03-13-2005, 09:55 PM
After lots of worrying about the possibility of rain or snow, it turned out to be a beautiful sunny day in the 50's. The course was pretty straightforward, not even a slalom. Just lots of 90 and 180 degree turns. I walked the course 5 times anyways because I was not going to have a repeat of my last event and waste half my runs because I got lost on a course I thought was simple. As I walked the course, I saw tons of places that I knew I would want to downshift into first at. Thats just the kind of driver I am. I like the engine screaming, it just feels fast. So many people I have talked to say to just keep it in second. Thats even what was said in my last autox report thread. I decided my first run would be in second gear for the entire run. I ended up wiht a 45.8, putting me into first place. Of course this was only the first run, and my competition had messed up there runs by spinning out, so its not saying to much. My run felt decently smooth, and I believed that my good time verified that. My passenger agreed.
My second run I spun out pretty bad. It was during a fast transition right when you need to be braking (or at least I though). I lifted off the throttle right during the transition and the back end came around. I countersteered with no effect. Booth feet in... Stoped just before the grass. I got back on course and finished, using first gear and pushing the car very hard. Ended up with a 56.8 +1 cone from when I spun out.
My third run was a 45.313, my fastest run of the day, securing myself into third place. Turns out that I while normally second gear is good, this course could be taken in first gear the entire time except the one semi straightaway where I spun out. Thanks to ColinS here on the forum for letting me know (He got second place, btw ).
Fourth run was a 45.5. I was somewhat slower because I almost lost it in again in the same spot, but fortunatly caught it before it was too late. It scrubbed off alot of speed though. I was pretty happy with my third place finish, but I knew, like always, that my car could be faster.
Everyone finished up pretty early, so we got some fun runs in. I took Joel along for a ride again (he road with me my second run). Joel owns a B13 SE-R as well, and he used to autocross it, he was the person to beat in STS around here. Now I dont know what got into me, but all of a sudden I was driving great. I thought I had been smooth before, but as soon as I made a few turns out there I realized how bad I was driving before. Its like someone turned the knob on my skill level from suck to awesome. For my runs that counted it was ham fisted pedal to the metal, tire spinning slopiness. This run was like the polar opposite. No more screaming tires, just that nice faint squeel. I was braking later and harder. I was negotiating the turn where I spun before with ease. After I came across the line I had a huge smile on my face, and joel looks over and yells "DAMN!!!!! That was an awesom run!" I looked over at the clock, and it read 44.5xx. 8/10ths of a second faster than my fastest run. I than did three more fun runs, all with passengers, and ran three back to back 43.3's, one full second faster than my best run that counted. My fastest fun run was a 43.31x, which if I had ran during the day, would have put me into first place. With my driving so much better and smoother now, I could tell exactly where I needed to improve, mostly in driving a better line, and slightly changing my braking points. Earlier in the day I had no idea how to improve because I was all over the place. I really don't know why I all of a sudden drove that much better in the fun runs. Maybe because there is less pressure, or maybe its because I just needed some seat time to get back into it.
The car felt well balanced, but possibly needing a little more oversteer. I may try the bar on full stiff eventually. Right now my progress bar is set in the middle. I ran the rear agx's at 7 out of 8, and the fronts at 3 out of 4. I have hyperco gen2's, and I ran my 205 50 15 azenis at about 41 up front, and 39 rear.
Here are the results:
STS 1 STEPHEN LAURENT 91 ACURA INTEGRA RED 44.342 35.429
STS 2 COLIN STEWART 95 NISSAN 200SX SE-R RED 44.861 35.844
STS 3 MICHAEL GEOGHEGAN 91 NISSAN SENTRA SE-R RED 45.313 36.205
STS 4 JOHN HENRY 92 VW CORRADO 45.570 36.410
STS 5 CHRIS SANTACROCE 97 SATURN SC2 GREEN 46.693 37.308
STS 6 MARK MEYER 99 DODGE NEON R/T BLACK 47.060 37.601
STS 7 SEAN BRADY 98 VOLKSWAGEN GTI YELLOW 47.073 37.611
STS 8 JUSTIN HANDY O1 VW JETTA 47.241 37.746
STS 9 CHRIS LONG 01 VOLKSWAGEN JETTA SILVER 47.833 38.219
STS 10 CHRIS NORVELLE 90 CORRADO 48.244 38.547
STS 11 EVAN FORT 03 MAZDA 6 I 48.520 38.768
My second run I spun out pretty bad. It was during a fast transition right when you need to be braking (or at least I though). I lifted off the throttle right during the transition and the back end came around. I countersteered with no effect. Booth feet in... Stoped just before the grass. I got back on course and finished, using first gear and pushing the car very hard. Ended up with a 56.8 +1 cone from when I spun out.
