Hello everyone, my name is Keith. Idaho is where I currently call home, although I have lived in 5 other states (New York, Georgia, Florida, Colorado, Washington). I am 28 and work in IT doing programming, among other things. Despite the stereotype, I actually prefer talking to people in person!

I've always loved cars, but until 2015, I hadn't personally performed a single piece of maintenance on one. That summer I bought a 2009 Subaru Legacy GT (auto w/ paddle shifters) and started teaching myself basic maintenance by reading forums and watching youtube videos. I subsequently drove it at PPIR in Colorado during a NASA HPDE event. I could talk at length about that experience, but the takeaway was that afterwards I knew I needed to race again, and I knew I needed a dedicated car for it (which was a manual), so certainly not my LGT. I eventually sold it and inherited a Volvo station wagon for a daily driver.

I then bought my Miata, a 10AE, a little over a year ago in the fall of 2016. It had 187k miles on it, came with the original hardtop, deuce roll bar, and had zero rust except for a little inside the front wheelwells where the sway bar brackets are welded to the frame. It was located in Baker City, Oregon, and being that my last name is Baker, it was pretty much destiny.

After doing all the basic maintenance and nailing down rev matching and heel-toe (kinda), I got the 'Ultimate E-Street' kit from Goodwin in preparation for some autocross. I enjoyed many mountain cruises over the summer, but for many different reasons, I wasn't able to attend any of the local autocross events except for the last two. My first event was in the Novice group and the second in ES, both of which I managed to win. I plan on competing quite a bit in ES this upcoming year, and hope to participate in some Hill Climbs a really cool local organization puts on (Northwest Hillclimb Association ? Great Races in Beautiful Places).

Fun Fact: I bought a 99' engine with 75k miles on it to tinker with this winter, and I've since learned that the person I bought it from and still have contact with, is the creator of the SKOU coolant reroute that came to be on these forums https://www.miataturbo.net/miata-par...fittings-76320.

Below are a couple pics of Huck, short for Huckleberry (Idaho's state fruit and similar to the 10AE color). Sometimes it's a he (Huck), sometimes it's a she (Huckleberry).

 

Welcome to the forum!


Last summer I had huckleberry ice cream for the first time. It was awesome.

Where in Idaho? I end up going somewhere between Coeur d'Alene and Sandpoint for work a couple times a year.

 

Thanks! Other than some huckleberry cocktails, I actually haven't indulged in them too much haha. I can imagine that ice cream being pretty damn tasty though.

I'm in Boise. I almost made it that far north during a camping trip last summer but have never been to Coeur d'Alene. Hear it's beautiful though...definitely on my list of places to visit.

 

Huckleberries are better than blueberries. And they make a much better pie.

 

I just want to say, that after reading the quote in your signature, I made my way over to spectator.org and read a few articles. I am a fan. The few I read were written by different people with seemingly different perspectives, rather than having everything come from a purely republican or democratic viewpoint.

Thank you for introducing me to this, it will likely become one of my go-to news sources when I'm not intentionally burying my head in the sand to maintain sanity.

 

 

Mmmm Tillamook.....

 

Welcome to the forum !
I also happen to be from Idaho on the topic of huckleberry ice cream if you are ever in the twin falls area it is worth the drive to go to buhl and going to the clover creek creamery, they have the world's best huckleberry ice cream

 

Where about's are you in Idaho? Unless I'm remembering incorrectly, I believe I've actually met the plant manager of the clover creek creamery while autocrossing in Boise. His name is Eric and he also has a Miata...that's not you is it?? In any case, thanks for the heads up; I'll check it out next time I go to Hagerman for some hot spring/kayak adventuring!

 

I am from gooding, and hope that wasn't me but I do need to go to some of the auto cross events this year since my miata is set up for it

 

Welcome to the forum! Eric is an awesome guy, he's helped give me some pretty big car setup/driving pointers. He drives down to SLC for our autoxs fairly regularly. That man is a weapon behind the wheel of a car.