VetteDrmr

One of the reasons I run with the BMW group here in N. Tx. Last week's autocross out at Mineral Wells.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=naDMd7KB-qo

Enjoy!

Mike

TedDBere

Nice!

BrianCunningham

Miineral Wells was always fast.

One of the reasons I like Devens.

waddisme

Looks like a lot of fun.

jwt1603

That looks like a lot of fun! I have to find time to get out there sometime.

AverageVetteNut

Holy Crap

That's more like the old "solo I" courses that I always hear about. 90mph...wow

How far apart was those slalom cones..? saw you were up around 70 thru there.

very cool

dvandentop

good lord what kinda parking lot is that in? Huge course

97C5inSD

wow thats a heck of a fast run looks like a big old airport pad. we have tipped 90+mph in out lot in up here but the course has to be setup just right for that.

AlwaysInBoost

that course was HUGE, how long did it take to walk it?

car sounds awesome and great driving, I saw 94mph on the HUD at one point!!

Datawiz

VERY NICE facility!

My car red lines at 91 mph in 2nd and I routinely see it at our venue. When I run in the Keys, I see 120 MPH + in the spring and I'm expecting to see 140-145 MPH + this October.

tcmc5

THAT'S a proper Vette autox course/venue.

VetteDrmr

To all that replied,

Mineral Wells is an old Vietnam-era helicopter training pad, about 1500' on one side and 1300' on the other. Here's an old overhead photo of it from 1995:

http://mav.pca.org/Events/Autocross/...ingOverlay.htm

You can see in the video that the pavement has some pretty bumpy parts. We all wish someone would repave the whole thing, but I don't think anyone wants to pony up the $5M or so it would take for a bunch of weekend tire abusers.

The first three slalom cones were 39 steps apart (100'?), then they decreased down to a miata-friendly 26 steps. The course designers with the BMW group are very good at putting visually complex cues in their courses; the four gates at the end of the slalom are in fact just more slalom cones. They're still decreasing, but not as intimidating as they looked.

Walking the course at MW always takes a good 20-30 minutes. Interestingly, when SCCA runs out there they only use about 1/3 of the available pavement.

The local PCA group also runs a time trial out there. One course I'll ping the rev limiter in 3rd (108 mph) before the right hand hairpin at around 40 or so. The fastest I've gone with the BMW group at an autocross was 102.

If anyone is down in the DFW area drop me a PM or email; I'll shoot you a schedule.

Have a good one,
Mike

AverageVetteNut

I used to live north of DFW.... wish I woudl've found autocrossing back in 2002...

that would've been a blast!

No Go

Wow that is an autocross...I end up running with the Miata club....first gear only (60 mph).

0DAVID@VASPEED

wow yet another course that looks to be 100+ mph ready, I've gotta try to get down there for one of these events one day.

VetteDrmr

Actually, the HUD shows about 94 max on this course. If I could have gotten a better corner exit speed I might have been able to tap 100. The fastest I've ever gone at one of the BMW events was 102.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fE1HGUl6po4

Have a good one,
Mike

JVetthead

Dang I think I would get back into autox with mini road courses like that!

GS023

I have heard that this site may be home to a prison.

http://www.star-telegram.com/804/story/1340723.html

http://www.mineralwellsindex.com/loc...111112424.html

http://www.texasprisonbidness.org/im...tention-center

VetteDrmr

That story's been making the rounds for a few years now. Frankly I doubt it'll happen specifically at the MW airport, but it might be in the local area.

Have a good one,
Mike

Teddy98Z28M6

Looks fun for an autoX.