on it) I put together a photo shoot at the Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California. Having shot professional events at the Raceway for several years, I have developed a good report with many of the media relations personnel. They were graciously willing to let me have free-range access to the facility for photography!

    infineon raceway logo

    Given the Raceway’s busy schedule, we were somewhat limited on the days that would work for the shoot… basically weekends were out. After a poll on the boards I scheduled the event for today (a Friday) and it seemed that quite a few people were able to have the afternoon off for the shoot!

    Unfortunately, the weather was not very cooperative. After a week of just beautiful weather, the forecast for Friday was 100% rain. There was a rather large storm moving down from the North… and a single band of intense rain swept across the Bay Area. As one person put it, “Mother Nature stuck her middle finger out at us”. Because of the rain, many of the cars canceled.

    I arrived at the Raceway at 10:30am to check-in and do some scouting of the facility. The rain at this time was incredibly hard… so much so that I even told someone to not bother coming out. I drove around to places I’d never been before, which is always fun. I was able to narrow down some of my ideas into a half-dozen nice shooting locations. I also headed down to the garages and setup my studio lighting in the case that the rain didn’t let-up.

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    This was the first time that I used the Vagabond II power system (basically a big battery). While there was power in the garages I wanted to test out the new toy (and I wasn’t tall enough to reach the overhead outlets). I arranged my lighting to take advantage of the sun light that was entering through the windows (which I needed a polarizing filter to control the reflections of). After drying off my car and taking a few photos (just because I could) I was all ready to start shooting… I just needed a car to shoot.

    As the afternoon progressed the rain passed and the sun came out. I was really surprised, I figured the day was going to be a total wash-out. As things started to dry out I even needed to go put my sunglasses on! The post-rain light was just incredible… Infineon Raceway is situated on the East side of a hill, which results in a long shadow that passes over the grounds well before the sun would ‘set’ other places (one of the spots I was planning on shooting was in shadow as early as 2:30pm).

    The first car arrived around 3pm and we quickly started shooting with the light that was remaining. I needed to get some photos from in Victory Circle, as the ground is painted with a great checker-flag pattern. We then headed down outside Turn 7 for some shots with the Raceway in the background.

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    Yeah, it’s great to be able to get cars trackside during a hot-session (there was an open test at the track today). We then headed into the studio to get some shots from there.

    Jut as we were finishing-up with the first car, the second car arrived! This was what I was hoping was going to happen over the entire day… one car after another until everyone was shot from all sorts of locations.

    The second car was the one that I had planned for the Victory Circle shot. Something about a caged, tubed, straight rear-axle, leaded fuel (116 octane) running, NOS breathing monster just begs to be shot on a checkered-flag! Unfortunately, the sun was quickly setting… so doing many other outdoor shots was not going to be productive.

    A third car had arrived, so we headed back into the studio to get some a few shots now that the light had all but gone from outside. Let me say, I was really happy with the results from the studio set-up.

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    Very moody, but not over the top. The background is slightly busy (doors, girders, etc.), but I think it goes well with the car… and the lighting focuses the viewer’s eye to the car.

    When I finished shooting the studio stuff, one of the owners commented that it was too bad we couldn’t do something on the drag strip. I made a phone call and a few minutes later we were setting-up the studio on the drag strip. The light was really going fast (like I wish I brought a flashlight so I wasn’t going to be tripping over cables/wires). By the time we moved the second car into position the light was GONE. I even had to use the modeling lights on the strobes (which shouldn’t be used with the Vagabond II) just to get enough light to focus the camera. The results were very interesting… and I took the chance to play with some light painting (everything was crap, but it was fun).

    I cleared-off the drag strip and headed home around 7pm (right on time). It was a really long day with all sorts of complications (rain, lack of cars, lack of light, etc.), but in the end I did come away with a few good images that should help fill-out the NCG Calendar. Now, I just need to find a solution to a quarter of the Calendar being Impulse Blue colored cars!