AutoX today - MD - thanks

[newsvx]

The following are the results at Sunday's Mercedes Club Autocross. Note that the times are all in the SCCA "index'ed" times. As an example, the SVX is in G Stock, and the index is .781, so the raw time for the course is multiplied by .781 to arrive at the "index'ed time". The will be a different "index time" for each class, depending on such things as power-to-weight ratio. You will note that Bill Cutlip di REALLY well, finishing 5th overall!

1) Audi S4 Avant (wagon) 28.352 sec

2) Focus SVT (Tom) 28.719

3) Mitsubishi Evol 29.225

4) WRX 29.621

5) SVX (Bill Cutlip) 29.731

6) Honda S2000 29.895

7) WRX (modified) 30.000

8) SVX (Harry Newman) 30.032

9) Corvette 30.172

10) Mustang 30.243

11) Porsche (Mike Wirt) 30.817 (It must be noted that Mike had a significant distraction in the car with him!)

12) Triumph TR6 (very modified) 30.826

13) Porsche ’85 911 31.032

14) Jetta Wagon 31.262

15) VW GTI 31.651

16) Hyundai Tiburon (4 cyl) 31.676

17) VW GTI 31.844

18) TR6 (very modified) 32.270

19) WRX (VERY modified) 32.360

20) Audi S4 (modified) 32.303

21) Nissan 240 SX (Ron Mummert) 33.936

22) Porsche ’83 911 33.940

23) Porsche 996 34.052

24) WRX (modified) 33.591

25) Porsche ’85 911 33.640

26) Saab 33.984

NOTE #' 5 (Bill), 8 (Harry), 11 (Mike) and 21 (Ron), all SVX Club members.
It was a great day - except for the three unfortunate souls that happen to "hit the curb". One Mercedes, a VW GTI, and a RX8. The damage to the Mercedes is now estimated to be at least $5,000. You see, the AMG wheels of this E55 (it only has 369 HP!) are $1,400 EACH. And you thought SVX parts were expensive!!

Harry

[Chiketkd]

Bill and Harry did us proud - that was some stiff competition they were up against! Awesome driving guys!!!!

-Chike

[SVXRide]

Originally posted by newsvx
*snip The damage to the Mercedes is now estimated to be at least $5,000. You see, the AMG wheels of this E55 (it only has 369 HP!) are $1,400 EACH. And you thought SVX parts were expensive!!

Harry

Owwwww!!!

Let's see a rebuilt SVX trans = 3 AMG wheels

-Bill (bowing humbly in the direction of Harry's house....)

[SVXRide]

I'm thinking that Harry's time is going to end up better than mine - I did the math on his 37.89 run and that would give him an indexed time of 29.592! My only chance is if the cones I "brushed" on my last run didn't go all the way out of their boxes...
-Bill (still learning from the Master!)

[Chiketkd]

That's a lot of Moulah!

Originally posted by SVXRide
Let's see a rebuilt SVX trans = 3 AMG wheels

[newsvx]

Originally posted by SVXRide
I'm thinking that Harry's time is going to end up better than mine - I did the math on his 37.89 run and that would give him an indexed time of 29.592! My only chance is if the cones I "brushed" on my last run didn't go all the way out of their boxes...
-Bill (still learning from the Master!)

By Job, I think you are correct (Harry feeling much better now .
My math is the same as yours. Ha, I'll have to talk to my son about his math - he always did have trouble with math in school . Let's see, that would put me in 4th place ahead of the WRX. Interesting ........

Say, Bill. I would like to drive your car next time to see how those mods work - you definitely have a lot less body roll than I do in the corners.
But wow! Wasn't it a great day!
Harry

[newsvx]

Originally posted by Chiketkd
Hey Harry,

Are you good at working on SVX's? If so, maybe I could order some parts and drive up to your neck-o-the-woods and we could spend a day working on both cars (if you have anything that you'd like to add/remove from yours).

It could be a 'Mod Day'! Maybe some other SVX'ers in the area may want to come by...

Let me know if this could work. Doesn't have to be anytime soon...

