10/23 Autox - points #8

Karl Shultz · **Posted:** Mon Oct 24, 2011 12:26 am

It was nice to be back out there.

The car felt great, and I really liked the course. The car probably had a 43.999 in it, but it would have to have been a hero run, something which I'm not capable of.

Gwen Habenicht · **Posted:** Mon Oct 24, 2011 8:09 am

Karl Shultz wrote:

It was nice to be back out there.

The car felt great, and I really liked the course. The car probably had a 43.999 in it, but it would have to have been a hero run, something which I'm not capable of.

It was great having you back out. Glad it was capped off by great runs and Kara not screaming and running away.

Congrats on a great day!

BriceJohnson · **Joined:** Thu Apr 13, 2006 7:33 am **Posts:** 2230

Good times. I wish my tires had held up better, but considering they have probably 80 runs on them, I can't complain. The turnaround actually wasn't as bad as I thought it would be once I got the hang of it. It definitely took a lot of patience, particularly in FWD.

Thanks to all who helped.

JamesShort · **Posted:** Mon Oct 24, 2011 9:16 am

I'm glad everyone liked the course. I have to say that despite Ram and I designing, there are a few things I would have liked to change after taking 6 whacks at it on the race tires but hindsight is always a b**ch.

Now that I'm finally in a 'real' RWD car (Ram's car 1.0 was almost as pushy as the SI

), I'm going to have to do some learning because I couldn't keep the rear end behind me and, in turn, lost confidence.

But of course I have an excuse regardless:

JohnByers · **Posted:** Mon Oct 24, 2011 9:46 am

JamesShort wrote:

But of course I have an excuse regardless:

DickRasmussen · **Posted:** Mon Oct 24, 2011 9:59 am

The course drove as well or better than any of the Danville events (THSCC or Triad) I've been to in the last couple of years. I love the drag race and sweeper starts from the taxiway. The thing at the far end turned out to be painless in my car. I suspect the big car drivers didn't like it but I don't know how to make a relatively narrow out and back runway course "big car friendly". FYI anyone who had wheel spin issues exiting the far end in first gear might consider staying in second. I used second for my two fastest runs and the data shows there was no difference in that area or the following segment. My engine pulls well from low revs.

My car was extremely well balanced which probably means that I was probably well under the limits. FYI even under the limits I saw a lot of just under 1.4g lateral g's on old tires.

BriceJohnson · **Joined:** Thu Apr 13, 2006 7:33 am **Posts:** 2230

JamesShort wrote:

Ooh, so many more flavors to try!

jeremy gast · **Posted:** Mon Oct 24, 2011 11:06 am

ya if I am not mistaken I think James was curseing you on facebook beacuse of the flavors and Ram was laughing at him.

BriceJohnson wrote:

JamesShort wrote:

Ooh, so many more flavors to try!

Les Davis · **Joined:** Fri Aug 29, 2003 2:04 pm **Posts:** 2059

JamesShort wrote:

But of course I have an excuse regardless:

But you only had one of them, a real Mad Ballr would have had one of each five flavors, then you might have had an excuse.

The event went well, the weather was awesome and the course was fun. I really liked the drag race start though I over cooked it nearly every time, even 335 V710s are no match for the beast I have created, that thing REALLY accelerates with ferocity now. No need for first gear in the far turnaround, second gear even chugging a low rpm provided plenty sufficient acceleration. I didn't think I was going to like that "V" element after the sweeper, but it ended up being very fun. The far turn around was as painful as I expected it might be, but I actually never screwed it up and even had some compliments on my execution of it, so even a big/wide car can be negotiated through such an element effectively. Good course, good day its just a little sad the '11 autocross championship season is now over.

Steven Carter · **Posted:** Mon Oct 24, 2011 11:43 am

+eleventy. Thanks for putting on a great season finale! I finally don't suck in transition-heavy courses, yesterday's setup confirmed that. Now to get ready for 2012..... :twisted:

JohnByers · **Posted:** Mon Oct 24, 2011 12:16 pm

I hate I missed it

Kevin Allen · **Joined:** Thu Aug 28, 2003 6:42 pm **Posts:** 3479

Les Davis wrote:

The event went well, the weather was awesome and the course was fun. I really liked the drag race start though I over cooked it nearly every time, even 335 V710s are no match for the beast I have created, that thing REALLY accelerates with ferocity now. No need for first gear in the far turnaround, second gear even chugging a low rpm provided plenty sufficient acceleration. I didn't think I was going to like that "V" element after the sweeper, but it ended up being very fun. The far turn around was as painful as I expected it might be, but I actually never screwed it up and even had some compliments on my execution of it, so even a big/wide car can be negotiated through such an element effectively. Good course, good day its just a little sad the '11 autocross championship season is now over.

When I rode along, I thought you were in first gear coming out of the far turnaround, and then I was amazed at how long your first gear was. When I looked down at the gear lever and realized you were in 2nd, I was amazed again. :lol:

Matt McGrain · **Posted:** Mon Oct 24, 2011 1:12 pm

That was really a fun course for sure. The first wiggly lane element was fun and really made you look ahead to figure out how to approach it without pushing out too wide and scrubbing time.

The back-to-back box turnaround was fun to navigate as one of those elements where you can really get in trouble. Rob made a great point in the novice walk that the braking is somewhat different because you actually want to exit slow on the first one so you can really back the braking zone up a bit coming in. I tried going to 1st on the first two runs but my hands were all over the place and I realized I didn't need the extra torque for the turnaround because the line was even tighter as you approached the other box (I felt like I was barely running over that first cone of the box every time - edit: saw results and yep) The last three runs were in second and just 'felt' faster because my hands were a little smoother without the shifting. Now to find a passenger that doesn't start giggling next time. :roll:

j/k

Another fun element was the narrowest of the lane change elements before the pavement change at the end. There was one line that was really narrow heading to the right right before the surface change. That was fun because it was really tough to know when to turn in and it felt like one of those situations where you just have to trust the car and hope for no cone carnage.

Nice job with the event and the "launch control" was definitely appropriate with the fun start and sweeper.

JamesShort · **Posted:** Mon Oct 24, 2011 1:17 pm

Matt McGrain wrote:

Now to find a passenger that doesn't start giggling next time. :roll:

j/k

Let me guess, Marcus? :mrgreen:

Maria Winslow · **Posted:** Mon Oct 24, 2011 2:06 pm

That course was super fun, and it was actually fun to see Christian gloating

Too bad James was so hung over that he left the infamous turd. And too bad Rodney had to clean it up

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10/23 Autox - points #8

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