Yeah, I agree with Jesse. It is always hard to compare someone's times against someone else. Even if the two cars are reasonably close to being "prepared" for their class (such as me vs. Jesse), you still have dependencies on the strengths and weaknesses of each course-car-driver combination.

Perfect example: My GS Subaru (and myself as a driver) tended to do really well on high-speed concrete with fast transitions. I didn't have too much trouble trophying at my first couple ProSolos at Ft. Myers and did quite well at my last one considering the class had some tough competition. But every year at the Petersburg ProSolo, which was a comparatively low-speed course on asphalt, I got OWN3D two years in a row by essentially the same people. Last year, after trophying Ft Myers, I only managed to stay ahead of Katie, one other driver, and a newbie on Falkens at Petersburg. Yeah, I think my driving was off a little, but I don't think it was bad enough to expain that result. :o

But I do see where you're coming from. Competition is FUN no matter what kind of car/course/experience you have. PAX-based results are about the best handicapping method you can use, and are interesting to play with. They ARE proven to be somewhat accurate if you look at average results over the course of the year and across a good variety of courses, but just make sure you don't make them into more than they are.

Neal

 

Oh yeah, I see the flaws and certainly wouldn't suggest this "system" for serious comparison. It was just for fun (well actually it wasn't much fun - made me feel like a turd).

The only cars I can compare with are very similarly prepped (not prepped at all) S-2000's. That's why you see the "Next S on OEM's" note where applicable. Those numbers say I'm driving well, comparitively, with anyone in the same set-up (or lack of).

It looks like I need to do some Miata club events and practice the first gear evil little courses.

 

That's pretty cool! But, it's kinda hard to compare yourself to others with much faster cars, like carts and other open wheel cars. I usually just compare my times to experts in street cars, it lets me know if I'm getting closer to that "expert" level.

Looking at Sunday's times, I believe I ended up in 5th overall, so that should put me around 95%, not bad at all! It's even better using pax, 3rd overall, 97%! Wow, I never do good in pax, somehow I always end up in the bottom 2/3rd... my car ain't that fast, it just looks fast!

Jamal

 

LOL, I see I'm not the only one who tries to figure out what percentile I am in when I run an autocross.

Just like in school, I always get a passing grade and my average ends up in the B range.

Hell, I have been one of the top 5 porsches at nearly every PCA event I have ever been to.

 

We had a local class based on a somewhat similar system for a couple years in Wichita. It was very cool for those of us who ran in it seriously.

What we did was, rather than using the PAX index, which relies on your car AND everyone else's being prepared to the same level (ie: Completely to the limit of the rules), we created our own index.

We called it the Driver's Index, and the class was called the Driver's Index Class (DIC... no, we didn't take ourselves too seriously!).

One of the keys to the class was that you had to leave your car alone as much as possible to make it truly a DRIVER's class.

What we did was we looked at results from the last 3 events. Took your time vs. the FTD to get an index. Average the last 3 events to get your DIC index. So your index improved as you did!

To stay on top, you had to be consistent. It was very interesting.