...I know you've seen vids and pics, but thought you might want to have an idea of what it looks like to actually drive an auto-x from the inside of the car. I'll also post a vid that I took from my mount outside the rear window...

the car finishing the run as I wait to start is Gabe (gdmaxse) in his 3rd gen...

Click here to see Video

EDIT:
Here's the second vid (forgot to turn the mike on, so no sound)

Click here to see Video

 

Looked like a pretty smooth run there... nice vid...

 

Nice run....too bad there's no room to spray.

 

spraying (or even having the tank in your car) isn't allowed in any autocross or road racing events......not that it would help you.

 

I have some older videos from last season on some sh!ty tires, I would get mad wheel spin coming out of the corners in 2nd gear. Ya need to push harder bro !

 

Actually I ran with NASA one time in Phoenix AZ and buncha older Triumphs where spraying down the straights to keep up with the higher HP cars- on FIR. It didn't help them much as they didn't wanna up the jets higher- risking of blowing up their cars :P I remember passing quite a few of them in my SE-R without a problem even when they where on the gas.

 

2nd gear.....
(the runs on video were in the morning...I pushed a bit harder in the afternoon session...) you like my new sig pic?

 

Dayumn baby ! Look at all that body roll :P I'm supprised ya still haven't gotten yourself a real suspension kit- JIC Magic FLTA2s. I have ZERO body roll, the car does not even move. If you do make sure to upgrade the rear springs to stiffer than fronts, it makes the car drive and handle 100x better- from my experience on B14s and B15s. I am awaiting my stiffer springs and upgraded rebuild shocks from Ziel Motorsports.

I'm willing to bet you would shave more than 2 seconds of your time with a properly set up, corner weight aligned suspension.

My work just signed a contract with the city of Naperville, along with 7 other dealers to build a awesome 2.5 mile long race track ! Track will be used for test driving new cars with potential customers, showing them the ability of the car, and also for us techs to diagnose all kinds of drivability issues.

All I got to say is- I need to buy stock in a tire company as I am going to spend most of my afternoons on the track !

 

yeah, unfortunately, the roads I drive to work suck (as do many roads around DC), so coilovers are out of the question. In fact, several local guys with coilovers are going back to stock for better ride.....eh.....eventually I'll be autocrossing with a real sportscar, so the maxima has to be a compromise between daily driver comfort and autocross performance for the time being.

 

You mentioned road racing Irish. Know of any locally? I'm not down with trying to auto-x (I have a hard enough time parking this blimp!), but a road race course would kick-donkey (no offense to THE Donkey...). If not, well, I know a few local roads....

 

the closest road racing is at VIR in Richmond or at Summit Raceway. The big downside to road course racing is that it's EXPENSIVE (usually $300 for 2 days of runs over a weekend).....while autocross is cheap $25 per event....

 

Its funny that you say look at the body roll blackbird.. While I was watching the video all that I could notice was the lack of roll compared to my car (stock at the moment)

 

whoa...they're building a track in naperville huh. i used to live in naperville about 5 years ago, where are they building, just curious, dont mean to thread jack

 

That was a pretty pathetic track.... you should come down to some of the events down here, the tracks are a lot more technical and involved.

 

Nice run though.

 

Hey Blackbird,

Maybe when you get the track built, some after hours testing? I'm in St. Charles, so Naperville is not far.

 

Good stuff. Different regions all have different sites available. Here's some examples of other courses. I admit road racing offers higher speed and tougher endurance, but as you can see, 60 sec of autocross can be as intense as any thrill ride.

David on a 55sec course in Indiana

Ian on a 60 sec course in Florida

Jason on a 50 sec course in Kansas

Oh, and as far as that Naperville track. After SCCA couldn't afford buying the old railroad site, ideas of sharing the facility were effectively squashed by the city and the dealers. Any unused time would go towards law enforcement and similar practice.