dantheman

iTrader: (4)

WOW! Nice time! I couldn't break 31 at all. They said at the begining of the day the cars are up 25 hp though because of heat soak.

My other problem is that I am not the best of drivers. Owell. :P

DrKillJoY

We (me and Lori) showed up today as well. Had a blast.

The Speed6, is phenominal to say the least I was very impressed, especially for a car that is abused by many for thousands of laps. That thing is downright scary on that small course.

We drove pretty much everything (except the school bus, I mean the Mazda5) but hands down our favorite was the MX-5. Like many who have been charmed by the little cars magic, I could see Lori's former skepticism change to joy as the little car yeilded to her every command and of course begged for more. Myself, I've loved Miata's since I first drove one in 93'.

Oh yea, I lost my driving privledges after scooping up cones a couple of times. I tapped some cones in a MX-5 (which was running on damn near bald tires, I should looked before driving) then later I managed to powerslide the Speed6 after the course had been swamped in a deluge of rain, I guess I they give no slack for the weather oh well I still had a great time and oh yeah Kyle, your times were still on top at the end of the day. G/J.

Sideways7

iTrader: (7)

I'm gonna have to get back in the hang of driving fast. Its been well over a year since my 7 was running right and I can't push either of our daily drivers. Well, I should say I'm smart enough not to push my wife's 6s because she'd kill me if anything happened to it.

DrKillJoY

Bah.. No Excuses.

I havent driven a 7 in much longer than that. If you can drive fast you can pretty much do it in anything you put your foot into. Like someone I knew used to say "You haven't gone fast enough, until you've spun out".

Sideways7

iTrader: (7)

I'll just make sure to do some of the other events first. I've never been on a proper autocross course, just things that approximate it (weaving around abandoned parking lots, etc.)

twokrx7

iTrader: (1)

Don't count on Mazda recording the times accurately on their website, they got my best time listed as the 32 that I turned in the automatic Mazda6.

jgrewe

iTrader: (1)

There were some issues on Sun after the storm blew through and dropped about an inch of rain in 20 min. If your fast time happened after the storm that may be the explanation. Did the picture come out? I still have not found out all the ways things can get screwed up with the software parameters when matching up pictures and times with people's bar codes. They do all of it back at the home office so we just try to get the correct stuff to them.
I do know if your fastest was a "free" run for being hourly winner it won't be counted. The reason being you would probably be the fastest in that hour as well and you can't win twice.
A 32.500 in the auto??? Is this one of the 'GoKart' couple?
I worked the tent with Stu, tan shirt like Stu with blue lens sunglasses.

twokrx7

iTrader: (1)

They got my picture right, it was a shot of me in the auto Mazda6, my time was a 32.0xx in the Auto. And no on the gocart couple, I was flying solo that day with the wife and kid left at home.

My 30.1 was in a Mazdaspeed6 and it was my second timed run for the hourly winner, I just thought that would be the time on the website since it states the time listed is your "fastest" lap. They said that only the first two runs counted so I did not continue to run laps for the rest of the day. I did do a third lap in a speed6 but the car I got was beat up and it would not perform so i just cruised it back in. The fourth lap was in the auto where they cleared the track and let me do a demonstration lap for everyone, Stu set this up and he was very cool to talk to.

jgrewe

iTrader: (1)

I'm pretty sure that 30.186 (I think) was the fast time for the day. Was that around the 10-11 hour? I seem to recall only a few times in the 30.xxx range maybe 6 at the most. I hopped in a car near the end of the day and turned a 30.8xx when people were grumbling about the cars being tired or whatever else they could think of to explain to their friends why they were slow. We couldn't find Bernardo Martinez to rip off one of his low 29's.

Gotta finish my laundry now, heading off to Dallas at noon to set up.

brio125

I am looking forward to this weekend. hopefully i can get off work in time to make my 2:00pm appointment. What would you recommend driving first? what other prizes will be given out?

