08/14/2010 - Autocross Points Event #6

[irish44j]

lol, I wasn't at the point of having no brakes =P If I had no brakes, I'd have killed the run immediately. I had enough braking power for me to be comfortable that I could finish the run and not hurt myself or anyone, but that was it. After the top sweeper I was like, "Ok Jim, just finish the pass and bring the car home..."

The RX8's tires were R888's right? Wish I remembered to feel them, I'm debating getting those for my Club Racing car.

Yep, they were 265 R888s. When he was on street tires he was usually about 2 seconds behind me (him in X3, me in X2), so looks like the triple-8s were good for about 3 seconds. And of course they bumped him out of X3 and into X2

Next season I will be stepping up my tire width/compound game. Sucks having to run against r-comp cars on stock-sized street tires, lol.

[flohtingPoint]

Yep, they were 265 R888s. When he was on street tires he was usually about 2 seconds behind me (him in X3, me in X2), so looks like the triple-8s were good for about 3 seconds. And of course they bumped him out of X3 and into X2

Next season I will be stepping up my tire width/compound game. Sucks having to run against r-comp cars on stock-sized street tires, lol.

R888's are not going to be good for 3 seconds on Bowie. Fed Ex you'd be lucky to get that much from r-comps of that caliber. R888's are relatively hard and more track oriented (they're the tire mandated by spec miata), they have a treadwear of 100 I believe, which is only 40 below a Hankook RS3 or Toyo R1R. If he was that far behind you normally, I'd say he had a lucky day.

Bowie is also an odd lot, remember. It's very unforgiving in a lot of places and there is lots of understeer/oversteer there. My roommate beat me there earlier this season in my own car. It's a coinflip lot, and folks can definitely get the better of other folks when lady luck shines on them.

[irish44j]

R888's are not going to be good for 3 seconds on Bowie. Fed Ex you'd be lucky to get that much from r-comps of that caliber. R888's are relatively hard and more track oriented (they're the tire mandated by spec miata), they have a treadwear of 100 I believe, which is only 40 below a Hankook RS3 or Toyo R1R. If he was that far behind you normally, I'd say he had a lucky day.

I was just judging by the last event at Bowie times. He's probably improved driving since then though. Not so sure I have, lol. He told me that the tires inspired much more confidence in braking with him especially so he drove more aggressively, so that probably did it. I think he was running narrower tires previously too...265 is some beef on an RX8!

Also possible I'm thinking of the other gray RX-8 that comes out to NCC events. Meh, whatever. Just means I need to be faster next time and step up my driving!

[flohtingPoint]

I was just judging by the last event at Bowie times. He's probably improved driving since then though. Not so sure I have, lol. He told me that the tires inspired much more confidence in braking with him especially so he drove more aggressively, so that probably did it. I think he was running narrower tires previously too...265 is some beef on an RX8!

Also possible I'm thinking of the other gray RX-8 that comes out to NCC events. Meh, whatever. Just means I need to be faster next time and step up my driving!

That's definitely a great way of looking at it. And hopefully Ron (the Gentleman driving the RX8) will come to Waldorf so you can judge your times vs his. Waldorf is a good consistent lot and allows you to really judge your progress vs other folks.

Looking at the times, your average times were better Josh. He had one hot lap and then the times dropped off. With R-Comps, your grip gets better if you're able to manage heat well and can cook the tires properly. I really think that Ron just the better of you yesterday with a little help from the Gods of Bowie (the same Gods that kick me in the nuts each time I go there).

I just got done compiling my video, so here it is, Run 1 of 1 =P

[Zcruizer]

Another winning course Sam, and major props to Mr Moreland for handling the timing and announcing while I sat and watched. He taught me how to operate the computer but I was just too nervous to take over(some failer issues).

[irish44j]

I usually do my 1st/2nd runs with VDC on to feel out the course and then turn it off. This time I forgot until the 5th run (which was my best), so I think I had some room to improve. Looking at my vids, I definitely left at least 1/2 second on the course in two specific areas (including the last turn, which I never got quite right). I'm pretty happy with my runs 3-5 actually though, considering my narrow tires and relatively light modifications. Finally getting the feel for this AWD/turbo thing lol...

Sadly I won't be at Waldorf as we'll be heading to the outer banks. Sucks, because that's my favorite venue around here aside from Fedex. Looks like I'll have to run well at Summit at the last event to lock up the X2 points win.

Also looking back, forget what I said about his times. I must have been thinking of the other gray RX8, since I don't see any results for Ron in other events I was at this season. Or maybe I was thinking last season. Isn't that the car that used to have the "transformers" logo sticker on the hood last year? In any case, distregard what I said about him picking up 3 seconds. Mistaken identity!

