WDCR Autocross Practice Event 4/6 Update with Video - TriStateTuners.com :: Home of Tristate Auto Enthusiast

piknockout · 04-09-2008, 04:17 PM

Video of 4th run of 52.2xx seconds: http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fu...deoID=35033876

Cliffs: First event, new setup, in the rain, against a national level driver, took the first place in STX!

So it's finally that time of the year again, where cones sprout from the asphalt and we do our best to avoid them.

WDCR held the first event of the season this past Saturday, a non-points practice event to work out the kinks before Event #1 on April 20th. Once again I am piloting the Spec V in STX...but with a few big changes. The biggest change was upgrading the suspension from the non-adjustable Tein Basics with 6k F/R springs (roughly 350lbs springs) to Koni yellow single adjustables with Ground Control coilovers running 500lbs front and 550lbs rear springs. In addition to the suspension changes, new wheels/tires were ordered, bumping up from 17x7.5 et45 Rota Subzeros with 235/40/17 Falken Azenis st615's to 17x8 et42 Motegi LC5's with 245/40/17 Bridgestone RE-01R's. Everything was installed in the last two weeks, setting the alignment back to it's previous setup of -2.5 camber and zero toe. There was a little bit of minor street testing, but no real way of knowing what the car was going to do.

After calling for 65 degrees and sunny for Sunday all week, the weather turned ugly with a high of only 50 degrees and raining, continuing to get colder throughout the day. While this did not provide the optimum conditions to test the new setup, it was still a good time to knock off some of the rust and refresh myself what it was like to dodge cones 5 months ago as this is my first event of the year.

As an added bonus, I recently found out that Cy Lee, a formidable STS national level competitor, had decided to add a Quaife LSD to the 1989 Civic Si over the off season and make a real run at STX in 2008. For reference, Cy finished 20th in STS at the 2007 Topeka Nationals with a raw time that would have been good enough for 10th in STX...without the LSD. This was going to be interesting. Last year Cy consistently beat me by about 1-1.5 seconds depending on course length and layout. This should be a good gauge at least.

First run, it had just stopped raining so an okay amount of water on course. Not to mention not know what the car was going to do on top of not driving for a while, so we'll not go too all out. Managed to pull out an STX leading 56.1xx on the first run...until Cy came out and topped it with a 54.6xx. Here we go.

Second run drove a bit harder and crossed the line with a 54.3xx. Woot! Oh wait...yep, there goes Cy with a 53.1xx. ARGH!

Third run, cars feeling pretty good in the wet and puddles are going away...just wet asphalt now. Start really trying to push the car and find the limits, but apparently I was far off before. How does a 52.8xx sound? Cy comes across with another 53.1xx. Could this really be happening?

Fourth and final run I go out trying to be a touch more aggressive in spots where I knew I was being conservative. Didn't expect much more than where I had finished previously, but knowing that third place was back in the distance, it was time to lay it all out. Besides, this is a non-points event so what does it matter, right? Finished the course and really surprised myself with a 52.2xx. Now is when I watch and wait for Cy to come through with the "hero run" and just destroy me...but alas, it never came. Good thing I went faster as he finished the day with a 52.8xx and giving me the (practice) win!

Now granted, I have NO idea what the car is going to do in the dry and I know that was Cy's first event this year in that car with the LSD. But this was also my first time with an entirely new suspension and wheel/tire package. Trying not to read too much into it as there were a lot of factors at play, but hopefully it's an indication that the car/driver may actually have a miniscule chance at not completely sucking at Topeka in September. Still a whole lot of time and driving left to answer that question though. I'm doing a Test and Tune this Sunday, which should hopefully be dry with 20+ runs to get the car figured out and knock some more rust off. Cy and his co-driver Chris Shenefield will be there as well, so hopefully I can use that comparison as a gauge to see how close I "could" be. Wish me luck!

Sorry for the long read! Wanted to wait until the results were posted, but there seem to be some issues...I'll update once their posted as I'm interested to see where I PAX'ed.

piknockout · 04-10-2008, 07:56 AM

Also a funny story from the day that I forgot to add. This is where you can tell it's been a while since I've autocrossed. On my second run I get myself all strapped in and ready to go. As I pull up to the line, the starter asks me, "Do you plan on wearing a helmet out there?" DOH! I had it right there in the front seat, which I would have quickly realized when braking into the first turn. I'm glad he noticed, but man I felt like such a noob.

Also just found out that results are up...finished 3rd in PAX out of 175 competitors, the top ST* raw time, and only one PAX second behind Sam Strano.

