ProClip Subaru WRX Mount

I've had my 2016 Subaru WRX STI tuned for awhile now, but I struggled to find a mount for my COBB AP Tuner that I liked.  Real Estate on the dashboard is already tough to come by in most cars and the mounting choices I had seen weren't really my thing.  I didn't wanna go the "tape it to the dashboard" route, nor did I like the idea of covering up an air vent to do it, and installing aftermarket gauges seemed like a hassle.  I wanted a simple solution that would look right, be sturdy, and put my COBB AP Tuner well within reach.  Then I found out about ProClip USA and saw a product that seemed like it would fit my criteria.  I thought I'd give it a shot!

It's a pretty foolproof system for making just about any device easy to access and see.  ProClip USA's website lets you find a mounting plate that will work with your specific make and model car and then select the appropriate adapter plate to attach the device you want to use.  In my case, I got the ProClip Left Mount for my WRX STI along with the 2 Prong (Dual-T) Mounting Plate with Tilt Swivel to use with my COBB V3 Holster.   The ProClip mount comes with double-sided tape on the back side of each arm, but I didn't use it at first so that I could test-fit things and see what angle I wanted the mount to be at.  There were also four self-tapping screws included with the adapter plate that screw tightly into the mounting plate.  I found that attaching the adapter plate to the mounting plate was best when it wasn't attached to the car, so I was glad I hadn't used that double-sided tape to permanently install it just yet!

Things really fit like a glove when I installed everything.  The colors and textures on my STI's A-pillar matched up with the mounting plate great and the adapter plate connected with the COBB V3 Holster nice and tight.  There were no noticeable rattling or loose fitting parts, but it also was not so tight that you couldn't move things.  The swivel base on the adapter plate was easy to adjust and the 2 Prong mounts still let me detatch the COBB V3 Holster with minimal effort.  This was important to me, as I didn't want to struggle with making adjustments but I also wanted it to be secure.  The roads in my area are bumpy, uneven, and ridden with potholes so I was really pleased to see how well the ProClip stuff worked.

In the month that I've had the clip installed, I have yet to experience any issues with it.  October and November are transitional periods for weather here in the Midwest, and sometimes the back-and-forth mix of warm and cold days can cause creaks and rattles with the plastics used in Subaru interiors.  The ProClip Left Mount, Dual-T adapter plate, and the COBB V3 holster were steadfast all month long and continue to be.  In fact, the COBB Access Port accessories page even lists ProClip products like this one on their own website for the performance cars they tune with there.  Just recently I remembered that I still hadn't used the double-sided tape on the Pillar Mount, so I was even more surprised that it hadn't shifted or rattled at all for a month!  I went ahead and used the tape upon discovering this and, unsurprisingly, have still had no issues.

Based on my experience thus far I can easily recommend these products to friends after seeing how easily and seamlessly things have worked with mine.  There's a wide array of adapters and mounting plates available for a good numbe of vehicles.  Cell-phone holders, Navigation stands, really anything you want to put within reach in a secure fashion and the ProClip products should be able to achieve that with ease. 

2019 Rallycross Season Wrap-Up

The Nebraska Region SCCA Rallycross program finished out the 2019 season strong, albeit some challenging conditions for the last event!  Throughout the year, the program enjoyed strong steady turnout, a great variety of course designs, and a community that continues to build around the competitors and workers.  It's really been rewarding for me to be part of the great experiences shared by everyone connected to this program, so here's a "Thank You" to everyone involved this year!

For the final event of the season, Timmy Milliman took on course design for the first time.  On a dry and windy Saturday, they set up a great course that challenged drivers with tight turns and rewarded them with a few nice flowing sections to open up the taps on their cars.  It really would've been a fantastic course to finish the season on.  However, Mother Nature had different plans!

Mid-day Saturday, snow that was originally forecast to dip south of the area creeped north and dropped about an inch of blustery snow on I-80 Speedway in Greenwood, NE.  With temperatures in the teens on Sunday, the fresh powder made for tricky conditions in a course that demanded grip and precision.  Still, 14 Competitors showed up to try their hand at it for the last Points Event of the season.  Typically, conditions are dry enough to get away with using simple All-Season tires, but the snow and mud turned these into slicks and forced competitors to a crawl through much of the course.  Those with Snow Tires or Rally Tires didn't fare much better!

As the day progressed and the sun came out to start warming things up, things were looking even trickier!  Typically, the course gets faster as the day goes on, but with snow turning to slush and mud turning to soup, times dropped as conditions worsened.  Competitors put up a valiant effort to get through the course, but at the lunch break, it was decided to halt competition and settle on the 5 runs of times that we had accumulated in the morning runs as the final times.

After our lunch break, we kept the cones out there and allowed "Fun Runs" to those eager to take part in the Slip-N-Slide conditions before calling it a day.  While some packed up for the day, a handful of drivers had a ball getting sideways through the course.  We even had a few spectators grab helmets and ride along for the roller-coaster ride through the mud and snow!  Whatever blues we had about stopping competition early were vanquished by the fun we had out there before calling it a day.

At the end of the day, this event capped off a great season of competition and showcased the resilience of our competitors seen all year.  From rescheduled events to tough weather and site conditions, this program continued to grow and flourish.  We had a lot of great close competition this year and got some good exposure with spectators showing up to each event to watch and ride along.  Of our 8 Points Events this season, we only managed to hold 7 of them... and two of those were cut short due to weather.  Even without being able to secure alternate competition sites this year, we still made everything work and ended up with a great season.  I'm really happy with how the NRSCCA Rallycross program continues to grow and improve!