Yea I was surprised at the Foresters times. You two where making good time in those. What a blast. Had a great time. Thanks to everyone that helped....and helped kill my tires . Will get pics up in a while. I have pics of the yellow bug eye from group three. Is that you?
Well I'm an idiot that's what happened. Man I was so pissed this morning . For some reason I thought the course was at Dunwoody, so when I got there at 7:10 and no one was there I pulled out my paperwork and sure enough, I'm an idiot. So being new to the area I had no idea where to go so I pulled the numbers off, reset tire pressure and went home...........:emo:
And Shane and/or Zak driving my car..... sorry I did not get anyone else. Almost all of us were in group 1 running at the same time.
And the results......... and of course the most important picture of the group. It is hard to tell from the photos but there was pilling and wear on all the bars of the tread pattern. They all slope down to the bas rubber. I know numbers don't mean much but I did manage a 29.063
Yeah, they're not bad in stock/close to stock form. All I got are mearly OK sticky tires(Proxes4) and a WRX rear sway. I was jelous of some of the stickies that a few of the instuctors had. I'll need to get the vids recorded off the camcorder. It's awesome 8mm tape, so OK quality and file transfer is 'play' haha. I should have all the cars in group 1 over several runs both morning and afternoon. I did some chase ones where I followed the cars around the track and did some static vids when coming out the last exit as well as just before and through the Chicago box, so you get some nice exit fun and a little weight shifting action My friend stopped by late and did a tiny, tiny bit of recording group 3. I don't think he did much though and not sure how well, lol. Anybody got a favorite "suprise" car? The blue VW and the red Focus were dominating group 3 for the most part. That red one was doing a whole lot better than the couple other Focuses out there. I kind of wanted to see the one with the carbon fiber hood to kick some butt. The sexiest movement was that black Honda Accord. There was a bit of roll, but it looked so good (and "right") doing it. He was getting some nice times too. I think everybody was suprised(well maybe not everybody,not Mazda fans, lol) by the Mazda3 in I think group 1. Anybody notice tires making a BIG difference?
Yes and that has become a priority in my list of mods now The whole event was interesting and taught me a lot. I liked the fact it's focused on cornering and handling than just raw power. Power didn't help at all here. Matt's time compared to that '06 Corvette was the same, pulling 29's. I definitely got the itch and want to try the "Test and Tune" event :biggrin:
Yeah, I'm going to have to start a "tire" fund to keep doing this. Obviously, they get beat up real quick.
actually not so much, you guys took 21-25 runs on a 97 degree day, most of them without a proper interval to cool the tires. You should expect much less overall wear from an actual event than from something like this. That being said, I still go through a set of tires every summer. I consider it a springtime expense to be shopping for a new set of summer tires, and theyre usually completely dead by september, but I'm not getting street tires that are known for long life, so it never bothers me much.
Glad to hear you guys enjoyed it! Now welcome to the addiction... I just wish i got to take some more instructor runs, but as does happen some times, the timing system tried to crap it's self on me. Working the trailer may be a pretty comfortable and fun job, but being the timing chief is the polar opposite. if those lights don't run, it can end an event real fast. That being said, i had a few passes in my own car, and a few in matt's STI... (one with my little sister in the back seat giving me lip). Matt, all i gotta say is DAMN. you have that thing SORTED OUT engine wise. Fast spool, mad power and torque, it's PERFECT for these kinds of events. The only 3 things i really gotta put forth to ya is: 1. Dampeners. You said yours were going out, time for an upgrade! konis, AGX, something with some adjustability will help alot. 2. Tires. You said it yourself, yours are shot. Get some 245/45-17 Falkens on those stockers, roll the rear fenders and your good to go in the grip department. trust me. those ****ers HOOK UP. 3. Power leveling... get a bigger wastegate actuator, and tune for e85 and you'll be at a HELL of a point for autocross.
Yeah, the sidewalls got a tad beat on, but I think they'll hold up. Or, at least as long as the remaining tread (only about 3/32") does.
