george34

Yeah the one I am talking about is speed limited and that is why I said they wouldn't help me. Sometime this winter I will have to make it down to the go-karts in Columbus.

BA5

Damn. I thought since you're a big, bad road-racer you'd have a little thicker skin than that.

What? You thought you could poo-poo a fairly popular form of motorsport and there was no chance anyone would say anything? Now that's just silly.

I'm just razzin' ya.

And my therapist says I should send you the bill.

thawley

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by BA5 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">You thought you could poo-poo a fairly popular form of motorsport and there was no chance anyone would say anything?</TD></TR></TABLE>
I never poo-pooed a thing. Just meant to point out that there is a difference between Auto-X and what most folks on this forum think of as "racing". The name of the forum is Road Racing/Autocross.

As for me being big, bad and a road racer, you are correct on all three counts...

Targa250R

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by BA5 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">What? You thought you could poo-poo a fairly popular form of motorsport and there was no chance anyone would say anything? Now that's just silly.</TD></TR></TABLE>
If you had spent any length of time in this forum, you'd realize that the autocross vs. wheel-to-wheel debate is rather old and a bit tongue-in-cheek. Do you always bite at flamebait?

Mattamotor

why dont you go make your SAE car "perfect" and then drive it at 7/10 around the autocross course, cause since your car is "perfect" it is now undriveable.

kedwards

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by thawley &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">SNIP
As for me being big, bad and a road racer, you are correct on all three counts...</TD></TR></TABLE>

I like that, Thawley. I think I similar qualify for that description. Sometimes I am a big, <U>bad</U>, autocrosser, as well.

Keith

solo-x

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by thawley &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
You beat me to it. Not to get into a semantic thesis on the relative merits of Auto-cross vs. road racing, but those of us banging fenders with other drivers for the same turns at the same time feel the hair rise on our necks when the word "race" is used in the same sentence as "auto-cross".

Just picking nits.

Congratulations.</TD></TR></TABLE>

john, i didn't think your ego was that fragile. you have a point if you're talking about a HPDE vs. roadracing, but if it's timed, it's a race. It won't say it in the SCCA rulebook and when you sell autocross to a site owner you avoid the word race, but that is only because people are ignorant and think a race = crashes. thanks NASCAR!!! anyway, imo, it was poor taste to throw elitist crap into a thread about a guys first autocross.

to the OP. get to an autocross school ASAP. it will be the best money you've ever spent to go faster. when i first started autocrossing i was in the bottom 10% on index. After an autocross school I was solid mid pack. That was by my 3rd event. I moved up 8 seconds on index after one novice school. oh, and stay away from pro solo. if you think you're addicted now, you'll be hating life if you ever do a pro.

nate - drives his unstreetable STS car 900 miles one way for pro solo/tour and has driven as many as 6 hours for a regional event in another region

ps. quantity of runs doesn't mean jack once you get competitive. you'll be looking for the competition instead. the bmw club in my region usually gets 7-8 runs in. Other then a handful of the SCCA hardcore autocrossers, there is no competition in the club. i've set ftd with them in a borrowed car when the other SCCA guys weren't there. i won't even bother with the porsche club that offers a lot of runs. the people getting ftd with that club are usually several seconds behind me at an SCCA event, and they've got a "faster" car. i'll take 3 competitive runs over 6 cake walk runs ANYDAY.

thawley

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by kedwards &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Sometimes I am a big, <U>bad</U>, autocrosser, as well.</TD></TR></TABLE>
Indeed. On the rare occasions that I autocross, I am especially bad.

