EvoX - My autocrossing adventures

[vtluu]

A word of introduction: I was introduced to autocross a couple months ago by my friend Jason. After a false-start--driving autocross-style on the road and running my Eclipse into a curb--I was finally able to participate in my first event, the NASA-X autocross in Marina--and was hooked. However my '01 Eclipse clearly showed its limitations so a month later, I traded it in for a shiny new red Evo. And so our story begins...

Today was my first autocross in my Evo, and my second ever. The Evo--I'm told--generally classes in A-Stock or Street Touring (the latter if using racing slicks, I think); anyway I opted for A-Stock, Novice class (ASN).

The course today at Candlestick was a relatively long horseshoe-shaped layout with a few tight turns, no real straightaways, and three slaloms. I'd never driven a slalom before so I had some trepidation when I saw I had to face three. The slalom, it turned out, was the least of my problems.

My first run went okay--as far as first runs go--until just before entering the final slalom I suddenly found myself off-course. I must have failed to see a cone, because it wasn't like I slid off or anything--just hey :shock: , I'm off course! I looped around and got back on but finished with a time over 78 seconds... :( Which was faster than several other people's times with clean runs, I later noticed. 8)

http://www.vtluu.net/images/evo_autox_3s.jpg

My second run was my best of the day, a rather modest 68.4 seconds. Unfortunately my autocross mentor, Jason, inadvertently set his alarm to "PM" and so didn't show up until my third run; too bad, 'cause I'm sure I would have done better under his tutelage. One problem he did flag was that I have a tendency to go too aggressively into turns, therefore having to brake excessively and bleeding too much speed through the turn, leaving me at low speed and low revs coming out. (Ideally I would have done the whole course smoothly in second gear, staying within the ideal power band.) Something to work on...

As for the slaloms, I found that the Evo's responsive steering and superb handling allowed me to easily "wiggle" my way cleanly though them at a nicely decent speed.

After my runs my friends and I demonstrated another practical aspect of the Evo:

http://www.vtluu.net/images/evo_autox_1s.jpg

The WRXs and STIs there typically ran between 61 and 65 seconds so clearly I've got a long way to go. And no other Evos were present for me to show people how fast they can really go, so I hope the "N" in my class was sufficient to emphasize my lack of skill rather than any shortcomings of the car. :lol:

Nevertheless I managed to accomplish two goals: I didn't embarrass myself (badly), and I had fun. Not bad for someone who only learned to drive stick last week. :wink: Can't wait 'til next time!

http://www.vtluu.net/images/evo_autox_2s.jpg

[vtluu]

My aforementioned friend and autocross mentor Jason invited me to come out to a BMW CCA (Car Club of America) autocross event at the airport in Marina. Enrollment was limited to 75 drivers (there were around 190 at the last SCCA event) so this guaranteed I would get more runs on the course.

Obviously the great majority of cars present were BMWs, and about half of those were M3s of varying ages and mod levels. All non-bimmers were lumped into the "X" class and included a 'Vette, a couple Porsches, a WRX, and my favourite RX-8 (which I've seen at previous autocrosses):

http://www.vtluu.net/images/evox_20031018_1.jpg

Other than starting rather late, the event was fairly well-organized. My only complaint was that they never chalked out the course, making it look like a "sea of cones" from most angles. I walked the course early on but had to do it again later to refresh my memory of the layout.

The course was one of average length with two slaloms and a mini-straightaway on the back stretch. It was especially narrow with a sharp right turn at the start and about half the time people would knock over the apex cone on said turn. The left turn into the straightaway proved to be deceptively sharp and would prove to be my undoing on a couple runs.

First run (practice): far too aggressive and I slid off-course on two turns, finishing with a time of around 77 seconds.

Second run (practice): managed to stay on-course but couldn't find my line through the first slalom, clobbering 3-4 cones in the process. 64 seconds, five cones.

Third run: eased off a bit and made almost-clean run (1 cone) of 63 seconds. I was headed in the right direction...

Fourth run: ... but relapsed by going to aggressively into turns once again, going off-course once. 69 seconds.

Fifth run: way too agressive again, going off-course twice and whacking five cones in the process. 71 seconds. Frustration mounting...

Sixth and final run: repeat to self: "slow in, fast out; slow in, fast out..." Also to self: "if ever I think I can make it through a turn at the current speed, tell myself 'YOU'RE WRONG!' and get on the brakes!" Made it through turns looking like I was at an autocross and not a drifting contest, danced nicely through both slaloms, and made a clean run of 61 seconds. Woohoo! 8)

Most of the best times were around 60 seconds so it was great to finally be somewhat-competitive. My buddy Jason managed 59 seconds in his M3 so at least this time I didn't make it easy for him. Also, I manged to beat the WRX which topped out at 64 seconds, and both Porsches as well I think. :)

I hope that I can remember what I've learned, going forward--if only for the sake of my tires. Going almost sideways through those turns took a huge amount of tread off my tires (especially the front) so Sunday I rotated them (after just 1500 miles!)--and spent much of the afternoon washing and scrubbing cone marks off the car. :P

http://www.vtluu.net/images/evox_20031018_0.jpg

Update: my best time of 61.773 seconds was enough for a 4th-place finish (out of 9) in the "X" class (all non-bimmers), behind a Corvette, an RX-8, and a Z28 Camaro all driven by much more experienced autox'ers. The field was very tight; my time put me just 0.051 seconds away from 2nd place. Full results can be found at http://www.ggc-bmw-cca.org/DrivingEvents/AutoCross/Oct2003/Results.htm.

[vtluu]

The 11/02 SFR-SCCA Slush Series Round 4 autocross was held at Oakland Coliseum. The course featured a couple sets of snaking "S" curves that looked pretty wide when walked through, but required a bit more attention when coming at you at speed. The other course highlight was a nasty "surprise cone" right before the finish that you had to squeeze your way around, losing a second or more in the process if you didn't approach it just right.

Evo turnout was a bit better than at the previous event: mine, another red sunroofed one doing only fun runs, and a silver one with two drivers running in AS-ST (A Stock Street Tire) class.

My first run was somewhat embarrassing: after losing it a bit coming off the first right turn I had a moment of confusion going into the slalom that immediately followed and ended up on the wrong side of the cones. Oops: DNF. Second run was much better; reviewing the video I saw that I ran very smoothly and cleanly through the first half; second half was a bit rougher but I managed to eke out my best time of the day, 50.463 seconds. Third run was even faster at 49.301 seconds but I picked up a cone in the process for a 2-second penalty.

There were fun runs at the end of the day; my second fun run was something of a drifting expedition and fun but darned slow. I managed to clock as low as 48.6 seconds on my third and final run but pegged a cone at the end in the process.

The other Evos did spectacularly well. The two drivers in the silver one both managed times under 46 seconds, placing first and second out of all Street Tire class cars (just ahead of an STi), and the non-competing driver managed a low-46 time. The course was cold early on in the day and AWD cars held the upper hand even over SM cars on race tires.

Full results are posted at: http://www.sfrscca.org/solo2/Results/2003/Slush/round4.html

I had a good time at the autocross but unfortunately the day ended badly, as not long after leaving the autocross my Evo fell victim to a hit-and-run accident, putting it out of commission for the next two weeks.

I can take some consolation in the fact that photographer Doug Richardson (www.SportsCarImage.com) got a few good shots of my car on-course:

http://www.norcalevo.net/gallery/albums/album03/sccaOaklandNov2_0337_001.jpg

(More can be found in my gallery.)