June 18th Post Event Father's Day Eve

[AScoda]

You also have to consider that the runway is crowned for drainage. I was correcting the car every quarter loop as it went over the crown twice and transitioned from uphill to downhill and back.
True flat surface would have produced slightly higher numbers for everyone, I'm sure.

[Loren]

Truth. And, I just recalled that the formula is based on the center of the car. Should add 3 feet to compensate for that.

[Loren]

So, anyway...

Great event! The course ended up being one that you feel like you're accelerating most of the time, and yet you're never really going all that fast. That's how autocross is supposed to be! The weather held out. Soraya's ethnic lunch was awesome. We had a good time playing on the skidpad. And I don't think anybody broke anything. Perfect!

Be sure to get registered for the two July events. Especially July 16 at Tampa Bay Downs. That one WILL sell out, and we're already seeing new names registered. Don't come cryin' to me if it sells out and you didn't get in!

[Native]

It sure was a good time. Really happy the weather turned good, and for all the help we had packing up! Great stuff!

I hadn't slept well, and wasn't even sure I was gonna drive, but I did 7 of my 8 runs before pulling the plug - just kept getting slower. I had a 53.9 to tie Loren, but I coned it away (just with the rear wheel, nothing ugly this time ) I only did one direction on the skid pad cuz I just didn't feel like dealing with fuel starvation.

Thanks for the pix, and for the skidpad numbers, Ron. Much appreciated.

See ya'll next time!

[jreid1000]

Wish I could have made this one.

[friskyflea]

You know I had a good time at an event when I get a craving for ice cream afterwards... oh wait, that's each and every one; I just can't act on that impulse every time it happens.

Love the Classics; I have to try to make it to more. The pace is different and conducive to all sorts of taste testing. Glad I wasn't timing: trying to keep track of who was in whom's car would have kept me sweating. Doug's RX8 gets the prize for giving the most pony rides. I haven't driven a rear wheel drive (other than full sized trucks, totally different beasts) in a year of Sundays; it didn't feel as odd as I expected. What was weird was the "assisted steering" or whatever the heck that thing was deciding nilly-willy how to react to steering inputs. Even with Joe's warning beforehand, the car felt possessed. Greatly enjoyed my first turn in it; the second I should have just enjoyed as well and plain driven instead of experimented trying to figure out what exactly the computer was doing (reacting how to what.) Scientific experiments lead to slow run times

As has been mentioned I finally broke my maiden in M4. And, sorry Loren, but have to do it again to rule out chance or an auspicious alignment of the planets. For a bit I thought that the course favored Chispa's higher horse power over the Festy's, but then I saw where my time was in relationship to others and understood it to be real. So I did gave in to the impulse on my way home <ice cream emoji missing>

My phone mount went flying on the third run and when I reset it, I didn't point the camera in the best direction, so the video's perspective is a little funky. I do have video from my usual center-of-dash view, but it doesn't have the data, so I offer both. The kink still had me not-getting-it-quite-right; I think if I had, there would have been a 52 in that car.

https://youtu.be/tXdNKu96ZHA

https://youtu.be/LKyTnVf_5FE


P.S. -ooops, to y'all non-horse types, to "break your maiden" is to finally win in horse racing. Now you know what to say to any of the regulars at TBD if you want to engage them in conversation.

[Loren]

For a bit I thought that the course favored Chispa's higher horse power over the Festy's, but then I saw where my time was in relationship to others and understood it to be real.

The notion of your car accelerating faster than the Festiva, and of you being on your game are not mutually exclusive. You were CLEARLY on it Saturday. Look at that video! LISTEN to that video! There's not much more you could do. There might be a tenth here or there, but you pretty much nailed it.

Likewise, I think me, Steve and Ben each laid down similarly "on it" runs. Steve and Ben hit cones on their best runs, but each of us put down something within a few tenths of 53.9. That's just all the car had to offer. It had the grip, it just didn't have power to accelerate any faster!

I've not timed it, but the Festiva shouldn't be capable of 0-60 any quicker than about 13 seconds. The Fit should do it in under 9 seconds. So, even on a course that only gets up to 50 mph in a single sprint, we're still at a good 2-3 second disadvantage. With good driving, we can make up for that against a lot of cars on a lot of courses by the fact that the car is narrow (so it doesn't have to move as far to deal with things like slalom offsets, and can shoot narrower gaps), and grippy as hell. But, against another car that's equally narrow (your car, Miatas, etc) and equally grippy, and equally well-driven? We don't stand a chance!