Sounds like everyone had a good time... Too bad I couldn't make it out, again! I will be at MOWOG 4 and hopefully the TNT in late July. Now, time to get back to finding a job for the wifey!
And that is where the problem is. There are no adjustable struts for under $2000 for 05+ STi, hell there are no struts for 05+ STi except the factory ones for $280 each with our discount. Have to do coilovers if you want anything other than factory setup. There is only once company I could find that made struts for my car and they are $2k.
Ohlins FTW! I know, they are almost $2k... You will see those on the STi next spring (found a pair of used rear struts to hold me over till next spring).
Outside of the Ohlins fixed perch struts, I haven't noticed any at that price point. That being said, Prodrive is going to be putting out a set of fixed perch struts with springs and bumps from the RB320 for about the cost of the RCE T2 coilovers, but without the adjustability. I've been looking at upgrading my suspension for a while now, and this weekend probably put me over the edge with that regard. I'm leaning toward the KW Variant 3's for my car due to the european-style valving on the struts, which is more desirable for daily driving.
It was a blast. My brother and I are the only ones with Foresters He did better than me as my stock Geolander tires aren't quite suited for turning, braking, accelerating, or just about anything beyond grandma driving for that matter. Wore the sides off the two front tires. Next event I'll take care of the back tires LOL. They looked about new before I started... I used to own a Mazda Protege5 so I'm glad there were quite a few Mazda people up there too. Specifically the non-Miatas kicking butt.
Someone tell one of the mods over at mnautox to activate my damn account. It seems like I've been waiting to post for-e-ver, or more like 2 days.
They'll get around to it. It's actually done manually to weed out spammers, not automated like many other sites. Stuart.
Yea, I registered a few days ago and still waiting. Oh well, better than other forums where you can't even roam around without being a registered user. At least they allow that
Figured I'd show off the RE92 wear, just rotated them to the back (and cleaned off all the cone scuffs ) today.
Me too... I'd love to see the results that were posted, but my account doesn't have a high enough access level to grab the files. Anyone with an activated account that can grab them for me? http://forum.mnautox.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7062
Well, sure I could, if the forum attachment policy didn't have such microscopic limits on the size of PDF files. I just sent a PM to the mods about getting on with approving the new accounts. Don't know if it'll help or not. Stuart.
Rumour has it that all the pending new accounts on the MAC forum have just been approved. So go try it out. Then come back here and brag about how well you did. Stuart.
Haha, I already did my bragging about 20 posts up . Thanks for giving them the kick in the but, stooo. I also got 23 runs. WOW! No wonder our tires got worked. On a side note, it looks like my last 5 runs where the most consistent of the day, even though we didn't have the clock... Guess I learned something!
Yea, I got 23 runs in as well and my fastest times were in within the last couple of runs. Well, back to staring at parts and figuring out new tires!
This is why the Novice School is so good; you just got four normal events worth of experience in one day. That gives you a major leg up on the newbies that turn up not having done the school. Oh, and no kicking involved, just a gentle nudge. Although the mod I spoke to did complain to me that his MNSubaru account still hasn't been approved. Looks like Lazymoderatoritis is going around. Stuart.
Are you a MAC member yet ? TnT days are members only, so you'll either need to join ahead of time, or on the day. And did you get a permanent number yet ? For only $1/year, it makes registration a lot easier. The upcoming TnT at DCTC will have two courses, so getting runs in will *not* be a problem. I'm going to be bringing my old Azenis RT-215s out of retirement to burn up at this event so I don't wear out my new RT-615s. I'll probably put the RT-615s on for some quality runs in the afternoon, though. Stuart.
So...after seeing that the Lacross cruise is getting some video treatment, how about our autocross event eh? I know Back Road Runner was going to put some up :biggrin:
Yeah, I've been lazy on the weekends and working 12 hour days during the week. I should hopefully have the vids up on Sat or Sun. p.s. Anyone looking forward to the Jul 22nd test and tune day coming up?