Richter12x2

iTrader: (1)

That was a blast! That Mazdaspeed 6 outdid my every expectation! I hope the Dallas course was different, the time to beat was 37.500, and I turned a 37.119 with two passengers. My buddy with a 68 Camaro and a 300 hp Cadillac STS went out and got his corner's clipped on his first run after taking out about 15 cones. That thing was a beast!

The RX-8 didn't feel as nimble as the MX-5, but it felt more stable. The MX-5 cornered like noone's business. I'd take the RX-8 over the Miata in a heartbeat, it just felt natural, and I think you could get a lot more out of that car by spending some time with it. It handles almost exactly like my RX-7. It corners well and feels secure doing it.

This event was a freaking blast. About 400 times cooler than I thought it would be.

Wompa164

iTrader: (4)

That was a lot of fun. I saw a lot of people from RX7club out there today - it was nice meeting all of you

My personal best was a 34.7xx towards the end of the day, I was pretty happy with myself. It was also the fastest time for the day before I left at 5pm, so I was pretty happy about that too.

brio125

I had a blast too. i pulled a 35.5xx with three people in the car. then i went a 35.2xx w/out the traction control--2nd fastest on the day, or at least the hour.

that mx-5 was super quick and nimble, i agree that it was a bit unsteady at higher speeds in the corners but i actually liked it better thant the Rx8. IMO the 8 was just slow, no up and go, not like the 7 or mx5. My two friends had a blast, both are girls and had never done anything like that before.

on the ghymkana my first run was 33.55x run two was 32.84x and the last run was 32.6xx---the target time was 33.000 not bad for never having done that type of driving before.

the only thing i screwed up on was the target hunt, i just didn't get how in the world they were marking those, oh well...i got my Bose pen. :0

Richter12x2

iTrader: (1)

Yeah, I did the target hunt twice, the first time I feel like I hit them all and ended in 37 seconds and they said I only got 4 points. The second time, I intentionally took longer, and lined up exactly like they said, and somehow I ended up with only 2 points. :P Like my wife's little brother used to say when I'd kill him at Need for Speed "I think I got the dirty controller"

brio125

^I got 6 on the first one, the second time I lined up and drove slower and only hit 2. I got teh dirty controller too!

I plan to go out tomorrow and try to get a better time with the mazda 6. i wish they had the mazda 3 out there.

oooohhh i hear fireworks, and feel them through the floorboards...the baseball game must be over and the finale of fireworks has commenced. i can actually see the fireworks from ameriquest field if i look from my roof.

brio125

yea! I beat the fastest time, which got me fastest of the hour...then i beat myself and got the fastest time of the next hour, again. whoo hoo! I got a model car and a hat, thanks zoom zoom. Then i was told to slow down due to powersliding the mx-5 around the corners. i didn't get clipped because i didn't knock any cones over, but it was great fun...then i did it again and went home.

EJayCe996

LOL, I got clipped on the Mazdaspeed challenge on the final right hand turn. I killed a single cone in a slide and when I pulled up next to the lady, she was on her little collar talkie thingie asking "uh, should I clip him for that?" and the next thing I knew I got clipped. Too bad they didn't even really have a course setup to actually experience the 6 in boost for more than half a second.

Sideways7

iTrader: (7)

Really? I was powersliding the crap out of the MX-5 and they didn't say anything. I guess its because I was doing it right before the end and they didn't care anymore. That car was a blast, though. It was by far the most fun car out there. It was just so easy to get it to rotate and control with the throttle. It actually felt faster than the rx-8 to me. I ended up doing about 5 runs in a row towards the end. I had it cooking by the end. I had a nice semi-powerslide around the double apex corner towards the end of the course.
The course for the 6 was too small. I understand why they had to do it, cause they were already taking a beating even with only 1 shift the whole course, but I still wish you could feel the most for more than a second at a time. I ended up with a 35.511 on my last run. The car was understeering like crazy, though. When they pulled that car in I head them saying that one of the fronts was starting chunk. Oh well, I was happy with the time, especially since I had never even done a proper autocross before. That was the most fun I've had in quite a while.

