Sept 14, 2013 - Post Event

[BigBlue]

Here are the Preliminary Results. (thanks once again to the Guru of Time, Ron Rice)

Preliminary because I see at least one error. Ben Wheaton is in M1 for some reason. Should be in S2.

Look them over, let us know if there are other errors that need to be fixed before I update the season points list.

I will take care of the result errors later today. Please let me know if you see anything other than those mentioned above.

[Dave]

Tim, 4 runs was not due to the split format. We've still been doing 5-6 runs with that. 4 runs came from me overestimating the ability of this group as a whole to read and drive a course without making dreadful and potentially dangerous (due to the other car on course) mistakes. It was very disappointing, but we had no choice but to go from doing a 25-30 second start interval (nearly 50% overlap) to running one car at a time... a 52-60 second interval. Obviously, that cuts our potential runs in half. If we'd have gone to THREE runs, we'd have even stayed on time. But, four is a better number, so we accepted running a little late and went with that.

As for seat time... typical SPC event = 35-second course and 6 runs. 210 seconds on course. This event = 55 second course (on average) and 4 runs. 220 seconds. So, it really wasn't that bad.

Not gonna start any earlier. It's hard enough to get started as early as we do. Works pretty well when we manage to stay on time and have a course that allows a proper start interval. Oh well, can't get 'em all right every time.

DO NOT through this course in the garbage can. We don't need to start any earlier, and we were out by 6ish. Nothing wrong with that, it's not that late. I was one of the last out and there were several still there and more than happy to be there.

Back to my point, the course may have presented some unforeseen challenges, but it was a fun course. As Steve and I discussed yesterday, we just need to use it when it's cooler out, so the long day is not so dreadful due to excessive heat.

[delvallj]

Thanks so much to everyone who helped me out for my first autox ever. Will definitely be coming back for TBD. It was crazy fun wagging the ST's tail all over the place. Despite all the antics I managed to knock off about 5 seconds throughout the morning. It was great watching all the "pro's" out there too.

Question about classing: Can someone tell me if I need to be moved to a "modified" class"? I have an aftermarket intake tube and a short shift plate. Also a tune, but it does not increase the stock boost target. Thanks

[Jeremy]

DO NOT through this course in the garbage can.

I liked the course, but it was obvious that this was a one car on course at a time course.
Please don't make courses where the starting car has to cross over a hot course and then expect to get multiple cars on course. You are one small mistake away from 2 totaled cars.

[lddavis91]

What is with all you Floridians complaining about the heat yesterday? Shouldn't you be acclimatized by now? I don't see how yesterday was any different from any other day since mid-June other than we didn't get drenched with rain in the afternoon. According to my phone and weather.com it never got hotter than 88 yesterday, that's actually a slightly cooler day than normal. Sure its a bit humid, but back in NC I've had events were it was 100, and 95 is pretty common in the summer and while it may be a bit more humid here, it isn't exactly a "dry heat" in an NC summer, not even close.

Anyway, I thought the course kicked ass from a driving perspective. Very nice use of the space. I knew overlap would be an issue looking at the course map, but I don't mind a bit being out there until 6 pm, especially when I didn't have to be there until 11:30. I do like to get 5 runs, and thanks to timer error, I got 6 but I would make a trade off of 4 runs to get to run a fast fun course at the site at least some of the time.

Thanks again to those involved at putting this together, another kick ass FAST autocross!

[puncturina]

It was was much needed before I head to silverstone for nissan gt academy next week

You're one of the remaining finalists? Wow, that is really a fantastic accomplishment. No wonder you have such amazing times for a "noob".

Best of luck at Silverstone.

[Native]

helme1t.jpg (330.01 KiB) Viewed 8492 times

Very cool, Jeremy.

By the way, the water bottle that we think is yours is in the trailer.

[twistedwankel]

It's sometimes those "little things" that get in our way:

In case you wondered why Shamu retired after 5 seconds and a couple turns of his first run?

