Today was an excellent day. After spending an inordinate amount of time over the last couple of weeks replacing all of the vacuum hoses, the fuel hoses, a couple of coolant lines, the brake lines, the turbo waterpump, the clutch MC and slave, and I can't even remember what else, I took the car out for my first auto-x today.

The sun was shining, the course was well laid out, and attendance was sparse, so I actually got in 10 runs. Fellow rennlister Dave was nice enough to walk the course with me and explain the finer points.

I began to get the hang of it during my first 5 runs. In the second 5, I came close to putting together good runs in my first 2 at-bats, but interupted myself with a lurid broadslide in one and by dramatically overcooking the final hairpin in the other. In my last three runs, though, I finally put together solid times that were on pace with the 993 rookies.

The best part about the day really had to do with the car, though: it ran flawlessly and garnered several complements. Although it was in pretty solid shape when I got it, it certainly had some cosmetic and mechanical challenges to overcome. To actually see my gal running like a cham-peen and drawing complements is a great feeling!

Anyway, thanks again to Dave and Z-man for their guidance and kind words, it was much appreciated. I look forward to meeting more of the NJ crowd at the get together on the 17th.

- Neal

 

10 runs? wow thats awesome, sounds like a fun time for your first, now the addiction begins, just remember the best way to get faster is by practicing more, and then alignments and tires. It's alot of fun though, next time take some pictures.

 

Yup, 10 runs, only about 60 drivers so we got in a couple extra runs and were still out by 3 PM.
Nice tio meet you KLR, you put down some great times for a rookie and you'll probably catch on quickly. Too bad you're stuck in M1 where the only one you'll be a threat to is me, it takes a huge budget to make a 944 competitive in M1, skill isn't enough. After a couple more events your times will continue to drop and you will be in a better position what path you want to follow, weather to stick it out in M1 or try S7 or I1. I'm strongly considering pulling the AMWPOS motor and going back to S3 or I1 next season.

 

coulda autox'd today instead of playing with the baby, waxing the new S2, and cleaning the garage so the S2 could go where the firebird was.

found a few flaws in the car that the next owner can agonize over. nothing a little brush against a guardrail wont fix.

 

Oh yeah, Don't worry about how you stand with the 993 rookies, the guys you want to watch are the veterans in similar cars. The performance of the other rookies is all over the map but the veterans are pretty consistant.

 

????

Admit it, she won't let you cross the river, last time you brought home a car!
If you do decide to do an NNJ autox, PNC is probably the easiest for you to get to, ~10 miles from the outerbridge.

 

Neal - it was nice to meet you today. Pretty turbo ya got there!

Glad you had a good experience today. Autocrossing is very, very addicative, so get ready to slide down a slippery, slippery slope!

Congrats on some nice runs!
-Z.

 

tomorrow for me YIPPY.