Sept 30th Season Opener "Gene Kelly" is in the Can.

lddavis91 · Postby **lddavis91** » Mon Oct 02, 2017 1:14 pm

I once knew an autocrosser who had the personalized licence plate "IH8TERAIN" I'm thinking of getting that for the vette. Its never been a good car to drive in wet conditions, but I think my recent changes have made it even worse. I think the -3.5 of camber up front and the "steam roller" tires, despite having some tread, have nearly made it undriveable in standing water though optimized for dry concrete. Torque induced oversteer is one thing, I'm am used to that and know how to deal with it... have fun with it even. :-) But the problem Saturday was front end hydro-planning essentially any time I had throttle applied, if I lifted throttle with any steering input the front end *might* bite and that would lead to snap oversteer, not remotely fun. I'm just glad I kept it on the pavement. Funny thing is, I have had fun autocrossing in the rain a few times. Many years ago in my MR2 I had a ball and finished near top PAX at a very wet event in VA, just a couple years ago at a FAST "Duel" in my old Mustang I had a blast, not Saturday. Perhaps I should think of a rain strategy? Maybe just bring my front street tires with deep tread and narrower 275 section width might make a huge difference? I'd really like to be able to dial out some of the negative camber too and I suppose my adjustable front arms might make that possible, would need to experiment with how toe is effected though. Not sure if its worth the hassle... Maybe just keep my fingers crossed and hope for dry pavement?

RedBRZ80 · Postby **RedBRZ80** » Mon Oct 02, 2017 5:40 pm

lddavis91 wrote:I once knew an autocrosser who had the personalized licence plate "IH8TERAIN" I'm thinking of getting that for the vette. Its never been a good car to drive in wet conditions, but I think my recent changes have made it even worse. I think the -3.5 of camber up front and the "steam roller" tires, despite having some tread, have nearly made it undriveable in standing water though optimized for dry concrete. Torque induced oversteer is one thing, I'm am used to that and know how to deal with it... have fun with it even. :-) But the problem Saturday was front end hydro-planning essentially any time I had throttle applied, if I lifted throttle with any steering input the front end *might* bite and that would lead to snap oversteer, not remotely fun. I'm just glad I kept it on the pavement. Funny thing is, I have had fun autocrossing in the rain a few times. Many years ago in my MR2 I had a ball and finished near top PAX at a very wet event in VA, just a couple years ago at a FAST "Duel" in my old Mustang I had a blast, not Saturday. Perhaps I should think of a rain strategy? Maybe just bring my front street tires with deep tread and narrower 275 section width might make a huge difference? I'd really like to be able to dial out some of the negative camber too and I suppose my adjustable front arms might make that possible, would need to experiment with how toe is effected though. Not sure if its worth the hassle... Maybe just keep my fingers crossed and hope for dry pavement?

I had ZERO front grip. Almost to the point of scary I’m turning the wheel and nothing happened.

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Jamie · Postby **Jamie** » Mon Oct 02, 2017 6:39 pm

lddavis91 wrote: Perhaps I should think of a rain strategy? Maybe just bring my front street tires with deep tread and narrower 275 section width might make a huge difference?

Don't overthink it...bring the Volt. Weight + not-so-wide tires = grip.

Gerry · Postby **Gerry** » Mon Oct 02, 2017 9:49 pm

Carracer wrote:
Jamie wrote:
twistedwankel wrote:And no one went agriculture either like I heard someone did in the dry
Ken Marion. In Gerry's car...must be something about gray cars.
If you had a gray Miata and a co driver you had a 100% chance your co-driver would go agricultural.

I'm still cleaning it. Damn car wash actually made it worse. I'll finish tomorrow. Haha! Grass and mud everywhere!

But hey, that's it. No actual damage. I'll take it! It could've happened to anyone. He did a good job of going off straight and making sure he got back on the course where there wasn't a drop off. Now I have something to heckle him about, and likely some runs in a 911 GT3 at an upcoming event. Hehe

Carracer · Postby **Carracer** » Tue Oct 03, 2017 1:33 am

Pictures from the event, morning run groups, big thanks to my spotters!
https://flic.kr/s/aHsm8Kqie3

nathanwilliams617 · Postby **nathanwilliams617** » Tue Oct 03, 2017 6:42 am

Carracer wrote:Pictures from the event, morning run groups, big thanks to my spotters!
https://flic.kr/s/aHsm8Kqie3

Thanks!

Postby **Loren** » Tue Oct 03, 2017 10:29 am

Great photos, Philip!

Looking through them, I have a few event organizer thoughts:

1. Keep your hands inside the car! (ahem... Sally)

2. There were a lot of cars in the morning that should have failed tech for car numbers!

Red is in the "dark" spectrum. Black does not contrast with red. Don't do it!
Blue tape doesn't show on a Blue car. (that's why we have bright green tape available)
3/4" or 1" wide tape is too narrow to be clearly visible from a distance. Use our 1.5" wide tape!

Have a look through the photo gallery. What numbers are visible and legible? What numbers aren't? Don't just go through the motions, make your numbers LEGIBLE!

If you're working course and a car goes by with numbers you find hard to read, radio that in to timing. They'll get somebody to fix it!

lddavis91 · Postby **lddavis91** » Tue Oct 03, 2017 10:42 am

RedBRZ80 wrote:I had ZERO front grip. Almost to the point of scary I’m turning the wheel and nothing happened.

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Out of curiosity, what tires were you running?

twistedwankel · Postby **twistedwankel** » Tue Oct 03, 2017 4:40 pm

Old mechanical AWD cars with R tires up to 80% power diverted to RWD with viscous clutches pulled you around the corners. Steering was merely a rudder in the front with pedal to the metal and no tire spin:)

RedBRZ80 · Postby **RedBRZ80** » Tue Oct 03, 2017 9:25 pm

lddavis91 wrote:
RedBRZ80 wrote:I had ZERO front grip. Almost to the point of scary I’m turning the wheel and nothing happened.

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Out of curiosity, what tires were you running?

255/35 RE71s. They have 100 runs on them. So there’s that.

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Lava Speed 05 · Postby **Lava Speed 05** » Tue Oct 03, 2017 11:36 pm

nathanwilliams617 wrote:
Loren wrote: If cones didn't count, some raw times worth mentioning:
Matt Gonna Whoop up on M2 - 43.015
We'll see about that...

Stance Nation is coming for you Mr. Williams!

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nathanwilliams617 · Postby **nathanwilliams617** » Wed Oct 04, 2017 9:07 am

Lava Speed 05 wrote:Stance Nation is coming for you Mr. Williams!

Ah yes Stance Nation, I'm familiar, we're allies and I welcome you to my country, M2. However you need a special visa to obtain 1st and unfortunately we're not issuing any more this season. Feel free to drive your way to 2nd place, anything further will be restricted.

Sincerely,
Enforcer, M2 INS

Lava Speed 05 · Postby **Lava Speed 05** » Wed Oct 04, 2017 10:12 am

nathanwilliams617 wrote:Ah yes Stance Nation, I'm familiar, we're allies and I welcome you to my country, M2. However you need a special visa to obtain 1st and unfortunately we're not issuing any more this season. Feel free to drive your way to 2nd place, anything further will be restricted.

Sincerely,
Enforcer, M2 INS

I find it funny how you come to my territory and claim to be the enforcement. I will control and eliminate this insurgency with no mercy. [emoji61]

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nathanwilliams617 · Postby **nathanwilliams617** » Wed Oct 04, 2017 10:14 am

Who is online