Rather than jack my car up and lay in the heat for 1/2 hour I took my new stabilizer endlinks to a tirestore I've dealt with for years no problem and had them put them in while I sat in the AC for 1/2 hour watching Judge Judy.

So I'll just assume the top steel washer was defective allowing the bolt head to pass thru the delrin bushing and the bar end leaving a loud bang sounding like a broken spring. They fixed it today with a new washer since John "Eagleeye Andretti" Evans could take the time out of one of his runs to see my unharmed bushing laying just past the finish. Thanks John.

Thanks to those of you who offered correct analysis as to what the problem was, how to fix it and also the offer of driving their cars (Matt and Jim) but I was too upset to drive worth a crap after driving a "real" orca at speed around a corner.

So this reminds me of a story about 15 years ago. I had converted an ebay barnfind exdrag car 82 GT Mustang into a SMod car. I learned the hard way that old rusty Mustangs don't like big front bars when at a National Prosolo on my second pass I ripped the new big sway bar mounting plate right out of the frame. That car still handled slightly better than Big Blue's Miata Shopping Cart but I learned the inherent weakness in making a 160HP straight line low end car into one with over 300HP, big gummy tires and turning hard corners. Buddy Jasmine from CP informed to only use stiffer springs and leave the bar alone. He then showed me the many welds and reinforcements in his floorboard, etc, on his 79 Pony.

I still enjoyed watching everyone else run, nice lunch, caught up on gossip plus getting a ride in Matt's car was crutial to understanding the intricacies of that interesting course. Shamu will be racing next Saturday with BMW. They "expect" stuff to fall off old Fords.

The Mayor

[jaball77]

I won't complain about the heat. I'll just say that I drank about 10 bottles of water between 11:00am and 5:00pm.

Here's the video from Jeremy's best run. I think the new camera mount worked out excellent! Thankfully the battery died before I got in the car and embarrassed myself.

I'm surprised how bad the wind noise is. Everyone's said how much better the mic on the Hero3 is than the 2, and the skeleton back says it's good to 100mph... so wtf? I dunno. I'll put the solid back on it next time and turn off the WiFi so the battery doesn't die...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWDr-NwC07s

[aw614]

It's sometimes those "little things" that get in our way:

In case you wondered why Shamu retired after 5 seconds and a couple turns of his first run?

Rather than jack my car up and lay in the heat for 1/2 hour I took my new stabilizer endlinks to a tirestore I've dealt with for years no problem and had them put them in while I sat in the AC for 1/2 hour watching Judge Judy.

So I'll just assume the top steel washer was defective allowing the bolt head to pass thru the delrin bushing and the bar end leaving a loud bang sounding like a broken spring. They fixed it today with a new washer since John "Eagleeye Andretti" Evans could take the time out of one of his runs to see my unharmed bushing laying just past the finish. Thanks Joh
The Mayor

That sounds like what happened to me after the corvette autox the previous week, I was getting weird thumping noises prior to that on speed bumps and low speed bumpy roads so I had taken it out to the autox to make sure it wasn't a blown shock. The noise got really bad the next day on my drive to work, I didn't hear a thing after or during the autox. Turns out I installed the endlinks incorrectly with the steel washer before the bushing so the nut was tightening at the bushing.

[Loren]

You are one small mistake away from 2 totaled cars.

That actually applies to any event where more than one car is allowed on course. We try to be as safe as we can, but we absolutely have no control over the human element.

But, I get your point and have already admitted that this course was overly optimistic with regard to running multiple cars. If both drivers knew the course, it would have absolutely been doable, but it took a lot of drivers a couple runs to figure the course out. We spotted it right away and dealt with it in a manner that kept everyone safe.