Keith, you gonna be at Nationals? Racing?

thawley

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by solo-x &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">john, i didn't think your ego was that fragile.</TD></TR></TABLE>
It isn't. But I'm a nut for proper grammar and syntax.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">...if it's timed, it's a race.</TD></TR></TABLE>
No, it is a "motorsport". To me, RACING is any event where two or more vehicles are on the track at the same time. Different forms of motorsport which are also called "racing" but are actually time trial events are given specific modifiers before the noun RACING. Examples are "rally racing" and "landspeed-" or "Bonneville-racing". A hill-climb is a hill-climb. An autocross is an autocross. You may call it what you want, but you'll not find any of the magazines I've worked for calling an autocross anything other than what it is: an autocross.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">anyway, imo, it was poor taste to throw elitist crap into a thread about a guys first autocross.</TD></TR></TABLE>
I completely agree that it was in poor taste. My bad.

I also agree with the notion about going to an autocross school as soon as possible. And I will further attempt to diffuse the notion that I'm a RR-elitist who likes to pick on lowly autocrossers by saying this: I wish I had spent MORE time learning to autocross before I did start racing. It is fantastic training and I am envious of those who do it well.

kedwards

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by thawley &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Indeed. On the rare occasions that I autocross, I am especially bad.

Keith, you gonna be at Nationals? Racing?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yes, and according to http://drivenasa.com/championships/entries-c.html yes I am.

My teddy bear that you made famous will still be my navigator.

Are you photo taking again, like you did in 2004?

Keith, who wishes he had spent fewer years learning to autocross before racing...

thawley

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by kedwards &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Are you photo taking again, like you did in 2004?</TD></TR></TABLE>
Yeah. Make sure your car looks all purty like...

george34

Holy thread jack Batman! My thread has been jacked multiple time

I don't on plan on going to a school for awhile. I want to become a little better of a driver for both autocross and just on the street. There is a school that takes place about 1.5hrs away from me.Maybe next year I will attend the school. It is not much like $50. I know this will not be the absolute best drivers but I'm sure they will be able to teach me a lot. I understand what you are saying about the number of runs when you are good but all I really care about now is the seat time.

tom91ita

if the "school" you are talking about is fort wayne region's annual autocross school in April, by all means go! you will not find a better deal in the area. if you are not aware of it, check out their website. not that much of a drive up 33 for you. or just attend one of their events.

now regarding gokarts, they are actually pretty intense up in cridersville on saturday night or at least they used to be. a 1/9 mile dirt oval with regulars going every week.

with regards to addiction, that is somewhat right. i was at the Honda Challenge at Mid-Ohio a week ago and autocrossed yesterday with my friendly welder/fabricator co-driving. at this point it can just be fun and giggles.

aww, many the saturday night that i spent going to a cheap movie at the wapa theater! is it still there and open?

tom, after 18 years in lima, wapak wasn't that bad.

george34

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by tom91ita &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">if the "school" you are talking about is fort wayne region's annual autocross school in April, by all means go! you will not find a better deal in the area. if you are not aware of it, check out their website. not that much of a drive up 33 for you. or just attend one of their events.

now regarding gokarts, they are actually pretty intense up in cridersville on saturday night or at least they used to be. a 1/9 mile dirt oval with regulars going every week.

with regards to addiction, that is somewhat right. i was at the Honda Challenge at Mid-Ohio a week ago and autocrossed yesterday with my friendly welder/fabricator co-driving. at this point it can just be fun and giggles.

aww, many the saturday night that i spent going to a cheap movie at the wapa theater! is it still there and open?

tom, after 18 years in lima, wapak wasn't that bad. </TD></TR></TABLE>

The driving school that I was talking about was the Columbus one but I might look into the Fort Wayne school. I always forget about Fort Wayne.haha It is actually closer than Columbus by a half hour. Do you race with NWOR? I see you are from MI.
I was not talking about the go-karts un cridersville. I was talking Squirty Worm. Yeah, the wapak theater is still open. I have not been there for a couple years. I likw lima better than Wapak. There are more things and places to go. I'm pretty sure I have talked to you before? Because there was someone else that asked about the Wapak theater.

george34

I ordered a remanufactured master cylinder today so the brakes pedal should feel better next week when it is installed.