THSCC Forums

How about putting me down for co-chairing with Joe? I kinda like doing that.

Oooh ooh.. I will be co-chair at large

Please include me on the setup help... I wanna help out.

Thanks!

- dow

Being mowed isn't exactly a bad thing, either. You can at least see where the cars are while spectating... but other than the coolness factor, I am assuming it would cut down on dust as well with the weeds up.

Thanks for the great RallyX "The Allens".

- dow

For those of you who haven't chaired one of these, there's a reason why Cosby and Brian are volunteering.

The weeds being there does cut down on some of the dust in some corners, but not a big difference overall. I kinda like being able to see the cars on course, since rallycross is so entertaining to watch. But for driving it I prefer the obstructed view. I bet I know what our insurance company would prefer, though.

Less "All Terrain" Acclaims?

Man, what about people who break down, like those guys? Should they get a voucher for the next event? I am not saying that HAS to be done, but they only got one run.. and considering you pay for six, that kinda sucks.

RallyX is more 'prone' to breaking a car than autoX. Should/can we pro-rate people who have problems? I know the RallyX budget needs the funds, but it would kinda suck to have to work on your car that hard just to be hosed for the event. If it it covered in the THSCC by-laws, and I am too lazy to find it, I apologize for that.

Just curious as I know how solid our "Enchilada" Legacy is, but I am betting that will happen to me at some point.... and yes Cosby, even your 'Texican' Sentra *might* have a problem

- death on wheels

IIRC the policy is if you run once, no refund for you. If you never actually run, then you could *possibly* get your money back.

The Rally-X budget is low, so we'll take all the voluntary (or involuntary) "donations" we can get. Thanks PJ!

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Vincent Keene
'06 Ford Mustang GT (track rat)
'15 Dodge Charger R/T (yeah, it's got a HEMI!)
'07 Ford Fusion SE (205,000 miles and counting)
'98 Chevy Z-24 (retired)
'93 Acura Integra (Team SWB 24HOL Car)

Not really, in my experience (I'm not counting Rockingham ). The only time I've broken a car bad enough that I had to zip tie it back together to get home was at an autox (but that was really the car's fault).

The reasons so many cars break at rallyxes is because people either aren't being careful with them (mostly rentals), or they're just total pieces of crap. We do everything we can to assure that the courses (whether at my place or BMW Farm) won't be too hazardous for those who actually MIND breaking the car - but we can't force everybody to be careful.

There's a difference between driving fast and driving like an idiot. (and yes, I know it from personal experience)

Carl, I read them to Eric Adams for 2 of his morning runs and had Andrew read them to me on 1 of my morning runs. I really liked having the notes for the course walk.

Reading: I could get the information out before the driver reached the corners I was calling. Whether it is early enough for them to react is another question. Lot's to say in a short time. If you get lost not much to help you get back on the notes.

Driving: After walking the course and riding the course with Eric 3 times before driving it the notes were almost a distraction. I kept comparing the called note to my mental map of the course from the walk and then driving the car. Lot's to process in a really short time and no straights to catch your mental breath.

While true, I still think that the 'quality' of cars (your second point) is the reason for 'break downs'.

With that in mind, I think that is why rallyX will be more prone to those type of incidents... that, and autoX courses generally don't get too 'rutted'.

The courses have ALWAYS been great. Keep up the good work

- dow

I have to agree totally that it is mostly the quality of the cars that run as to why they break. Newer cars won't break but you still put serious wear on the suspension. The beater legacy is serving its purpose just fine, running fairly competitive and costing very little. As for auto-x courses not getting rutted also true but isn't it more fun to throw your car around in the dirt even if you are throwing it into foot deep ruts. I know the abuse on my car won't stop me from rallycrossing.

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2010 Honda Fit Sport
Couple of bicycles

What are you guys trying to say? I know you aren't lumping the General in the group...kidding. Although, (knock on wood) the General has taken a serious beating out there with fairly little consequence. It's probably got close to 250 runs on it now and the only two issues we have had with the car have been a dead battery and the issue this weekend with the cooling fan not working (I wouldn't call that breaking though as it was because a nut came loose and the fan was detached from the spindle...new nut, problem solved.) With the exception of those two issues, the engine runs like a top, I have driven cars that ran much worse (but they were all VW's, so we won't get into that). All that being said, would I take my daily driver out there? No. If I had a Subaru? Maybe. I don't think it is fair to say that it isn't rougher on a car then an autocross though, because it is. I venture to guess that if you looked at the mechanical casualties at a years worth of our Rallycrosses vs. a years worth of our Autocrosses (everyone included, not just one person's experiences), it would be higher at the rallycrosses by a good bit, espeically considering it is roughly a third of the participants. Could that be because the car's are pieces of junk?...maybe, but I think the General has held up way better then my Integra would have out there. Let's be honest...I won't speak for most of the guys in the SO4 class, but the rest of us are doing things with the cars that they just weren't made to do with stock parts....they are bound to break quicker then if we we're running them on the pavement. That being said, we realize the car could break at anytime, bought a car that we didn't care if it broke, and are out there having fun with it...and luckily it is holding up pretty good. Anyone that want's to give Rallycross a try, by all means, find Vincent, Mitch or myself and let us know, we would be happy to let anyone drive the General and hopefully get you interested in the sport.

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Stephen Westerfield
2009 Infiniti M35 | 2007 Honda Fit Sport | 2005 Ford Mustang GT |2000 GMC Sierra |1992 Acura Integra LS | Super Westerfield Bros Acura Integra

If you can bring out about 20 more paying drivers, we might be able to afford to consider pro rating entry fees. Otherwise, if you pay for the opportunity to play, that's what you get. Look at this way, rallyX is sort of the baby of rally. Rally teams pay upwards of $1000 entry fee plus tow costs for the opportunity to run 10 or 12 stages. If the the team goes out on the first stage, well, so does their $1000! See what a deal just the opportunity to rallyX is!!

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The person with too many names...
Mary E./ME/Emmie Fisher/Daniel/Daniel-Fisher
(& some others not suitable for posting!).
Help support our habits; BUY http://virginiabreeze.us !

Since you have basically memorized the course after having run it once, how about having a 'first run' prize if doing pace notes again?

1. You get your morning and afternoon recce

2. You get your one run at the 'stage'

That would show a benifit to the recce drivers. Make it to where you have to enlist a co-driver and make it a special competition or something.... and give all the money to SCCA rally programs or something.

It was a great thought, Carl!

- dow

i really enjoyed the blind course. i am not a big fan of cones. the hairpin on the morning course was my favorite turn. the crossovers were cool too. the General is a real experience and i have enjoyed it. would reccomend it to anyone. thanks to all.

I'd say that you guys have gotten well your moneys worth out of the General! And as for the cooling fan, that was only irony at work for Vincent's sake.




Hear, hear. Those 2WD (sometimes 1WD) cars aren't meant to be thrown around in the dirt. They just take it so well sometimes.




After I get mine out there and am comfortable that it will last for someone to run in, they can use my Sentra also. But that probably won't be till next season.