Whew, I'm still kinda catching my breathe, and ya know what? you just can't wipe that Sh*t-eating grin off my face!

For those who have and do, you understand all to well. This is Fun As HELL! and the ITR must've been the granted wish of any Auto-X or Road course racer from the Honda Gods, "at least where FF Honda and Acuras are concerned. First may I say that Auto-X is just sooo much fun. But, it is also such a challenge and a great new one for me. For the Auto-X guys I must first thank WSCC and then David,"for getting me interested," Chris, Dan, Jay, Matt, Fausto, and Rob. If I forgot any please forgive me.

For those who haven't you NEED to especially if you own an ITR! Damn, it's made to do this. Just picture burying your nose into an L shaped turn and actually looking out the corner of your windshield and using you side window too! as you power through sideways and actually make the turn just to find that you need to snap the other direction NOW! All while trying to keep your throttle smooth and grace the brakes without sliding Too much... Ahh and the Bliss when you've done it well and produce a good time.

Now picture this while only using 1st gear!

Not all courses are like this some let you use 2nd and 3rd but this was extremely demanding for everyone including myself, God Bless everyone else without the R's gearing, power and overall package.

$20. Bucks bought me 6 laps on a nice varying demanding course today. The weather was perfect, mid 70's. We Preregistered "which is preferred by the event organizers," and Showed up early, about 8:30. We helped with tire swaps and air. Then we did the Tech inspection. Then I walked the course 4 times with some of my veteren friends. they showed where to pick the correct line and we discussed many approaches to different turns. Ultimately it is up to you, but, you need to be the smoothest to be the fastest. Then, off to the races it was...

I was really anxious but, everyone and I mean EVERYONE is so friendly and helpful so my nerves were at ease. Until I was up, I remembered about 3 of the turns in advance and took off without any smoke or rubber show. I ran CSP but, I didn't care if I won, I was here for the fun.

My first run was a 41.853 OK, and I was soo nervous.
My second run was a 42.950 because I forgot the course and ran out of bounds. "Silly me, but, still fun as Hell."
My third run was back to 41.550 So I regrouped and thought about it all again.

As I parked. let the car cool down and watched the other classes run. i noticed many other drivers different techniques with different cars BUT, I also noticed that they All almost followed the same lines. Meeting Mike "Black GSR owner" was great. Seeing him carve up the road and produce times like 35.750 or so that would humliate many ITR owners was both an education about what to do and how not to be cocky just because I have an ITR. More than once he mentioned how he envied my car and wanted one. "Don't worry Matt, if you had one you'e be kicking more major A$$ and be winning countless a national events.

Then we were up again, CSP was running and I was now feeling different, not so much anxiety, but, Now More Adrenalin. I went 3 more laps to finish my regular timed events.

4th was a 39.850 and I then decided to adjust my tire pressures from 40F 45R to 38F 45R. that should do it!
5th run I broke into 38.555
6th run I went 38.340, after this I was thrilled,and to think, all in in my FIRST DAY!

I then let some Si friends borrow my R for fun runs they were pleased to say the least, both with their times and tha use of my car. Don't worry guys, tha pleasure was all mine.

$2. per fun run they called! On my Fun run I removed the top to my "Icebox" and really niticed a difference for the course with throttle response(On/OFF) Which is what you want on the track. After you get going you don't need the low-end TQ and HP feel. you fly through the mids and drive in the High RPM's almost exclusively. I seemed to Feel my header grab ahold in conjunction with the intake and the High RPM's and I pushed my hardest to a 37.555,,, YES!

I learned alot today, Where to look for a line, how to judge and follow an apex, how to recover,"No I didn't hit ANY cones, and I didn't lock em up or come to any complete stop." and above all, it's NOT the car or the mods that count, It's solely the DRIVER and his/her abilities and what he or she has learned or will learn. There were alot of different cars and alot of different abilities. I got a full spectrum of what it's about.

Example; I stayed with an S2000 today and even bested him by 2.5 seconds!
I also bested a JRSC, I/H/E and God knows what else modded ITR today.

So the truth hurts and the driver is the catylist, the car is just the tool. BTW my tool needs R compound rubber on light rims "Hint Hint Rodney!"

Now I also have developed a strong opinion about street racing and sanctioned events. Too much street racing. Not enough Sanctioned events. Regardless of Auto-X, Strip, or Course, there just aren't enough.

And this Import scene seems to glorify street racing when all it really does is give Import owners a bad rep and puts lives on the line needlessly.

Theres tons more but I can't really think straight. I mean theres stories about Jay beating that S-4 with his Firebird and a 33.94 and Rodney taking his class with Just R compound tires on a Bone stock Civic Si. and how Dan bested all of his times in his Si when in my R on his fun run. All in all it was a great day, I got sun, had fun and enjoyed a great day with friends.