brio125

cool^ good time. I posted my first run today at 35.5xx and my second run at 35.01x both times i had a passenger.
I was second fastest for the day, the first coming in at 34.8xx at the 10-11am slot, i ran in the 2-3pm and 3-4pm slots

I will definately try to make next years event. good meeting all of you fellow enthusiasts

Sideways7

iTrader: (7)

Yep, great fun. I wish I could have come back the second day, but I had to head back to Killeen. I will definately come up there next year, most likely with my dad as well. He was jealous about it once I descibed it to him.

jgrewe

iTrader: (1)

Glad you guys had fun, I hope you filled out your surveys with the same enthusiasm. The RX7club had good representation and overall damn good driving. Sideways7 knocked 2 seconds off his time everytime he got in the car and Brio125 camped out on our course late in the day trying to set FTD. He came damn close but the heat of late afternoon sucks about 20hp out of the cars. Early in the day I know he would have done it.

As for the course, consider most of the people you watched driving while waiting in line... Do you think they could handle the car going over the hill(Dallas course) at the top of second gear(60mph)? We would love to let the cars run but we are usually limited by space, we have to fit four courses on whatever lot we run on. Stu and I do our best to keep the car spooled up without pointing people at curbs or poles in fast sections. And then we have to get the cars back to the start safely without having a full throttle blast pointing at the tent full of people. Rest assured we get them as fast as we can and do it safely, we even attempt "lot space take overs" and spread our course out into neighboring real estate when no one is looking during set up. Thats how we got the over the hill area in Dallas!

Sideways7

iTrader: (7)

Yeah, I understand exactly why the course was layed out like it was, especially after seeing how some of the people drove.
I would really like to see what I could have done with fresh tires (and a fresh course with no damn gravel, ect off line).
And yes, I knocked of 2 seconds a run for the first 3 or 4. I think I ran a 42, then 39, then 37.5, then 36.1 then a 35.5. The next one was a high 35, then another 35.5. The next to last run it was understeering like crazy and didn't want to hook up until way around the corner. That was the one with the shot tire.

brio125

Hey John, you and Stu did a great job setting up the course, especially working with the contour of the lot. i wish the auto-x guys could set something up on a lot like what you guys did. oh that over the hill, top of 2nd gear was a blast, it really let the handling of the car shine nicely.

Sideways7

iTrader: (7)

Yeah, that part was great. It caught me out the first few laps that I was really pushing, but I got the hang of it after that.

Richter12x2

iTrader: (1)

I feel better about my 37 now then, after hearing that you guys were out there doing it again and again. I only did it twice, got a 37.9 the first time and a 37.1 the second time. I would have loved to stay all day and play, but my buddy who drove us there (he doesn't like my 350 lb springs in the Neon ) got double clipped on his first run because he lost it twice on course. I'm glad the course wasn't faster, because with him driving like he was I might have been killed. Not really, but I wish he had taken his foot out of it when he hit the first 15 or 20 cones. After that our time was limited, because I know it bummed him out not being able to drive, even though he said he enjoyed it just riding with me in the different cars, I know that's gotta be BS.

I'm not complaining, I totally understand why they double-clipped him. Like the announcer said, "If you lose control of the car during the first corner, do you really think you're going to be able to do the next one at the same speed?"

In retrospect, I probably should have let him drive first, because since he rode with me first, I think he was trying to outdo me instead of actually feeling what the car was doing, and since he'd never driven on an autocross track before he had no frame of reference.

I still like the RX8 over the Miata, although for that track I like the Miata. The RX8 felt more sure-footed, and maybe that means less maneuverable on an autocross course, but the same car with some decent mods, putting down a hundred more horsepower would be about perfect. The Miata with 100 more horsepower would feel dangerous.

Also, I understand why they did it, but having to drive the CX7 after the RX8, Miata, and Mazdaspeed 6 was just abusive. :P It felt real nice for a SUV/Minivan type of thing, but still, I'm the kinda guy who'd put a trailer hitch on my RX7 before I'd consider buying a truck.