First autoX for me since 2008

[wawazat??]

Tired of seeing Ben's name everytime I look at the competition section:p:D

Off to lovely Wurtsmith AFB in Oscoda, MI for a weekend of autoX. First event since 2008 and only the second time in my 5 speed car. Wish me luck as I'm running in SM (street mod) and expect to be anihilated by the competition:rolleyes:

Todd

[benebob]

Then get on your a$$ and start driving away those blasted records that seem to be in the bullet proof glass ceiling.;)

Have a great time and enjoy the name in the comp. section.:p

[immortal_suby]

Good luck Todd!

[benebob]

Good luck Todd!

Cough... err... don't ya mean Chad?:lol:

[wawazat??]

Well I had a blast:D Unfortunately, I was a bit too slow to do much damage and took third out of three in SM. Typically, SM in the Detroit region draws a lot of cars but this event was 3 hours north of the city and was a Great Lakes Divisional series so not many SM cars were out. A lot of the field has Nationals experience so the drivers were fast. Me, not so much.

Thanks for the positive thoughts Ben and Matt.

Todd

[wawazat??]

I had a number of things cross my mind while shagging cones watching a variety of cars trounce my times last weekend.

1) I'm getting close to the end of times with my SVX. I've owned it now since '95 and it has served us well. This latest incarnation (manual trans, Recaro seats and stripped down autocross car) will be it's last with me. The car is not competitive in any class within SCCA's structure and its not as interesting to me as it was in the past. She's not fast enough for speed courses nor agile enough as a momentum car. Neither are part of the SVX DNA. It's an oddity at an event and on the roads around Detroit (not a bad thing) but I need something else these days.

2)I'm not sure what will be next. I sold my truck, so towing a non-street legal car to an event is no longer an option. I need a street legal car that is more capable around the cones, more powerful and more readily open to modifications. Also, capable of performing well at autoX and possible track events.

When I'm ready to move along, I'll offer her up here first. If I don't get what I expect from her, she'll be dismantled and parts offered up.

[LetItSnow]

She's not fast enough for speed courses nor agile enough as a momentum car. Neither are part of the SVX DNA.
Even with the mods I carry, the car still gets killed by its super slow steering ratio. Still, with R-comps and a steering gear change (how?), it might hold up locally, but it would get crushed at Nationals.

[Ricter]

2)I'm not sure what will be next. I sold my truck, so towing a non-street legal car to an event is no longer an option. I need a street legal car that is more capable around the cones, more powerful and more readily open to modifications. Also, capable of performing well at autoX and possible track events.


Sounds like you want a Miata*.

*Minus the 'more powerful' part that is.

[icingdeath88]

Even with the mods I carry, the car still gets killed by its super slow steering ratio. Still, with R-comps and a steering gear change (how?), it might hold up locally, but it would get crushed at Nationals.

If there was enough interest :lol: we might be able to get some quicker-ratio pinion gears made for the SVX. That is a huge "if" though. They've been done for other cars, the MR2 for example, but they're far from cheap.

What is an R-comp?

[wawazat??]

Miata:confused: You sound like a Grassroots Motorsports forum guy. I've driven them but they didn;t do much for me. Same with a BMW E36 M3. Nice but, meh. Not sure what I want though the two competing virtues of light-weight, stellar handling (Lotus Elise, tweaked Miata) and heavier, high HP(Corvette, 2012 Boss Mustang) were impressive to watch on the same course. Similar times with wildly different tools.

Guys in Canadia were willing to look at modifying an SVX rack a couple of years ago with the intention of creating a quicker ratio. Over $1k. Like a lot of things I would like to do, I can't justify the investment when the car isn't worth much and if I took it off to sell it here, you guys would just low-ball me:p:D

R-comps are racing tires. I looked at a set recently but came away with the same concerns. Too costly to justify on the car. I also happen to compete in a very strong region for autoX (Detroit-who'd a thunk it???) so even if the car were tweaked, I'd still be cruched. When I was at my peak in 2007 in my more fully developed '95 when I was racing about every 2nd weekend, I was still getting killed by over 4 seconds on a 40 second run. I know I'm rusty now but I was getting trounced by 10 seconds or more (on a 555 second course) by others in SM (5 speed swap classes the car in Street Modified- a class I'll never come close to competing in).

[icingdeath88]

Or maybe give these guys a call: http://www.unisteer.com/custom_built_rack_pinions.html

[wawazat??]

Again, the investment is hard for me to stomach on the SVX.

The SVX has a fatal flaw for autocross in its very design; the engine is cantilevered out ahead of the front axle. All Subaru produtcs use this design, but the six cylinder cars are the worst offenders due to their longer engine block. The use of the strut suspension alos limits dynamic camber gain like an A-arm equipped car. Not saying that all cars that use these elements are poor handling vehicles, but it is something that starts the car off in a hole compared to other platforms.

Combine this with a lack of available modifications for more power, better handling (I already have Koni/GC package installed), and enhanced braking, I'm left with stripping out weight and doing things on the cheap. The car, if I had a justifiable budget, wold get a fiberglass hood, front and rear anti-sways, and the big brakes I've had for years now. Even with those things, its still handicapped by lack of reliable power upgrades and at 150k I'm not sure how much I want to stress the engine. The bushings are all 20 years old this December:eek: and she's getting old.

I use autoX to keep her moving so she doesn't get stiff and to her credit she is running well. She returned 20.3mpg on the combined road trip and a day and a half of autocross (90% freeway on the road, a lot of idle followed by flat-out throttle blasts on the course). I filled the tank after a straight highway blast on the way home (slighly higher than legal) and got 25.3mpg. No complaints there. She did however break the plastic clip that engages the window drive motor on the drivers side yesterday so that's another thing to fix.

