It started out like Spring Nationals, frighteningly like Spring Nationals. With rain. Thankfully STX ran in the second of 3 heats, 96 in attendance and 9 of us in STX. Two of those drivers were National Level guys in a E36 328i, another was Shawn in the Integra Type R and a few other locals who are not-so-serious. Heat 1 ran in the drying but wet conditions, heats 2 and 3 ran in dry conditions. Temperature was upper 80's, low 90's which is about as perfect as you can get for the new RS3's.
The course was the day 2 course from Spring Nationals run in reverse with a small change towards the end. The course didn't drive any differently in this direction and it actually ran faster in this direction which is why I'm sure the change was made at the end. It was still very much a case of "accelerate until you see God then brake and pray you made the corner!" which always makes for an exciting time!
The basic car setup remained the same as previous so nothing major there. The only change was to RS3s vs the Star Specs. I have been daily driving on these tires to get them scrubbed in and it did seem to make a decent difference in how they drove compared to on the street. That said, I like the RS3's for their lateral grip. Longitudinal grip is actually good as well which I'm sure is a product of the taller sidewalls compared to other 265s. Transitionally they are a little sloppy compared to the Star Specs but not enough that a touch more rebound in the dampers couldn't fix.
Sadly though, not all is cheery and rosey. Of course there will be a learning curve when you make large setup changes so this might be the steepest portion of said curve or at least I hope it is. :) If nothing else, I proved I can be reasonably consistent in times.
Here are my runs:
Run #1: 64.976 (with one cone)
Run #2: 62.593
Run #3: 62.653
Run #4: 62.748
Shawn and I continue to battle back and forth despite the changes I've made to the car and I would hope that 20mm more tire would have yielded better results. His fastest was a 62.228.
Of course Shawn and I are still pretty far back on serious competitors and Bob Buxbaum and Doug Hitchcock in their 328is Their fastest times were 60.704 (STX winner) and 60.875 (second place). Upside, the gap between solid drivers in prepped cars and myself have dropped from 3.5 seconds to only 1.889 seconds. Of course 1.889 seconds is an ETERNITY in an autocross course.
During run #3 I asked our local instructor to ride along and see if there is any place I can find time. He made some suggestions on line and braking points and I think had he been in my run #1 I could have broken into the low 62's high 61's for time. He was actually shocked at how much grip the car has and wanted to drive the car in any fun runs but sadly we didn't have any. That's similar to what my friend in his Evo said on Star Specs so either the car DOES have the grip (and is slow because of some other reason) or their perception is skewed somehow. He did mention that I'm looking ahead well and I can place the car where I want at the exit of a sweeper (which he said is usually in the correct place) but I'm driving gate to gate at the entrance of the sweeper.
So what is next for Project Tilty? Well, I'll be honest not much is going to change unless something starts to concern me. The rear end of my car has started to produce a good amount of noise which I'm sure can be attributed to a number of factors. I've consulted with my buddy who rebuilt my differential last year under power train to find out how long I have left on the power train warranty. I have until next January on it which is a blessing because replacing the stock 2 piece driveshaft with another one is more expensive than buying a 1 piece driveshaft which is unbelievably stupid. However, it IS covered under the power train warranty! :) As is the rear differential!
I also am leaving my apartment for a town house that I just purchased and until I have closed on that, I was advised to stop spending money on things! How sad because I'd absolutely LOVE to get the torque arm and have the rearend rebuilt before too long here!
The next event is July 13 and 14. The event on the 13 is an "Amerikhana" event which I guess is two mirrored courses, no timers just line judges and you start in the same place and end in the same place. He who gets to the finish twice moves on to the next challenger. The next day is just a standard solo event. From there, in August we have 3 events, the Midwest Divisional championship here at LAP-N on the 17 and 18 of August. On the 25 of August we have a standard Solo and on the 31 starts Nationals off with the Pro Solo finale and then to the tour.
Speaking of, I've signed up for Nationals! :) Ohh Joy! I also plan on participating in the Evo School as well because lets face it, it's 12+ runs for $80 with an instructor who is extremely talented as a driver. I wont be doing the Pro Solo since it is more expensive for 12 runs, where with the Evo school I will be getting more, and instruction.
The videos are still on the GoPro, I haven't pulled them yet so that will take some time to get edited and hopefully I'll get it done tomorrow.
Overall the results were a tad disappointing for me. Fourth isn't the finish I was hoping for. I was hoping for better than that but I'll go ahead and blame it on learning curve of new tires! :) That excuse wont work at Nationals!
Here are the videos from this weekend. Run #3 was with the instructor and had two bone head understeer moments. Run #4 had a better line but I ended up going slower.
Run #1
Run #2
Run #3
Run #4
I really think the Evo abbreviated school at Nationals will be a good learning experience!
I'm open to criticism of lines and technique... sorry the audio isn't any better, GoPro SD has awful sound quality, I MEAN AWFUL!
Well, it seems that only one person managed to capture my car at this event and thankfully the picture tells quite a lot, but it is a tad on the small side.
From that picture, it looks like there is a decent amount of body roll. Now, there was a passenger on that run (and run #2) so that might even be minimizing the roll that I do see. Judging by the camera location on the car it had to be Run #3 and where J. Doctor was taking this photo it was in a touch of understeer (one of the two places you can see in run #3 in the video) which was driver induced.
I'm sure the ride height could come down a little but I'm hesitant to lower the car any until I figure out how low I can make it and still get into the new driveway! :)
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