From Virtual to Reality:
The ShimmySideways Livery Design Contest
By: Landin Williams
Cover Photo by: Auto Otaku
It’s the final lap of the night. After a long day of tuning, tweaking, and tearing up tarmac, you now grip the steering wheel firmly while eyeing down the final corner. You're also on pace to set a new personal best, and only one obstacle stands in your way. It all comes down to this final turn and the clock is ticking... adding valuable seconds to your overall lap time with each passing moment. This is a Time Attack, a style of racing where winners are determined by lap times; not finishing position. It’s a race against the clock as sponsors, fans, and teammates look on eagerly in anticipation of the final result. You’ve done this corner a hundred times before. Brake early, hit the apex and accelerate towards the exit and it'll be over in a matter of seconds. You know what has to be done, but as you approach the final corner you push it too far, deviate from the ideal line and, in the blink of an eye, your perfect lap is a bust.
Every race has a moment like the one above -- it’s the intense motivation racers feel to constantly go faster; to analyze where you lost time and to shatter your personal best on the next go-around. It’s the passion you feel when you finally accomplish your goals, shattering personal barriers you thought was impervious. During a Time Attack, one-hundredth of a second can mean all the difference, and much like any other sport, one mistake will end it all. One racing enthusiast who's all-too-familiar with the pressures of a Time Attack is James Elterman -- driver, manager, tuner, founder of ShimmySideways racing, and a fan of Forza Motorsport 2. Over the years he has achieved countless victories at SCCA, NASA and Redline racing events (not to mention Television coverage on the Speed channel), while working full time as a Chassis Development Engineer for a global automotive parts manufacturer. His dual-passion in real-life and virtual racing brings him to Forzamotorsport.net, where he interacts with like-minded racing simulation enthusiasts.
We first made contact with Elterman when he approached Turn 10 with an interesting Forza community proposal. ShimmySideways, Elterman's racing team that he owns and manages, is looking for a sweet livery design to adorn their (real-life) 2004 Takata-sponsored Subaru STi. Given the breadth and depth of our car-painting community, we both felt James had a pretty good chance of being able to work with a talented painter to create the car both in-game and in reality. But before we give you the details of that exciting design contest/opportunity, let's answer this two-part question: Who is James Elterman, and what's up with his whip?
Photo By: Budski Photography
Origins
There's an old joke about the price of running a race team that goes something like this: "How do you make a small fortune in racing? You start with a large fortune." As intimidating and expensive as it may be to run and manage your own race team, Elterman was undeterred from going off and building his own dynastic dreams from the ground up. The crossover from gaming to real-world motorsports happened gradually. Over the years, Elterman has evolved from a racing game fanatic, playing old school classics like Ridge Racer and Daytona USA, to an amateur racer with professional aspirations. Many hours during college were put to good use playing racing games and, as a result, Elterman is a firm believer that games do have the power to make a difference. “Playing videogames has absolutely made me a better driver,” he says. “I was not fortunate enough to be born with the last name of Schumacher, Andretti, or Earnhardt, and neither were my parents supportive of my racing ambitions as a child, so videogames provided my only exposure to racing growing up.”
Elterman also has a very long history with the Forza series, with the original Forza Motorsport being one of his most highly-regarded racers ever. “The combination of online play and the unique classification system made for some great racing. I had a blast racing in leagues conducted on xblRacing.com and made a lot of good friends,” he explains. It is no surprise then, to find out he followed our Weekly Pitpass Reports regularly before the release of Forza Motorsport 2, and has remained active within the Forza community, despite a firm commitment to his team, to honing his racing craft, and most recently -- mastering the art of Time Attacks.
Photo by: Meng Vang
Shaving off Tenths in Time Attack
Time Attacks are a proving ground for the automotive tuning industry and racing equipment manufacturers. After a long run with the SCCA Solo program (aka autocross), Elterman dove head first into a new and exciting territory in 2007. Just like the sport of drifting was, Time Attack is the new kid on the block in North America, and many people are still unaware that it even exists. Elterman has seen its rapid growth firsthand and is ready to spread the gospel of speed. “The sport is derived from Japan's wildly popular "Super Lap" or "Tuner Battles" in which teams compete for the quickest single-lap time on a road course” Elterman tells us. The beauty of the Time Attack is that it’s a race against the clock, it only takes one fast lap to be crowned a winner, and you don’t need millions of dollars to get involved.