Yeah, I think I just got really lucky this past weekend, but we'll see how the season turns out.

Tigawoods · 04-10-2008, 11:50 AM

congrats! i cannot wait until i start. the harness bar cam looks like a good idea, i need to make a harness mount for mine

piknockout · 04-10-2008, 12:16 PM

It's actually a headrest camera mount, but thanks!

Roto · 04-10-2008, 01:23 PM

You had fun and I plowed through some cones in JR's car at Philly's training event...

piknockout · 04-10-2008, 01:41 PM

How was that? Some of the video I saw looked like a lot of rain throughout the day for you guys. We just got it in the AM and then it was done.

Roto · 04-10-2008, 01:57 PM

Same was here...lots of rain in the AM (working the course was fun, my fingers got so cold it was difficult to let g of te flg :-D ), but it cleared out in the PM. There were tons of runs and I got to torturethe WRX a little... overall it was a great day. I just wish I was in my own car...

SpEcRv9 · 04-10-2008, 05:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by piknockout

It's actually a headrest camera mount, but thanks!

headrest cam mount ftw....its like our seats were made to hold cameras haha...

piknockout · 04-10-2008, 08:45 PM

It actually works amazingly well. Some of the best $30 of parts I've purchased.

FocusDude · 04-11-2008, 11:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by piknockout

On my second run I get myself all strapped in and ready to go. As I pull up to the line, the starter asks me, "Do you plan on wearing a helmet out there?" DOH! I had it right there in the front seat, which I would have quickly realized when braking into the first turn. I'm glad he noticed, but man I felt like such a noob.

LOL, did this first run at SJR- DOH!

Quote:

Originally Posted by piknockout

finished 3rd in PAX out of 175 competitors, the top ST* raw time, and only one PAX second behind Sam Strano.

Congrats, 3 of 175 requires a little more then luck, no?

Will we be seeing you up at Warminster this year? I think I only saw you run at one SJR event last year, but yea my jaw was on the ground the whole time, your way to fast!

piknockout · 04-12-2008, 08:50 AM

Only Warminster event I "might" be at is the Holbert. Every other Warminster event conflicts with either a D.C. event or A.I. event, both at Fed Ex. And if you've been to Fed Ex, you know you run there first before anywhere else. Especially when it's only about an hour away versus two hours for Warminster.

And I am writing it off for what it is for now. One data point does not make a trend. At the moment, it's an anomaly.

FocusDude · 04-12-2008, 09:46 AM

I've never been down to Fed/Ex, and probably won't be until the youngin's get older. I'm still a little bitter I never got the chance to run at Ripken. Hopefully you can make Holbert, 2 days of sunburn and fun :P

Good luck down there

piknockout · 04-14-2008, 10:21 AM

Thanks man! But if you can get the chance to run Fed Ex even once, you'll wonder how anyone can autocross on some of the other lots.

FocusDude · 04-14-2008, 07:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by piknockout

you'll wonder how anyone can autocross on some of the other lots.

it's real easy, don't spoil yourself on those nice smooth lots

piknockout · 04-15-2008, 08:56 AM

Here you go, more video...to see how it does in the dry. :D

From the D.C. Test and Tune this weekend. The car felt really good, but still wondering if I should increase the rear bar just a tad. Others that rode said the car felt good, so I'll probably leave it as is for now and then adjust some things later.

http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fu...deoID=32406777

04-10-2008, 07:56 AM	#2
piknockout Tri-State Addict Join Date: May 2006 Location: Aberdeen, MD Member #1855 My Ride: 2006 Subaru STi iTrader: (0)	Also a funny story from the day that I forgot to add. This is where you can tell it's been a while since I've autocrossed. On my second run I get myself all strapped in and ready to go. As I pull up to the line, the starter asks me, "Do you plan on wearing a helmet out there?" DOH! I had it right there in the front seat, which I would have quickly realized when braking into the first turn. I'm glad he noticed, but man I felt like such a noob. Also just found out that results are up...finished 3rd in PAX out of 175 competitors, the top ST* raw time, and only one PAX second behind Sam Strano. Yeah, I think I just got really lucky this past weekend, but we'll see how the season turns out. __________________ 2006 Aspen White Subaru Impreza WRX STi - *To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.* - *2007 Black Audi A3 2.0T 6MT S-Line* 3 STU - 2006 Philly STX Champ - 2007/2008 WDCR STX Champ - Sponsored by To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures. Last edited by piknockout; 04-10-2008 at 08:54 AM.