-Chike

Chike,
I don't know how good I am working on SVX's, but I'll give most anything a shot . I'm a pretty good shade-tree mechanic working with limited tools. But things like urthane bushings for the sway bars, Small Motors' shift kit installation and the like aren't a problem. Removing transmissions / engine, and the like, I wouldn't do. Brakes are easy - rotors and pads. I haven't rebuilt the calipers, but they shouldn't be too difficult either.

But yes, come on up for a visit and a day of working on the SVX's. I suspect we could have a few others come down from Maryland too - right, Mike, Bill, Ron and John? We could fill up the driveway! And if nothing else, there's always beer in the frig and we could sit around and tell lies - "there I was, with this NSX pulled up beside me at the stoplight ........"

Harry

[Chiketkd]

That's awesome Harry!!! Send me a PM and let me know what day in the coming weeks would work best for you and the MD guys - I'll be sure to order my parts before hand. I wasn't planning on doing anything complicated - Small Car Shift Kit, Transmission Flush, Oil Change, and possibly a B&M oil cooler install.

It'll be great to sit around and shoot-the-$hit afterwards. I'll bring the beer - Sam Adams, Corona or good ol' Bud!

We'll have the first ever Mod Day for SVXers!!!

-Chike

Originally posted by newsvx
Chike,
I don't know how good I am working on SVX's, but I'll give most anything a shot . I'm a pretty good shade-tree mechanic working with limited tools. But things like urthane bushings for the sway bars, Small Motors' shift kit installation and the like aren't a problem. Removing transmissions / engine, and the like, I wouldn't do. Brakes are easy - rotors and pads. I haven't rebuilt the calipers, but they shouldn't be too difficult either.

But yes, come on up for a visit and a day of working on the SVX's. I suspect we could have a few others come down from Maryland too - right, Mike, Bill, Ron and John? We could fill up the driveway! And if nothing else, there's always beer in the frig and we could sit around and tell lies - "there I was, with this NSX pulled up beside me at the stoplight ........"

Harry

[SVXRide]

Well, I gave the SCCA another go today! Still "overdriving" the car, but getting better with every run . Had Austin in the passenger's seat for all four runs ("Dad, I'm holding on for dear life...I closed my eyes on that run!) and ended up 184 out of 248 drivers (based on indexed time). The course was set up in FedEx Field's lot A and was a long course - the fastest G-stock time was 50 seconds and a little change (a Cooper Mini S!!). Everyone in G-stock is running R-Compond tires, so it really is a test of driver skill (of which I'm gaining more and more of with more "seat time").
Of note is that the SCCA has everything computerized, so they actually posted the event results this evening - less than 6 hours after the end of the event!
-Bill (exhausted, but enjoying himself!)
p.s. as to my trans fluid leak -- turns out several of the trans pan screws had loosened (I replaced the pan and gasket when I changed the fluid), thus causing the leak Harry refered to. Tightening them up and going back to "dino" ATF has virtually eliminated any leakage (I'm thinking the front or rear seal is still leaking a little...). I won't be going near any synthetic ATF for my SVX any time soon...

[Chiketkd]

That's a strong finish Bill! Hopefully I'll be able to join you next year on some of these SCCA AutoX events once I set my car up correctly.

Question: Are any power mods allowed in G-Stock? (air filter, exhaust, chip, etc.)

-Chike

[SVXRide]

Chike,
If you want to stay in G-Stock, you can tweak the exhaust with a "cat back" system (Stebro, Magnaflow/Flowmaster muffler, etc.) - you can't do anything to the exhaust upstream of the cats. As far as intake mods go, the only thing you can do is go with a K&N air filter. Trust me, the stock SVX has plenty of hp for autocrossing - this is what continues to tempt me into the terrible land of "overdriving"!!
What the SVX benefits most from is better bushings for the sway bars, a heavier rear bar (I think 19mm is about right), stiffer springs (coil overs definitely get you out of G-Stock), sticky tires, better shocks (Konis!! - which I'm working on getting now), more camber front and rear (I'm going to crank more in now!), and higher gears in the diffs (I'm looking at going to 4:11's). I've had one of the SCCA instructors drive my car and he smokes my best time by upwards of 5-8 seconds!! Shows me what the car is capable of and how far I've got to go with my skill level.
Looking forward to seeing you at FedEx or the WSSC lot (MBCA's site)!
-Bill