Project: Quickshift (2005 GMC Canyon)

[MattO]

Lastly came my invite to this year's Truckin Magazine Throwdown event. This is a magazine shootout style event that I have attended twice in years past and it is one of my favorite events to run. My friend George Dias (pro71bird) also received an invite (he placed 2nd overall last year) and so I knew that not only would this be a great event, but I would have to step my game up if I was going toe-to-toe with George.

In addition to the cooling system upgrades, I decided to take the plunge into water/meth injection and installed a Snow Performance Stage 2 Boost Cooler system with a 625ml/hr nozzle.



The install is still a bit rough and will be cleaned up later this year.

I also wanted to get more power and response form the truck, so I went back to the dyno and worked with Mark Romans and Don at Motor Machine Super Shop to get the truck to perform it's best. Well, while we started turning up the boost, the engine started acting funny, so we kept it turned down to the 12psi I had been running forever and focused instead on getting better mid range and throttle response.

Then, as the event drew closer, the weather started to turn on us. Rain was predicted for the day of the event, so in addition to asking the great men and women of Lat-G about how to adjust my driving and chassis setup, I consulted my friends at Naake Suspension about how to help the truck stick in those conditions. What I came up with was a new design for the rear wing I had built with American International Manufacturing in Woodland. They were the one's responsible for helping me with my previous design and they were a pleasure to work with on this new part as well.



The new design basically cut the rear wing into thirds, raised the outside portions, and left the middle at the original height. Then the 2" radius seen on the original parts helped create a smooth transition between the sections. I don't have cool numbers to show everyone, but I can tell you it did make a huge difference.

[MattO]

So then came the day of the event. And it was raining...

Regardless, we all soldiered on and did the first two events (slalom and speed stop) completely in the wet. We then took a few laps on the AutoX in the wet and damn was that fun. Once the weather cleared though, it got serious as the drag strip opened up and the AutoX course got some grip.







All day we were all having a lot of fun. In my years of attending this event, this was by far the best, and I had fun chasing George all day, especially on the AutoX where he was a full 2sec faster than myself. As hard as I was pushing myself and the truck, it wasn't enough to snag an overall victory and I came home with a Second Place finish overall, and the "Spirit of Throwdown" award.

[MattO]

Lastly, I wanted to say something about my favorite competitor:

George and I have been friends for about 2 years now, meeting and racing each other at events all over Northern California and I have always been just a bit slower than him in every event, so it is no surprise that the same thing happened at Throwdown, but honestly, I prefer it this way. I couldn't have been beaten by a better friend and mentor. Over the last 2 years I have been working hard to make not only the truck better, but to become a better driver and George has been there every step of the way. I owe a large part of this victory to him. If this year proved anything, it's that a faster driver can beat a faster truck.



Sadly, I won't be seeing much of George in the coming year because after the event, I moved myself and all my stuff to Logan, UT so that I could attend school to study Advanced Composites, CAD, Welding, and Electrical Engineering. But I'll come back home soon and not be just a better driver, but a better person as well.

[DavidBoren]

I also think that the engine coolant should only cool the engine. But the reason that auto trans coolers are integrated into the radiator, is to bring the transmission fluid to proper operating temperature.

So if I were you, I would make a 200°F thermostat control the fans on your tranny coolers.

Sweet truck, though. It's cool that you stuck with the 5 cylinder.