04-10-2008, 11:50 AM	#3
Tigawoods Tri-State Post Whore Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: PA/MD Member #2030 My Ride: 95' Toyota Celica iTrader: (0)	congrats! i cannot wait until i start. the harness bar cam looks like a good idea, i need to make a harness mount for mine __________________ To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.

04-10-2008, 12:16 PM	#4
piknockout Tri-State Addict Join Date: May 2006 Location: Aberdeen, MD Member #1855 My Ride: 2006 Subaru STi iTrader: (0)	It's actually a headrest camera mount, but thanks! __________________ 2006 Aspen White Subaru Impreza WRX STi - *To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.* - *2007 Black Audi A3 2.0T 6MT S-Line* 3 STU - 2006 Philly STX Champ - 2007/2008 WDCR STX Champ - Sponsored by To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.

04-10-2008, 01:41 PM	#6
piknockout Tri-State Addict Join Date: May 2006 Location: Aberdeen, MD Member #1855 My Ride: 2006 Subaru STi iTrader: (0)	How was that? Some of the video I saw looked like a lot of rain throughout the day for you guys. We just got it in the AM and then it was done. __________________ 2006 Aspen White Subaru Impreza WRX STi - *To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.* - *2007 Black Audi A3 2.0T 6MT S-Line* 3 STU - 2006 Philly STX Champ - 2007/2008 WDCR STX Champ - Sponsored by To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.

04-10-2008, 08:45 PM	#9
piknockout Tri-State Addict Join Date: May 2006 Location: Aberdeen, MD Member #1855 My Ride: 2006 Subaru STi iTrader: (0)	It actually works amazingly well. Some of the best $30 of parts I've purchased. __________________ 2006 Aspen White Subaru Impreza WRX STi - *To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.* - *2007 Black Audi A3 2.0T 6MT S-Line* 3 STU - 2006 Philly STX Champ - 2007/2008 WDCR STX Champ - Sponsored by To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.

04-09-2008, 04:17 PM	#1
piknockout Tri-State Addict Join Date: May 2006 Location: Aberdeen, MD Member #1855 My Ride: 2006 Subaru STi iTrader: (0)	WDCR Autocross Practice Event 4/6 Update with Video Video of 4th run of 52.2xx seconds: http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fu...deoID=35033876 Cliffs: First event, new setup, in the rain, against a national level driver, took the first place in STX! So it's finally that time of the year again, where cones sprout from the asphalt and we do our best to avoid them. WDCR held the first event of the season this past Saturday, a non-points practice event to work out the kinks before Event #1 on April 20th. Once again I am piloting the Spec V in STX...but with a few big changes. The biggest change was upgrading the suspension from the non-adjustable Tein Basics with 6k F/R springs (roughly 350lbs springs) to Koni yellow single adjustables with Ground Control coilovers running 500lbs front and 550lbs rear springs. In addition to the suspension changes, new wheels/tires were ordered, bumping up from 17x7.5 et45 Rota Subzeros with 235/40/17 Falken Azenis st615's to 17x8 et42 Motegi LC5's with 245/40/17 Bridgestone RE-01R's. Everything was installed in the last two weeks, setting the alignment back to it's previous setup of -2.5 camber and zero toe. There was a little bit of minor street testing, but no real way of knowing what the car was going to do. After calling for 65 degrees and sunny for Sunday all week, the weather turned ugly with a high of only 50 degrees and raining, continuing to get colder throughout the day. While this did not provide the optimum conditions to test the new setup, it was still a good time to knock off some of the rust and refresh myself what it was like to dodge cones 5 months ago as this is my first event of the year. As an added bonus, I recently found out that Cy Lee, a formidable STS national level competitor, had decided to add a Quaife LSD to the 1989 Civic Si over the off season and make a real run at STX in 2008. For reference, Cy finished 20th in STS at the 2007 Topeka Nationals with a raw time that would have been good enough for 10th in STX...without the LSD. This was going to be interesting. Last year Cy consistently beat me by about 1-1.5 seconds depending on course length and layout. This should be a good gauge at least. First run, it had just stopped raining so an okay amount of water on course. Not to mention not know what the car was going to do on top of not driving for a while, so we'll not go too all out. Managed to pull out an STX leading 56.1xx on the first run...until Cy came out and topped it with a 54.6xx. Here we go. Second run drove a bit harder and crossed the line with a 54.3xx. Woot! Oh wait...yep, there goes Cy with a 53.1xx. ARGH! Third run, cars feeling pretty good in the wet and puddles are going away...just wet asphalt now. Start really trying to push the car and find the limits, but apparently I was far off before. How does a 52.8xx sound? Cy comes across with another 53.1xx. Could this really be happening? Fourth and final run I go out trying to be a touch more aggressive in spots where I knew I was being conservative. Didn't expect much more than where I had finished previously, but knowing that third place was back in the distance, it was time to lay it all out. Besides, this is a non-points event so what does it matter, right? Finished the course and really surprised myself with a 52.2xx. Now is when I watch and wait for Cy to come through with the "hero run" and just destroy me...but alas, it never came. Good thing I went faster as he finished the day with a 52.8xx and giving me the (practice) win! Now granted, I have NO idea what the car is going to do in the dry and I know that was Cy's first event this year in that car with the LSD. But this was also my first time with an entirely new suspension and wheel/tire package. Trying not to read too much into it as there were a lot of factors at play, but hopefully it's an indication that the car/driver may actually have a miniscule chance at not completely sucking at Topeka in September. Still a whole lot of time and driving left to answer that question though. I'm doing a Test and Tune this Sunday, which should hopefully be dry with 20+ runs to get the car figured out and knock some more rust off. Cy and his co-driver Chris Shenefield will be there as well, so hopefully I can use that comparison as a gauge to see how close I "could" be. Wish me luck! Sorry for the long read! Wanted to wait until the results were posted, but there seem to be some issues...I'll update once their posted as I'm interested to see where I PAX'ed. __________________ 2006 Aspen White Subaru Impreza WRX STi - *To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.* - *2007 Black Audi A3 2.0T 6MT S-Line* 3 STU - 2006 Philly STX Champ - 2007/2008 WDCR STX Champ - Sponsored by To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures. Last edited by piknockout; 05-27-2008 at 07:46 PM.

