Great weekend up in Ashland running the Cascade Lakes Hill Climb.

Yesterday when I arrived back up the hill it was 33 degrees and snowing.

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Had to change all my plugs as I was again chasing a stumbling in the motor from Friday. Anyway got that fixed and ended up running the morning session.

So they started the runs about 9:30AM and the road never did get very warm, but it was fun none the less.

Managed to take 4 seconds off my SPU record from last year and today took another second off. The run today should have been 2-3 seconds better, but I missed my "2" shift at the start and totally blew one part of the course. Oh well will have to wait till next year. And it looks like the transmission is coming out next week for repairs.

Here is a video of the run on "cold cold" Saturday. Ha, I'll never complain about the Marina again.

http://youtu.be/JfwSBy8B7a8


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JfwSBy8B7a8


Oh forgot to mention that I had a bit of a mishap during a parade lap when it was WET. Went around turn 4 and put some power down to determine whether the slicks would grip the road. "222" just spun around and went off the course. Good news was that I was able to reverse back on course, but my splitter was destroyed.

So you'll notice the car being loose in the video run.

Good stuff!
Wow, that's a lot of trees!


KT

I don't know about you hillclimb guys. I'll stick to AX.

That looks like fun....

Nice run Randal!

Dan, you understand the question I am going to ask. Turn 3 in the video is the right down hill sweeper, although it closes a bit on the exit. It reminds me of 7 (or maybe 8) at TH that once instructed you could take flat out (clockwise) in a 914. Entering the corner is about 78mph, i.e. top of third at 6500rpm.

I think turn 3 at Cascade Lakes is the same, but haven't had the you know whats to try it.

Umm. Maybe with a wing like we had on The Beast it would be safe flat out. What do you think?

Flat out through that corner would drop your time a couple of seconds as it's the lead into the fastest part of the course.

I got within a second and one half of the well driven Z06's and would have had them, or close, on my last run Sunday, abet missing second when I left the line and a total discombobulation in the first chicane. Ha, going into that Chicane about 95, downshifting and trying to miss all the cones is a lot of fun.

So cool! Great run. Looking forward to doing a hill climb sometime in the future when I get my -6 running.

Nice run Randal! Cool to see an old vintage racer go up the hill so quick! Bet there were not many cars close to half century old running times you ran!

The only car in front of me that wasn't new was a Lola super vee open wheel car that was a screamer.

I would have been right there with that twin pair of FAST Z06 Vettes, but on my last run missed a shift at the start and totally blew the chicane. Still managed to catch up and post my fastest time of the day as the road was 110 degrees in the sun and that made a difference. Think I did get all the other Vette's, Mustang's, Evos, Subi's Miata's and Mitsubishi's and a beautiful Fiat (X19) that had a 230hp rotary. Oh that guy who used to have that crazy fast VW with the 2.3 was running a brand new Subi.

Know I was in the top ten, maybe as low as 7th overall.

Think my transmission needs some Tom Amon effort, although it could be that my linkage got bent or loose or something like that when I had my mishap in the parade lap. Going downhill to the starting line the only way I could get it into first was by reving the motor and double clutching into first. Then the upshift off the start didn't work and I had to find second, so lots of time lost. The Vette's only got my by a second and change. As they say, next year.

And thinking a wing might be a good idea for some downforce on the higher speed corners. But then again wings might not do much until 90mph.

I think your car is light enough that good areo package could help significantly at a hillclimb. I think wings are good for anything over about 40 mph especially on light cars. Challenge for you is getting equal balance front and rear down force and not creating too much drag for longer straights. Your car while quick 0-60 struggles a little as you start going faster compared to high hp cars.

It's really informative seeing your car on faster sections. I think lots of work on areo beyond wings would help you. Something like what Brit did to cover cockpit maybe taping areas that catch wind like right corner of your Ginther screen. think I could see it fluttering in your vid. I used to tape all areas on 914 that could catch wind at track events. My 914 was still a brick however.

Given some of long straights at Hoopa especially that one by checkpoint 10 you will want some that offers balance of low drag and downforce. . I'm looking at more aggressive rear wing for my car.

Believe it or not my Nismo has some real aerodynamic testing behind it and at high speeds the car gains more than one would expect. On track I noticed this as I'd hang with cars having much better power to weight. And down force is noticeable on fast sweepers.

I think with Cantis you will have perfect gearing for turns at Hoopa. I'm convinced the reason my Boxster did so well on the Hill was due to lower gearing in 2 nd with short cantis which I believe is same gear ratio as 914.

...So they still have blacksmith shops that can forge gears for your tranny?

I can't wait for Hoopa!

I've made reservations tonight, so will be going to Hoopa. Staying at the place you recommended.

No question Hoopa is a HP course, but fun never the less.

I'm going to get a cover made for the passenger side of the cockpit which might get more air flowing over the car.

Personally I think MSX will work fine for Hoopa. Kinda wonder if I'll ever top out in 4th, but that straight up to 4 or 7 are pretty long.

Lots of Vette'ss will be showing up, but the twin blue LS6's are fast and fun to go against. Good drivers.

Sonny and Dave are always fast as they bring the right equipment, so getting into the top 5 would be a win for you I think.

And at Hoopa you don't have to worry about SNOW and icy roads.

Results: http://www.ssccmedford.org/hillclimb/2012%20results.pdf

Yes MSX is perfect and you will likely just start approaching top of 4th as you approach braking zone at end of the long straight near top of the hill.

Yeah the Z06 Vettes will be tough. They have more torque and hp than the blown Z. I have a slight weight advantage on SS class Vettes but then put me in the car and it's even again. So I will be about 50 to 75 hp down on the Zo6 Vettes and way down on torque. I'll lose drag races so I need to brake and hold turn speed better than them.

I'll be running OSPO against that Subi that beat the Vettes so guess I have my work cutout for me. Lol! No delusions of chasing down Sonny or Dave in my 3000 lb street legal car. I'd need to loose 500 lbs and gain another 100 hp to chase them!

I saw a bunch of dirt on the right rear wheel of the black Subi after the event on Sunday, so think he might have gone off. He's a very agressive driver and 4 wheel drive with high HP is perfect for hill climbs. Watching him go around 10 at Cascade last year was an eye opener. Crazy fast on the corner, even in the wet.

Also watch out for his GF as she is quick in the car as well.

Actually the two blue Z06's pretty much have their own competition going between themselves. Both drivers (Robert and Bill) run most of the hill climbs, so very experienced. Robert went off on Saturday PM and when you see where he went off he is lucky to still have a car. I mean he was 40 or 50 feet off and missed all the trees. Dave and a couple of other guys had taken all the rocks out of that spot (not the first time someone has gone off on 9) a couple of years ago.

Lots of people will be up at Hoopa with the specific objective to get below a :20. Should be fun to watch.

A BAW will help a lot...but you will need to balance that with a large front spoiler/splitter.
Even in a 914 Clockwise at TH going from 9 down to turn 8 you are carrying crazy speed. Even with wing/spoiler you will probably need to graze the brakes just to set the front...I don't know anyone running clockwise there that goes thru there flat out...
CCW is a different story and lots of cars can go flat there..
We will be running TH clockwise in July...will be the first time that direction for us in about 3 years...will be a learning curve all over again.

Opps.

This is what happens on a parade lap when you test traction on a wet corner when it's still 40 degrees outside.

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The road is pretty rough as you can see here, which would lead one to believe you could get traction..... I mean damp conditions didn't slow down Bill Cooper.

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That's what the road looks like at Reno-Fernley.


KT