Based on what we saw Saturday... next season will be challenging for Festiva drivers in M4!

We're going to have to do what we can to maximize the car's potential (there's not a lot more we can do within M4 without spending stupid amounts of money that we don't intend to spend... any of the easy engine swaps would bump us out of class, and any internal engine mods wouldn't gain enough power to justify the expense), and just flat out drive the hell out of the car consistently. Between you stepping up your game in a faster car, and my co-drivers nipping at my heels in the same car... I'm feeling the pressure. Part of my job from here on out is to get in your head. Prepare for trash talk. For starters... this was totally a fluke, I usually drive in the morning when it's not so hot, and I focus better before lunch. I only got 3 hours of sleep the night before, too. The tire pressures were a little off, and we haven't checked the alignment in a few months. The old engine is tired, and I think we got some bad gas. Ben said there was a 52 in the car, and he's never wrong. (my excuse game is on-point)

[Carracer]

... Prepare for trash talk. For starters... this was totally a fluke, I usually drive in the morning when it's not so hot, and I focus better before lunch. I only got 3 hours of sleep the night before, too. The tire pressures were a little off, and we haven't checked the alignment in a few months. The old engine is tired, and I think we got some bad gas. Ben said there was a 52 in the car, and he's never wrong. (my excuse game is on-point)

Don't forget the sun was in your eyes.

[lddavis91]

I've not timed it, but the Festiva shouldn't be capable of 0-60 any quicker than about 13 seconds. The Fit should do it in under 9 seconds. So, even on a course that only gets up to 50 mph in a single sprint, we're still at a good 2-3 second disadvantage. ]

I've yet to see a FAST autocross course where I've been allowed to accelerate from 0-50 mph in a single sprint.

[Lava Speed 05]

Okay, so Loren came up with using the skidpad to see what kind of Gs could be pulled and actually come up with a number for everyone. Somehow that led to an evening of me doing math. Funny how that works. (If anyone cares how the values were derived, I'll let you know. Just didn't feel like explaining it now.)

So here are the numbers;



Let the bench racing begin!

Only the Exocet was able to pull more than 1 G. The Fastiva is pretty impressive, but the numbers make sense when you think of the times that car is capable of posting. Everyone's times were slower with the passenger side to the cones (except Phil ).

As to the event itself, that was a blast. Thanks go out to everyone for making it so.

See you all next time!

Haha was I that slow that my numbers don't count? ;-)

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

[twistedwankel]

Doug's RX8 gets the prize for giving the most pony rides. I haven't driven a rear wheel drive (other than full sized trucks, totally different beasts) in a year of Sundays; it didn't feel as odd as I expected. What was weird was the "assisted steering" or whatever the heck that thing was deciding nilly-willy how to react to steering inputs. Even with Joe's warning beforehand, the car felt possessed.

Soraya. You should realize that past a certain age like +45 people have to start getting used to "assisted living". I practice with my Rx8 steering. The problem you were having was not being able to have the front wheels pull you thru the turn around and were using them instead of the ABS brakes which you also do not have. Not to worry. Philip made the same mistake two years ago and look at him now. If I don't mind doing the Japanese "hokey pokey" and resetting/calibrating the electric steering (put your left key in....lock to lock) when I get home I can simply remove one 60amp fuse and make it manual steering. I agree the car is crazy easy to drive fast then as you cannot over steer in tight corners:) I never use my secret weapon unless it's for the "FAST finale" or something heated. Oh, and you could have put your CD in (which you didn't) and ended up talking to yourself

[markzeronine]

What a fantastic day. A course that would push the limits of the car and driver, but not the drivers brain to the point where he gets lost on over half of his runs (I.e, me at the TBD points event last time) I wish this one was for points as im in the closest battle for points of any class lol.

Really had a great time with everyone, and Philip those pictures are amazing thank you

[AScoda]

Thanks for the rides guys! Doug, Joe, John.
Lessee, 2 runs in Doug's RX8, 2 runs in Joe's Z3M coupe (fun little terror-51.9 with a cone), a couple in my own car(the Crustang-I like it!), One in John's Miata (clean 51.7. Phillip ran a dirty 50.7 in it also, so this would have given Mark's s2000 a fight), and one more in Doug's car for proof of concept. That concept being that it had a 52 in it (52.7).