Thanks to all for making today my rebirthday into the world of racing. Good Luck and be safe,

A.

PS Ask anything because I feel the need to spread the word to EVERY ITR owner that you NEED to track event your car to fully appreciate it and understand it, You are truthfully wasting money on mods that don't make you a better driver , But, if a better driver had your car at an event then the world is a different place. And if you think you are a great driver then prove it on a course.

Don't just waste your money on mods that you are not sure if actually give you ANY advantage, go to an event, Any event, any Sanctioned event and see what you are made of and what you can do with your R. I did and now not only am I again addicted to something new but, I feel more confident and know what I have to improve upon, and it's only just begun.

PPS I would really love to entertain any and all opinions and questions about this post, so have at it!

 

Welcome to the addiction!

 

What about a cliff-note version?

 

Let the HIGH times roll!



You'll being going through tires in no time!



Cal - Who has first hand experience this for himself!

 

i guess?

hehe..didnt read your post but mustve been seomthing good.

 

autocross is fun, but too damn quick. I mean who wants to screw for just 40 seconds?

 

Anton,
Congrats on having fun and using the ITR for what is was designed for ! Glad I could help.

As I told you, I had the most intense autocross on Saturday. The course was sooooo fast that I redlined in 2nd gear twice. Also the course was so long that we had that much speed and still had 40+ second course. (basically it was like a road course in a parking lot. EXTREMELY fun !) Also, this was the first time ever that I PAXED first ! Man, I am so happy to pax first against pro's and other great drivers !!

So we both had great weekends.

 

Try http://www.auto-x.com they have them in danville sometimes

 

Try http://www.vmsc.org.

 

Yeah Dave, the course was so fast and fun last Saturday in Englishtown, plus the weather is just meant for autoxing. You are just flying through the corners in your R!! Congrat on the 1st place!!! See you this Saturday as it will be the last point event of the season.

Kev

 

hehe...autocrossing, the gateway drug. Once you get hooked on autocrossing, things start to loose focus. Your family. Your Friends. Soon, autocrossing isn't enough. You want more speed, more time...you go to a track day. Sure, autocrossing was innocent fun, but now you're applying the things you learned at speed, dicing it up in real time with other cars. Before you know it, you're eating nothing but ramen noodles and half the "furniture" in your house is made up of race tires, waiting for that next fix of cone-dodging and apex clipping. Your family thinks you're crazy. Your mother worries about you. Your girlfriend thinks you love the car more than her.

It rocks
Glad you had fun! check out the competition forum from time to time, good stuff in there too.

 

Dude, that's not even funny...

-231, who own's "race" furniture

 

How does Ramen link up to AutoX? But I am sure a JDM lover has to taste some Ramen to be truefully JDM because it's the genuine Japanese food. Sushi and Sashimi is not the everyday menu for Japanese ppl, Ramen is among the favorite.
How about the next R-speed meeting to Yohan and we all eat Ramen?...and we can pick up all the JDM model kits, mag, Options and rice sticker/emblem afterwards.


[Modified by nEoMuGen, 8:12 AM 10/22/2001]

 

Because ramen/pasta is super cheap, and that way you can live on like 5 bucks a week so you can afford to sate your appetite for tires

 

Relax Neomugen, I understood EXACTLY what Aleph meant.

It wasn't a Slur, and I already have a line on some great rubber.

BTW I've never really been a fan or Ramen, I do like Kraft Mac-N-cheese in the box though!!!

And Neomugen, No offense, man, I am interested in going to Yohan to see whats there. Even if you give me directions, maybe I'll trip there or meet you one day for fun...

A.

 

Aleph -- That explains it!
My Mom did say you were a tall skinny guy.

Yos -- (PymIo....) I'll be driving through this Thurs. 10/25, and could drop off those springs if you'll be around. /ed

 

Anton,
Glad to hear you had a good time, I know I did; Escpecially when I got to run your R!
Thanks again for that. Putting the car through it's paces you can really see how the LSD comes into play and why I need to put one in my Si---Next season

I had a blast there as well. It was well run and I kept improving on my times as my day progressed:36.614 best time in my car for the day--Placed second in STS, then ran a 35.580 in Anton's Type R
Just need more seat time and I'll get into the 35's in my car.

Later guys and Yes I love this addiction!

Dan





[Modified by WantingaType-R, 12:15 PM 10/22/2001]

 

after reading your post. im really seriously considering auto-x'n but im not sure where i should start out. should i go to a driving/racing school? or just go straight to an auto-x event and just build experience from there?
the reason haven't been auto-x is because i don't even know where to go to auto-x. does anybody know where/when will the next auto-x even will be? (any in the southern cali area)

 

i went to the auto X yesterday too, but couldnt run since i just put a new clutch in the day before, but i got to ride in a bad *** Z28, and a 96 vette that toook the overall fastest time of the day......bad ***.

