SunRiders Auto-X (2-1) My Thoughts...

[chet]

although we all heard the devastating news before we started auto-xing, the day went pretty well.

the sunrider's event was excellent and i enjoyed the course layout. i wasn't that impressed with my times today, as i was beaten by a bmw on hoosiers, a miata on falkens, and one other car. i finished fourth, although danny shields made some fun runs and finished in the 46's so that would be 4 people driving faster than myself. i went 47.1...and the FTD was 46.2.

great event though, really enjoyed the course, although i think the PCA events are slightly more fun because of their higher speeds, although i like both a lot.

was able to get a ride in multiple vehicles during fun runs, including an 84 911, tony's 930, and a JRSC Miata. the 84 911 was decent, although i wasn't too impressed, tony's 930 has a lot of power although it doesn't seem well balanced or easy to drive, and the JRSC Miata was always on the edge. Taka was also there, in a beat 240 that he was drifting constantly...hahahaha...and danny shields rode with me twice giving me some advice.

and danny shields can really drive, as he took several vehicles into the 46's including a miata and s2000.

overall, a great day despite the horrible news of the space shuttle.

[0HP930]

Originally posted by "chet"

tony's 930 has a lot of power although it doesn't seem well balanced or easy to drive.

Hah, thats putting it mildly. My car was designed for high speed wide turn racing, and it certainly shows it on small and slow auto-x courses.

The suspension bushings and rear shocks are also shot and the gearing is way too high but all these things will eventually be corrected.

Chet is certainly proving that his hatch is a miata-class racer at all the events I have seen him at and thats quite an achievement.

I pushed my car way too hard for this course and still finished a couple tenths of a second behind the regular porsche guys that I normally whip on at the higher speed events.

The interesting by product of my driving today was a very graceful 360 degree spin on a tricky part of the course that resulted in no cones being hit and my keeping my momentum down the course resulting in a decent time desipite the additional maneuver.

It apparantly looked as good as it felt which resulted in applause and compliments on my maneuver from the auto-x audience. I would pay to have seen it on video.

[chet]

yeah, i'm not sure how i'd manage a porsche or any rear engine/rear wheel drive vehicle. the entire feel of the vehicle seems so much harder and less predictable, where as my car seems very easy to get through the course. i know part of this is due to my familiarity with front engine/front wheel drive but still it just seems easier in my car.

[0HP930]

After an entire life of driving front motored, rear wheel drive cars it took a while to get used to.

The limited slip also adds to the plow factor too.

Once you learn what the limits are its easy to keep it in line. Its when you push it to its limits through a corner and hit boost that its a handful.

[chet]

well i like my front engine, front drive. after seeing what a guy did with his 84 civic hatchback i realized that my car is capable of great times on any type of auto-x course. i need to get some stiffer springs and add some power, and get hoosiers, and learn how to drive and i'll be somewhat competitive.

although rear wheel drive would be a lot of fun, i don't think i could handle a car that has so much weight in the rear end.

[0HP930]

The ideal combo behind a 50/50 weighted AWD would be a 50/50 RWD.

If you can't balance the weight between the front and back wheels, its definantly better to have the front be the heaviest.

That way when control or traction is lost its easier to get the car pointed the right direction again.

Porsche making the 930 a tail heavy car was just a necessary evil involved in making a small, light high powered RWD vehicle.

[ACR2NV]

had Taka given me more notice i would have liked to ride in the beast of a Porsche 400hp has and Chet's hatch actually caught my eye eventhough i'll admit im not a fan of anything that says Civic but i respect Chet's effort cause its NOT rice...it looks good, goes fast and handles

[0HP930]

When chet popped the hood I was suprised to see that the motor is still pretty much bone stock concidering how he usually beats most of the other honda guys at the events I have seen him at.

[chet]

well, right now it looks like eric will have the setup to beat. he was at the pca event, but had 14' tires, with falkens. with 15's, hoosiers, and with the power he's making i'm sure he'll be ahead of me.

and anyone on hoosiers should be faster, until i can afford a set myself...then i hope things will get interesting.

[PseudoRealityX]

Originally posted by "400HP930"

The ideal combo behind a 50/50 weighted AWD would be a 50/50 RWD.

If you can't balance the weight between the front and back wheels, its definantly better to have the front be the heaviest.

That way when control or traction is lost its easier to get the car pointed the right direction again.

Porsche making the 930 a tail heavy car was just a necessary evil involved in making a small, light high powered RWD vehicle.

Ehh...ill disagree.

Id rather have the weight in the back....2 reasons.

Braking and acceleration....both are improved with more weight in the rear.

[chet]

i don't have enough experience one way or another.

i do know that my car will run circles around tony's car, on any type of smaller course. with power, i think my car is just more capable, but i haven't driven it, just going by how it felt and how the weight distribution affected the way the car went through the cones.

[PseudoRealityX]

Originally posted by "chet"

i don't have enough experience one way or another.

i do know that my car will run circles around tony's car, on any type of smaller course. with power, i think my car is just more capable, but i haven't driven it, just going by how it felt and how the weight distribution affected the way the car went through the cones.

Tony's car is a poor example to compare. There are too many other issues to say that he is slower than you because of weight distribution. Namely, his lack of any decent autocross gearing, lack of power steering :P , turbo lag....etc.

[0HP930]

:werd:

[Charles]

Will the layout be the same for the March 9th event, or do they normally change it up everytime?

[chet]

normally the layouts change, although some places are limited with what they can do...like gainesville and the florida state fairgrounds.

[PseudoRealityX]

Originally posted by "chet"

normally the layouts change, although some places are limited with what they can do...like gainesville and the florida state fairgrounds.

With the saftley people now allowing us to grid in the back of the course, we've opened up a few new fun courses at GIR....but before we could implement, we had GIR postponed right now.

[Leonard]

I don't think the stewards were overly happy with the grid being in back at GIR. There were some instances of people walking through when they shouldn't be. Nothing that can't be overcome, but that still needs to be addressed.

[Bill]

Damn it!
Can't believe I missed a Miata event. Well time to start paying attention to the auto-x action again. :mad: :mad: :mad: