new to solo 1 questions

[thgear]

HAHA i bet some of you guys raised an eyebrow at that one!

anyway me and Martin are putting together an extensive and easy to read FAQ for those new to the series,

we're making our own list but if you feel there is something that should be covered post it here and we'll incorporate it.

cheers.

[Rob McAuley]

What brake pads should I consider?

What should I budget for an event/a weekend/a season?

For the camping bon-fire, is it okay to burn drag racing gas, or should I stick with used motor oil?

Is this going to destroy my car?

Is it true that Solo 1 people are better looking than Solo 2 participants?

Why are all these people so friendly?

Why are all these people so wierd?

[Todd #65]

Which Club should I join? (TAC of course, because we don't discriminate based on vehicle 'Make')

How do I get a racing license (which one do I need?)

What should I bring to an event weekend?

Is their a formal Solo Committee and how do I pose questions?

Can I come to meetings?

and....
Is the driver of the 240 with a V8 really as crazy as I've heard??

[AirCooln]

Will a Mini make a good reliable track car, providing hours and hours of non stop fun?

[nowcritical]

My idea was to start with the most basic of things that people need to know about our sport. I really would like to get some of the most basic questions answered for the person who may want to join the sport but is a little overwhelmed by the rule book and the amount of information that floats on this form.

Here are some ideas

Where do I eat?
Where do I spleep
How do I get to the track
Who will show me around when I get there
What tools do I need
What should I do to make sure that my car is in good working condtion
I need a club and a license? Why?
Why do you require helmets?
Why do I need a role bar in my convertible?
Why is there Registration?
Why do we need to marshal?
What are marshals anyway?

Maybe we should have a rookie ambassador for the first couple of events?

I think if we want our sport to grow we need to attract new people and make it as easy for them to get started as possible?

[nissannx]

My idea was to start with the most basic of things that people need to know about our sport. I really would like to get some of the most basic questions answered for the person who may want to join the sport but is a little overwhelmed by the rule book and the amount of information that floats on this form.

Here are some ideas

As a potential newcomer, this thread is great. Here's a couple of mine.
What's a PIP? I'm going through the website adding pip's and wondering what class that's going to put me into. But I'm not really worried, because I don't know what the class means anyhow!
Including potential costs is something else that I have already found useful. And knowing that TAC doesn't care about make of car is good, because there's no local club in the K-W/Cambridge/Guelph area, so I wasn't sure where to look!

[CobraStang]

Do we race despite weather conditions?
How do I get a refund?
How many guys does it take to flip a VW into a fire?

[Chris91GT]

How many guys does it take to flip a VW into a fire?

:D

[Slowpoke]

Maybe we should have a rookie ambassador for the first couple of events?

I think if we want our sport to grow we need to attract new people and make it as easy for them to get started as possible.

We think the same at the SPDA. :D I know the first time I tried to calculate PIP's from the rulebook I was struggling, and my calculation ended up wrong in the end anyway. Thankfully I wasn't competitive enough at that event for it to matter. :o

Although everyone in the SPDA has lent a hand helping people get started in Solo 2, SoloSprint or Rally at one time or another, for 2007 we're formalizing it a bit. Each discipline will have it's own Ambassador, and I'll be the SoloSprint Ambassador. So, I'll be happy to help our members get started.

FYI: The SPDA started as a Subaru-centric group, but that's not necessarily the case anymore. We've run Contingency Programs (http://spda-online.ca/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=2324&start=0) as well for competitors who place 1st through 3rd and contribute to the growth of the club. You don't have to own a Subaru to enjoy every benefit that the club offers. I can't promise you anything, but we PROBABLY won't make fun of whatever marque you choose to drive either. ;) You just might see us scratching our heads a little when we help you service your car. "Hey, I think I found the handling problem! You've got two wheels here without drive axles! That's your trouble right there..."

I know that HADA has a SoloSprint Director as well, so my point is, I think that "Ambassador" is a role that should be filled at the club level.

[Shane Bawa]

I would like to also know where to take my car to get checked out for condition. Someone who knows about Solo1 rules.

I will be doing all my own suspension clean up over this winter, in preperation for next year, but would like someone to check my work for safety after I am all done.

Another question I had was about the training school, and if I should use my brand spanking new rubber or shall I just use my all seasons for the school, and save the RA1's for the events...

Shane

[Eric H]

Last year was my first season and I used street rubber for the school and first two events, then switched to RA1's. Found this to be beneficial, especially for the school on the skid pad and braking excercises, as the streets lose grip easier providing a better experience with under/over steer and braking threashold.
Save your RA1's for later in the season and you will appreciate them more after some experience on street tires!:)

[Slowpoke]

I would like to also know where to take my car to get checked out for condition. Someone who knows about Solo1 rules.

I will be doing all my own suspension clean up over this winter, in preperation for next year, but would like someone to check my work for safety after I am all done.

