Official Novice School Thread - Jan 10, 2009

Postby **Native** » Mon Dec 08, 2008 10:50 pm

FAST is holding a Novice Autocrosser's school on the driver training pad at the St Petersburg College Allstate Campus on Jan. 10th! The $60 entry fee includes the world-famous FAST Lunch and more than twice the seat time of a regular autocross! If you've competed in no more than 5 autocrosses, this will be a great opportunity to learn and improve! If you've done more than 5, you won't be eligible for this event.

To provide quality instruction, the class size is limited to 32 students, and preregistration and prepayment will be mandatory. The event will run from 7:30am - 5pm, approximately. The school will consist of three different driving stations, plus a "classroom" session. The student:instructor ratio will be 4:1, or better.

Please note that drivers under age 18 will require a parent or guardian to sign the insurance waiver on-site allowing them to compete. For insurance purposes, everyone must sign the waiver.

Then, on Sat., Jan 17th, FAST is having a regular autocross event at SPC. Students who participated in the school will be eligible for a deeply discounted entry fee of only $15! That's half-price, folks!

Registration for the events will be opening Dec. 10 around 10pm. Keep an eye on the Registration Page. Again, preregistration and prepayment for the school is required.

Any questions can be posted here, or email/pm me. steve@wedrivefast.com

DeltaNu1142 · Postby **DeltaNu1142** » Tue Dec 09, 2008 12:00 pm

Looking forward to it!

I came to the Oct. 4 event at SPC, and had the most terrifying yet enjoyable ride in a Toyota Yaris I've ever had. Now that I think about it, that was the only ride in a Toyota Yaris I've ever had...

$60 for twice the seat time and instruction is awesome. Are you guys providing Chatterboxes or radios? How about umbrella girls?!? (I got dibs on the roof-mounted camera)...

[img]http://assets.speedhunters.com/u/f/eaga ... 20copy.jpg[/img]

WAFlowers · Postby **WAFlowers** » Tue Dec 09, 2008 4:47 pm

You'll have to supply your own umbrella girl. And if you want a chatterbox you'll have to pick a talkative umbrella girl!

Seriously, what do you need a chatterbox (helmet mounted 2-way radio) for? You'll have an instructor in the seat beside you most of the time and I've never found a problem having my students hear me when I yell at them.

"Not like that! You're supposed to drive as I say, not as I do!!!"

meicalnissyen · Postby **meicalnissyen** » Tue Dec 09, 2008 5:38 pm

WAFlowers wrote:You'll have to supply your own umbrella girl. And if you want a chatterbox you'll have to pick a talkative umbrella girl!

Seriously, what do you need a chatterbox (helmet mounted 2-way radio) for? You'll have an instructor in the seat beside you most of the time and I've never found a problem having my students hear me when I yell at them.

"Not like that! You're supposed to drive as I say, not as I do!!!"

Glad to hear your car is close to running again, I was flagging the station where it started making "that" sound. made me queesy

DeltaNu1142 · Postby **DeltaNu1142** » Tue Dec 09, 2008 6:15 pm

WAFlowers wrote:You'll have to supply your own umbrella girl. And if you want a chatterbox you'll have to pick a talkative umbrella girl!

Hah! Why pay $60, then, when I could just stay home & get nagged? I don't even need an umbrella for that...

WAFlowers wrote:Seriously, what do you need a chatterbox (helmet mounted 2-way radio) for?

I wouldn't even have thought of it, actually, if it weren't mentioned in a thread in another forum I read last week.

WAFlowers wrote:You'll have an instructor in the seat beside you most of the time and I've never found a problem having my students hear me when I yell at them.

With the top down, it's hard to hear anyone sitting in the back seat.

snookwheel · Postby **snookwheel** » Tue Dec 09, 2008 7:13 pm

Ok, in the spirit of encouraging new recruits to the Autocross world, I am going to arrange for you to have access to a highly trained Umbrella Girl for the school! She rarely speaks, and then only in ancient Scytho-Sarmatian, so chatting is not really an issue! Enjoy

No need to thank me. I just want to contribute. The School WILL be a blast!

DeltaNu1142 · Postby **DeltaNu1142** » Tue Dec 09, 2008 7:55 pm

snookwheel wrote:Ok, in the spirit of encouraging new recruits to the Autocross world, I am going to arrange for you to have access to a highly trained Umbrella Girl for the school! She rarely speaks, and then only in ancient Scytho-Sarmatian, so chatting is not really an issue! Enjoy

I'm going to have to see her in a short leather skirt, halter-top & knee-high boots before I commit.

Jamie · Postby **Jamie** » Tue Dec 09, 2008 7:58 pm

DeltaNu1142 wrote:With the top down, it's hard to hear anyone sitting in the back seat.

You just haven't had one of our instructors....

snookwheel · Postby **snookwheel** » Tue Dec 09, 2008 8:04 pm

[quote="DeltaNu1142I'm going to have to see her in a short leather skirt, halter-top & knee-high boots before I commit.[/quote]

She looks pretty much the same no matter what you are wearing!