[dbeng]

This has to be the most fun event I've attended yet
Despite being the first time I have finished dead last in S4 (and by quite a margin) the whole day was a blast. Thanks to everyone for making the whole day run smoothly and ahead of schedule. The skidpad was a good chance to practice and thanks to Tod for the pyrometer readings. It surprised me how even the tire temps were considering my camber challenged stock suspension.

Also thanks to those who gave my buddy Andy some thtill rides, I think the run he had with Drew in John's car was top six worhy so in comparison to my lame attempt at setting a time he got to experience the other end of the scale.
Looking forward to the next time I can come and join the fun.
Dan

[twistedwankel]

Thanks for the rides guys! Doug, Joe, John.
...and one more in Doug's car for proof of concept. That concept being that it had a 52 in it (52.7).

It's not trash talk when you make it all so!! Freakin' Drew and pretty much anything. I am impressed once again. Joe told me in the morning heat after only 7 runs there was a 52 in my car and Drew proved it. He also said: "If you just want fastest time have Drew drive it."

Well done M2 Pro's.

I will do this again. Once I think I have a car totally sorted out I'll take it to a Classic for whichever group has the tightest competition going. When there is only .2 between the top places and there is an "Elephant in the room" that is a race to prove the worthiness of a car.... ladies and gentlemen...start your engines.

Congrats to the Caveliers and Ford for 1st, 3rd, 4th at LeMons. ALSO.

[Jamie]

The kink still had me not-getting-it-quite-right....

It wasn't so much the kink as the last offset before the finish -- too fast in going left, so you had to scrub off speed to stay out of the wall, and your exit speed suffered. Slow down earlier, get back on the gas earlier.

Now if only I could consistently follow my own advice....

Did you know that Yokohama S.Drive's squeal like pigs? And did you know that rear seat passengers make a car go faster?

That wasn't the tires...it was your rear-seat passengers....

The tire pressures were a little off, and we haven't checked the alignment in a few months. The old engine is tired, and I think we got some bad gas. Ben said there was a 52 in the car, and he's never wrong.

This from a guy who checks his tire pressures once a season.... And Ben's been used to moving at 10 mile/day, so you need to check his units...52 minutes was probably pessimistic. On the other hand, this was the right car to break him in gently to motorized movement again.

[Native]

Haha was I that slow that my numbers don't count? ;-)

Sent from my XT1585 using Tapatalk

Nah, just that all those digits to the left of the decimal you racked up wouldn't fit nicely in the table...

[friskyflea]

The kink still had me not-getting-it-quite-right....

It wasn't so much the kink as the last offset before the finish -- too fast in going left, so you had to scrub off speed to stay out of the wall, and your exit speed suffered. Slow down earlier, get back on the gas earlier.

Now if only I could consistently follow my own advice....

My bad - misnamed the element: we are talking about the same one. Ya' now, I heard one statement made that was as clear as a crystal bell: "How do you know you are going too fast? When you can't put the car exactly where you want it." If only I could remember these clear utterances when I'm on course. Now I see that had I treated that bend as a turn around, I would have fared better. Fodder for rumination.

Got my tires flipped yesterday after 86 runs; already looking forward to the next Classic

[friskyflea]

LISTEN to that video!

This sound is now embedded in my mind like an earworm.

But, against another car that's equally narrow (your car, Miatas, etc) and equally grippy, and equally well-driven? We don't stand a chance!

thank you; working hard and seeing the work pay off was what really made this day outstanding and extra ice cream worthy. In so many other situations I have worked my butt off and naught has come from it so the driving improvement is... nice

I made corrections to my usual bad habits: getting behind and then jerking the wheel trying to catch up...and, seeing Ben (and his lovely calves) reminded me to trust the tires' grip - and it all happened concurrently for each run. It all sounds so logical an simple - putting it together, that's practice, practice, practice -- and it pays off

The true test will be TBD; the layout produces courses that consistently are driver-dependent rather than car-dependent. Screw up the driving and you eat everyone's else dust. Plus, having 4, maybe 5 runs instead of 8 to get it right. Yes, I am VERY much looking forward to the next points event. Bring on a devilish course, I iz reddy