[Reach]

As Mr. Newman would say, the "Gods of Bowie" were vengeful for me yesterday. I had to make up for it by sacrificing as much tire as possible.

A 3rd place finish, and the winner did it in my own car. For shame, Mike. Something about coning every run, just didn't inspire confidence to really attack it for a lap. I'm just lucky to have turned in that last run clean!

[Reach]

I also want to editorialize for a minute on the issue of 'drifting'. There was only 1 participant yesterday who could be said to truly be drifting, and if you were there for the last heat you know who it is. In this case, the car has been configured to allow easy drifting (lightweight, welded diff, pullhandle preparation) and the driver is extremely experienced in it. At no point did he place his car, himself, or any course-worker in danger. This is the key point.

In the course of 5 runs, he did not hit 1 single cone. He only missed 1 gate in the process as well for an 'off' on 1 run. That's a feat that I can't stand up to, nor many other class winners. The fact is he has excellent car control skills and demonstrated them in his maneuvering through the course. Was it the fastest way around? Nope. And he knows that. But he's out there to have fun and is on point with his driving game.

If any driver were to exercise similar driving technique while not being able to demonstrate a similar or reasonable level of car control and skill while doing so, they would certainly be pulled off for a chat with the NCC committee. The safe operation of our events is always the 1st priority of NCC Autocross, and drivers or vehicles which do not meet this are handled swiftly.

Editorial over. Let's all remember that ultimately we're all out there to have fun.

[irish44j]

In my vid of my 5th run, I joke with the starter that I wished I could pull off those nice drifts in my rex. You can hear him say "I've seen Ken Block do it, so I know it can be done" lol....made me chuckle, and turned into my best run of the day

[mcoupemindy]

Bowie is also an odd lot, remember. It's very unforgiving in a lot of places and there is lots of understeer/oversteer there. My roommate beat me there earlier this season in my own car. It's a coinflip lot, and folks can definitely get the better of other folks when lady luck shines on them.

Amen. I never do well at Bowie. Half because of the surface and half because of my fear of the islands (one claimed M Coupe is enough). One second isn't worth $10k to me as I'm just out to have fun in the end.

Also, I had the opportunity to compare the morning and the afternoon. The course, not sure why, was significantly faster in the PM. Not sure if it was due to the gravel being knocked off or rubber put down.

[SamB325es]

I am gonna guess who the drifter was, if I am right, he is a really nice guy with sick, sick car control. I have joked with him in the past that he can't turn off the drift. Usually he drifts through the course clean and is still fast. I think that if that is what you want to do, and can safely do it, fine, but it for sure is not the fastest way to autocross. If he ever turned the drift off, he would kill it. I am sure he did not mean to offend anyone.

[ElGordoFeroz]

The guy that we're worried about was in a 3 series with his kids in the car. he blew a cone on the right hand side of the track on one of his last runs, then put his foot on it did a 360 took off between the concrete and then broke it loose with lots of smoke on the sweeping right.

[etherpool]

Had a great time at the event as always! As always, great job Sam, fun course. For the amount of people and 5 runs, the event ran smooth and pretty fast, thanks committee members for running a good event.

I got a lot of video today. I got all 5 of my runs in my car, I drove Eric's new '10 Z4 and have video of that run, got 3 of his runs on video, and got 4 other runs from different cars/drivers in the 1st heat afternoon session when I was jumping in and out of cars.

Thanks for uploading all that video!!

[etherpool]

You can never go wrong with blaming stuff on graining. Or, when in doubt, complain to your race engineer until he lets everyone in the field know that "Fernando is faster than you."

I got all of a quarter of the way through one pass before having brake problems again. Coming into the first sweeper at the far right of the starting gate, I gave the brakes a dab to settle the car and got little to no reaction at all. My braking presence was there but EXTREMELY faint, by the end of the run I genuinely could not stop after passing through timing, I had to cadence brake and use my e-brake just to slow me down to make the right hand turn out of it. Driving home I had to pump the brakes at random intervals with my left foot just to be able to react to stops. Needless to say, I was extremely frustrated yesterday afternoon and considered shelving the car when I got home and begin tearing it down for my FSP build. There is a very strong chance I'll be in a different car next event.

Damn, I was wondering what happened. I was looking forward to your runs after you put down that 39 on your first run. Sounds like the old "rolla" may be getting a bit tired!

[Tim_in_MD]

We had to call out "that blue porsche" or "that gray Z3" more than once. Numbers should be checked better at tech.....it's not that hard to make some big numbers with blue tape ont he side of the car.

Yeah, I needed to have bigger numbers. Next time I will actually come up with something legible from more than 5 feet away...

Also, anybody using a mount for a FlipCam? Preferences?