Richard Casto wrote:
High HP vs. low HP autocrossing I generally agree with Les' points, but I he also miss some points about the difference.
I'm sorry, how many high HP cars have you campaigned in autocross again Richard? Sorry man, but you expressed a pet peeve before and I'll express one now, Over the years I've heard a lot of people with narry a lick of experience in an high HP car try and pontificate about autocrossing a HP car.
Richard Casto wrote:
As thrilling as something like a Corvette can be, I am not going to argue that it is going to be more thrilling for everyone. I think that even you will agree that something like a Corvette is not going to be close to 100% of it's overall ability in a typical autocross course. For example you have to modulate throttle levels much more than a low HP/low torque car. And that also makes it harder to drive to the maximum. But... I think that there is also a thrill to driving a car much closer to all of it's absolute limits (traction, braking and power) for a high percentage of time.
I try to maximize 100% usage of all capabilities acceleration (obviously only in short spurts), cornering and braking of my car every time I autocross. I approach and frequently surpass the "traction, braking, and power" limits of my car constantly at autocross. What do you think I'm out there on a Sunday drive cruising around? I am trying with all my might and ability to maximize the use of the traction circle available to me just like everyone else out there whatever they are driving. I might not accelerate flat out all the time, but I am constantly trying use as much of the throttle as I possibly can. I might not approach the top speed of the car, but who does? Even Honduhs can go faster than 60.
You indicate an inkling of the the idea, but I'm not sure how it supports your point. With a high HP car yes, you must modulate the throttle a lot more, and yes it is a much harder overall task to approach the limits and use all the potential that is there, therein lies the challenge and the thrill. Hustling a long, wide, heavy and powerful car around an autocross course is a significantly more difficult task than a small low horsepower one. Its a more multidimensional task with more variables to process in a shorter period of time. You say you don't think that would be more thrilling for everyone, and I'm really not sure what to say to that other than I'm sorry I guess, same as I said before, that should be more thrilling for everyone. Yes there is thrill in driving a lower limited car close to its limits, but it is a thrill I got bored with pretty quickly, not to say I mastered it, that's the thing about performance driving anything, the minute you think you've mastered it is the minute someone better comes along to show you you haven't. My minute came early, I mentioned Tom Hoppe before, many of you know of him, and some may not as he hasn't been around in awhile. Tom was a friend and a housemate for a few years and an autocross co-driver for a few seasons. Tom won the national championship in STX and had a podium finish in One Lap of America. Tom consistently beat me by about an average of 1.5 seconds at every event we co-drove. I rode with him countless times trying to find that 1.5 seconds to little avail. Tom didn't necessarily do anything fundamentally different than me, he just did everything a little bit better. I eventually came to the conclusion that Tom was simply a better driver than me, it didn't matter how many evo schools I took, or events I went to, I could get better yes, but I would never eliminate that 1.5 second gap and win a national championship and trying to chase it would simply lead to a lot of expense and frustration so I decided to enjoy autocross my own way.
And I know I'm rambling on here, and I really hope I don't sound like Remchak, I promise I couldn't possibly be more sober than I am right now and I can't remember the last time I drank a Budweiser.
The realization I came to is I like cars first and motorsports second, kinda what I was trying to say before maybe that makes more sense? So rather than focusing entirely on driving a slow car to its absolute potential, likely fruitlessly, I was gonna own/build cars that I liked and could enjoy first, and use autocross to drive the snot out of them and enjoy them more second. Seemed at the time and still does seem like a more fun choice than owning "the car" for "the class" hopelessly trying to chase an national championship that was never gonna happen. The harsh reality is, just like most of us can't play professional basketball or be brain surgeons, most of us cannot put together that perfect autocross run all the time and win a national championship no matter how hard we try. And I don't mean to try and discourage people who want to go down that path or be derogatory towards those that have in the past, if that is what trips your trigger, go for it, but there is another way to enjoy cars and motorsport and a great deal of fun to be had "getting it wrong" in a fast car, particularly a fast car that you built.
Richard Casto wrote:
So in your "drive it like you stole it" comment, I would put forth the hypothesis that you are more likely to have that experience in a low HP/low torque car at an autocross than you will with something like a Corvette (assuming you are trying to drive both in a competitive manner).
Your hypothesis is invalid as I would never steal a Honduh.
Login
Register
FAQ
Search
My life is mostly about fulfilling my youthful fantasies. As a kid I dreamed of flogging the snot out of a loud and powerful sports car, autocross is just an means to an end for me to do that regularly that doesn't result in me being in jail, timer results are secondary to that and I have to check my ego at the registration table much of the time. Recently I purchased a sporty motorcycle and yesterday I installed a loud ass rip snorting exhaust on it, what glorious fun this thing is. 
You make some other fine points in your posts, but I don't at all agree with the main thrust of your comments directly above at all. It has nothing to do with me taking your comments personally, or me taking myself too seriously. Sorry for derailing this fine thread. 