Tiff shot a few!


B

How does he get the ass end of that car so low? When I move my collar down on my shocks my sport Konis bottom out. He must have shorter springs?

Yep. Short springs.


B

asdfqw

That trailer looks to be less than two car lengths from the track.

I see a number of things in that last shot that trouble me.


KT

like all the cars in the back parked right next to the track. next to a high speed sweeper and a braking zone.

that is asking for *big* trouble ...
Andy

How did you take those shots? A hot air ballon?

You mean shorter shocks, right? Since having a shorter spring would get you to bottom out the shock quicker. Unless there was a custom/longer threaded perch on the rear.

Thats right. The shock has to be shorter too. Shorter spring will bottom out the shock just as easy. Maybe I need to raise the top shock mount?

Anyway sorry for the high jack thread.

IF I had been participating in that event there would have been some major changes made.....

Get all those damn cars and trailers away from the far end for starters....get the timing trailer back from the course.
get the grid area further from the exit

Yoweee

I'd get that truck out of the staging line too.

They had NO where to go. No place to park. What you cant see is the TMR people lined up right next to them. The TMR group could have done a better job and OPENED THE GARAGES..or rented them. This would have freed up some space.

The pics were taken from the backside of the grandstands.. I did take some shots from a hot air balloon a week or so back!!

If you are running 10inch springs on your Koni.. then you are out of room to go lower on the threaded perch. If you are running 8inch springs then you have plenty of room to go down. With 400+ rates.. you dont need more than 1/2 inch of shock travel.

He is not running anything special in the rear of that car. I rebuilt one side of it 2 years ago when he split the chassis. I welded on a new ear for him and aligned it.



B

Brad,

Thanks for taking the pics.

Yep - nothing special in the back of the #21 - just springs with height adjusters. Remember all the suspension was done about 20 years ago with technology available at that time.

As far as distances... we stayed >20 feet away from all fire lanes (back straight and curve at the far end. The Fire lanes are pretty wide and then you see the cars parked to the left, the grid and on the far side (by the 'sweeper') The trailer was also 20-25 feet away from the track and we positioned the bus stop chicane to slow folks down and allow then to gain control control prior to coming near the trailer. Overall it was a very tight fit with over 50 entrants and some DE entrant taking up our grid space on the far side toward the lunch room.

Despite the long straights, speeds were pretty tame since there were some technical sections that forced folks to slow way down. I only was able to grab 3rd for a second on the section running parrallel to the grandstands.

Steve

Steve,

It was a pleasure seeing you run. It put a big smile on my face I really miss the NorCal crowd!! You are one of the many reasons why I continue with 914's in AutoX. It was really cool to see you "hand" someone else the reigns and instruct her how to drive.

Thanks for all that you do. The car looks great with the Club URL on it!



B

there was really NO more room in the paddock for an AX; and it was a slow course. although it looks problematic from the photos, i think in reality it was a least more safe

To highjack again...I just measured mine in the dark and they seem to be 7", I should have all the room I need. Mine have a 250# rating. I got to get busy...

Make sure your Koni clip is on the bottom and check the inside of your threaded sleeve. Some of them have a deeper lip inside on one end than they do on the other. Just depends on who you bought from. You may need to flip it over for max "down" movement of the threaded collar.


B

Right....

The course is so geometric. All square corners. Is that the usual style for California Autocross courses? The Northeastern style is curvier and uses less cones.

Every time a California driver designed a course for Nationals it was that style. Never saw gates so wide.

Mike T

That was Sacremento Valley region. They set things up a tad different. Randal and others have been pushing a "system" that follows the SCCA rules for building courses. It is tough when you have so many "Porsche" people (mostly business people) who all want it done "their way" or you have somebody coming through behind your setup making changes as they walk...(kicking cones)

I think I have driven all different styles.. didnt really bother me. I have a hard time with the "small road course" style. I like more technical than high speed. I leave the high speed for the track were we have trained rescue people.



B

I think the cone-lined road courses are sorta silly. A/x courses should have "gates" that you pass thru. I don't even line lay down pointer cones.
The layout should have a flow to it and shouldn't have cones to trick you.
But everyone has thier way of doing thinks.

Heres the bottom line

It was Nov. 11th and they are out AutoX'ing..LOL

I'm happy to have "anything" at this point.

Course layout is the least of my concerns!



B

My favorite course/venue of all time was from Reno/Stead three years ago.

They called it a "street" course. No section was ever narrower than you would find in a residential neighborhood.

And it had this three cone slalom on a 1200' straight. the fast guys were approaching 100mph

Why don't we run there anymore?


KT

There were several clubbers there that day, too.

Randal, Bill, Brad, Andy, Birgit, Jason, Steve and me. Some others, I'm sure.


KT

Pat Costin ran the event. After Pat finished his tenure as President of the P club in Reno, no one would step up to run the event. In fact I don’t think the club is running any Autoxes; although they might be cooperating with the SCCA on a few.

If there was enough interest, we might be able to talk Pat into running it again.

Stead has to be one of the world's best Autox venues.

Why dont you contact Fred from SVR and have him warm it up?? Fred was at Sears running his black 996 last weekend (parked next to Trekkor)


B

Reno '04 a/x

I'll mention this to Frederick at TH on Dec. 10th

I wonder how many Bay Area/ Nor Cal drivers would be willing to go to Stead for a two day Zone event?


KT

Not just the Bay Area people, but there were always lots of SVR people that came up.

Everybody likes Reno on Saturday night.

Ha ha.. I recall the Gay Rodeo!!


B

That was a trip!

Another Weekender event at Reno would be great! Although you will need to speak with Matt Deter who is the Comp Director for SVR since he took over from Fredrick.

I enjoyed the last event at Stead - and yes going through a slalom in 4th gear was... exhilirating, but the 90 degree turn at the end was what really grabbed my attention -

Autocross designs... I have been autocrossing since 1980, always in NorCal so seeing angular corners has been around that long... they are tricks and are intended to seperate those who know how to technically drive vs those that just follow cones from corner to corner or gate to gate. There are times (like our last event in Stockton) where we had a simple lay-out that at first blush looked easy but in reality there were subtleties that sperated the real fast from the fast.

I agree with Brad... we are just plain silly happy to still be autocrossing (or DE-ing with great weather) in mid November - woo hoo!

I'll run what ever they lay-out, whether they have boxy corners or round corners... course completely lined with cones or mostly gates, etc... It is supposed to be a challenge and as 'new' as possible with each event. I only dislike overly fussy/busy, counter intuitive, non-flowing courses.

Steve

First off we do not like SCCA rules. Yes are a Tad different. Lines are not the course but a lot of drivers think they are. As steve has said the course was technical and very safe at the speed we could get up to.

Course was fun for the space we had. Plus drove the Boxster this time and got to learn it. Still prefer the 914.

mike

Not their rules.. per se.. just use their course design guidelines They follow one book. I'm not a huge SCCA fan, but they do turn out some awesome drivers.

Hi Mike!

We will have to get you into a prepared Boxster with a real alignment!



B

WE use our designs as we normally have lots of beginner drivers and at least the lines help them follow the course.
mike