04-12-2008, 08:50 AM	#11
piknockout Tri-State Addict Join Date: May 2006 Location: Aberdeen, MD Member #1855 My Ride: 2006 Subaru STi iTrader: (0)	Only Warminster event I "might" be at is the Holbert. Every other Warminster event conflicts with either a D.C. event or A.I. event, both at Fed Ex. And if you've been to Fed Ex, you know you run there first before anywhere else. Especially when it's only about an hour away versus two hours for Warminster. And I am writing it off for what it is for now. One data point does not make a trend. At the moment, it's an anomaly. __________________ 2006 Aspen White Subaru Impreza WRX STi - *To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.* - *2007 Black Audi A3 2.0T 6MT S-Line* 3 STU - 2006 Philly STX Champ - 2007/2008 WDCR STX Champ - Sponsored by To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.

04-12-2008, 09:46 AM	#12
FocusDude Tri-State Post Whore Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Lower Lower Bucks Member #6269 My Ride: 01 Focus ZX3 iTrader: (0)	I've never been down to Fed/Ex, and probably won't be until the youngin's get older. I'm still a little bitter I never got the chance to run at Ripken. Hopefully you can make Holbert, 2 days of sunburn and fun :P Good luck down there __________________ 2001 Ford Focus ZX3 - To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures. - To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.

04-14-2008, 10:21 AM	#13
piknockout Tri-State Addict Join Date: May 2006 Location: Aberdeen, MD Member #1855 My Ride: 2006 Subaru STi iTrader: (0)	Thanks man! But if you can get the chance to run Fed Ex even once, you'll wonder how anyone can autocross on some of the other lots. __________________ 2006 Aspen White Subaru Impreza WRX STi - *To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.* - *2007 Black Audi A3 2.0T 6MT S-Line* 3 STU - 2006 Philly STX Champ - 2007/2008 WDCR STX Champ - Sponsored by To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.

04-15-2008, 08:56 AM	#15
piknockout Tri-State Addict Join Date: May 2006 Location: Aberdeen, MD Member #1855 My Ride: 2006 Subaru STi iTrader: (0)	Here you go, more video...to see how it does in the dry. :D From the D.C. Test and Tune this weekend. The car felt really good, but still wondering if I should increase the rear bar just a tad. Others that rode said the car felt good, so I'll probably leave it as is for now and then adjust some things later. http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fu...deoID=32406777 __________________ 2006 Aspen White Subaru Impreza WRX STi - *To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.* - *2007 Black Audi A3 2.0T 6MT S-Line* 3 STU - 2006 Philly STX Champ - 2007/2008 WDCR STX Champ - Sponsored by To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 signatures.

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