treekiller

I have been quite rusty since I can count the number of events I have done since I moved to Florida on one hand. but I finally got up and drove to hang out with the MINI guys this saturday @ Ocala Gran Prix. It was an awesome event BTW. now. having been autocrossing for almost 15 years and even being an instructor for a while, I know evey tired old yarn. slow is fast. etc. however for some reason. with 20 timed and 24 total laps I had an oppertunity to try everything. I even went as far as to ask Loren to ride along and perhaps help me get my head straight. my best tims were in the morning. the second set I started driving @ 11/10th's. I said to myself, this canno't be, loren even confirmed my suspisions, by offering me the number for overdrivers annoymous. however following a more traditional racing line and looking further ahead, doing everything correctly, all this did was slow my times down.. This was bothering me all day. I know I'm fast I've been within tenths of national champions in the past. then it dawned on me. one of the reasons I have been successful in the past was because I was agressive.. and 8th overall was not an acceptable finish for me. then this article rings a bell

"The B15 chassis isn't the composed, graceful and willing partner we'd like. You've got to be a bit of a brute to make it go fast. Forget about smooth inputs, subtle adjustments and caressing it down the road. Get out your wrestling shoes because you're in the ring when you drive a Spec V hard." -sport compact car

apparently I'm not the only one to find this out. at least I'm less upset today. but now I feel like I need to correct these shortcomings, weither it be myself, or the car. time to get my zero toe allignment get some bump damping revalve on the koni's and some 235 hoosiers. and the next time I have to deal with these MINI's IT's lights out. 4 seconds I know I was the biggest car on the track, but there is no reason for being that far back the coper-S is also a G-stock car so even with the 1.5 seconds a good set of R-compounds would provide. I should have been closer.

Jeff

PseudoRealityX

Some would consider certain years of the new SE-R Spec V to be equal to the Mini Cooper S. It's certainly not ideal, but it's not as terrible as many think it is.

Listening to magazines about track performance is generally useless.... just for reference.

Leonard

I'm gonna have to go with Jesse on this one. Just because the suspension is soft enough to allow harsh inputs without overloading the tires with weight transfer doesn't make it any faster.

I don't care what you drive-- Smooth will be faster and the more capable the car, the less tolerant of quick inputs it will be.

Muddy

Driving smoothness seems a bit subjective to me, especially from inside the car. Many people tell me that my driving is smooth, and it looks smooth on video, but it sure doesn't feel smooth when I am driving. I read a rare post by Lou Gigliotti on Supraforums where he explains that smoothness isn't important, only carrying as much speed as possible on the correct line. I think I will take Lou's word for it.

D-Roll

Yeah go b15's I have to raise up my car tonight because it is too low, and I keep getting a clunking noise going over small bumps/dips in the road.

mofugga

but doing so also requires a certain amount of smoothness & isn't lou known for having a fast car that doesn't usually make it thru the entire race?

Muddy

He is still better than any of us.

TampaMCS

And watching his dogleg on every turn at OGP was quite entertaining!

robofunc

True, but staying on the correct line gets harder the less-smooth inputs get. Eventually you get enough inertia moving parts of the car in unintended directions and you're scrambling to get back where you want to be. At least, that's how it feels to me...