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You did not need brakes for this course

Oh yeah! That was just a friggin' blast Kevin!!! This is one happy RWD hack. Forget the top of 2nd gear. I banged the rev limiter in 2nd so many times I thought the tach needle was gonna bust. In the afternoon I started using 3rd more. Yes that's right, 3rd gear. On my last run I used 3rd as soon as I got onto the crossover and only used 2nd for the turnaround. Coming back down the main runway I got it wound up pretty high in 3rd. Let's just say I was going a little over 60 ...



I don't think the Novices had problems. Appears many of our very experienced AX folks were testing the rally cross concept out



I had a great time doing my 1st AX in a year. Yeah, I know it wasn't a normal course and more of a road course. That's how I drove it in the afternoon. But it was fun. The only part that I wished I had seen. The look on Les' face after my last run

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http://www.greywinds.com

Great course yesterday. I may not have been as happy with the Camaro if the course were much tighter!

Some video of the end of my last run. (Not my exhaust though)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dc3P5bUF3g0

Be sure to let me know when we have another fast one!

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"Ruttin' is racing"

Chris Suich
Apex, NC
AutoX 2012 Nissan Leaf (Quietly changing the world)
AutoX 2003 Mini Cooper S (on sabbatical)
RallyX 1993 Nissan Sentra - "Le Tigre"
FunX 1970 Camaro LT1 ('95)

Sorry about that, seems I need more muffler.

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RedLanternRacing, builders of the fastest cars in last place.
Success is not an option.
1981 Scirocco, "Vera"

I thought the course was awesome. It rewarded smoothness (heck, it required smoothness, as some found out LOL), and there were a lot of lessons to be learned on that course that Jackie started to get. I wish she could have done many more runs. The M5 did superb for a 4000lb beast. It was a blast to drive it in an auto-x and so much more fun after autocrossing the 330i all year -- kind of makes me wonder about getting some autocross R-comps (V710s or A6s) and autocrossing it next season.

Mike, you rode with me on one run, and you have experience with the Dunlop SSRs: how much faster do think I could have run with some V710s or A6s? I think my fastest run was a 50.4. The Dunlops have seen 4 track events and two autocrosses, and they'll be 5 years old in a couple of months.

Chuck

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Current stable:
2019 BMW M2 Competition slicktop 6MT
2011 BMW M3 sedan slicktop 6MT
2007 BMW 328i wagon (slushbox for now)
1975 CanAm 125MX2

Thanks for the ride-along Chuck. It was fun and you're an excellent driver. That didn't help my AT ALL with my obsession with wanting an M5. Mmmm, 400 HP. A beast like that has to be manhandled to make it fast.

Sanford has always been a bit of a tire "equalizer" -- tires don't matter as much as at other sites. That said, I think you could have seen up to a second on fresh 710s or A6s compared to the SSR. I noticed from the right seat that the SSRs got noticeably better in the second half of the run, so that's something to consider and take advantage of.

I also think I would have been about a second faster (maybe more) on my 710s, which were sitting in the garage So I think your SSRs were a little better than an excellent fresh street tire on that course.

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Mike Whitney
whit32@gmail.com, 919-454-5445
V10, V8, V8t, I6, I6, V6, F4t, I4, I4, I4, I4, I2, 1, 1

Thanks Mike. That's an interesting comment about Sanford being a tire equalizer, and it sure makes sense given some observations from there such as your outstanding time on street tires and Keith's time in the Crossfire on street tires too and perhaps others also.

Now of course I want to know what about the pavement at Sanford creates this tire equalizer result, LOL...hence I guess the reason someone labeled me as "Tire Nerd".

Re the M5...three things transformed this car's handling on track/auto-x: eliminating the stagger by going to 9.5" rear rims and 275/35's all around, Ground Control camber plates set at -2.4 degrees front camber, and a Dinan rear sway bar. I later added Dinan springs and Konis which helped some too, but the first three were most significant.

Chuck

BTW, that line through the last set of turns we talked about was difficult for me to force out of myself. My mind was intent on creating what it wanted in that section, so it took some work to get a different result. I was able to go a bit wider on that entry, and I do think it helped. I just have to be careful with transitions with all this weight.

