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First SCCA Autocross of 2009
This past weekend featured the first SCCA Autocross event of the new season at FEDEX field. It was a chance to test out my new suspension and tires. During the winter, I picked up some Hankook Ventus Z214 competition tires from Frisby Race Tires. For a while, they had a special on the C50 (medium) compound in 205/50R16 for about the same price as a regular street tire. So I grabbed a set, repainted the white Kosei rims, and had them mounted up. (The new rim color is as close to “brake dust” as I could find, thus saving time from cleaning.)
Sunday turned out to be in the ’90s — very unseasonably warm for April around here. I was worried about overheating the new tires on their first use. They were not heat-cycled so I knew they would be a bit slippery anyway, but I’m very happy with them. I ran with 38-40 lbs in the front and 35-37 lbs in the rear. I can probably drop it down a pound and start off with 35/33 cold instead of 36/34 which I had. The new springs are also a bit softer than the old ones, but once I got used to them I could make them work for me. I dropped 2 seconds over the four runs, with the last two runs being exactly the same down to the thousandth of a second. Odd.
I came away from the event thinking I hadn’t done that well, but ended up placing 6th out of 16 in my class (street mod). I always compare myself to G Stock, which is where I probably should be running, where I would have placed second. One day, maybe I’ll bite the bullet and make my car eligible for that class again.
SCCA Autocross Event #7, 9.28.08
Today was the final SCCA event of the year at FEDEX Field for the Washington DC Region. The course was long — almost double the usual length. With some tricky off-camber turns and off-set slaloms, it was too long to try to memorize so you tried to pick out the tricky parts and ride out the rest. The day was rainy off and on. We made it through three runs in the dry before the final run in the wet. Thinking it was going to be wet all day, I decided to run the Azenis instead of my V710s. It was probably a good choice for a drying course. I also recently switched to Hawk HP plus brake pads which really had much more grip than my old tired EBC pads.
WDCR SCCA Autocross Event #6, 8.30.08
I haven’t managed to make any of the local SCCA autocross events so far this year. I bought a season pass last winter, but as it turns out, I had to work during the first five events. I enjoy the longer courses the SCCA runs, but don’t enjoy the events as much — everyone is so much more serious than at the BMW or CDC events. Nonetheless, the SCCA events are a good way to measure your progress. At least some people in SM still don’t take it too seriously.
Today’s event was in the A lot at FEDEX Field outside of Washington DC. The course was very fast, with a couple of seriously off-camber corners that caught out many of the high horse-power cars in AS. There was also a slalom that you cold enter from either the right or the left. To enter on the left, you had to modulate your speed in the corner leading to it. This proved more challenging for the rear wheel-drive cars than the MINI. If you entered on the left, you exited at a better position for the turn following the slalom.
I scored mid-pack for Street Mod which is much improved over last year where I was in the bottom 10 percent. I found some more pictures posted on SMUG.
