Not sure if this made it to the Msg Board

David and I went to out first SCCA National AutoX in a long time last weekend: The Dixie Tour in south, GA. We're also going to Nationals,and hopefully a few events in between, with the message that "autocross is fun". We think too many people may have forgotten.

To that end, we ran a 2013 Jaguar XFR in the Road Tire class. She was a 510hp beastie, but we eventually tamed her. By my final run I came within a second and a half of our class winner. The only thing we did to make the car perform any better was to discuss whether we should do anything to make it perform better. When we realized that it took 10 minutes to check the oil, e decided a trip to Taco Bell was far more important.

Here's Jaggy, with me at the wheel.

https://vimeo.com/61985622

jg

Autocross is fun. I bought two rolls of painters tape last week to throw in the car for new kids to use. I have magnets but I always see someone wandering around looking for tape and decided that I should be the guy who has some.

A press car. I'm dying over here.

Was that a road course? I could only wish for something that open!

The weekend of March 30-31, Qualcom SCCA event, I will be a tire warmer in a 2008 Z06 running on Hoosier tires. I will be hanging on for dear life, we heat cycled the tires at the last event and saw 1.25 on the G meter.

Last weekend we installed the Pfadt front sway bar. OMG is this a work of automotive BLING.

There are 7 in SS and Gary will have his Viper at the event. I will not come in last!

Yes, I am soooo lucky!

LOL!

Yes, autocross should be FUN!

One of the most fun events I ran was in a 2000 Civic DX Hatchback, with all 105 HP and a slushbox, that I used as a beater to drive to work. I even shared it with a fellow racer whose SM STi was down for a new engine at the time, and we had an all out hoot.

Skinny little tires made it feel like you were doing Mach 3 and the body roll was so bad I thought paint would be missing from the door handles when we were done, but it was a total riot. We both had huge smiles on our faces at the end of the day.

Most of the fun, I think, was that we knew we weren't going to be competitive at all, so we just focused on having a good time. And we did.

I sometimes wonder how many people are like us. My wife and I started autocrossing before we got married, ran a TON of events a year up until 2007 (when I put more effort to the National Convention we hosted), trailed off to just club events to finally running one event in 2011.

I took last year off saying that I wanted some basal cell repair to heal well, but the reality is that autocrossing was becoming a lot less fun. While I have a real dedicated car that I can even vintage race, the drive has kind of gone away.

Seeing people come and go over they years, it would be interesting to address that in articles. BTW, this isn't SCCA events- I think I can count those events on one had. This is all DCSCC club events. And lets not comment about the quality of competitors in club events- we had/have quite a few national champions who participate, and a couple of locals who are faster than they are.

Anyway, since JG and David are returning, on a sidebar, address why you left and what it took to come back. I'm still struggling with that. Including thinking about just one more challenge car. (well, that's actually 2- one Alfa, and one CSP Miata that I can put into the face of the miata.net racers who all think you need to spend $15k above the purchase price to be fast)

dinger wrote: Yes, autocross should be FUN! One of the most fun events I ran was in a 2000 Civic DX Hatchback, with all 105 HP and a slushbox, that I used as a beater to drive to work. I even shared it with a fellow racer whose SM STi was down for a new engine at the time, and we had an all out hoot. Skinny little tires made it feel like you were doing Mach 3 and the body roll was so bad I thought paint would be missing from the door handles when we were done, but it was a total riot. We both had huge smiles on our faces at the end of the day. Most of the fun, I think, was that we knew we weren't going to be competitive at all, so we just focused on having a good time. And we did.

One of my favorite events was driving the "Turd" (wife's 2000 Accent GL 5-spd sedan) with (at the time) 170k miles, 92hp riding on Mastercrap tires on MR-7's. Took a couple runs with 3 passengers. Body roll was ...well... I can't even describe how bad it was. braking? HA! Acceleration? Nada. But everyone that took a ride laughed, giggled and we all had a blast.

I am interested in the Roat Tire class. Assuming there was a small typo, is it the Goat Tire class or the Roti Tire class? Each sounds delicious in its own way!

Good on you. It's very easy to get carried away by better-faster-stronger and downplay the fun. Before I blew up my engine, I ran the e30 325i in an autocross, and while it was probably the slowest car that I've ever autocrossed, it was a blast, using that oversteering tendency to flick the rear end out after each cone.

The only problem is maintaining the enthusiasm when you have to invest 6 hours for 2 minutes of driving.....

4 hours of shagging cones for 8 minutes on course? Inconsistant rules enforcement. No thanks. It used to be fun a long time ago, but the scca has brought an end to that for me

At least you could post a photo of the car. I did not look at the vidio so if it is in that sorry.

alfadriver wrote: I sometimes wonder how many people are like us. My wife and I started autocrossing before we got married, ran a TON of events a year up until 2007 (when I put more effort to the National Convention we hosted), trailed off to just club events to finally running one event in 2011. I took last year off saying that I wanted some basal cell repair to heal well, but the reality is that autocrossing was becoming a lot less fun. While I have a real dedicated car that I can even vintage race, the drive has kind of gone away. Seeing people come and go over they years, it would be interesting to address that in articles. BTW, this isn't SCCA events- I think I can count those events on one had. This is all DCSCC club events. And lets not comment about the quality of competitors in club events- we had/have quite a few national champions who participate, and a couple of locals who are faster than they are.

