Dec 2 Brooksville Classic - Maybe it does get better?

[Loren]

You seem a lot more comfortable in handling your car. I was more tentative and twitchy. Never got a real feel for the steering.

Now the real question: Would you have been as fast if you hadn't ridden with me for 6 runs? Did my "momentum" style rub off on you?

Watching your video, I think it might have! Either way, good job beating my raw time in your car.

[AScoda]

Had to do a bit of forensic analysis today. When I left the event, my AFR gauge was not working. The wideband isn't totally necessary for the megasquirt to run, but did notice a couple of minor hiccups, since it does reference it. So, I figured it wasn't just the gauge. Started digging around today and found that I had not been diligent in securing the wiring from the sensor up into the engine compartment after having the transmission out for the clutch change. The wiring sheath had fused itself to one of the exhaust tubes. Had to cut out a 5 inch section of wiring and did a quick and dirty splice, changed the burned fuse and found all still works as it should. Have to properly connect the wiring still, but at least nothing vital was damaged.
Side note: These tires are about bald, but don't feel like they have lost much grip. Nice.

[Loren]

Ah, the ol' melt the WBO2 wiring onto the exhaust trick!

[Carracer]

I heard that Dan Brentnall did a sort of impromptu "invitation only" IROC in his Mazda 3. (The Mayor is out of the country, so somebody has to do these things) Not sure who all the players were. I think it was Dan, Ben, Steve, Philip and me. Maybe more?

This mostly happened on 9th and 10th runs, which don't show in the results, so I don't know what the times were. I think Dan was documenting them.

It was impromptu, and quite unofficial. And good fun! Yes, Loren, Philip, Steve, Ben, and Dan. In order of finish... (sorry, Dan, at least you didn't end up losing any money... )

It was great fun. That car really sticks with the 225s. I just can't believe how well the chassis handles the transitions.

[Rawkkrawler]

Now the real question: Would you have been as fast if you hadn't ridden with me for 6 runs? Did my "momentum" style rub off on you?

I did experiment with a little momentum driving for a run or two. I found that if I trust the tires to stick, the payoff is there.

[dbeng]

Hey guys, a little late to the party here! I barely had time to check the forum the last couple of days but no time to post. Sunday was spent putting up Christmas lights, changing the car back to daily driver tires and packing for a two week business trip. (Which sadly means I will miss the next points event).

I had a blast at this event, the laid back atmosphere in the morning was great, I forgot how relaxed a classic event can be. Everyone knows what they are doing and it was nice to have time to take it in and chat with fellow competitors before the drivers meeting.

The event went smoothly as ever- thanks to everyone involved in getting things done. Ben was stuck without a car for this event so he co drove with me and I’d previously promised Philip a run on real tires during a classic event. He had only driven it on all seasons/ summer tires in the past.

Then I thought it would be fun to offer a couple of runs to Loren and Steve and make a mini IROC event. Reminiscent of the FROC last season. It was alternately referred to as the MROC and DROC this weekend. I would have loved to extend the offer further, but the number of runs and short downtime for tires to cool were killing my brand new RE71s. Well RE71 to be precise! The camber challenged stock strut suspension was grinding down the right front faster than the rest of the guys were grinding down my self esteem with their quick times.

Anyhow, I got my rear end handed to me and finished dead last out of all who drove my car on Saturday. Nevertheless I still had a blast along the way. I noted down the times to the nearest tenth, no need for thousands of a second in a friendly challenge.

So here’s how it all ended up:
Loren: 50.5
Philip: 50.9
Ben and Steve: 51.2
And some other guy: 52.0

Congratulations Loren!

I’ll add an honorable mention of Philip’s second run time of 50.4 +1 where he just clipped the green cone at the turn-around. I rode along for that run and it was an eye opener to see what the car is capable of.

I thoroughly enjoyed the whole challenge and would love to do it again one day. Thanks to everyone for the feedback on my car set-up. Unanimous praise for how the car handles out on course. And I suppose thanks for showing me that I still have a way to go on the push hard suck less philosophy.

Dan.

[Loren]

I don't remember your setup, Dan, but if you have adjustable front shocks, maybe a little more up there. Ultimately, a little more spring rate is what you need, but you can't do that in Stock.

What I was feeling was when you REALLY press the car, the inside rear wheel comes up. That's no big deal, and it wasn't doing it "violently", but it felt like it could be better controlled. And that's a function of the opposite corner of the front.

That's a pretty minor complaint, though. The car felt very precise and fun to drive!