Pics and vids from todays snowfest/Summer Series #1 SCCA autox

[E30Dan07]

Thanks for posting pics of our cars! It was good meeting you too.

[blefevre]

That's part of the challenge. You don't get a whole day to get it right, you get 3-4 runs. It means that instead of just getting to drive it over and over again, you have to use your coursewalks to interpret the course. It's not for everyone, but the people I find least interested in autocross are also typically not particularly fast drivers overall.

Oh don't get me wrong, not bashing autox one bit. I really like the idea of the challenge that autox is and understand why people do it. I just want to drive for fun, which makes autox less appealing.

And now I learned something about fast and furious wings. :)

[Bimmerman325i]

On wings:

You can generate downforce at low speed - sometimes as low as 20mph. Some autocross cars generate several hundred lbs of downforce at 60mph. When you're optimizing your aero for very low speed, it is totally different. Not to say Darren's RX-7 is optimized, but you can make useful aero for autocross.

This. Aero downforce is a function of wing angle of attack, which is why autocross aero profiles are more of a vertical wall than anything else.

The (incorrect) prevailing wisdom is that aero makes no difference at autocross speeds, yet all the aero FSAE cars were consistently 5-6sec/course faster on a 35sec course. Those cars rarely hit over 60mph.

[iamsam]

yeah I dunno, 3 runs makes it kind of not worth it... I'd rather miss 2.5 autocrosses and spend the money on an open track day at HPR, but hey...

And yes, I suck at autocross, which further reinforces Chris's point! Then again, my primary goal isn't tp get super good, but just to have fun. That's what we are paying for, right? ;)

EDIT: +1 on rally. INSANELY more fun in every way, more challenging, and WAAAAY cheaper, and waaaay less crowded. As in We were the ONLY ones there.

[monkeytaco]

That's part of the challenge. You don't get a whole day to get it right, you get 3-4 runs. It means that instead of just getting to drive it over and over again, you have to use your coursewalks to interpret the course. It's not for everyone, but the people I find least interested in autocross are also typically not particularly fast drivers overall.

I'm all about the autox and rallyx, I like the challenge and the atmosphere of the whole event too. I would rather have more laps than less though, it used to be much more before so many people started coming out. More is better and worse at the same time...

Rallyx on the other hand you can get quite a few runs in because people don't like to beat their cars as much, or something. And as Sam can testify, its highly addictive and crazy fun. We'll be going out to CORE again very soon to drive all their rally tracks... ($10 for the day. Yeah that's value.)

:)

[fsmtnbiker]

Only 3 runs the whole day? That seems like very, very few for the $$.

Autox is rather lame like that. I still want to give it a shot at least once.

That's part of the challenge. You don't get a whole day to get it right, you get 3-4 runs. It means that instead of just getting to drive it over and over again, you have to use your coursewalks to interpret the course. It's not for everyone, but the people I find least interested in autocross are also typically not particularly fast drivers overall.


On wings:

You can generate downforce at low speed - sometimes as low as 20mph. Some autocross cars generate several hundred lbs of downforce at 60mph. When you're optimizing your aero for very low speed, it is totally different. Not to say Darren's RX-7 is optimized, but you can make useful aero for autocross.

[blefevre]

Beat to death; but doesn't downforce only become beneficially generated at 85-100mph? Did you guys hit those speed at Auto-X?

Not saying the cars isn't fast at all (never seen it) just that those crazy aero wings are more Talladega, than track-day.

From my limited aero knowledge, yes, he really isn't getting any useable downforce unless he is sustaining 70+ or so in the turns. However, he might take the car to a track and not just autox, where it would be very useful.

[colorado_cabrio]

Downforce. And that car is very fast.

Beat to death; but doesn't downforce only become beneficially generated at 85-100mph? Did you guys hit those speed at Auto-X?

Not saying the cars isn't fast at all (never seen it) just that those crazy aero wings are more Talladega, than track-day.

[blefevre]

Only 3 runs the whole day? That seems like very, very few for the $$.

Autox is rather lame like that. I still want to give it a shot at least once.

[monkeytaco]

Only 3 runs the whole day? That seems like very, very few for the $$.

[clarkkey594]

WTF is up with the wing on that Mazda?

Downforce. And that car is very fast.

[colorado_cabrio]

WTF is up with the wing on that Mazda?

[boosted_E30]

I'm 19STX btw, I had to change my class last minute which kinda sucked

My second runs my shift knob came off, shifting into second and I was getting pissed!

[clarkkey594]

Holy bodyroll

[blefevre]

You were soooo close to two wheels. I thought you would do it with the stock suspension!