jguerdat

Well, there we were, waiting for the snow to fall and damned if it didn't!! Not much but the temperature was so cold that I had problems NOT lighting up the rears off the start. Then the first turn was not only off-camber but, with the slippery suface, made it impossible to do anything other than tiptoe into it. I was hitting the rev limiter for .5-1 second prior to hitting the brakes so I held it in first through the turn. Unfortunately, the lack of traction made the exit a real handful. Finally tried 2nd gear on the last run but between than and a brief, light rain shower that seemed to make the surface slicker yet made my time go slower. Not my best day, that's for sure. Chris, ya shoulda been there - it woulda been an easy 1st place for ya.

Steven Yeoh was there with his Boxster but couldn't make a clean, straight run to save his life. He did turn one halfway decent time but that was it. Even Dale Kunze in his Integra Type R had problems with keeping it straight and clean. He even managed to screw up what he felt was a great run by getting his feet tangled in the pedals on the last turn.

Dave and Val were there and were making good progress in lowering their times. I think Dave had a 46.xxx (my best was a 44.5xx). I'm not sure if Val scared the instructors riding with her or not but she looked good out there. Now Dave's wondering why he squandered the last 8 years (8, right?) by not autocrossing...

Hopefully the next event will have some HEAT, dammit!

Triple-H

Well because we are swapping automotive performance stories and SNOW, I'll tell ya mine.
I drive down to Watkins Glen for a driving school during the middle of Friday with the top down, cool but no problem, sun was shining. Wake up Saturday AM down (think elevation) in the village and it is raining, ok, no big surprise, it was in the forecast.

So I get in the car to head up the hill (think more than 1,000' elevation change), I'm part way up the hill and the rain is going splat on the window, just like it does when it is about to snow. I keep driving up the hill and can't see much because there is a low hanging cloud over the hill, or so I thought. Just about then a black pickup truck passes me coming towards me. As he goes buy I notice a huge pile of SNOW on his windshield.

This can't be happening; it's May 19!

Sure enough, I crest the hill, and there along the road was a white shoulder. The ground was covered with 1/2" to 1" of snow. It was not sticking to the road as anything more than slush, but it sure was building up on the cars.

The Glen cancelled track activities for the first part of the morning. In over 25 some years GVC BMW CCA has been putting on The Ultimate Driving School, we have never closed the track for snow, fog once, but never SNOW.

Outcome of the weekend- it was a blast. I don't have the rollbar so I just taught. Speeds were lower for lack of grip but my 2 students and I had a blast. Oh, and I met my tube bender, the guy who is going to fabricate my custom rollbar. He was there at the track working with Roy Hopkins sorting out the suspension and other mods on the '72 (?) 2002 racecar.

Now lets get some summer temps!

evil girl

DOH! This is actually Daveg27 posting here, Valerie has her log in cookied on this computer and I didn't notice it.


Hi Jeff! Val and I had a blast yesterday, despite the snow and cold. I liked the layout of the course a lot, I just wish it would have been a little warmer. Valeo's parking lot is not what I would consider smooth and some of those hard braking corners contained the largest bumps. I'm actually surprised that more people didn't lose it on that left hander in the southeast corner (I think SE, the one right before the big puddle and pothole! ) of the course, lots of bumps there. Anyway, it was a great time and I'm glad we were able to have 4 runs. Probably would have had 5 if the weather would have been warmer. It took me until my 3rd run before I could figure out how to do the last section before the finish. I think that's where I picked up maybe 1/2 a second between runs 2 and 3. I only picked up .05 on my last run but I made a major mistake that cost me time so I know the rest of the run was an improvement (not sure where though).

I seem to have a problem figuring out what the limits are in turns. My corner speeds are inconsistent because I can't tell when I'm at the limit. There is no tire squealing or enough feedback (at least not that I can perceive). Sometimes if I add power the back end will shift to the outside. I figure that's probably close to the limit then. Other times I can add power and I accelerate without any slipping, must mean I'm going too slow. Simple enough. The problem is the turn feels the same to me, it feels like I'm going just as fast and turning just as hard. (Unless I really bog it of course) This is probably an experience thing that I'll learn but do you guys think the S gives a lot of feedback in corners? I can feel the suspension get unsettled if you do stupid things in corners but an elephant in a coma would feel that too, it's not subtle. It's the finer points of traction I'm not getting.

13 actually. Oh well, better late than never!

Is anyone thinking about going to the Buffalo area auto-x this upcoming weekend? I think I heard a couple of people were going to go to it.

jguerdat

I was overcooking that SE turn a bit myself. I got it dialed back a little which helped me position better but that apparently wasn't where I was losing time. The first turn had me exiting WAY deep on every run. It may well have been the sway bar on full stiff that was causing it but I never figured out how slow to take it. I know I kept relying on past experience on the lot for when to brake but I couldn't get it through my thick skull that I needed to be slower. That may have cost me as much as a second right there since I had to recover from all the extra distance travelled as well as non-optimal acceleration out of the turn (I couldn't get on the gas until I got back on the line). The other place that cost me was the finish, which I think I was taking MUCH too conservatively (why I couldn't do that at the first turn, heaven knows).

Not my finest hour...

It's experience. Note that I had my problems and I've been doing this since 1974. Some people read the situation better than others and some can find the edge better. It takes me time to figure out where the limit really is since I find myself holding back slightly. Safe but slower than it should be.

One thing that I think is useful is to try for violence in the cockpit. I remember my very first autox where I was so far behind everyone it was pathetic. I had never driven faster and yet I sucked big time. I decided to just go for it and "let it all hang out" (back then it might have been tolerable). I felt nearly out of control but I ended up 3rd, about 3/4 second behind first. The slick surface yesterday dialed out a lot of the violence but that's what yer after. Braking should be putting the car on its nose. Acceleration should be early (not waiting until your straight) and will frequently give you at least some tail out, requiring minor throttle tweaking to keep it hung out a little bit but not allowing it to grab. Of course, it's all shades of gray but this is the general idea. Once you get the feel for "damn, I didn't know I could do that!" you need to also work on smoothness so you can more easily control the attitude of the car. A few wild spins helps out with the mindset, too...

I was thinking about the one June 9th since that's part of the FLR series (we have certain out-of-region events that can count for series points). I need to spend a whole weekend with Nancy - it's been a month or so since I have. And she controls the money...

Triple-H

Daveg27 and evil girl, glad you2 are having fun! Jeff has lots of experience to share so you are picking at the right brain, or would that be the left?

As far as the upcoming AutoX in Buffalo, I will be a no show. I'm going to Tucson, Arizona for BMW CCA; it is a Newsletter Editor's Conference. I suspect this might be the only place I'm sure not to see snow!

Have a ball!