What I learned at autocross today

[AlienDNA]

1) I’m not Michael Shumacher – I suck in the rain!

2) Just because you can’t feel your legs anymore doesn’t mean you have a significant weight advantage.

3) Dorothy was probably on the grid when she left Kansas.

4) Water buses still go in a lake that would take the Edmund Fitzgerald down.

5) There are a LOT of Sikhs in Toronto.

6) The defogger will keep your windscreen clear, but does nothing for your glasses.

7) On cold, rainy days it is best to use the down-wind Porta-John. The exact opposite applies on warm, sunny days.

8) Whatever air pressure happens to be in your tires is probably the correct pressure when the wind chill is below zero.

9) It is always colder, wetter and windier where the marshalls stand. Kudos to all the HADA folks and volunteer marshalls who made the event possible.

10) A driver’s meeting CAN be really short, even if the series title is a two volume set.

[StewPiddass]

Yep, didn't bother me at all that I don't have race wheels/rubber yet. Street tires at street pressure was good enough for me today.

I hear you about the downwind porta-potti, seemed safer/quieter in that one.

I on the other hand kinda like the rain, well not really but I did well so that's a good consolation. It's an equalizer for cars with (well) under 100hp, would never have ended up with 7th overall and 2nd in PRST otherwise...

Marshalling is usually fun! Not today!

Great Job HADA!

[Greg F]

Thanks for marshalling guys, today was too damn cold and miserable to even bother with changing tires.

It was so cold a few of us ate our burgers almost raw. So far the iron lining in the ol' crap factory seems to be holding up well.

Stew, at least you didn't have a brand new rim tip over and get gouged on the pavement. Damn thing hasn't even been on the car yet! :mad: :mad: :mad:

[Greg F]

Hmm, I could only imagine how the taping of Cone Crushers went today. I could just picture Joe sitting at home with a giant Quizno sub saying it's too cold and rainy to go autocross. He probably even said he'll let the amateurs enjoy this one before the real star arrives. :rolleyes:

[soloZ]

And learning is half the battle.

[max attack]

Sounds like a good thing I didn't make the trek!,way to go Tod-slick surfaces always let the smoother drivers raise to the top.
Don't know about there but up here we had plenty of freezing rain to make the trees kinda purty,spent the day working on the prep of both cars-much nicer than freezing my tail off standing in the rain.
So how was the course design?

[Narc]

That was my first SoloII event ever and I gotta say, I had a blast. Thanks to all who offered advice and assistance.
Thank you HADA for organizing the event and all the volunteers.

It really was a shame the weather didnt cooperate and that a couple of my runs were sub par, but I had fun. A lot of fun. Isnt that what its all about.

Ed

[Narc]

That was my first SoloII event ever and I gotta say, I had a blast. Thanks to all how offered advice and assistance.
Thank you HADA for organizing the event.

It really was a shame the weather didnt cooperate and that a couple of my runs were sub par, but I had fun. A lot of fun. Isnt that what its all about.

Ed

[soloZ]

Hey Narc what kind of car were you driving?

[rpr]

Thanks to everyone who came despite the forecast, and we apologize for cutting the event somewhat short. We did get in 6 runs, and yes, we had some hail/freezing rain at one point, I do believe. I can second the 'defrost the glasses' comment... :)

I never got a chance to thank all the non-HADA people who helped out, from marshalling to helping hold down anything that wasn't securely anchored (which was pretty much everything that wasn't a car). THANK YOU!

I saw a forecast for next Sunday that said sunny and 11 degrees, so I'm crossing my fingers on that one...

[Marsh]

Originally posted by rpr
I saw a forecast for next Sunday that said sunny and 11 degrees, so I'm crossing my fingers on that one...

It's now 11 and light rain. There's no telling until Friday at the earliest. But if that temperature drops another 2 degrees it could be debatable whether it's worth bringing R-compounds.

[ShaneG]

More rain! Thats it! We are holding it Sunday's event on Thursday. :rolleyes:

[tanney]

So how was the course design?
The course design was better, before the it was finished. The course was altered during setup because of soon to arrive rain to keep the speeds (and spins) in check. There are spots where there is obviously standing water, when it's wet, that the course was changed around as well. All that said, I thought the course was great for doing some drifting, in a FWD vehicle. :D Drifting is more fun than it looks.

Being next to Lake Ontario in April isn't the smartest choice we've made:(

[max attack]

So have you warmed up yet Wes?,I'm bringing the corolla next sunday so if it rains I should be um interesting to watch to say the least!(welded diff and a custom dual rear sway bar set-up should prove a challenge:cool: ).
Keep the cones nice and open next weekend please:D

[J.C.]

