Auto-X == Love!

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Holy crap! Man, autocross is so much fun! I HIGHLY recommend that anyone go do this. I did the novice school yesterday, had such a fun time. 16 runs on a short course, altogether. I'll post some vid links and commentary tonight, but right now I gotta get ready for the competition today

In the meantime, check out these two shots:

[brink]

Alright, so I ended up sort of suckin' hind tit at today's competition. I was running about 4 seconds slower than the fastest in my class, and about 2 seconds behind the guy in front of me. Still, I had a blast, even though I only got to run 4 laps.

The weather was bitterly cold. It was hovering around 38 F (2 C?) when I ran. Yesterday it was right at freezing and we had periodic snow skidding across the track, as well as standing water that couldn't decide if it wanted to turn into ice or not. And the track was gritty. Real fun stuff to sink your teeth into on your first ever run, let me tell you

I don't have the vids from today, so I'll just link to yesterday's:
Run 1
Run 2
Run 3
Run 4

The first one was my first ever run, the 4th one was my best time. For comparison, there was a guy driving an M3 who did the course in 23 seconds. My best was 26.138. It was a real short course, but at least we got to go through it about 14 times

This was the course we ran for the novice class


Some things I noticed that might be helpful for other gen4 drivers who want to run in autocross:
- Have proper overinflation and make sure you put grippy tires on the REAR in precedence over the front. Sure you'd think the front tires on a front wheel drive car are important, but let me tell you... when your back end starts to swing around on a fast sweep you'll remember my words and curse. I had a super happy back end both days, and definitely could have benefitted from stickier tires.

- The Camry is a beast in terms of weight, but don't go back to first gear unless a corner forces you below 2k. Believe me, the extra torque you get out of being in first doesn't make up for the lost time in shifting. Stay in second unless ABSOLUTELY necessary.

- Again, since the car is heavy, very carefully control your braking, even engine braking. You'd really be suprised at how quickly you can lose it from even moderate braking.

- Keep your spare in. It helps settle your butt more than it helps your acceleration.

So, that was My First Autocross. I'm definitely going to go to more events, especially the drivers' schools. Again, I highly recommend that any driver go to one of these events. Even if you're not in it for the competition, it will definitely make you a better driver and teach you just what your car can do.

[EKam]

Originally posted by brink
- Keep your spare in. It helps settle your butt more than it helps your acceleration.

Do yo no understan ovasteeer?

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Heh,yeah. I dunno what to say except that yesterday my rear was a lot more stable with the spare in than it was today with the spare out. Could've easily been the course difference, though. Hopefully the issue will be moot (or at least mootish) when I get better tires

[EKam]

It's personal taste I guess, track is the only time I want to get a little tail-happy.

But yea you don't want to get outta 2nd unless you really go over 80mph or below 20mph which you won't.

[Phi]

After hearing about how Ekam made a fool of himself in front of a bunch of WRX, I'm not sure if I wanna go

Brink, sounds like you had a hella fun time!

BTW- the vids and pic links don't work

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Grrr. Okay, I changed the links.

Apparently camry.wanthoney.com just doesn't want to propogate to some dns servers. Gotta figure that out. Hopefully you can get to www.wanthoney.com at least. Otherwise I'll have to figure something else out. Thanks for lettin' me know.

[Phi]

working now

[Zee]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by brink
[B]Holy crap! Man, autocross is so much fun! I HIGHLY recommend that anyone go do this. I did the novice school yesterday, had such a fun time. 16 runs on a short course, altogether. I'll post some vid links and commentary tonight, but right now I gotta get ready for the competition today

Right On! It's a real hoot first time out, isn't it? Even with a ....

Volvo!


Read this:

http://www.brickboard.com/RWD/index.htm?id=636492

Then I couldn't wait to get out again, so I did:

http://www.brickboard.com/STORIES/index.htm?id=639004

Now I drive with my "eyes high" and do all my braking before the turns, not through them.

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I'm not about to knock any kind of car a person is driving, unless it has mechanical difficulties (like this one Escort I saw belching blue-black smoke). The last event I was at there was a '79 Volvo 242 GT running in G Stock with (I think) minor mods running respectable times. Hell, one of the best drivers in this region of the SCCA turned in fantastic times with a stock class Civic, and now turns in great times in a stock Neon. Sure, you're going to probably run some slower times if you drive a stock Camry CE rather than a Cooper S, but if you know the car you can really push the car's envelope.

Personally, I think racing a car like the Camry, a big Mercedes, or a Chevy Corsica makes one a better driver since one REALLY has to make sure one gets the right line, know how the car's going to move, and know how much he or she can push it on a given turn cause otherwise things just go to hell. Seems like with a car such as my friend's Audi TT, he's got a little more leeway due to the AWD and sporty suspension. Any mistakes in line can be nullified cause he can just push it and still grip on a poor entrance/exit. Though, that's just a theory I have and it could just be that it makes me feel better about racing my car