Joe Perez

iTrader: (8)

First off, a big thanks to SixShooter for convincing me to drag my *** out of bed at 4:30am for the drive to Tampa, and then sneaking me onto the list after registration was closed. It was an absolute blast. Got to meet a lot of cool folks, including Gary, a friend of Steve's, who brought his >700 HP RHD Skyline and spent some time recalibrating people's understanding of the word "fast" doing a couple of impromptu drag runs at the end of the day.

Compared to past events I've been to, the layout here resembled the Top Gear track more than a typical AutoX course. Relatively few cones, damn fast, and a couple of really cruel turns that sent more than one Corvette into the weeds and spun several folks towards the finish, one of whom annihilated the timing light in a Solstice. (Fortunately there was plenty of safe runoff space at all the critical points. And also fortunately, they had a spare timing light.) I hit the rev limiter in 3'rd at one point, which means we had to be doing close to 90mph on the straight section after the second pass through the slalom.

By mid-afternoon, after running 57s and 58s, I finally made a good (though not great) run and pulled a 56.974. I turned in too late on the very first turn and lost some time getting set up for the hard left after it, and then did the same on the green cone on the way back, but apart from that I was pretty pleased.


(Click through to the main Youtube Site and then hit the HQ button for larger size and maximum awesomeness)

After that, SixShooter asked for a ride in my car. Feeling cocky and wanting to show off a bit, I proceeded to murder the second cone in the slalom, and then exited the course into the grass coming out of the turnaround. Mysteriously, the video from that run seems to be missing.

After that we switched places, and in his first outing in a turbocharged Miata, he proceeded to best my best time by nearly .8 sec, pulling a 56.205. That, friends, is talent. Also, I'm pretty sure he's now fully sold on the idea of turboing his car.

levnubhin

iTrader: (30)

hehe, he best your time with a passenger. Nice course, looks nice and fast.
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sixshooter

iTrader: (12)

Joe,

You are killing me! I didn't know you were recording that run! I would have done much worse if I knew just because of nerves.

You are too kind. I'm certainly not the best driver in the club, but I do enjoy it quite a bit.

Your car has a lot more grip than mine and I believe had more corner speed left in it. What tires did you say you were running? They were much stickier than my RS2's. Have you done sways, springs, or shocks to it?

That video doesn't capture the sensation of speed in the same way I remember it. It always looks slower and smoother than it feels. Lets see if we can roust a few of these other guys to go out next time.

Thanks Joe.

miatamania

iTrader: (9)

Gah, that looks fun.

I haven't had a chance to rape on mine yet. :(

Zabac

iTrader: (39)

It certainly looks like the course was designed by a Vette owner, every other Auto-x our club (TSCC) suffers the same fate.

Way to have fun guys, I missed out this weekend due to lack of tires. :(

Joe Perez

iTrader: (8)

The tires are Bridgestone RE-01R. I've been nothing but pleased with them, and shockingly they seem to be holding up to abuse quite well. And yes, the rest of the suspension has also been gone over. I'm running NB tophats with FCM 46mm bumpstops, one of Shaikh's very first sets of revalved Bilsteins, and FM springs (318/233). The front sway bar is 27mm, and the rear sway bar is in a landfill somewhere.

I'm glad you liked it. Even if I'm not a driving god, at least I can take some joy in having built a decently fast car.



No kidding. This was by no means the longest AutoX course I've seen, but in terms of sheer fun factor, it was definitely near the top. Like you said, almost a mini-trackday the way they have it set up.

Are you in with the Miata guys who meet in Sarasota every week? Gotta entice those folks to come out and amplify our numbers.


Honestly, I really liked the layout. The way they set it up, with long straights and a couple of insane turns, I think they inadvertently handed an advantage to the small, light F/I cars. We got to watch a number of 'Vettes and Mustangs run amok all over the place, but most of the turbocharged compacts (except for one dude who kept spinning his Integra all morning) did pretty darn well.

sixshooter

iTrader: (12)

Even though it's a 'Vette club the competition director is just as likely to be seen driving his Mazdaspeed 3 on autox day.

One of the guy rented a Ford Taurus from Avis and brought it to the autox a while back. $17.99 unlimited miles. We created the Taurus Cup Challenge right there on the spot. You put $5 in the pot and you get to make a run in the Taurus. Fastest time at the end of the day gets half the pot and the guy who rented the car gets the other half. There is a picture floating around somewhere of four guys in helmets riding in the car while it is plowing through a corner. We had to rotate the tires on the car halfway through the day because the fronts were bald from the front end plowing. Good times.

Joe Perez

iTrader: (8)

?! OMG, that must have been an absolute riot! I can only imagine what the guys at the rental place must have thought when they saw the tires after it came back. I've heard of people renting 'Vettes, or Mustangs, or Solstii and tracking them, but a Taurus!

sixshooter

iTrader: (12)

Another fellow rented a PT Cruiser to come play one day.

LostSoulMiata

Likes like you had fun Joe. I'll be heading out to a few auto-x's after I get the tuning sorted out properly with the '92 and building from there (back from ATL BTW). Need to hit that dyno as well down here as I progress too. Talk w/ Kim and Derek, there's another one coming up later this month iirc that I was going to run. I'm always down for a road trip and some fun w/ cars.

kotomile

iTrader: (24)

Looks fun Joe. Is that Whitehouse?

Trent

iTrader: (11)

nice vids Joe.


however, what made my night was the "related vid" on the right called "Stop calling me a homo".

gospeed81

iTrader: (51)

haha,

"I will not have it!....imbeciles"

sixshooter

iTrader: (12)

It's near Brooksville, just outside of Tampa, at the Hernando County Airport facility. The cops use the place for driver training also.

Zabac

iTrader: (39)

We did that with a Hyundai Accent last year.
It was pretty funny, the time difference between the experienced drivers vs. the rookies was astronomical!