By the way wich lot was the event at? The one furthest east?

[Narc]

Originally posted by soloZ
Hey Narc what kind of car were you driving?

I was in the black 2001 (7th gen) civic.

[StewPiddass]

Nice looking car, you were pitted near me at the beginning. Wait until you see the next (06 model) coupe...

[soloZ]

Ah ok I was the Z24

[Greg F]

Originally posted by Narc
I was in the black 2001 (7th gen) civic.

Ah yeah, the stolen one, right? :p

[MastaDeeMon]

I love comments about rain being an equalizer, not that tires have anything to do with it:rolleyes: You could see the people that have nice, deep tread, rain friendly tires(or AWD) and the people that didn't. You equalized people better hope it rains all season, cuz if it's sunny........

D.

[Daniel]

You equalized people better hope it rains all season, cuz if it's sunny........

Then what? ;)

[ShaneG]

Then what?

no more Drift-o Darren:D

[J.C.]

Originally posted by MastaDeeMon
I love comments about rain being an equalizer, not that tires have anything to do with it:rolleyes: You could see the people that have nice, deep tread, rain friendly tires(or AWD) and the people that didn't. You equalized people better hope it rains all season, cuz if it's sunny........

D.

LOL :D

[tanney]

I personally don't think I would have been quicker in the dry, but I bet I wouldn't have had near as much fun:D

[max attack]

Knowing you Wes you were likely on 32R's right?,if so than you might not have gone to much quicker(yeah right).
Its snowing pretty good up here right now-hope that stops soon and is nice and warm for sunday.

[Guillermo]

Wes beat me by 0.038 seconds.
He was on R-compounds and I was using Toyo T1-S street tires.
umm...
At those cold temperatures my tires might be better....

[soloZ]

Originally posted by Guillermo
Wes beat me by 0.038 seconds.
He was on R-compounds and I was using Toyo T1-S street tires.
umm...
At those cold temperatures my tires might be better....

Well I don't really know what your excuses are because I was on shitty old Goodyear RSA's(worst tire I have ever driven on) and they are old and dry and cracking, and I was only beat by one WRX. hehe bring on some more rain.

[gatherer]

Originally posted by max attack
Knowing you Wes you were likely on 32R's right?,if so than you might not have gone to much quicker(yeah right).
Its snowing pretty good up here right now-hope that stops soon and is nice and warm for sunday.

no he was on toyo RA1's .... and driving a corvette blue civic ..... with yellow go fast stickers on it....

it was all the stickers....

[MastaDeeMon]

Originally posted by Daniel
Then what? ;)

Shoosh in your WRX, you could be running on rims and you'd still have an advantage over anybody else in the wet.

D.

[Daniel]

Shoosh in your WRX, you could be running on rims and you'd still have an advantage over anybody else in the wet.

True. I agree that AWD has it's advantages, but I believe that an experienced, SMOOTH driver (with a decent set of tires) can do well in any car when the conditions are slippery. Ryan (Solo Z) and Guillermo (just to name a couple) both proved this last weekend.

That being said, I also believe that a lower horsepower car (especially on stock suspension) will always be easier to drive smoothly in the wet.

[Doug Phillips]

Daniel, your the man, but I plan to close it up when things dry out and the course gets bigger!

Can't wait till we can swap. I hear rain on Sunday again.:(

[Greg F]

Originally posted by Daniel
True. I agree that AWD has it's advantages, but I believe that an experienced, SMOOTH driver (with a decent set of tires) can do well in any car when the conditions are slippery. Ryan (Solo Z) and Guillermo (just to name a couple) both proved this last weekend.

That being said, I also believe that a lower horsepower car (especially on stock suspension) will always be easier to drive smoothly in the wet.

Agreed. I think Guillermo's times were absolutely incredible. To hell with AWD, I want a hybrid! :p

[StewPiddass]

That Insight is insane... I't sure doesn't have much credence in the outside world when I say that I tied an Insight... We actually had the same time down to the hundredth...

That reminds me Wes, since G and I had exactly the same time why did I place ahead of him? backup time or the next decimal?

[tanney]

That reminds me Wes, since G and I had exactly the same time why did I place ahead of him? backup time or the next decimal? Were you not in different classes? It uses backup times (second quickest) the break ties.

[gatherer]

Actually Todd your best times between you and G are identical down to the thousandth set on your last runs....

your both in different classes though...

[StewPiddass]

I realize that guys, I was just talking about overall score that was posted at the event... I came 7th overall and G was 8th.

[Keith-02Accord]

Hey Tod,

The overall score posted at the event is meaningless only b/c we are using the Regional timing system.

Our scoring system is different!