Hillclimb

The recent post from the guy looking to get into racing got me looking at hillclimb.

I've never tried hillclimb before. What's it like? There's one really close to me called the Duryea Hillclimb. It looks like a E36 M3 load of fun. So who's tried it before?

Sub'n!

1) Sometimes, certain events are ludicrously expensive. 2) Events get shut down when people crash a lot. 3) Fun.

How about an answer from the guy looking to do some racing

It was very expensive event for me, and I drove my car up there and drove it down. I am also racing a car I cannot afford to crash, my daily. My friend also is in the same position, he left the track at speed under braking and ended up a wall, climbing out the passenger window. He got super lucky, he managed to make the 500km trek home in the car but there is a lot of cosmetic and odds and ends that were damaged, . Budget for gas if its far, maintenance, accomodations and food. It all adds up quiet quickly, it was about a 600$ weekend. Easier on the car than a trackday though. Almost 10% of the field crashed out, it was very daunting for someone new to hillclimbs. Everything from an SP4 camaro that the guy has had since 18 and been upgrading to a GT3 Cup replica were totaled. In fact of the three 911's present, 2 left destroyed.

On a fun scale, I guess its relative but I would give it an 11/10. I found it to be more spiritual as the competition for many is less linked to your peers but more your personal limits. Its really hard to compare driving talents because setup and big power are so important, plus all the cars are so completely different. What are you willing to do and how far do you want to dance with the devil is what you want to ask yourself. This particular one had very little runoff and straight drops in many places.

In my particular case I told myself I would not push it, but my competitive spirit got the best of me and I went for it on run 5/7. To be honest I didnt know if conditions changed enough that I would survive some of the turns the way I was taking them, basically the elevation changes throw the car out and "track out" for you, and you hope you will pull through. That was a bittersweet moment as I set a good time [2nd in SP2 in a stock SS2 car] but was physically and emotionally drained from that tense 2 min run.

Seat time wise, you pay more than two trackdays between all costs and you get about 7x2min runs. May not seem like a lot between two days, but I opted out of my 7th run. I think its one of the most cool experiences you can do relative to automotive driving. It has a more laid back, vintage feel of a yesteryear event. I guess thats the appeal of pikes peak.

Summary: -dont go if you cant leave with a totaled car -expensive -automotive/racing nirvana

Here is the vid if you are interested:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyX3KkTtaDU

I did hillclimbs, including Duryea Drive, back in the late '60 early '70s. It was very affordable at the time. I drove, and wrecked, a '59 356A Porsche coupe and a '61 356B Porsche roadster. The roadster cost me $200, but it was minus engine. I did my own work and flat towed the cars behind my 240Z. If you live near Reading there are a number of hillclimbs nearby you can visit. Check the PHA ( Pa Hillclimb Assoc) website for the schedule.

That would be: www.pahillclimb.org

I've been involved in one way or another for going on 40 years.

I would suggest attending a couple first, possibly working a corner. Don't worry, we won't stick you by yourself. It needs to be experienced rather than explained.

shadetree30 wrote: That would be: www.pahillclimb.org I would suggest attending a couple first, possibly working a corner. Don't worry, we won't stick you by yourself. It needs to be experienced rather than explained.

I will second that, work a corner first. Stuff can happen in a hurry on the hill, one wrong move and your in a heap of trouble. You really need to come to an event and get a feel for that.

If your up for some traveling, grab a tent and come out to Flintstone MD for Polish Mountain ( http://www.polishmtnhillclimb.com/ ) on August 5th.

A good friend of mine is doing the worker wrangling, we can always use more. For working the corner you get free lunch, dinner, and a tee shirt (and commonly a few other things possibly, possibly even beer) I have worked Polish every year since it came back in 2007.

There is free camping in the field that is the paddock, so you wouldnt have to get a hotel.

Hillclimbs? Duryea? No, not me.... It is a lot of fun. It is dangerous, if you allow it to be or drive something you can't handle. Expensive? Depends. I look at everything based on seat time. Autocross sucks for seat time, but it's cheap. This is better, but not a whole lot more, and it's 4-5 times the cost of a day of autocross. It's kind of like running one short stage of a tarmac rally. Repeatedly. The people are great; most don't take it very seriously and there's a lot of down time, but you don't mind it so much because you're usually sitting in the shade and not on a baking asphalt parking lot like at an autocross. Cheating is rampant, however. I can't tell you how many "incorrectly" classed cars I've seen, and nobody much seems to care. So again, don't take it seriously. I do think it's much more dangerous than a track day because there is a lot more to hit, and it's much closer to the track. But it's only dangerous if you allow it to be. You will need a full racer's complement of safety gear. I compared the cost per minute of hill climbs vs track days and found I got far more for my money at a track, so I don't hill climb anymore. But, it is fun and I'll probably do it again.

Pictures I took at the 2008 Duryea Hillclimb

I hate the first lap or two in a race because the tires are cold.....but that's "normal" in hillclimbs. Great to watch, but I like wheel-to-wheel better.

ddavidv wrote: ... I compared the cost per minute of hill climbs vs track days and found I got far more for my money at a track...

That was my conclusion, and while the speeds at a trackday are probably higher, there's less chance of crashing in a big way. You might spin, but are less likely to go off a cliff or hit a tree, in general. Money-wise and comfort-level-wise I'll stick to trackday events.

Done a couple of hillclimbs, plan to do more. For me, the amount of seat time is a plus but the pucker factor is the best part. I don't think I would HC a DD, I'd look for something you can trailer since if you crash at an HC you are generally going to be pretty far from home.

Two vids:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4I5mpOPrpgg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EY6sMVd3rSY

I need to do some TT events so I can compare back to back, I'm thinking the HC and TT will both have pucker but for different reasons: HC for the vertical terror, TT for the sheer speed on a flat track.

Cool, thanks for the info on Duryea. Travel, lodging, food, etc...wouldn't be an issue for me. I live 30 minutes from the Pagoda, so it's an easy drive too/from and I'd pack food. My car isn't street legal, so I'd be towing it back and forth.

I agree that from what I've seen of it, it seems like it can be a lot more dangerous than HPDE if you really hang the car out there. But like ddavidv said, it's not dangerous if you don't make it that way. Since I never tried this before, if I do it, I wouldn't be going "balls to the wall". Not that I'd go for a slow Sunday drive, but I wouldn't be pushing right to the limits. Since I'm just a novice looking for some fun seat time, I really don't care much about what class I'm in or if I finish 15th or dead last. I just want to get some seat time and have fun.