Hey guys,
I've gone to 3 autocrosses so far this season, and so far I'm rocking.
Check out the season results, I'm top in my class:
http://www.wwscc.org/event_results/2004/wwscc_championship04.html#ICCompare to last year's class results for same club/class/competitors, where I didn't win this class even one time:
http://www.wwscc.org/event_results/2003/WWChampReport.html#ICMy most recent event (last sunday) I raced with a co-driver and it was really hot out and our run groups were short. So we ended up running the car repeatedly one after the other, about as quick as we could switch drivers! Anyway, I pulled a really good time on my first run (a 41.575) but a gate caught me by surprise and bam, got a 10 second penalty on that run. Second run I missed an upshift to third (ouch) and got a clean 42.351. On my third run or my fourth a missing cone spooked me, causing me to slow down. But I wasn't sure so I didn't stop and point to it and get a re-run, just kept driving and came in slow. By the third run the tires were getting quite greasy due to being overheated and it was worse in the fourth run, so generally got slower instead of faster like it usually works as I did more runs. Next time I will add a water mister to my gear bag to keep the tire temps under control (didn't realize it would be so hot out!) Anyway I ended up winning the class with the 42.351 by .3 second lead over 2nd place.
http://www.wwscc.org/event_results/2004/wwscc04-3.html#ICBut doing a little bench racing is fun... and I've got some evidence to support there is really some good potential in this turbo-diesel bunny now. Basically if my tires didn't get greasy (if I had misted them down to keep them cool) and I kept getting faster improving on my first run by say 1 second over the course of my 4 runs (not entirely uncommon improvement), I'd have a 40.575, which would have been a really smoking time. Compared to the PRO class where there are national champions running, and indexing my time by my SCCA class (FSP, a .813 factor) would have given me an indexed time of .813 x 40.575 = 32.987 in the pro class: (
http://www.wwscc.org/event_results/2004/wwscc04-3.html#PRO1 ) I'd have come in 1st place! For a local event, it really doesn't get better than that!
Anyway even if I'd only have run that 41.575 clean, and made zero improvement on my 2nd, 3rd, and 4th runs... I'd still have trophied in the PRO class, also a very good achievement. (usually you can improve though by taking additional runs and learning how to drive it quicker) So my Rabbit and I are getting faster!
That's all for now - just a brief lil' update on the race season so far.
Reflections on a few modifications made so far this season you guys may be interested in:
* returned to the full-length exhaust system (terminating at the very rear of the car instead of a shortened system with a turn-down and outlet in the middle of the car after the shifter before the fuel tank. Seems to have significantly beefed up the lower RPM range! I have done some courses with pretty slow course elements yet I can leave it in 3rd all the time even through the slow parts, and yet the engine still doesn't feel like it is lugging like it used to with the short exhaust. This is good setup and is also the strategy I wanted (run up to 3rd gear at the beginning of the course then just leave it in 3rd the whole rest of the way for a typical course.)
* fuel filter relocated in fender, and fixed broken exhaust turn-down blowing hot exhaust blowing on the fuel tank - seems to have really helped kick out more fuel more reliably. You should see the smoke levels this thing is putting out now! :lol: It's actually a little much, I can SMELL and FEEL the exhaust in my eyes with the window rolled down under certain conditions. I mean, how is the exhaust getting all the way back up from the rear outlet to where my face is? I wouldn't mind adding a turn-down instead of a straight exhaust tip to try and get the exhaust blowing down and out into the air stream flowing under the bottom of the car to try and help with this. Or maybe switch back to biodiesel. I was planning on also turning it down (the fuel) a little bit, but more because the engine revvs don't return back down as quickly as I'd like than because of the smoking. Not having downward rpm changes being responsive can make for difficult upshifting.
* alignment is improved. My front camber bolts couldn't hold an alignment because the spring washers lost their "springyness." So I changed the camber adjust hardware with all new, and now the car can hold a front alignment again, even cornering on race rubber at surely over 1 g's.
I dialed out excessive negative camber in the front and added some grip up there, so much that I had to adjust my shock settings to keep the car from being so loose that it was hard to keep it from spinning out! Then I added some rear camber just before this last event which I think was also an improvement, the car felt really neutral in the middle of a long stready-state sweeper turn where before it used to be more oversteer-y and I'd have to counter steer and couldn't fully use the fronts. Turn-in remarkably doesn't seem to be adversely effected. But I'm prepared with shock adjustments if needbe.
* brake bias is now adjustable and is improved. I added an adjustable proportioning valve and am no longer locking up the fronts. In fact, I have not yet locked up my tires at all when braking! And I have barely adjusted the proportioning valve. It's amazing. Some additional grip no doubt came from dialing out some of the excessive negative camber up front. Although not "great", I'd describe the brakes now as "working well" and "adequate."
* And of course a few weight reductions here and there (50 lbs worth - ditched the vacuum pump, brake booster, went to a small radiator without expansion tank, smaller lighter cooling fans, miniature alternator, etc), definitely help contribute to make the car a little quicker overall in acceleration, handling and braking.
Thanks for reading.
Topic: Autocross race update (bench racing) (Read 9551 times)
