Da Groj

Loren wrote:Practice rev-matched downshifts to 4th, 3rd and 2nd as you come to stop lights. (1st is harder to do, and generally not necessary, but you can practice that sometimes, too)

I never seem to remember to do so during the course of everyday driving. I tell myself to, but then I'm caught up in where I am going or where I just came from or, if going to work, I may be thinking of driving the opposite direction. Bottom line, not context-specific enough.

Jamie wrote:

friskyflea wrote:I have hatched a plan and Philip is my co-conspirator

You're going to learn how to drive like Philip? Not sure that's wise...the Fit's not floppy enough. Or are you coming to party with us in S4 for awhile?

Only Philip can drive like Philip. I'll be going as myself, but not to S4, though if I were to put the stock springs back in it could turn into an interesting suspension configuration, but that'd drop me to S5, no? I've already swapped my ride for SCCA events and Ben's taken his one turn this year with Chispa. Staying put in M4.

FF

I have a hard enough time with all the Miatas buzzing around me. I am glad you you don't want to come to S4, lol.

friskyflea wrote:

Loren wrote:Practice rev-matched downshifts to 4th, 3rd and 2nd as you come to stop lights. (1st is harder to do, and generally not necessary, but you can practice that sometimes, too)

I never seem to remember to do so during the course of everyday driving. I tell myself to, but then I'm caught up in where I am going or where I just came from or, if going to work, I may be thinking of driving the opposite direction. Bottom line, not context-specific enough.

What you need is a manual transmission with shitty synchros. That will force you to rev-match your downshifts out of necessity. Once you learn to do it, it's not something you need to think about. Just like normal shifting, it becomes instinctive.

In lieu of that, maybe a big sign on your dash that says "BLIP!" to remind you to do a nice blip-throttle downshift when you're slowing down?

Loren wrote: Once you learn to do it, it's not something you need to think about. Just like normal shifting, it becomes instinctive.

So true^

I sometimes forget that I'm not in my car when my wife and I take her automatic FRS places....then end up causing an unexpected nose dive when I try to rev match. (Right foot catches one side of the big brake pedal with gentle pressure and my left foot catches the left side of that same pedal and attempts to push it to the floor like a clutch.)

Carracer wrote:Fun course, it really made me wish for another 40HP. Dave hit the nail on the head when he said this layout had a "road racing" feel. S4 was a battle again. I thought I had Jason and I had a co-pilot lined up to ride with me on my last run. I jokingly mentioned to him if Jason get beats me by a tenth on his last run I'll need my last run to be solo. Of course Jason does exactly that Sorry, I owe you a ride.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gO1v2W0379c
My 4th run was good enough to get back in front and take a win, after the last event I figured I might never see 1st place sticker again

Once again seat time and talent trumps superior equipment!

And just remember it's your fault I went faster haha!

Philip great pictures like usual. Thank you again for taking the time to go out on course to get these great shots.

Here's some pictures my dad took of the morning run groups
https://www.flickr.com/photos/rdareingd ... 0311076935

More pictures! Thank you.

That was my very first event and I was late! I was pretty embarrassed, but I wanted to thank you guys for helping me out so much despite my tardiness. I really enjoyed it and I can't wait to go again, on time of course lol. On a different note, are any of you aware of a helmet that is less bulky/thinner, but still allowable? I'm a little tall and with the helmet I got on loan from FAST my head was attached to the roof even on the lowest setting on my seat. Thanks.

While our helmet requirements are dictated by our insurance company, and are minimal (DOT approval is all that they require), most helmets are still designed to Snell standards... and even if they don't meet that standard, or aren't "Snell certified", they're all going to be pretty close to the same as far as how much padding they provide to your noggin. That padding is what dictates the overall size of the "shell" of he helmet.

All that just to say... I don't think you're going to have much luck. You can choose from open or closed-face. With FAST, you can even choose a "half-helmet" (DOT approved, meets our insurance requirements). But, the top part of the helmet... I think they're all going to be pretty close to the same.

Does your car have a sun roof? If so, the hardtop variant of the same car will usually have another inch or so of head room.

If you want to stick with the same car (and why wouldn't you?), you could try adjusting the rake of the seat back a little bit. That can help. If you want to mod things, you can sometimes customize the rear seat brackets to get them lower. And removing some seat foam from the base of the seat is a common Miata trick for taller drivers.

You'll find that a lot of tall people take their helmet with them when they go car shopping!

Loren wrote:You'll find that a lot of tall people take their helmet with them when they go car shopping!

I've never thought of that, but I can see the salesman's face now when you walk up!

I appreciate that advice. I just bought the car, no sunroof, but I think I'll just need to lean the seat back until it's paid off and I can start carving up the seat lol. I'll remember to bring my helmet next time I need to go to the dealership.

Loren wrote:While our helmet requirements are dictated by our insurance company, and are minimal (DOT approval is all that they require)....

Realize, too, that most clubs require a Snell-approved helmet, not just DOT, so if you have aspirations to run more events than just FAST, you'll need to go that route.

You'll get used to the clearance, too -- you'll find a find a position that's comfortable with your head touching the headliner.

I lock my head in the hole of the Moon Roof. The Vert is unlimited vertically but you can't race a vert on a road course without a rollbar. Stick with the HTop.

Season Points have been updated. Interesting stuff!

JasonS wrote:Holy FAST course, Batman. Huge amounts of fun. Pretty sure I was tickling 70mph today.

Doug..... Better luck next time...

Jason,
If you want to find out just how fast your car is? We can swap cars at any event. OR we can just let Drew drive them? Either way it will be official

The Mayor of Dougopolous

Sounds good to me. Always wanted to drive an rx8. Drew drove my car at the dog track last event. His first time in my car and first time in an awd he was .2 slower than my fastest time.

JasonS wrote:Sounds good to me. Always wanted to drive an rx8. Drew drove my car at the dog track last event. His first time in my car and first time in an awd he was .2 slower than my fastest time.

And so it shall be. (You should have let him drive it at least twice.) I always let Drew and Loren go at it twice. (Loren is still the king.) Drew has beaten me in all 3 of my cars. Loren has only beat us both in 2 but the FWD illness he presently has would have put him at a disadvantage in the Crown Vic. Anyhow we'll do that. You will like the RX8.

Doug