I guess this qualifies as a kill. I know there were about 100 cars there and I was in the top probably 10% easily.

Ok here is the setup. I just finished putting on coilovers, hi-flow can and a wideband in the past couple of months. I decided to enter the car into the regional SCCA Auto-X just to shake the car down seeing as though I am setting the car up more for track and HPDE days than anything. I feel comfortable with the car but I was very unsure how the new Tein RA coilover's stiff rear spring would react at an auto-x. I though it might be too tail happy. Anyway as of registering they inform me that I am in SM2 class. For those of you that don't know the class is for anybody with an interior in thier car and unlimited mods including a shaved R-compound tire, basically slicks. I am running what you see in my signature as well as a set of 3 year old Bridgestone RE730's that have been shaved by the many highway miles I have put on them.

With about 15 min before our group sets out, all the SM2 guys go running to their cars and take off to a back road behind the stadium where we are running and scrub and heat up their tires. I slowly meander over to my car and with about 6 min left just start the car up to get it up to temp. After we stage everybody has pyrometers out checking temp. and pressure guages out getting just the right amount of air in thier tires. I just sit there helmet on ready to go with 32 psi in as manufacturer suggests. After all 5 of my runs and seeing that a Vette that puts down 500 hp and sits on 11 1/2 slicks puts down a time almost 2 sec faster than me I leave thinking that I had a great day, a lot of fun, but no trophy. My friend Rusty from Rotorsports racing who campains his very own 2nd get with cut tires and camber plates calls me and tells me that over the loud speaker he heard his name called. They told him he had recieved 3rd place. It took a min to register that I had just barely beaten him by about .5 sec. but I then realized that I came in 2nd. It made me feel even more elated about my cars setup and how sorted the car turned out to be.

In the link below is a 13 MB ZIP file that has some pics of my car, Rusty's 2nd Gen, and the 500 hp Vette (NA), but is capable of 700 on the bottle. There is also a 30 sec movie of one of my mid pack runs without sound(not quite the whole run as my digital camera only can get 30 sec). We all know what a rotary sounds like so just hum along real loud and remember to shift to second down the short straight, and then back to first at the end of it.

Link: www.can-amf1.com/jmarvel/Autocross2.ZIP
Make sure if you type it in to do it just like this because for some reason the server is case sensative.

 

good job

 

i might put a little more air in those tires if they were mine. i ran an auto-x on street pressures and DESTROYED my sidewalls. not fun. i am lucky i didn't break the bead on the tire while i was driving. play with your front and rear tire pressures. an autox "guru" gave me some hints on about where i should be, front and back psi's, and i cut 1.5 secs off my best time. something to think about. good job!

 

Leaving the event site prior to your runs is a gigantically huge No No and will have you thrown out of the event.

In a Divisional or National event all cars running in the next heat must be in Grid 30 minutes prior to Running. Then they are impounded in grid after their heat for another 15-30 minutes to allow for official results and protests.

If I ever saw somebody do that at one of our local events they would very politely be asked to never do that again. If they did they would be asked very politely to never return to one of our events.

 

Perhaps I'm missing what the problem is here. Before a road race, all drivers are required to do a warmup before start. Same in Nascar. In drag racing, it's a burnout. One purpose is to build some heat in the tires to optimize traction and be safer.

Traction is one of the most important things in autocross. We only get 4 or 5 runs per event, so why should we sacrifice the first run with cold tires? It goes against the principal of having the car optimized for the driver to be competitive. It shouldn't be a safety issue, unless people are doing burnouts where they shouldn't be and driving wrecklessly. Personally, I just drive the car normal for about 5 minutes before entering the grid. No harm done.

It could even be a good idea to have a designated area for warmup. But then you have to regulate and control it. Twenty years ago, you do burnouts at the starting gate with more space before tripping the timer. Is it an issue of being fair? If so, how would you approach someone with tire warmers? I just don't see what the problem is. Convince me otherwise.

 

Nice kills!