My third run was a 45.313, my fastest run of the day, securing myself into third place. Turns out that I while normally second gear is good, this course could be taken in first gear the entire time except the one semi straightaway where I spun out. Thanks to ColinS here on the forum for letting me know (He got second place, btw ).
Fourth run was a 45.5. I was somewhat slower because I almost lost it in again in the same spot, but fortunatly caught it before it was too late. It scrubbed off alot of speed though. I was pretty happy with my third place finish, but I knew, like always, that my car could be faster.
Everyone finished up pretty early, so we got some fun runs in. I took Joel along for a ride again (he road with me my second run). Joel owns a B13 SE-R as well, and he used to autocross it, he was the person to beat in STS around here. Now I dont know what got into me, but all of a sudden I was driving great. I thought I had been smooth before, but as soon as I made a few turns out there I realized how bad I was driving before. Its like someone turned the knob on my skill level from suck to awesome. For my runs that counted it was ham fisted pedal to the metal, tire spinning slopiness. This run was like the polar opposite. No more screaming tires, just that nice faint squeel. I was braking later and harder. I was negotiating the turn where I spun before with ease. After I came across the line I had a huge smile on my face, and joel looks over and yells "DAMN!!!!! That was an awesom run!" I looked over at the clock, and it read 44.5xx. 8/10ths of a second faster than my fastest run. I than did three more fun runs, all with passengers, and ran three back to back 43.3's, one full second faster than my best run that counted. My fastest fun run was a 43.31x, which if I had ran during the day, would have put me into first place. With my driving so much better and smoother now, I could tell exactly where I needed to improve, mostly in driving a better line, and slightly changing my braking points. Earlier in the day I had no idea how to improve because I was all over the place. I really don't know why I all of a sudden drove that much better in the fun runs. Maybe because there is less pressure, or maybe its because I just needed some seat time to get back into it.
The car felt well balanced, but possibly needing a little more oversteer. I may try the bar on full stiff eventually. Right now my progress bar is set in the middle. I ran the rear agx's at 7 out of 8, and the fronts at 3 out of 4. I have hyperco gen2's, and I ran my 205 50 15 azenis at about 41 up front, and 39 rear.
Here are the results:
STS 1 STEPHEN LAURENT 91 ACURA INTEGRA RED 44.342 35.429
STS 2 COLIN STEWART 95 NISSAN 200SX SE-R RED 44.861 35.844
STS 3 MICHAEL GEOGHEGAN 91 NISSAN SENTRA SE-R RED 45.313 36.205
STS 4 JOHN HENRY 92 VW CORRADO 45.570 36.410
STS 5 CHRIS SANTACROCE 97 SATURN SC2 GREEN 46.693 37.308
STS 6 MARK MEYER 99 DODGE NEON R/T BLACK 47.060 37.601
STS 7 SEAN BRADY 98 VOLKSWAGEN GTI YELLOW 47.073 37.611
STS 8 JUSTIN HANDY O1 VW JETTA 47.241 37.746
STS 9 CHRIS LONG 01 VOLKSWAGEN JETTA SILVER 47.833 38.219
STS 10 CHRIS NORVELLE 90 CORRADO 48.244 38.547
STS 11 EVAN FORT 03 MAZDA 6 I 48.520 38.768
CCVT VP 05-06
1991 Sentra SE-R w/ SR20VE
1994 Yamaha Seca II
1991 Sentra SE-R w/ SR20VE
1994 Yamaha Seca II