Woohoo!, First successful track outing for "914R" Options

[campbellcj]

Had a nearly flawless day today at the Streets of Willow with POC. Started off with my son (Logan, 17 mos) waking up coincidentally at 4:20am with a cough...my alarm was set for 4:30. Here ya go Mommy...I was on duty last Sunday...fire up the coffee pot, quick shower, and I hit the road.

I froze my gonads off on the way to the track. It was around 35F in the high desert, and of course I have no heat, no interior, and no radio to take my mind off it. Once the sun came up, it turned out to be a spectacular SoCal day. Probably 75-80'ish and extremely clear; no wind. My face is sunburned and I was wearing SPF30 sunscreen and a hat all day. What weather for early January. Gotta love this place...

Anyhoo, all day long the car was nearly flawless. I think we have a winner here (the car, not me (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif) . I put the car in V4 class, which is where the significantly modified factory -6's and early 911's (small motors) run. Had I gone into V5, which is the modified 4-banger class (944's and 914's mainly), I would have won, and in a bigger group too. I turned two 1:21.7 -ish laps, one of which was during timed runs. I averaged around 1:24 throughout the day, which included a significant amount of traffic/passing as well as numerous spins and offs (yellow flags).

My best time ever in the Ravenna car on this course layout was around 1:27, and I would have been very happy after my 15 month hiatus and brand new car doing a 1:25 or 1:26 -- so the 1:22-25 times all day were bitchen (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

Only things that flaked out somewhat are that my seat moved a litle bit. I don't like that...bad @#$%. Also the sub belt loosened up a couple times, and I figure the two things are related somehow. The engine, trans, suspension, brakes, and whatever else there is...all worked great.

At least one more event with the 4-banger. Willow big-track on Jan 15th, just a test/fun day. Then it comes apart again in February for the six conversion and remaining safety equipment, assuming the budget holds together.

There are at least 2 "hot shoes" in my POC class, running the Streets in the 1:16 range. So my work is cut out for me. I'm sure I could break 1:20 with my current car setup and enough seat time. There is way more car than driver, which is a good thing when you're learning. So hopefully with the 2.2S - spec sixer (180-200HP) and a switch to Hoosiers from the Kumho Ecsta V700's, we can find about 4 seconds.

Got to meet some cool new folks, including Drew365 from the web boards as well as another Chris with a nice blue 73 2.0, and see a few familiar faces too. John Williamson ("Otto") took TTOD by the way...around 1:11 and that was on some severely flat-spotted/blistered tires. They were screwing with brake bias all day, but he kept locking up one end or the other. This is the "Rudy" car (3.8RSR Motec engine, cut roof & ginther screen, around 1800lbs).

Sorry for the rambling report. Pics to follow - right now it's time for beer, food and sleep.

[Jeroen]

Hey Chris,

Way to go!
Good to hear the car did so well
Post pics asap, will ya?

Cheers,

Jeroen

[drew365]

Chris; I meant to tell you at the track that your car sounds really strong coming up the front straight. It has a much deeper solid sound to it than any of the other 4's out there. Good showing on your first outing!

[brant]

yeah....

can't wait to see the pictures
congrats...

I'm very jealous...

post pictures when you can

brant

[vortrex]

sounds like a lot of fun. so since I know nothing at all about racing, can you tell me how you got everything setup to do this? do you have to be a member of a club? have your car inspected? some experience behind the wheel? what does it cost? how many laps do you get? are there people out there, like me, newbies? where can I see the car classification rules? besides a car and helmet is there anything else needed to get started? is there a schedule of events like this somewhere?

[Van914]

Chris,
How much massaging did it take to get the 7" wheels to clear. What wheels are you using Fuchs, Cookie cutters or ?
Thanks
Van

[campbellcj]

OK, here are some pics. I didn't shoot a whole lot, cuz I kinda had my hands full just trying to remember how to drive.

http://www.nosubstitute.org/events/SOW5Jan03

[campbellcj]

Chris,
How much massaging did it take to get the 7" wheels to clear. What wheels are you using Fuchs, Cookie cutters or ?
Thanks
Van

Pretty significant rolling and pulling. I keep meaning to take a close-up pic but I haven't yet. We did it so there's extra room to fit Hoosiers, which run wide. Right now I'm running the Kumho Ecsta V700's, 205/50's on 15x7 Cookies (they're cheap and I think they look decent). I will be picking up a set of 16x7 Fuchs with Hoosier R3S03's within the next couple months.

[campbellcj]

sounds like a lot of fun. so since I know nothing at all about racing, can you tell me how you got everything setup to do this? do you have to be a member of a club? have your car inspected? some experience behind the wheel? what does it cost? how many laps do you get? are there people out there, like me, newbies? where can I see the car classification rules? besides a car and helmet is there anything else needed to get started? is there a schedule of events like this somewhere?

I suggest opening up a new thread on this one. It's a fairly involved topic and you'll get a lot of good advice here on this board.

The "usual" starting point is stock-class autocross, which requires minimal special equipment, is low cost, and provides car control training in a non-intimidating (relatively slow and obstacle-free) environment.

You are in PCA Zone7 territory, I think, and there are tons of events near you. PCA, SCCA, POC, and other groups all run up there.

I actually do maintain an "aggregated" event calendar on my web site, but I have not loaded up the 2003 schedules yet. I mainly focus on SoCal stuff, but will also list NorCal and NV/AZ events sometimes.

[tahoward]

Great pics. Lets see, there its 80 out and you're racing. Here, in OH, I'm looking at more salt on the roads after yet more snow! Do a lap for me.

[krk]

Hey Chris,

Thx for taking the time to write this up. For those of us currently distracted by other things, we get a chance to enjoy some of the details of the development of both your car and your driving. The pics were great too. Good luck!

kim.