Lola Goes Autocrossing

[bmwguy325is]

I miss racing with these guys

[GAbOS]

Auto-X is SPEC racing based on time. Cars gain and lose ground every time the rules are amended. Except they seem to forget about those damned Mazdas every time ;)

There's no real competitive class for the e30 so I went for fun in my build. My 2010 Lancer Ralliart seems to be an underdog in stock but gets murdered as soon as I go up one and get put in the same class as the EvoX.

[agent]

That helps too Gary, thanks.

I just did some quick math against paying for two events with weekend memberships ($40 each), an SCCA membership ($30 after discount), and this last event at the discounted member rate (of $30), each of my 20 runs of one minute or less have cost me $7 each - and that doesn't include fuel! That's $420/hr. :shock: All three venues have been an hour drive each way, so it's actually more than that.

[Gary Horneck]

I agree. The PAX system sucks. I just run in XP and don't care about the rest. In the end, I just look at RAW times. Some satisfaction in being quicker than, a vette, boxster, or fill in the blank. Top 1/3 of the RAW times, and you are doing good in any E30.

[matthugie]

Actually he was in GS, driving a MkVI GTI.

I hear you on the self-challenge aspect Matt, and I know I'm going to have to focus more on that in subsequent events. I guess yesterday made me realize I'd really rather be doing a bunch of laps back-to-back at a track day than driving for sixty seconds out of every hour I've committed to the day - not including drive time to and from the event.

Yeah, GS is a 3.75 second difference on a 60 second course, STF is almost 5.5. I prefer track driving as well (and am moving towards that) but use autox as practice and a chance to try out some new techniques and setups at lower speeds. They are different styles of driving, but a lot of the general principles are the same.

[bimmerteck]

I'd really rather be doing a bunch of laps back-to-back at a track day than driving for sixty seconds out of every hour I've committed to the day - not including drive time to and from the event.

And now you begin to see why I did autocross for a few seasons and stopped. ;)

[agent]

Actually he was in GS, driving a MkVI GTI.

I hear you on the self-challenge aspect Matt, and I know I'm going to have to focus more on that in subsequent events. I guess yesterday made me realize I'd really rather be doing a bunch of laps back-to-back at a track day than driving for sixty seconds out of every hour I've committed to the day - not including drive time to and from the event.

[matthugie]

There are some events that do reward consistency, but by and large most autox's are done in this fashion. The PAX system sucks, and everyone knows it, but it's what there is. Where it gets you the most is when you run classes like novice or tire, where you are actively competing against other PAX classes.

At first it bothered me, but you end up setting a different bar than what comes out on the score sheet. Figure out who's running times close to yours, or who is barely beating you in class. Set your goals to beating them, then pick a new target once you do. I look at it like a challenge, you're given a handicap and you have to out drive everyone else by that much more. In the end you're really just competing against yourself, as you improve you'll see yourself move up the sheet regardless.

I bet the guy in 2nd was STF, they have the best PAX factor out there. You have to beat those people by 4-5 seconds to be ahead in PAX.

[agent]

Yesterday Lola and I went to what will likely be our final event of the year. There are two more events scheduled, though the next one is Brodeo weekend and I have a prior commitment for the one after that.

Here's run #3. It was sloppy but fun.




Here's my quick run of the day, the 6th and final:




I have to say I'm not at all enamored with the way these things are scored. There's no reward for consistency or for clean runs. I have yet to hit a cone in any of the three events and roughly 20 total runs I've done. The guy who finished second in Novice Class had an issue on every single one of his six (DNF, +2, +1, +3, +4, DNF) and the averages of his times were far higher than mine. The guy who finished first had no cones, but two DNFs.

I had the 4th fastest novice raw time of the day out of 20 cars; 0.422 off the fastest (the novice winner). PAX sucks.

[agent]

Matt's right, it's an M52. Full details in Lola's build thread.

[matthugie]

I believe it's an M52.

[2mAn]

what have you swapped in?

[matthugie]

We have some decent flat lots here, but I have yet to be on an airport lot. And occasionally the course designers can be a bit biased in their design. I ran with the PCA last month where the designer ran a GT3 RS, and he was the only car there that didn't need 3rd. Talking to an s2k guy who designs our local SCCA courses, optimally we both had to shift 9 times. It was a long course (70 seconds), but still.

[agent]

Yeah the parking lots are okay, though what I'd really like to do is a course like the one JCarp90 has near him. I'm hoping the old airport course in Huntsville is more like that one than the kart track we ran last weekend.

It seems the courses we have here - especially last week's at Twin Fountains - are designed for and favoring the Boxsters & Miatas (since that's what most of the regional staff guys run?).

[matthugie]

Looks great Chris! I like those courses, but the surfaces don't look to be all that clean. I'm digging the elevation changes and layouts though, we don't have lots like that around here.