sm

I'm considering going and was just wondering what to expect, being a first-timer and all...

MJones

Just go and expect to have a whole bunch of FUN!

nile13

I'll be there this Saturday, instructing.
Expect to have fun. Expect to be frustrated by your times. Expect to get hooked. Expect to come back next Saturday for the next event.
Don't worry about results. Make sure that you have an instructor in your car for every run. That's the proper way to learn things - autocross is _very_ counterintuitive to what we learn on the street.

N_Halbert

It is hell! Don't do it! You'll be sorry..........................................you didn't do it sooner.

It is a lot of fun. Plus I think you would be in my class.

The weather forcast calls sun, 75-80. There is usually drinks there but bring some water and some cash for registration an lunch ~$5. They ususally put in an order to a local sub shop or BYOL. It is an old air stip so there is no shade, sun screen, hat, confortable cloths. You will want to empty out the car before you get there. That includes the cubby's in the back. Just bring the basics, flat repair, compressor and tire guage. A helmet if you have one, otherwise they have a couple of loaners. There are also instructors available.

Look forward to seeing you there.

sm

Hi everyone,

Looks like I won't be able to attend , despite really wanting to go after hearing all the positives. I'll try to make it to the next one...

Have fun!

nile13

SM, there is an NCR event next Saturday.
Too bad you didn't make it today, it was a very long course and a lot of fun. The weather was perfect. We talked with Neil about possibly missing you there, weren't sure if you attended.
So, see you Saturday, hopefully.

sm

Ah, once I saw the perfect weather, I knew you guys would have a great day. But family obligations prevented me from being there today, so I'm *hoping* to be able to sneak out next Saturday.

I was able to play a round of golf yesterday, so don't feel too bad for me

BTW, what's the top speed you guys reached today on the course?

nile13

I'm not sure what the top speed was. I know it was below 60 mph, as I didn't hit a limiter in second gear anywhere.
It was a fairly unusual course for a Porsche event - very technical and not requiring much power. Just turn, turn, turn early enough. That's why the two FTDs weren't Porsches.

N_Halbert

It wasn't very fast. Top speed may have been 50 if that. Times were 1:49 - 2:10 for the tops in the various classes. It had a strange rythm or lack of one, meandering from side to side of the runways and around the access road. May have been 3/4 of a mile. The only point that seemed to flow was the last couple of gates before the end.

There was one section where at speed even the best of them could not find the course. In the morning there were over 30 OC's. Including the course designer twice.

nile13

Neil, did you see our little lineup when Mark went off course? Somebody got it on video, actually, and I'd love to see that.

I think the course was longer, probably 1.2 or so miles. It was fairly slow. There was rythm, actually. The trick to the course was pretty simple - be very early on every gate on the back straight. If you are not, you're dead - slow for that entire stretch. If you are early through the hairpin, you're fine and in rythm to the finish. Took me a while to make the car behave the way I wanted to, though, as it was pushing everywhere.

Oh, in a great irony, I lost raw FTD to bill in Super7 by... 0.03 seconds. That's 10 times faster than a blink of an eye. And if we take average speed to be, say, 41 mph, that translates to 21" difference. But I'm not bitter

sm

Ah, something always comes up when I'm ready to do some real driving. I found some drops of oil in my coolant, so auto-x-ing is out of the question until the problem is fixed. Now I just need a garage to work in