stripethree

Comps: 56.654 (+4), 54.887, 53.687, 54.200 (+1)
Time Only: 52.817 (+1), 53.339 (+1), 53.516 (+1), 54.934 (+1)

I don’t have much to say about this event that hasn’t been said before. This was good practice for San Diego since it necessitated more than just the initial 1-2 shift, as I was hitting third outbound into the top loop. Unfortunately I thought about it too much and missed shifts and did not look ahead at the course appropriately, both of which cost me time. While my best competition run was good for 9th out of 16th in the PAX category and 10th of 57 overall, I was still 2 full seconds behind the fastest STX car, and there were two other STX drivers ahead of me in the top 10.

One more event before San Diego and it is next weekend at the airport in Bisbee-Douglas.

The first event of 2009 in Tucson, the first event I ran registration in Tucson, and the first event I ran in the PAX category in Tucson. By the way, I also run the website now, which has a fresh look for 2009.

The night before was hectic as I was plagued by technical difficulties trying to print the 107 forms needed for the event. My new-ish laser printer’s toner failed on me and I then went through 2 and a half inkjet cartridges on my other printer, which happily dog-eared every page. Luckily a nearby Walgreen’s is open 24 hours with cheap ink refilling. On site went well, there’s a few things to tweak for next time, but it was smooth. I was anxious since that was quite a large group to handle first time out.

My participation in the event was not quite as successful. Cones on every comp run left me 11th of 15 in the PAX class. Even with more cones, I couldn’t match my best raw time in TOs either. The course was fun and fast though.

I’ve been up to many cars things of late, but what else is new. I took a Solo Safety Steward class here in Tucson last Saturday which was very informative, and I also finished a website for the newly established Arizona Chapter of the Audi Club, North America. It’s not much yet, since we don’t have a lot going on, but hopefully it will grow along with the new chapter.

Next up is probably Evo School in Tucson, maybe the Phoenix event in February if I get tires in time.

The last event of the year in Tucson.

I coned away my best two runs and had to settle for a half second slower raw time on my fifth run as my best. Time only runs lead to the discovery of another 4/10ths, even after I thought the car was going as fast as it would go that day.

Comp: 52.717, 52.071 (+1), 51.109 (+1), 50.796 (+1), 51.216
TOs: 50.850, 50.604, 50.868, 50.331, 50.687 (+1)

I could take solace in the consistency of my TOs runs except that they don’t really count and, well, the STIs and Evo out yesterday pretty much ruled the show. I finished 17th in both raw and PAX times with 942. I am assured of winning the series in STX Open, which means I will have won all three this year in Tucson: Spring, Summer, and now Fall. Next year I am going to run PAX instead to see how I can hang with the top drivers in the area. I will probably get my tail handed to me, but I also hope to learn a bunch and keep improving. There is one more event this year, next weekend in Phoenix, and after that, the car will get some work done on it. New front struts, new camber plates, and hopefully some freshened brakes are on the menu before the first event of 2009.

Double trouble in Tuscon this weekend, with a double event to make up for no event last month due to an issue with obtaining the site. We ran the course pictured above in the morning then switched the start and finish to run the course again, with a few additional tweaks to account for some bad pavement and gravel. The afternoon course actually turned out better than the morning course; it flowed better and wasn’t hampered by a large gravel trap in the loop.

During the morning event I ran 49.995 +2, 48.846, 49.141, and 49.378 which was good for 13th overall, 8th with PAX, and 970 points. The afternoon event I did just as well running 48.995, 47.845, 48.055, and 47.830 which put me 13th overall, 9th with PAX, and 957 points. Both events I beat the rest of the STX Open field (5 cars in the morning, 4 in the afternoon) but over a second and a half, and I was on the heels of the top set of drivers running in the PAX category. The PAX category is usually were the top drivers run and go head to head with one another despite having cars in different classes. I’m considering running in the PAX category for a series or two next year to see how I can fair against the toughest competition.

Here’s the video, again a little washed out. Either the tape is bad or the camera is not doing well, I really hope it’s the former. My passenger on some of the runs is a local Mini driver who has never autocrossed but I managed to convince her to come out, watch, and ride along. Jana got to ride in a nationally competitive G Stock Mini driven by the current DSP National Champion and I think that sealed the deal in convincing her to bring her Cooper S out to drive soon.

The final event of the Summer Series and hopefully the final event on these toasted tires.

Not a great showing, but good: 58.491 (+1), 56.811 (+1), 56.446 (+1), 56.535 in comps and 55.584, 55.379, 54.742 in TOs. The top PAX time of the day, Mike in a Subaru WRX, drove my car for a run in TOs and threw down a 54.776. Even though I was able to match it in my last TO run (it took 7 shots to get there), that should show me a few things. As in, there’s still much for me to learn about how to handle this car on an autocross course. My best time was good for 2nd of 3 in class (also how I finished the series), 16th/13th raw/PAX with a 919/1000. I have some work to do to stay on pace with the other top two drivers in class, much more to do if I am going to try and catch Mike, who put down a 51.937 in his car as his best competition time.

Last weekend was another Tucson event and another reminder that I need tires. Badly.