 

i wish i had my damn car.......i would have smoked everyone, that course was perfect. all well, what are you gonna do. thanks for the rims wanting. 1grey, don't make plans for next month, you car is mine!

 

to find an autocross first start here:
http://www.scca.org

Just show up and ask lots of questions ! Be prepared for fun !

 

Thanks for helpin him out Dave,

I looked at your site and am reserving the 11th and 18th of November for more fun. Rodney will be my sidekick, right Rodney? Plus I get to run with some really nice light rims and R compound tires too, heh heh heh...

Ahhh today I was toolin around the area before I washed and detailed my car. Ya know, I remember what you said Dave, about getting all of the speed out of ya and the aggrevation and stress. I just look at the roads differently now. I'm alot more calm and I actually look for my line and without even speeding I aim and drive and brake with a purpose. I try to get the best out of each turn and let it carry me through. Ahhhh Bliss! I even went and bought; The Secrets of Solo Racing by, Henry A. Watts and am gonna study up for the next set of runs.

A.

 

Anton: .......remember that last meet with just the four of us on Bear Mountain? If it wasn't for the limited time I have, I woulda suggest to go down to Yohan together, but I am not quite sure if Japanese food fits everyone's menu. You should've took Palisade Parkway in some sort to get to Bear Mountain right? Yohan is in Fort Lee of NJ and all you have to do is:....

1. Take Palisade Parkway and drive all the way till it vanguish...which means through the end of exit 1
2. Don't worry about all the confusing signs after the parkway ends, go straight through the intersections in Fort Lee above the George Washinton Bridge till you've come to visually a dead end.
3. On that dead end, make a right turn and a short drive will take you to another dead end with a horizontal road cutting in front of you. Take a left turn on that road.
4. This is a mountain road sort of...low, high and curvey. Take this road for like around 10 minutes and keep an eye for the sign and a supermarket named "Mitsuwa". That's Yohan with its new name.

It has two buildings, the mall section where you find all the latest Jap racing magazine and the auto accessories store with cool JDM stuff. The owner of the shop knows lots of Japan's race world. The supermarket has a food court (yummy! ) and a Japanese supermarket. The food in the food court are authentic Japanese food aside from popular Sushi stuff you see everyday.
And Ramen is not the brand of that cheap instant noodle, it taste much better at an authentic Japanese restaurant.

Making a big U-Turn to get back to the topic...... Glad you've tried AutoX. Acutally our affordable cars were designed and meant for Road racing through the visions of Honda engineers. AutoX is just like teaching a baby how to walk, and road racing is when the kid knows how to run. You really have to find someone in your AutoX event with a constant time and shows up frequently , so you can compare your time with them to see if you improve or gotten worse...in my GS class, there are hardly any ITR (they only show up when I am not there and run lot faster) and I usually slaughter the lesser experienced and unprepared GS competitors, but with a time comparison with others in a different class reveals how slow I am....currently, my avg time is usually 1.5 sec less than a good ITR driver on street tires. David is be a good mentor, you should take advice from him....I have to work alone to battle out the bottleneck, and this is also the fun part. I can't master these two criterias that's a must for ITR in AutoX: Smooth, Brake Late and Hard!

[Modified by nEoMuGen, 9:29 AM 10/23/2001]


[Modified by nEoMuGen, 9:31 AM 10/23/2001]

 

The official time line just came out:
http://www.wscc.org/results/2001/ax20011021.htm

I've took a look and I pretty much guessed what I will run if I was there...I will probably run a high 36-ish.
I used Mr. Ozzie Cheka in STS as a he's one of the few that were in WSCC and also in NYR. For two events that I've run with Ozzie in NYR, I avg a .400 behind his time in STS...unlike me, he's a pretty matured good driver considering this is his first year.

I want to use him as an example of the importance of low-end torque in AutoX. He jumped a few time from STR to SM now back to STS. So I assume he should only have I/E/springwith street tires. And we all know what car he runs......the silver Integra GS.
Staying in 1st gear and use VTEC actually won't help on most courses with out long straigh/slalom. Ozzie don't have VTEC, he simply "carry the speed" through out the course. And goin in and out of VTEC most of the time will only mess up the timing and balance of the car for cornering. I remember that David usually shift right into 2nd and careless about VTEC of 1st.

Anyone AutoX with the ITR and careless about VTEC after 6k?

P.S. Now I see the S2000 is Fausto's......haha, he's gonna get worked up now.


[Modified by nEoMuGen, 10:00 AM 10/24/2001]

 

high 36ish? i ran a 35.1 in a bone stock (dead stock, wifey's car with R compound tires) 99 si. if i had anything mugen, it sure would have went faster.........