You and me both. In fact, our involvement with DCSCC leadership has kind of followed the same arc. It didn't help that my club has essentially fallen apart and is no longer a DCSCC member, which is why I joined SCCA a couple of years ago after 10+ years without a membership.

You are right about the talent pool in Detroit Council, too. Some very quick folks run around here. Quick enough to put to rest any dreams I ever had about being nationally competitive.

I'm not saying I'm done autocrossing, but I'm done trying to do well at it. I tried several different cars and setups, won a few times, lost a lot more, and made some great friends and had fun. But with my kids in the tween years and job demands and home improvement stuff (not to mention the small matter of my half-assembled car), I just don't see myself as being that dedicated anymore.

Wow, that's a fast course!

pinchvalve wrote: I am interested in the Roat Tire class. Assuming there was a small typo, is it the Goat Tire class or the Roti Tire class? Each sounds delicious in its own way!

Oops. I just ruined the joke by fixing his typo. Sorry.

My most fun cars were the Fiesta I started with on 12" Sears all seasons, I did my best to wear the letters off the sides. The exhaust would bang the ground under some conditions.

Then the Abomination is a blast because driving it fast is like being Bruce Lee in a kung fu movie: you get attacked from all sides and you can't let your guard up even for a moment.

The Jensenator wasn't a lot of fun at first, too many teething problems. Now that most of that is behind me it's getting to be more fun. It's not as violent as the Abomination but is capable of turning similar times.

In reply to Bobzilla:

One of the most fun things you can do is throw 4 passengers into a sedan and go out acting fooling.

Tom_Spangler wrote: I'm not saying I'm done autocrossing, but I'm done trying to do well at it.

This. I realized early on that I didn't have the time or money to get good at it. I tried a few schools, and figured out that there's no magical secret you can tell me that will transform my times....it is just about seat time.

Having fun is far more important to me than being competitive. I haven't done an event in over a year, but when the datsun is done I'll be back.....I won't be stressing over times, though.

In reply to JG Pasterjak:

More important question, how did you like the Jag?

Has to be fun, otherwise, what is the point? I don't have enough time or money to waste to waste in on stuff that doesn't make me smile. I tend to prefer the events where there is more of a family feel to the events. We are going to drive hard, but we are also going to enjoy an adult beverage and food afterwards. I enjoy the social side of it as much as the driving.

I have had more fun "driving" in Solo2 events when I realized I am at the events to have fun and help.

The Cal Club region has so many National Level Drivers and Champion's that my times when listed in the total PAX table are at best half way down the list. These are the fastest and most helpful group you could run with. When I get close I know it was a good run/event.

When I run tech I have taken the time to reach out to the newbies and point them in the direction of who at out events drives their car and can help. Managing their expectations is just the start to a good experience, we have a Novice group walk and a class that they can run in to see results of other drivers getting started.

Getting to be a tire warmer in a Z06 finds its roots in being helpful.

As one data point, take myself.

I started with a dead-stock Datsun 1200 and really got into autocross (SD Qcom stadium.) Back then the lot was much more wide open and they had some great courses. Of course, over time I started upgrading things, tires, suspension, engine, etc. The high point was being allowed to drive at a Porsche autocross event and it took until lunch time before anyone beat me... but anyway.

All was going well until I went to a trackday event... that changed everything. After that, thinking of spending all day in the hot sun for three 60-second runs started feeling a lot less fun. And the rules... I never paid any attention to them because I was there just for the fun; I didn't care about what class they put me in, it was all about personal improvement. However, I saw people much more passionate than me having a lot less fun because they turned it into a quest, more like a job than fun. Then there were the protests between class front-runners and for me I just didn't have the drive nor want to go there.

No, that first trackday ruined me. I am forever thankful to autocross because it made me a much better driver, but when given the chance to either spend all day for three runs, or go to a real course where there are no sound restrictions (mostly) and being able to drive for three 20-minute(!) sessions, it was any easy choice. I very much respect those who persue it and they'll always be better drivers than I, but I guess it just didn't turn out to be my thing on a fun/time ratio. I do still run trackday events though, where it's great fun to see how well you and your car stack up against much more expensive hardware, that's where my fun is now.

jr02518 wrote: I have had more fun "driving" in Solo2 events when I realized I am at the events to have fun and help. The Cal Club region has so many National Level Drivers and Champion's that my times when listed in the total PAX table are at best half way down the list. These are the fastest and most helpful group you could run with. When I get close I know it was a good run/event.

San Francisco Region is a similar. I used to joke that in many classes, to be locally competitve you had to be nationally competitive. They are a helpful group though.

That's great JG!