Alameda AutoX, ...club members cars... Options

[Scott Carlberg]

Would this be a picture of a 914 withOUT a Front Sway Bar???

[Brad Roberts]

It has a front bar. His orginal setup was for Hoosier DOT tires.. he switched to slicks and didnt change anything but his alignment. I'll be working with him over the next few weeks to nail his car down also. He was complaining of clutch slip.. I told him it was tire slippage... NOT clutch. He needs a limited slip or some serious spring rate changes.


B

[Randal]

Hey, I forgot how to post at the BBS.

Anyway I guess I’ll show up at the next AutoX with a Viagra T-Shirt; looks like we, me and the car, need it. Thanks for the advice Bill!

And thanks to Brad for figuring it all out. Maybe it was easy for him, but no one else has ever told me what was going on. Just keep coming to the events Brad!

Now I know why I’m so tired when I finish a run…it’s tough holding the car up like that!

Makes you wonder how much time your leave out there spinning the wheels, missing shifts and just about leaning into the ocean?

And wasn’t it fun to have Rich out there. Now that guy can really drive.

More events will be coming up at Alameda this year, so check out the GGR website for times.

I think most of the PCA guys feel that Alameda is the best AutoX venue around. The surface is flat and gets sticky in the PM. What?

[tesserra]

Randal needs to be thanked by all for a GREAT course design. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/clap56.gif)
I am sure it took some time.
I am sure glad that the rumored loops did not make it onto the course, those SUK.

Thanks Randal
George

[dan10101]

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/agree.gif)
Thanks Randal for the great course. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/cool_shades.gif) It was well worth wasting a tire for. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/ar15.gif)




More GGR AX pictures

Someone even got a picture of Andrew driving. Something I couldn't do while I was working. Thanks!

[Brad Roberts]

Andrew even shot a pic of Lyressa sitting in here 914 doing homework.


B

[Randal]

Hey George,

Thanks for the compliment. This is the second course I designed, but I must give credit where credit is due. First of all my friend Pat Costin, past president of the Reno chapter of PCA, always lets me know when the course gets to busy.

Also I’ve spent time reading the Solo II Course Design that was developed by Roger Johnson. Roger is actually a very communicative guy who will answer your questions. This is a great design book that is available on the web.

BTW the design book was given to me by Dean Thomas when I told him I was interested in designing a course. Dean is providing some great leadership as the Zone 7 Director of the PCA.

Also I need to mention that the course design changed when we put it together on Saturday morning. The back half of the course was revised so that it would be safer and a bit less busy, i.e., we lost the second loop and added the fast left/right box after the big sweeper at the end. Demick Boyden was pretty much taking care to lay out this section, so deserves the credit.

Also David Leong worked with us on the first leg of the course to add the third box that took - all of us - time to master. I had originally designed the course with a long 600+-foot straight, but when we looked at it we worried it would be a bit fast. After all there is only a 75 foot safety space between the course and the bay.

In the end it ended up being a great group effort and a tough course to master. I didn’t hear anyone say they felt that they had gotten through the first part of the course as quickly as they wanted, i.e., mistake free.

All in all a perfect AutoX day.

[Andyrew]

I loved that track, first part showed me im I could improve incredibly.. (never got it right, dont think anyone did), sweeper (end of track) was incredibly fun!! fethering the throttle, staying right, trying not to loose tracksion (God, now I want to go to the big courses!!!) After the sweeper, foot to the floor (lightly lift for certain turns) till the last problem area. Me and dad where turning in WAY to early, I could never get that corner right, always went way slower than I could (didnt want to spin out, dont like locking up hoosiers) Thanks for the course Randal!!

Brad, I figured that thats who that was.. Just couldnt tell what the heck she was doing that whole time.

Andrew

Pic is of me.. Shameless self glorification (and because I like it)

[TimMartin]

Big thanks to Brad, Andrew, and Bill who all helped me fix my clutch cable so i could drive home. And when i say "help" i mean Brad got down there and replaced it for me while i was working my last course shift. I got back to the car and all i had to do was screw on one nut, adjust the pedal play, and put the interior back together.

Thanks a lot!

I really should bring the car by and have the alignment set up and check to see if i'm running the right combinations of bits and pieces. I can rebuild an engine, machine my own parts, and fix just about anything--but i don't know much about setting up the suspension and tuning for events.

[J P Stein]

He says "Howza about a pic of the TTOD 914, eh?".

