moar pics:

 

What camera did you use?
Took good quality it seems to me compared to others.

 

My first group of shots are on a Nikon D40 with a VR 55-200mm, the second grouping posted, I'm not sure I think a nikon. These last ones are one a Canon Rebel with a 55-250mm.

 

My bad I should of been more specific, what did you use to take the video of the in car driving?

 

oh, a little casio exilim s600 digital camera. I've been fairly happy with that little guy for a pns and in-car camera.

 

This is where our autocrosses usually are:
http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&t=h&...,0.009516&z=17

Doing this one on Wednesday:
miller motorsports park - Google Maps

 

How are you liking the new turbo setup?

 

I run locally w/ Braineack (and am an organizer w/ one of the clubs). There's a lot of safety stuff to consider when designing courses. 60-70 mph is for a lot like FedEx or Ripken Stadium (larger parking lots). The smaller lots (typically minor league baseball parking lots or high schools) have too much stuff to watch out for: curbs, light poles, islands, etc. Most clubs try to use SCCA guidelines for safety, but even still, you get the occasional "whoopsy".

One of the local lots we use (Prince George's stadium in Bowie, MD) has additional space, but you need to go between islands. We chose not to for safety. Other clubs have and I know of 2 cars that "met" the island with really bad results.

Also, I don't know how the heck you squeeze 15-20 runs in a day. How many cars show up to an event? What are average range of times? What's the maximum number of cars on course at any given point?

We've tried to balance seat time, profitability (or at least break even), keep costs affordable, etc. I'd like to know the logistics that you guys experience where you are. Like Braineack stated, good lots are hard to come by in the D.C./Baltimore area.

Regarding ACU-4: Wow, I love that lot! It's so grippy. The only gripe I had was the sand blowing up. I heard folks complain about saltwater in the past. The folks there were really cool as well.


Braineack: where were these taken? Which group hosted the event?

 

I also like to do a 60-70mph auto-x someday, I hear some happen in NC.

ACU-4 is a great location even in the rain with no windshield or roof. (lemons car testing this spring)

 

NCC BMW CCA. Up at Prince George's police training lot. I was going to do the bowie event with CDC but everyone said do this lot instead. I don't think it was really worth the extra 45 minutes on the highway to get there.

 

Any more questions? The toughest thing is finding a great venue with no obstacles and where nobody screws with you.

 

Added note regarding speeds and autocrosses: Our club boasts a fairly good safety record. As much as I'd love to use some of my faster course designs, they usually get modified or scrapped for safety reasons. We sometimes get some close calls. At 60-70mph with a novice driver, you need to have a LOT of runoff, spacing b/w cars and hard targets, and most importantly safe spots for course workers, spectators, and other participants.

I can't imagine 90+ mph at an autocross unless you run somewhere like an airfield where visibility and runoff are good.

 

+1
It's Florida, so it's pretty damn flat for good visibility anyway.

The venue dictates the speed for sure. That's why I am always trying to find the next great venue. All of our members are. And because we are a charity (we donate a nice sized check to the Shriners' Children's Hospital every year), we have great insurance, and several of our members are high-ranking firemen with one of the local counties, we can get property owners to give us a chance when others might fail.

 

Im trying to find the picture of the Supra at bowie that hit the islands....

 

Mmm, yeah, that was the most recent one I was thinking of. I really don't want to call out other clubs and probably shouldn't post pics of their events that had incidents. But that's me.


Our 1 incident that I can think of recently was at Summit Point where a very nice 2-seater ended up in the grassy circle islands on the Washington skidpad circuit. Well, he managed to find the lone big rock there.

 

Ahhh, we typically try to squeeze in 60-90 participants, unless it's a test-and-tune (40 cars w/ about 10+ runs). $25 members/$35 nonmembers.