DeltaNu1142 · Postby **DeltaNu1142** » Wed Dec 10, 2008 8:58 am

Jamie wrote:You just haven't had one of our instructors....

...and I don't intend to, unless one of them happens to look like the girl in post #2!! Yellow_Colorz_PDT_02

On a serious note--does anyone use in-car video? I don't know, particularly for me at this stage, whether it would be very useful, but I think I'd like to record some runs.

Keeping in mind the regulations about carrying potential projectiles in your car, would I be able to secure a RAM-mounted video camera to the interior of the windshield? I think I'd even consider exterior/panel mounting... thoughts?

snookwheel · Postby **snookwheel** » Wed Dec 10, 2008 9:54 am

As long as the camera is securely mounted and does not obscure the drivers vision, there is no problem. There are a variety of good suction cup type mounts available that work very well.

The tech folks would most likely let you know if the mount is not secure enough to use.

DeltaNu1142 · Postby **DeltaNu1142** » Wed Dec 10, 2008 10:19 am

snookwheel wrote:As long as the camera is securely mounted and does not obscure the drivers vision, there is no problem. There are a variety of good suction cup type mounts available that work very well.
The tech folks would most likely let you know if the mount is not secure enough to use.

Great. Good info. I can mount somewhere on the glass that's out of the way. In my previous post, I mentioned the RAM mount system--I have a 3" or 4" suction-cup mount that I put a great deal of faith in, it ought to work. I use RAM in the car & on my moto (check it out here).

Alizarin · Postby **Alizarin** » Wed Dec 10, 2008 8:32 pm

I have a camera mount that bolts to my harness bar, and I think it was a big help for my first year of autocrossing. Heck, video revealed where I was losing time this past weekend!

Can't see the foot box, but I can record out front and you can see the motion of the steering wheel. I would recommend a wide angle lense if it is going to be inside the car.

DeltaNu1142 · Postby **DeltaNu1142** » Wed Dec 10, 2008 9:17 pm

Cool, I can do panoramic, but wide-angle? Nah, I've just got a cheap-o video camera. What would you recommend I try & get in the frame? As much of the upcoming turns as possible? Footbox won't happen, unless that's all I get...

REGISTERED!

Postby **Loren** » Wed Dec 10, 2008 10:29 pm

DeltaNu1142 wrote:I came to the Oct. 4 event at SPC, and had the most terrifying yet enjoyable ride in a Toyota Yaris I've ever had. Now that I think about it, that was the only ride in a Toyota Yaris I've ever had...

Hey, flattery will get you... unsolicited driving tips. Oh wait, I give those out for free, anyway. Sorry, I got nuthin'.

Glad you enjoyed the ride. 8) Scaring newbs is a hobby of mine.

Yano, the Yaris is a woefully under-rated sports car.
(nah, I didn't really say that with a straight face)

Alizarin · Postby **Alizarin** » Wed Dec 10, 2008 11:18 pm

DeltaNu1142 wrote:Cool, I can do panoramic, but wide-angle? Nah, I've just got a cheap-o video camera. What would you recommend I try & get in the frame? As much of the upcoming turns as possible? Footbox won't happen, unless that's all I get...

REGISTERED!

I've just got a cheap-o camera too. If you don't mind a video download (I'm working on a better video system than just dumping them in a directory) you can see my usual video view here. That's with the old engine, though, so it sounds awesome. You've got a convertible (from your sig), so you've probably got more mounting options.

Wow that's an old video (2006!). You can see my hands on the wheel (and how jerky some of my steering inputs are), and hear the engine, so you know what my foot is doing. If you can see the needle on the boost gauge (the left-most on the triple pod) it shows when I'm on and off the gas also. Probably can see it better in the more recent footage.

A wide angle lens for my camera just clips on to the front, I've been told. You may be able to get one for yours also.

And now that I'm actually home and not on my tablet (the earlier post was posted from Chili's), here's a picture of the mount on my harness bar.

DeltaNu1142 · Postby **DeltaNu1142** » Thu Dec 11, 2008 6:14 am

Loren wrote:Hey, flattery will get you... unsolicited driving tips. Oh wait, I give those out for free, anyway. Sorry, I got nuthin'.
Glad you enjoyed the ride. 8) Scaring newbs is a hobby of mine.

Well, maybe one day, after some schoolin' & lots & lots of practice, I can return the favor. My skill dial currently maxes out at around 0.5.

Anonymous · Postby **Anonymous** » Tue Dec 16, 2008 1:12 pm

Sweet!! I want to sign up to this!!

Adam

Anonymous · Postby **Anonymous** » Tue Dec 16, 2008 1:13 pm

Same here; where do we sign up?

Anonymous · Postby **Anonymous** » Tue Dec 16, 2008 1:16 pm

Found it!! its on the first page!! lol

Official Novice School Thread - Jan 10, 2009

Official Novice School Thread - Jan 10, 2009

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