I had such a BLAST this weekend!! I attended a 2-day "Introduction to Autocrossing" school that was put on by the Solo2.com club. It was my first time attending an autocross event, and my first time driving autocross. I had a great time! There was one instructor to every 3-4 students, so I got plenty of one-on-one time, plus everyone was so helpful and nice.....and lots of seat time. I can't wait to do some practice events, though I don't think I'll want to campaign my car at competition events (though I can always change my mind ;) ). Here are some photos of me having fun that were taken by my paddock neighbor (thanks, Wayne!).
http://temp.corvetteforum.net/c3/mar...solo_2_001.jpg
http://temp.corvetteforum.net/c3/mar...solo_2_008.jpg
http://temp.corvetteforum.net/c3/mar...solo_2_009.jpg
http://temp.corvetteforum.net/c3/mar...solo_2_013.jpg
http://temp.corvetteforum.net/c3/mar...solo_2_018.jpg
http://temp.corvetteforum.net/c3/mar...solo_2_019.jpg

 

Awesome. Nothing is better than seat time at the track when it comes to learning the limits. My local car club also conducts a driver training course, with lots of track time and experienced instructors. Best money I've spent.

I love your car! Beautiful! What tires are you running? :cheers:

 

glad you had a good time. your car is now officially my favorite car on the forum! no, wait.... yeah.... no..... yeah. :crazy: so many good looking vettes, so little money.

 

Hey.... you've got the roadster version of my car. Minus the stripe but you've got cooler wheels. :cheers:

 

Mark70 - What wheel/tire combo are you running? Those wheels (not to mention the rest of the car) looks awesome. And did you have to lower it at all?

 

Hey Cam, is that 454 a handful on a tight course? .....probably difficult to put the power down, I'm thinking. I don't have those problems (I need more power). I'm running Kumho Ecsta 712 Supra tires, 255/50-16. I was told they were a good second tier tire, and the preferred tires are Michelin Pilots, Falkens (I don't remember which one), and one other whose name escapes me. Your car is gorgeous, too. It's cool to see sharks at the track...they get lots of attention!

Gary, I like to see your posts here on the forum, because you have good advice from your racing experience. I hope to get there one day, too!

Matt, very :cool: Black Beast! I've visited your website before....I like it!! Say, our cars are like twins, although you race yours on the track with other cars.....I'm not that brave. Keep it going!!

 

Travis, I'm running American Racing Torque Thrust II wheels (like yours), in 16X8 (are yours 15"?). I took the car to Guldstrand to have the suspension repaired/modified, and he did lower it. I haven't taken any ground-to-fenderwell measurements yet, but I can get those if you'd like. Since having the suspension reworked, I haven't had any issues with the front tires hitting the inner wheelwell under hard cornering like I had previously.


[Modified by Mark70, 1:47 PM 10/21/2002]

 

That's a beautiful car! :cheers: :cheers:

 

WOW !!!!!! Very cool pics.... :cheers:
Here's is me last spring nose diving into the finish line :cool:

 

Great pics Mark. Glad to see you back on the forum. :yesnod: You look like a natural on the course. :D

 

Uh huh. Yeah, that's what I thought, until I broke down and got some sticky tires to keep from beating up my street tires. Then my times started getting closer to the front, and all of a sudden that "I'm not concerned about where I finish, just how good I do compared to myself" attitude (which I still try to maintain) has some company saying "how did I do compared to 1st place?" And, so the fun continues. :D :yesnod:

I guess I should clarify this by saying I'm only talking about solo events, no wheel to wheel stuff (too much of a risk of hurting the car).

Have a good one,
Mike

 

Looks like you had some fun, that's cool. I'm planning to do some autocrossing next season. We'll see how much I get sucked into higher level competition. I may need to practice my restraint.

 

Awesome looking car........Very cool :cool: :cheers:

 

Nice:) What was the top speed at that event. Here they make 18 turn one mile courses and the top guys are hitting in the mid 80's.


[Modified by Lt1er, 1:12 PM 10/28/2002]

 

sweet '70 :cool:

 

cool pics :cheers:

 

Cool pictures. Looks like a great autocross location.

 

Hey Len! Well, I try to get on the forum every day, but I usually don't post too much. I thought I'd try out my new suspension, seats and tires, and give them a workout! :D I had waaay too much fun!

Thanks to everyone for the feedback! I'm kinda worried that I'll get addicted to autocrossing, and then I'll get that extra set of wheels with the sticky tires (right, Mike?! ;) ) I find myself thinking about the course, and how I could have braked later here, and hit the apex better there, and then........hehehehe UH OH, sounds like I'm in trouble already!! :D

The course was setup at Norton AFB in San Bernadino, CA, and it was really setup great. On Saturday, the students rotated between 5 excercise areas (slalom, increasing/decreasing radius turn, box turns, oval, and tight road course). On Sunday, the sections were linked into one big course, so we were able to try out what we had learned on Saturday. I don't know what the fastest speed was, but one friend of mine has an '01 C5 convertible with HUD, and he was seeing over 70 on the straight. I was too busy to look down at my gauges.


[Modified by Mark70, 7:17 PM 10/28/2002]

 

When you don't have time to look at the speedo, that's means your having way too much fun

 

Mark,

To paraphrase the old witch in Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves: "You're Doomed!" :smash: :smash: :D:D

Everyone always wants to know how fast I'm going, and like you, I have (had) no clue, at least until I started running my hardtop, which has a HUD. The Porsche club that I run with has a really neat course for one of their time trials that has two straight sections each about 700' long, connected by a big sweeper. I was in 3rd gear, just about to nick the rev limiter, when I glanced through the HUD and saw 107!! :eek: :eek: Then into a 150 degree right hairpin ("Brakes, don't fail me now!"), down to 2nd, and off we blast again!

What an absolute load of fun to have with your car. You're a goner, accept it, and get ready to absolutely suffer through the winter off season.

Have a good one,
Mike