Photo by: Cali Photography
Boosting the popularity of Time Attacks is also the fact that anyone can register to compete, whether you race your daily driver, or weekend track car. Nine classes, based on engine and performance upgrades, break down the competition, making Time Attacks accessible from an entry-level perspective. “I had my first experience with Time Attack in 2006,” says Elterman. “The ShimmySideways STi was a nationally competitive autocrosser at that time and my primary sponsor, Nukabe Automotive, recognized the exposure potential for Time Attack and asked me to give it a try. With minimal changes to the car, I had a fantastic 2nd place finish at my first event, and in 2007 I left the sport of autocross to prepare my car specifically for Time Attack.”
As with any motorsport, becoming competitive means going down an upgrade path for your ride; for Elterman and his STi, that path has brought him in contact with some of the finest racing tuners in the business. “Preparing a car in real life can be compared to maximizing your Performance Index in Forza Motorsport 2," Elterman says. "It’s important to have a good balance of power and handling. I come from an autocross background so I tend to put an emphasis on chassis development. Some common modifications are coil-over suspensions, larger sway bars, and competition tires. With an all-wheel drive car such as my Subaru, I also feel that it is important to install limited-slip differentials to ensure that you are maximizing the benefit of the all-wheel drive.
“Weight is also a consideration and its significance is often overlooked. Removing weight is a two-for-one; you gain speed through improved power to weight ratio and also improve the handling. Finally, when it comes to power I want a reliable engine that creates a smooth powerband. Peak horsepower and torque rarely give an adequate description of performance. Maximizing the area under the power band curve is the key. Adding or upgrading turbochargers (or superchargers) is common, but putting the biggest turbo available on the car is rarely the best solution. For autocross and road racing, a moderately sized turbo with quick spooling and good boost retention is the most desirable.”
Photo by: Turn 2 Imaging
Design the 2008 ShimmySideways STi livery!
As you can see from Elterman's description and these pics, the ShimmySideways STi is far from stock. Everything from the suspension to the engine has been heavily modified for performance, and Elterman has been there turning wrenches and solving problems every step of the way. He has no dedicated team mechanic and does most of the work himself, securing specialized help from longtime sponsor P&L Motorsports, one of the nation’s best Subaru tuners. For Elterman, racing is his passion, something that is obviously shared here at Forzamotorsport.net with our community of dedicated tuners, racers, hotlappers, painters and drifters.
It is with this shared passion that Elterman has summoned our mighty car-painting community to create the coolest looking car the Time Attack world has ever seen. He needs your help, and the empire is ready to deliver. Turn 10 is hosting a contest unlike any we've done in the past, where users on FM.net are challenged to create a customized livery for Elterman's 2008 ShimmySideways Subaru STi! This is the real deal…a chance to have your virtual design applied to Elterman’s competition STi, which is now officially sponsored by Takata Racing. Here is what he had to say about this incredible contest.
Photo by: Cali Photography
“I have been an active member of the Forza community since the release of the original Forza, so when Forza 2 was released, I was excited about the improved livery editor. Since then I have spent many hours browsing the auction house and the FM.net forums to admire other people’s work. When I recently reached an agreement with Takata to become the new title sponsor for our team, I was asked by Takata to propose the livery for the car. Considering the near professional quality designs that are coming out of the Forza community, I surmised that I could get a diverse range of livery suggestions by enlisting the help of Forza players worldwide.”
And there you have it! The professional quality designs here on FM.net have sparked the interest of Elterman, and his 2008 STi could be sporting your design! Think you have what it takes? If so then you should check out the official contest thread here and get involved in the shuffle. There are some great prizes on the line, including a Takata Multi Point Harness, T-shirt and Hat. We have also offered up credits and gift cars to the finalists, so get your submissions in before May 15th! All of us at Turn 10 are very excited to see the progress of not only this competition, but the real car itself, so you can expect to see plenty of updates. Good luck.