[Q-ship]

Loren, I would not throw out the idea of being able to put another car on this style track. There needs to be a review of cone layout for people to not lose track of the course while on it, I got lost at the end of my 3rd run and I believe it could have been avoided through different cone placement. If you still feel the need to change the layout, just make the crossovers more perpendicular so it does not look like you have the option of two different directions. I got off course coming out of the turn coming out of the crossover back by station 1, it just throws driver concentration when you have to readjust from racing to internal GPS. This is just my .02

I had a blast and yes it was very hot, so hot in fact that even with drinking LOTS of fluids I still ended up with mild heat stroke. That is something I am not used to, and I raced in the California Desert in July and August when it can be well over 100° and not a spot of shade within 30 miles. You put on a great event with great people and awesome racing. I met a lot of great people and hope to see all again real soon.

[Loren]

Thanks for the input, Karl. Sorry I had to leave a little early and didn't get a chance to talk with you.

Gotta start planning the October event, so I'm putting this course on the back burner for now. (some variant of it may reappear for December)

[islandmon]

I won't complain about the heat. I'll just say that I drank about 10 bottles of water between 11:00am and 5:00pm.

Here's the video from Jeremy's best run. I think the new camera mount worked out excellent! Thankfully the battery died before I got in the car and embarrassed myself.

I'm surprised how bad the wind noise is. Everyone's said how much better the mic on the Hero3 is than the 2, and the skeleton back says it's good to 100mph... so wtf? I dunno. I'll put the solid back on it next time and turn off the WiFi so the battery doesn't die...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OWDr-NwC07s

That is a really neat camera angle. Great run Jeremy. Should have a few clips of our runs in the Funstang posted tomorrow.

[Native]

If both drivers knew the course, it would have absolutely been doable, but it took a lot of drivers a couple runs to figure the course out. We spotted it right away and dealt with it in a manner that kept everyone safe.

Yes, actually Loren and Dave and I talked about this course a lot during the design process, as we were aware that it was "tricky" in a variety of ways. Plan B was one car at a time, and while we all had high hopes it wouldn't be necessary, well... We liked the layout and fabulous use of space, and decided it was worth a try. It was definitely a more complex course than we usually do.

I really appreciate everyone's feedback about the event, and I'm glad folks had a good time, despite the slow pace of the run groups.

It was hot, yes, but I'll side with Les on that one - just Florida hot. I lost count, but I think we went through 16 cases of water. That's 324 bottles - for a hundred or so people. So, 3 bottles each? Not sure how many used the water fountain, but 3 bottles probably wasn't enough to keep one from dehydrating. I know I drank 6 bottles plus some stops at the fountain, and the cramp I got in my calf at the end of the day still hurts.


I myself had a blast racing my GTI against Matt in his. The head-to-head was great, and it was also a good measure of tires. I've got the stock all season Pzero nero's and he's got an RS3/RE-11 combo. We swapped cars for one run, and my best time in my car was about a second and a half slower than my time in his car. The cars are the same save tranny and tires. And overall for a sported-up economy car, the GTI isn't bad at all. It's no Miata, though...

If any one has any pix of car 37 (a white GTI), I'd love to see them!

[Ben]

Question about classing: Can someone tell me if I need to be moved to a "modified" class"? I have an aftermarket intake tube and a short shift plate. Also a tune, but it does not increase the stock boost target. Thanks

Any engine tune puts you into modified.

[Native]

Question about classing: Can someone tell me if I need to be moved to a "modified" class"? I have an aftermarket intake tube and a short shift plate. Also a tune, but it does not increase the stock boost target. Thanks

Any engine tune puts you into modified.

Yes, the intake and shifter don't matter, but
http://drivefast.org/event-info/rules-classing/
"Modification to engine control electronics (including code changes, reflashes, replacement ECUs, piggyback ECU’s or other devices that alter or inhibit signals from or to the engine or the ECU) that are capable of increasing fuel mixture or raising the level of boost."

The tune may or may not, depending what is tuned.

[shakedown067]

Here's my video montage. Helmet cam ending up being a tad low, but it was fun to watch my steering input. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m544U2Aa7dI

[tmeadows1988]

Here's a pic or two I had taken. Awesome day. That heat though

[tmeadows1988]

My buddies brz and fiat