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Current stable:
2019 BMW M2 Competition slicktop 6MT
2011 BMW M3 sedan slicktop 6MT
2007 BMW 328i wagon (slushbox for now)
1975 CanAm 125MX2

tire equalizer? Sure. Also clearly an HS kind of course, from the results. I still can't believe I PAX'd 16th on Sumitomo TIRes. Biggest grin EVAR!!!11!!! And I know I threw away about a second and a half by messing up the turn-around on my fastest run. Crazy result.

What I really liked about this event, aside from getting a crazy result, was how much I learned from the course. A lot of it was full throttle, but the trick was in knowing exactly when to add that slight lift and in judging the braking. It did wonders for my technique, and I hope I won't forget it all before next year.

Results aside (and I didn't know them until today, of course), it was a great event. Lots of fun -- which is what it's all about -- at what is becoming my favourite site. Many, many thanks to all who helped put it on!

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Martyn Wheeler
AXing Kit's '05 Mazda 3, #29 HStock
(when The Gonzo Symphonic allows)

Thanks for all the positive comments, guys. It's good to hear.

Of course, even if everybody else thought it sucked, it would still be my favorite course ever.



And just so you all know, my STi was in FOURTH gear. (and actually needed it)

I used to call BS whenever you guys talked about 4th gear at autocrosses. Not any more. I must have hit the 3rd gear revlimiter what, 3 times on my fun run in your car? That thing has a short 3rd gear.

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Mike Whitney
whit32@gmail.com, 919-454-5445
V10, V8, V8t, I6, I6, V6, F4t, I4, I4, I4, I4, I2, 1, 1

Now, just imagine if he was actually in a car that wasn't almost totally stock

- dow

I think it was one of most fun courses I have ever autocrossed on too, and I've been autocrossing since 1975 (although took a long hiatus from 1989 until last year except a few events). I recall one other course that I liked a lot like this at the old Rocky Mount airport in the early 80's. It had a large radius sweeper from one runway to the other one, and then a long straight. They had a radar gun out there that day, and I recall Ray Thompson (think that was his name) in his heavily modified Vette hitting something just over 100mph.

Anyway, the Sanford course was great -- good job!

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Current stable:
2019 BMW M2 Competition slicktop 6MT
2011 BMW M3 sedan slicktop 6MT
2007 BMW 328i wagon (slushbox for now)
1975 CanAm 125MX2

I think you're right, Martyn, though when I walked it I sure didn't think it would be an HS course. I thought it'd be a CORVETTE course for sure! I think the reason we did so well in PAX is that we almost never had to brake. For me, it was once before the turnaround, then once coming back past the crossover- everything else was full throttle, except for a few quick lifts on the way down to the turnaround.

What I still don't understand is how I made Top 10 raw. Maybe we were nearly the only folks on race tires?

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Carl Fisher

Be Cool to the Pizza Dude:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/stor ... Id=4651531

I think it all goes back to the fact that while this course may have favored hp over nimble momentum cars, the bottom line is that you still had to drive it well and there was time to lose out there. My guess is that people's fastest times were not those where they had to drive there car back from the grass
The course rewarded early turn-ins and smoothness vs overdriving. (Again, evidenced by the high HP cars that did not have quick times) and by the fact that a Miata was FTP. The course really did drive like a road race course. (Had to be why Graham posted such a good time )

It was a fun course, I had a blast

Just thought I'd post these photos from the Highlands Sports Car Club autox on Thursday in Asheville for comparison purposes...

Wow, look at that really fun-looking section leading up to the finish!

http://home.att.net/~kevinmallen/IMG_2563c.jpg

And the well-placed rows of cones after the finish!

http://home.att.net/~kevinmallen/IMG_2564c.jpg

But I guess they make up for all that by having this:

http://home.att.net/~kevinmallen/IMG_2566c.jpg

We went to Asheville for a short vacation and had thought about hanging around and running in the autox, but decided to go scare some squirrels off of the Blue Ridge Parkway and intersecting roads instead. (that's our hotel in the background)

Don't ever get complacent, guys - from what I hear that's as wide-open as their events get, and I think it's their biggest site. Let's make sure we're able to keep doing events like the one at Sanford!