Another question I had was about the training school, and if I should use my brand spanking new rubber or shall I just use my all seasons for the school, and save the RA1's for the events...


You may be better off doing it a slightly different way. I don't think you need a mechanic familiar with Solo 1 rules. I think the ideal thing to do is to take it to a shop that does more serious forms of motorsport on your own car type. They will be more strict than an average shop on safety and reliability issues. For Subaru owners, that's FourStar Motorsports or Can-Jam in the Toronto area. For a Toyota owner like yourself, you might want to try Yoshio at Japanese Auto. Scott at Can-Alignment in Milton knows Mustangs well and is a suspension specialist. Hassel's in Georgetown also does stock car racing with domestics. Describe what type of driving you'll be doing, ask them what tends to fail on your cars, ask for preventive maintenance and setup advice, etc. You can always try local MR2 clubs as well, but you have to learn to take things with a grain of salt from club members. ;) It will take some time to find someone you can work with.

There's a car prep technical inspection sheet that YOU need to complete for SoloSprint, to say that YOU've had it inspected. The inspection can range in thoroughness based on what you are willing to pay. It can be completed in 1/2 an hour, one hour is more typical, or you can ask the mechanic to double-check the torque on all of your bolts which would be several hours. That is up to you.

Again, it can help to look at marque specific technical sheets for clues as to what you need to look at on your car. e.g.: The BMW Club Tech Inspection sheet (http://www.trillium-bmwclub.ca/servlet/getblob?table=images&id=1192&filename=TechInspectionForm.pdf) highlights lower control arms on the E30 and E36 chassis and even has a replacement interval! (If I was to do one for Subarus, it would involve changing all of the wheel bearings every two years minimum on 5x100 hubs.)

If you've ever seen a machine maintained in a TPM program, there's some things you can pick up on. Before reassembly, inspect the nuts you're going to put back on. Damaged threads? Go to a local fittings shop (Brofasco and others in Brampton for example) and pick up new corrosion resistant Nylock or eccentric hardware. It's small change for big reliability. As you reassemble your car, you're probably going to use anti-seize on most of the undercar suspension bits. As you torque every bolt, take some touch up paint for a car you no longer own and paint a line down the nut to the mounting surface. It's now easier to identify when things start to back off, and it's like checking off a bolt that you've torqued.

Mentioning that you're going to do your own suspension work... you should have a shop manual with specified torques and a torque wrench. But here's the kicker... you can't necessarily go by that info. Sometimes the manual's wrong (e.g.: Subaru torques for STi bits are often too HIGH), and sometimes required torques are only good enough for street vehicles. (Ask Scott at Can-Alignment ... he had to start increasing suspension torques on the Miatas he maintains for Solo 2 after Kumho came out with the 710.) So... there will be a learning curve for you... finding out what torques are right for what you're going to do to it. After your first spring shakedown run, get back under it and verify all of the torques. An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Don't forget your oil pan plug and oil filter torque, please.

Are you going to put coilover suspension in? If you're not VERY familiar with it, you should have your setup verified by a specialist. Specifically, you want to make sure that you haven't lowered the car so far that you still have enough travel on the springs and shocks before you hit the bump stops. With average sport suspension spring rates, you'll probably want a minimum of 2"-3" of travel before you hit bump stops to keep the handling predictable. It's more expensive, but if you're serious about handling, you can also try to corner balance your car while setting the ride height. (Peter Reilly of hotbits.ca can do all of this for you in Brampton. So can Scott at Can-Alignment in Milton.)

And most all driving schools recommend using All Seasons or Winter tires because they give more feedback and don't hide errors like R-Comps do. A lot of SPDA and HADA folk will be at Trac Racing in St. Eustache QC shaking down our cars and getting instruction in early April.

Now, posts like this are probably too much info for the "SoloSprint 101" book, but it's food for thought.

Links mentioned:

http://www.fourstarmotorsports.com : Motorsports maintenance and tech inspection
http://www.hotbits.ca : Custom coilover set-up and corner balance
http://www.can-alignment.com : Custom coilover set-up and corner balance
http://www.japanese-auto.com : Yoshio (Mr. Toyota)
http://www.sensoryoverload.ca : Tech inspection and reasonable maintenance costs - Discount with SPDA membership
905-731-7985 : CanJam Motorsports

[Shane Bawa]

^^^ Thank you. Us 101 guys are all looking for as much information as you can feed us.. Hungary for more!!

Just as an FYI, I am planning to use my 89 Supercharged MR2 next season. Suspension wise, I am installing Koni Adjustables and Suspension technique Springs, and replacing worn out bushings all around the car. Just last night while I was cleaning things up, found out that the control arm & ball joints need freshning up too... So, needless to say these little things are adding up in $$$.

Shane

[Guillermo]

How did you decide on what suspension to buy?