[Earthworm]

So you admit you're not able to compete against the national level drivers. I doubt that's only the fault of the car. :)

What I would be interested in would be if you swapped cars with one of them and see how close your times are. I did that once and the other driver beat my best time of the day by almost 2 seconds in my own car.

Last time I ran was around 2 years ago and I ended up 18th out of a total of 51 drivers in raw time including those running R's. I was using street tires.

[wawazat??]

Oh, I fully admit that the nut behind the wheel needs to be tightened David:D I'm just reluctant to spend money on the car for the meager enhancement it will ultimately bring.

Your times in the SVX were great. I was in the bottom 10% of the pack last weekend and was getting soundly spanked by a wide variety of cars and classes.

Todd

[LetItSnow]

I did that once and the other driver beat my best time of the day by almost 2 seconds in my own car.
At Evo School a few years ago, Corey Ridgick drove my Pearly with me in it around the course they'd set up. The time he set? Well, after I dropped seven seconds over the day, he still had me by four seconds, even though he'd never driven the car before and he had his mass as ballast added to when I drove alone.

Trimming four seconds off of this season's three events so far, I'd be first in SM and third in PAX. *sigh*

[benebob]

Honestly, the SVX can be locally comp. in some regions in the GS class, once you get out of that you're gonna see the car loose time against the competition in an autox, simple reason. Nationally, you need to have the car of the month set up the same way as the big boys). There is no quality aftermarket support for the car that is fully tested and developed. It did fairly well locally in E Prepared but that is an expensive proposition. It'll be sad to see ya sell but I completely understand. I think you'd have trouble getting into a TVR (well more likely out) and reality is it won't be the most comp. car either as you're going against the big boys in AS. I'm hoping to go down to one of Harry's Mercedes autox this summer. Still not sure which car to take as the TVR is pretty well suited but undergeared and 80s brakes, the XJR still scares me at full throttle and no traction control.

Is there a future for you standing by the side of the road cursing yourself for buying a Mini?:D

[wawazat??]

Thanks Ben. I agree with your comments. Unfortunately, many classes up here have top notch drivers with nicely developed cars. I forget the progression based on mods; GS, STX, SM...after those I'm lost. Obviously, EP from your message but what about Street Prepared? Is it ESP? If so, I'll get spanked by the local Mustang guys up here. There are a bunch of them locally. If its FSP, I'll get spanked by Neon, Rabbit and Civic drivers. Again, Detroit-go figure!

Yeah, I've been scratching my head thinking about options but a MINI won't be one of them:lol:

Todd

[benebob]

Thanks Ben. I agree with your comments. Unfortunately, many classes up here have top notch drivers with nicely developed cars. I forget the progression based on mods; GS, STX, SM...after those I'm lost. Obviously, EP from your message but what about Street Prepared? Is it ESP? If so, I'll get spanked by the local Mustang guys up here. There are a bunch of them locally. If its FSP, I'll get spanked by Neon, Rabbit and Civic drivers. Again, Detroit-go figure!

Yeah, I've been scratching my head thinking about options but a MINI won't be one of them:lol:

Todd

EP and FP are the real prepared classes that have been around since the dawn of solo. They're for full race cars with very little in the way of streetability or those pesky ricer type mods. Its what we ran the racer in. All that you can do is keep your engine as it was delivered but cams, pistons, compression and that kind of stuff is all open etc. Body can be pretty much gutted to the point it is as stock as a "stock" car.

Don't scratch your head too much (you still have so hair at your age right;)) as there just isn't anything out there today that screams to me I gotta have. Thenew Morgan Trike looks promising, until you see the price for a Harley engined vehicle. If you were just looking for a toy car not a autox/trackable ride I'd suggest the last of the 4 cylinder Esprits as they are dirt cheap at the moment. Will start climbing in the next couple of years like the S1s have but a solid condition good driver can be had for around 10 grand. Not bad at all for the fastest car in the US in 0-60 times from 1987-90. I'll just stick with the stupid fast TVR (once lots of those Rustang 3.7 duratec find trees and ditches). 300hp, 2050lbs, a 51/49 weight dist., 6 speeds, true go kart handling/road feedback and 80s brakes, what isn't to love.:lol:

[wawazat??]

Sorry Ben, but the thought of an old British car regardless of how cool the Esprit may be, has little appeal to me.

Close your eyes, but I'm actually thinking of returning to my Ford roots and getting a Mustang. Good power from the factory, lots of mod potential, cheap (used-not new), and reliable ('05 and up). This will be a toy car and occasional driver so I can leave the autoX suspension and tires on her all the time. It's the best candidate for me right now.

Todd

[benebob]

Sorry Ben, but the thought of an old British car regardless of how cool the Esprit may be, has little appeal to me.

Close your eyes, but I'm actually thinking of returning to my Ford roots and getting a Mustang. Good power from the factory, lots of mod potential, cheap (used-not new), and reliable ('05 and up). This will be a toy car and occasional driver so I can leave the autoX suspension and tires on her all the time. It's the best candidate for me right now.

Todd

Ah, they're plenty reliable, just so long as you keep a couple around.:lol: Actually, aside from a broken belt on the TVR and of course the sorting period involved in getting anything that sat for 10 years running right, I've had less issues with the Brits than I had with any Subaru I owned except my first Impreza. You just gotta keep feeding 'em gas faster than your Ram.

You'll need to leave that autox suspension on it. My summer pool kid has an 11 GT and I think my XJR would outhandle it. Nice engine, definately a little on the heavy side and a made to sell a bunch cheap rear suspension and seats. It does okay on decent roads but we don't have many of those here. You remember Potholevania right?;)