It was a short course because of a drag racing test and tune going on. I did not fair well and I can’t fully blame the tires. I need to learn how to drive in order to compensate for these things. I finished third of three in STX for the second straight month with times of 47.367, 45.293 (+1), 45.907, 45.924, 46.006 though I swear I thought my 4th run was a clean 45.294… we’ll see. It doesn’t change my place in my class though and even if it was a 45.294, that’s a full second behind the class leader. Afterward, a few folks stayed behind to do a test and tune to prepare for upcoming national events. I took a ride in a fellow STX car, a Subaru WRX and it certainty seemed more tossable than the R. I also got a wild ride in an XP Lotus Elise, and drove an FS Mustang GT. That drive sold me on Dunlops because they simply would not let go.

As for the GTI, I traded some speakers I no longer use for a rear strut bar from Black Forest Industries and also started to bring the bumper and door trim back to life. So far, the black Kiwi Leather Dye seems to be doing the trick and the trim is looking fantastic. Pictures will come once I get it completed, right now it’s about a third of the way done. It will have to wait though, as next week I am off to San Diego with Mom, Dad, and Phil.

I spent the better part of Saturday starting at the underside of my cars. I have handfuls of parts for the GTI, mostly maintenance related items, and I got started whittling down that pile. New distributor rotor and cap, new ignition wires, new spark plugs, new leather gear shift and emergency brake boots, new wiper blades, an added rear sway bar, and a few other odds and ends got taken care of. The partial tune up has the car running even better, I still would like to change the oil but am waiting until after I can pinpoint the small leak as well as clean the air filter, change the fuel filter, and throw on some other new parts.

I also finished up an install I started on the R32 last weekend, an auxiliary radiator fan to help with the engine cooling. The kit is pre-built but the wiring is setup to run whenever the car is on, which is not exactly what I wanted. So I routed the wiring through a hidden toggle switch that I mounted so that I can manually control when the power is on. I also got a little creative when I had to cut the fender liner to provide a vent for the fan.

That was all well and good and things went well with both cars. Working on the Mk2 is a little slower because I am not as familiar with some of the challenges it presents, and I end up spending a good amount of time with my head buried in my Bentley manual.

Yesterday was the second event for the summer series autocross in Tucson. It was not my best showing. I (partially) blame the tires, my nearly bald Falkens, especially the ones on the rear end of the car, as they caused me headaches trying to fight to find the right pressures and find some traction.

Competition times: 40.779 (+2), 41.648 (+1), 41.526(+1), 41.960, 41.417
Time only: 42.645, 41.471, 41.286, 41.354, 40.945

That put me in 3rd of 3 in STX, 22th raw, 20th PAX, 924 points. I was three tenths off 2nd in class, a half second off first. I am trying to hold off on buying new autocross tires for the fall series, as as I was planning on running in Tucson, Sierra Vista, and Phoenix, so at least 9 events. I don’t know if I can wait that long though, there’s two more Tucson events before that and one more Sierra Vista event (their fall series starts in August, not September, but I’ll be in San Diego and will miss is anyway), so we’ll see. Either way, yesterday was a learning experience. It took me all day but I figured out what pressure can help combat the oversteer that occurred with the rear tires having almost no tread. I still faired ok, I suppose.

Video of yesterday’s event should be up soon, seems my usual video hosts are having some issues.

Course Map:

Times:
Comp: 48.193, 47.238, 46.990, 46.728, 46.139
Time Only: 46.908, 47.017 +1, 46.712 +1, 47.310

The 46.136 was good for 13th raw, 6th! PAX and 965 points form a field of 54. Not a bad start to the Summer series. The E30 M3 came in about 0.85 seconds behind me and I was the third fastest car on street tires out there. Excellent.

Results

Video:

April. The roller coaster continues.

First heat, first run. Deja vu? Yes. I come back to grid with the driver side front tire hissing and losing pressure fast. Fannnnntastic. This time, however, I was more prepared. Back to my parking spot, borrowed an electric impact, and did a Nascar style tire change. First of all, the installed stud kit makes it so much easier to swap a wheel. Second of all, I’m buying an electric impact gun, as that makes it even easier to swap wheels. Beautiful. I got all my runs, competition and time only, and even managed to beat out the E30 M3 that usually whips me. I take that with a grain of salt however since the driver hadn’t run in four months and was shaking off rust.

Competition runs: 59.643, 58.794, 59.065 +1, 59.812
Time only: 59.560, 60.200 CD, 60.396 +1, 60.211

The CD on my second time only, well, I came in way to hot into the last section and had the choice of either missing the last gate or making it but probably losing enough control to wipe out half the finish. The former seemed like the better option, so such is life. My competition times were good for 23rd overall, 15th in PAX out of a field of 59 and 936 class points. I think I adjusted well to having to run on mismatched front tires and was pleased with my performance. I notice that I didn’t pick up any time in my second set of runs, and I think that mostly because I got overzealous in the parts that required more patience, the U turn in the first third of the course and the offset slalom in the beginning of the last third. In both spots my right foot was a little too heavy, trying to roll back into the throttle earlier that I should have. Lessons learned.

I forgot my video camera for this event, so no in car video this time around.

Competition runs: 56.909, 54.254, 53.914 +1, 53.796; good for 27th in raw times, 22nd in PAX with 903 points. Glad to be in the 900s and happy to see other STX cars out there also. An ’87 BMW 535 gave me a run for my money and had me beat on his last run had he not hit a cone in the final slalom. I ended up ahead by 0.012 seconds. It was that close.

Video: