Anyways, I went to this thing, and it was pretty fun watching it, but I came to three conclusions

A) A 1991 civic sedan on stock suspension doesent have a chance
B) A sedan period doesent have a chance
C) I need a CRX
D) I need money
E) I need to correspond with irvin better next time so I can get there when he runs and not 6 hours in advance (I went home and never got to ride)

Well, anyways so here is yet another motorsport I dont have a chance participating in, so lets see whats all off my list

- Drag Racing -- car is way too slow
- Autocross - No money, resoruces or the right car

At least I still have a chance of running the gumball 3000.
Anyways, enough of my rembling and on with the pics I took.

Hot air ballon that landed about 4 blocks from my house


Southern Crossing over Napa river


Flea market where I bought my subs and box


Nice shot of SF and the Bay Bridge from I-80 Westbound


Crusing through the fastrack lane


Entering the tunnel through treasure island on the bridge


All the cars in the first heat












Took a couple of pics in the parking lot also






My lonely car at its embarrasing stock height, every car there was slammed


Sweet 6th gen sedan and an ITR in background






240SX with silvia front end


And now some pics of the cars coming around
















This old corvette had WAY too much body roll


This bmw was hilarious, on one of his runs he was going so slow that the announcer told him to speed up or they would have to red flag the car behind him






This old school mazda was quite fast, ran a 59 sec at one point, to give you an idea, most people were running 65 - 70 sec runs






Line of corvettes, not the best car for autocross, but the expirenced people managed not to spin em out




This thing was tight, didnt run great runs though














This pic turned out kinda small, I cropped these pics rather than scaling em down cause my camera didnt have a zoom






Well look who finally showed up ... irvin got some powdercoated GSR rims rolling on brand new falken azenis in exchange for his old stereo system, they look very nice, he is going to use em for autocrossing, so he still has the RNR's. Too bad I didnt get better pics of the rims. He also had his tint removed for the clean look (personally I liked the tint better, but hey, its his car)






This pickup truck was hilarious, his first run he spun out 3 times and ran a 130, the next run he improved and ran like a 70. Anyways, he would floor it out of a turn and tons of smoke from the wheels spinning would just pour out. Beleive me guys, pickups have NO weight in the back my car is a better canidate for autocross than they are.




Well im on my way back, stopped at the 2 story Jack in the box in SF


But I cant go upstairs




Damn I hate driving through SF


Mobbin over the golden gate


Took a pic from the marin headlands


Tried to get a couple of the ride, but the sun fucked em up




Anyways, the CRX's were really rippin **** up.. irvin knew the guys from HT, one was running an LS engine, and I dunno what the other 2 had.

 

Covettes aren't good autocrossers? Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the Z06 THE car to have in Super Stock? And as far as pickups go, if that black truck is the same on as in the last picture of the autocross, then I'm pretty sure it's a lightning... which means, another pretty cool autocross vehicle.....

Dan

 

Yeah, over the C5....

 

The Z06 does pretty damn well in the philly reigon, but there are always at least a few smaller street cars that beat them. They have so much power on tap the drivers sound like they are blipping the throttle through the whole event...

 

Looks like you had fun! Cant wait till I get out there.

 

...and the rx-7

National level drivers in a Z06 are incredible to watch. Very VERY VERY very very very fast.

 

Melt,
Why don't you have a chance to participate? Go out there and have some fun. Actually it's better to start off with a slower stock car and work your way up. who cares if you lose. Autocrossers in general are not going to rub it in your face, they will most like give you hints on how to go faster.

 

Oh, the fond memories of SFR Autocross. I almost made it out there on Sunday. I stayed home to work on the car.

 

What about that one that starts with "M" and ends with "5"?

 

Yeah those would be my powder coated GSR wheels I traded for his old system. I'm still trying to figure out if I really made a mistake on that trade. Oh well


[Modified by Solo2Vtec, 7:56 PM 2/10/2003]

 

If your car can pass tech, you can autox.

I don't care if its a Volkswagen Eurovan. Autoxing any vehicle will make you a better driver in the long run.

Autox isn't about going out and setting the FTD at each event. It's about having fun and improving your driving ability. Sure the spirit of competition made add to its appeal, but don't let yourself be fooled into thinking that winning is the primary goal.

Why is this hilarious? Such is the nature of autox. At least he improved to a 70.

Believe this:

You, as a spectator, ought not to make comments about what is "good" for autox since you really have no idea what you're talking about.

Racers do not appreciate it when outsiders comment on matters that they are completely uninformed about.

Also, next time can you post a few pics and link us to the album?

It's annoying to click a thread expecting to see pics from an autox and instead have to sift through pictures of hot air balloons, flea markets, freeways, fast food joints, etc.