We can do that.
Eye candy to me.

[Mueller]

what motor does the TTOD car have???

sweet looking ride (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smilie_pokal.gif)

[Andyrew]

http://www.pca-ggr.org/acresults/041004.html


Results...

Andrew

[J P Stein]

Yowza......4 sec clear. His worst run woulda taken TTOD. Brad musta been helping him (insert needle smiley here (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif) )

I would really be nice to see some details of that car.

[nine14cats]

TTOD went to Steve Nieslony from Sacramento. Hi car is a very light (~1600 lbs) 2.0L 4 banger that's carburerated. Has some mods...but not Raby stuff. He redlines around 7K.

Along with the car, Steve is an awesome driver and a really nice guy. We often pit together at Zone events. And his car is dialed. He never adjusts it at the event. He just gets in and wins. In fact, he was helping me bleed my brakes and helped me finish before going out and 10 minutes later he burns another hot lap.

He is undefeated this year in 2 Zone events and 2 GGR events...

Yikes! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/laugh.gif)

I love watching him drive.... (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Hopefully he'll make the WCC!

Bill P.

[Randal]

This car is very lightweight. I'd bet somewhere around 1600lbs or less. I'll have to ask the original builder again, but when I asked before I didn't get a straight answer.

The motor is a "hot rod" 4 that I know Steve rebuilt last year. My guess is 170-180HP, but Brad would have a better idea - having watch and observed the car last Saturday. The motor just keeps pulling…. sounds like 7500 or higher when he is running.

For some reason it seems even faster this year than last, but he is, I think, still running a 2.0, even though he could run anything he wants in “X” class.

When this car runs you can actually see it accelerate, especially on a closed course like an autox.

Steve has been driving 914’s for 25 years, so knows autox and has the perfect car. When he has lost it was for good reason, i.e., worn out slicks or electrical problems, the latter of which gave him fits last year.

But no question that the blue car (and Steve) were working together last Saturday. The course was at least 4000 feet long, so his 4-second margin was at least 250 feet over the nearest competitor.

[Mueller]

the GT2 must have been fun to watch as well.....is it the car or the drivers or a combination for thier low times?

Fiid, why the "fun" classification?

[Demick]

Top time of day is ALWAYS a combination of driver and car. You just can't get there without both.

That being said, in the 6+ years that I've been autocrossing, I've never seen anyone run away with a 4 second lead like last weekend. That's just plain crazy. I can't really figure out how he did that.

Generally, this was not a 914 friendly course. 914's only managed 2 of the top 10 slots. Last month's autox (which was proclaimed to be a 993 course), 914's took 6 of the top 8 slots. Go figure. TTOD was once again Steve N (same blue 914), but he only won that one by .35 seconds.

Demick

[Brad Roberts]

JP..

I'm almost 100% sure that the TTOD car (the 914) is a Ex Jeff Reitmer car (guy who won just about everything to win at the SCCA AutoX Nationals back in the late 80's early 90's...multiple times.) His wife Staci even won in the 914 several times. If it is not... it is built identical to it.

The driver rocks. He's got the shit going on. I have a car cut down similar to that one right now....


B

[Randal]

Responding to Mueller:

There is no question that the GT2 is a rocket. As to how much is car and how much driver.....most I think would agree to favor the car.

Now the fun begins....

There is so much discussion and positioning over how to tell the best driver. Take a look at the PCA web site and the new complex classification method for trying to equalize cars. The past method was hopelessly unscientific (PAX) as in my opinion the guys putting together the classification were also competitors. Read this a conflict of interest.

I think their new classification method, while interesting, has the same flaws. The people building the plan will always feel that the other guy deserves a higher classification, depending upon whether they are more stock or modified. In other words there isn’t anyone that doesn’t have a strong opinion here.

My view is that a plan needs to be a true handicap plan, like golf or horse racing, to be successful.

Of course, the only real way to tell better driver or car or combination thereof is to set up a same cars, same track comparison.. Even then people will find something to complain about.

[EdwardBlume]

I've drooled over Steve's car many times. He's a good guy and great driver. He was my first AX instructor at the AX school just about 3 years ago. Seat time with Steve is well worth it.

Demick is right on about the blend of car and driver. Then again, Demick tips the scale on the driver side of the equation for a Bi car. Yeah, I'm kissing your butt Demick as I'm typing underneath my two 2nd place GGR plaques.