JamesFeinberg wrote:
Steven Carter wrote:
With the way Mr Short is progressing in his skillz, certain 135i and ITR drivers may be thankful he stayed in TIR class this year...
Really? [Channeling Mr. Buckley] Bring it!
I've driven a couple of the '09's set up for DS and I don't think they can quite get it done. The power numbers look great and the torque curve seems to be better than the earlier cars on paper but it just doesn't translate very well to an AutoX environment for whatever reason.
They are a rocketship once they get going but they seem to lose enough time spooling up after getting back to the throttle that it is a wash. If you try to minimize the effect by aggressive left foot braking while still on the throttle, the drive-by-wire system does weird things. I'm sure they would be great on the right type of course but, in that case, I'd still give the nod to the 135i.
There were some very good drivers to try them out last year but none of them showed up at Nationals in one. Coincidence? Maybe, maybe not...
With that said, they should make a very good ProSolo car and I'd love to see Aaron get one and try to prove me wrong.
Jim
Jim, while I respect your angle on the car, I will say one thing that of the 09s that were 'set up' for DS, did they have shocks done? As of today there are two options: $6000 mouton custom strut inserts and rear shock (who puts $6k in shocks into a WRX
) and a Frankenstein Koni front insert, and rear shock job from the Legacy GT (I outlined the details in a thread about a month ago). If the WRX did not have either of this done, I think you'll have to ride along/codrive with Steve or myself in a few weeks when we get our Bilsteins. The stock shocks on the 09 are very poorly fit for the springs....55% critical damping blows badly. The low speed damping is Cadillac like.
I played with left foot braking a bit today on the way to work and was able to maintain positive boost (a couple psi thought...but better than full vacuum) under heavy braking with no DBW issues....did you have VDC on? I probably wouldn't try it on a course until I get more comfortable doing it (my size 13 doesn't help
). But I see your point. At the Danville event (second to last from 2009), on that constant radius sweeper all the way at the back of the course, if I stayed in 2nd, as I exited the turn, I was completely in vacuum and entered the slalom just as I regained some boost....but I was back on the brakes at this point. Rob L. rode along with me and suggested I brake earlier when entering that turn so I can be light throttle through out the turn rather than braking or coasting the bulk of the time....on my next run, I did so and I exited with much more spool so I was able to get going faster at turn exit. Obviously this is a very specific instance, but since then I have tried to control my over driving of certain turns by braking earlier so that I can be on part throttle throughout the turn to maintain boost. I might start playing with left foot braking in some fun runs to see how that works for me.
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