Cliff notes:

Next time, post a few pics and provide a link to the album where the rest of the pictures are located and do not speak when you do not know what you are talking about.

 

I disagree with that statement.

 

So Corey and Sharon's S4 is just out there messing around, right? It couldn't possibly be serious competition in Street Mod against Jim's M3 Coupe, right? Whatever...
-Adam


[Modified by mityVR6, 1:29 PM 2/10/2003]

 

I run a Mazda Protege5 in H-Stock every chance I get. It's one of the little pleasures that I allow myself nowadays.

I will never win my class. I will never get FTD. I will never PAX above about 150th (there have 300+ entries at events here recently). I will never win a points championship. I will never win a regional championship. I will never win a national championship.

I do learn. I do get faster. I do make friends. I do have fun.

edit : I will never learn how to spell


[Modified by Vantage, 2:59 PM 2/10/2003]

 

This is what autox is all about IMO.

 

looks like you had fun though.. Nice Pics

 

This bmw was hilarious, on one of his runs he was going so slow that the announcer told him to speed up or they would have to red flag the car behind him

FYI:
That BMW is owned and prepared by the 2001 BSP National Champion, Vic Sias. It is a purpose built SM car, that unfortunately for me, is also being run in SM2. Neither of the drivers who ran in the morning were Vic, but are still National caliber drivers who have driven for many years.
The reason why they were driving "slow" was because they were red flagged, the white MkII MR2 that went out before them typically spun and took a while to re-fire the engine. Some people like to err on the side of caution rather than colliding with another vehicle... I noticed this since I was next out after the M3 and the starter wasn't taking into account the traffic jam that formed on at least 2 of my runs.

Line of corvettes, not the best car for autocross, but the expirenced people managed not to spin em out

You might want to research this. Just because some regional level drivers were first out on a cool morning (cold tires, unswept course) and had some loose incidents, doesn't mean these cars aren't still one of the best choices for thier respective auto-x classes. C4 & C5 corvette drivers won 2002 national titles (both open and ladies classes) in : SS, AS, ASP, & BSP.

And like others said, there's no reason why you should feel you can't be out there. If you can afford the entry fee and the normal cost of maintaining a reliable/safe car you should get started now.


[Modified by XrcR6, 3:35 PM 2/10/2003]

 

It doesn't matter if you have a formula ford, sports car, compact car, truck, or minivan to autocross in to me. Autocrossing is about vehicle control and learning what to do and what not to do when you are at a vehicles limits and beyond.

And that's what makes trucks so fun to haul around an autocross course...yeeeehaaaw PahtnaH! The only bad thing is lack of traction on when exiting corners like you said....but that just forces you to be smooth with the throttle and slow down like you should for the corners. While I'm not really fast in my Tacoma compared to most others in cars - most first time/novice drivers in a C5/Z06 corvette, Mazda Miata, Subaru WRX, Honda S2000, or Mustang/Camaro probably will place behind my Toyota Tacoma times. Once they have a few autocrosses under their belt though it's no fun anymore for me though...lol

Vracer111, who says "seat time makes anything possible."


[Modified by Vracer111, 6:18 PM 2/10/2003]

 

Aight guys, sorry about the uneducated comments about the corvettes and my sedan not being able to do it, I get discouraged sometimes, but the pickup was pretty funny, and the BMW had not been red flagged when they told him to speed up.

 

Take your "sedan", plunk down the entry fee, and try it. I'll bet 5 bucks you're grinning like an idiot for at least 30 minutes after your first run. Autocross is as cheap OR as expensive as U want it to be.

Oh yeah, and like everyone else said, you'll gain an appreciation for vettes (and f-body's) pretty quickly if you stick around...

 

I cant afford the entry fee ... Hopefully I can get out to sac raceway sometime and do it there, they only charge $30

Here in the SF region you gotta pay like $75 to join SCAA, and besides me and my friends have a lot of fun going out to the empty parking lot at my local junior college early in the mornings on the weekends, but we cant get too many runs in cause we wanna be gone by the time the cops get called.

 

Who didn't see this post coming?

*not raising hand*

 

How can you afford a car if you cannot come up with $75?

What if something breaks?

 

Who says you have to join the SCCA? I'm not an SCCA member and I autocross monthly (usually) for $25. You don't have to be an SCCA member to autocross - membership is required if you want to do district or national events though.

 

I do. With over 300 entrants per event we don't have room for non-members and as a non-profit organization we are not allowed to collect money from non members without filing an income tax return.

There are other organizations that hold autocrosses where you don't have to be a SCCA member but they have fewer events and less competition. There's a reason our SCCA events draw 300+ entrants.


[Modified by Geratol, 2:30 PM 2/11/2003]