The autocross for August was held at a different location from our usual space. We raced at the future location of the Hawaiian Super Prix…well almost. The actual runway where the Super Prix will be held is still an active runway, so we were limited to the apron next to the runway. Because of the extra space afforded by the new location, the August course was one of the fastest I've seen since I started going out. This really worked to my advantage since my turbocharger likes the extra room to "spool up" and develop boost (boost=horsepower). Earlier in the week I had fixed the O2 sensor that troubled me last month, and I was really looking forward to a fun day.
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My friend Jerry made quick run in his NSX. Sorry about the second picture, we must have missed the timing of the shot as he sped by. |
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My class was racing after lunch, so I had all morning to watch the others run to course. The longest straight-away had a small kink in it and a few of the cars were able to take it with a small lift of the throttle and in the case of a BMW M3, no lift at all. I figured, "I can do that too..." Wrong! As I approached the kink on my first run, I stubbornly refused to lift, even after my brain told me I would never make it. I missed the gate by 3 feet, and took a cone down the center of my car! Now let me mention that occasionally you may hit a cone, but usually it's just a tap with your tire or something. I ran the darn thing over GOOD! DNF! As I was staging for my second run, my power steering crapped out! Arggg....first the O2 sensor, now the power steering, what next! (I still don't know the reason it died since it mysteriously "healed itself" a week later!) In any case, I was now faced with the task of running the car in manual steering mode. Without the power steering it was difficult to keep up with the fast steering inputs required for the twisty sections of the track. My second run was going better despite the steering problem when I repeated my mistake from last month, and had a BIG spin entering one of the chicanes. Fortunately, I didn't hit any cones and ended up with a terrible 72.308. (by comparison the BMW I was watching ran a 58.036 good for 2nd overall) On my third run, I made through the kink, through the chicane, and almost to the end of the track without an error when I missed the last gate. Another DNF! I was down to only one run now and I really had to concentrate and try to ignore the steering problem. I made only one small mistake that cost me a bit of time (I'll forever blame it on the lack of power steering) but I finally got a good time of 60.688! An eleven second improvement over my other time!
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This is the start of the run, note the asphalt in the section to the left, this would transition to concrete at certain points along the track. |
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The official times weren't posted at the track so I didn't see till I got home and looked on-line, but I had posted the 11th fastest time of the day! On street tires! Just about everyone in front of me had DOT tires, and even a few behind as well! Hmmm...racing tires and extra wheels are pretty expensive....where do I put them when I'm not using them .........hmmmm......I'll need a floor jack and torque wrench to change tires before an event.......hmmmm........Fran's not going to like this!
As we got ready for this month’s autocross, we needed to prepare two cars. We would race Franceen's new '99 GS-R and my MR-2 Turbo. The MR-2 power steering, which had given me fits over the past few months, decided to work this weekend. Although it had taken a "few days off" in the middle of the month, it "healed" itself again.
To get the new Integra ready to race, I decided to replace the new Michelin XGT4's with a set of stickier tires. While the XGTs are a well-made tire, they offer limited grip, and howl at the slightest provocation. As before, we decided on the Toyo Proxes T1-S through Rex Tire. We've had good luck with these before and with the radical new tread design, they promise even better performance. Since all Integras are set up with safe understeer, we decided to install a 22 mm Comptech Rear Sway Bar. This month my friend Alvin brought his BMW Z3 to join the fun, his car is the 4 cylinder model so he would compete in B Stock.
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Our three cars in the pits, the Z3, GS-R and MR-2. Alvin's Z3 out on the course |
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My group was racing in the morning run, and Fran would run after lunch. When we arrived at the Barbers Point they had just finished setting up the track. The theme for this course must have been "revenge of the slalom." This month there were 4 slaloms! This was in direct contrast to the one-slalom, wide-open course from the previous month. Slaloms always require your car change directions quickly, and I was concerned since I had made a decision to run my car one last time on the older Toyo Proxes that were nearing the end of their useful life. On the road, in everyday driving, I've been noticing reduced grip and for the racetrack I knew this would be exaggerated.
For my first run, I found the track rewarded more smoothness than my driving style currently allows. I seem to attack the course, and this would not work for a track with 4 slaloms. I lurched around the track to an unspectacular 54.111 run. My second run was a bit quicker at 52.296 but I could feel the rear of the car getting loose through the sweeping turn leading up to the third slalom. My third run had my "big spin" for the weekend. Coming out of the sweeper into the third slalom, I felt the back start to slide, I thought I caught it, but it snapped the other way and before I knew it, I was facing the ocean! My DNF for the day. I'm embarrassed to say I'm starting to get accustomed to spinning my car (not something to be proud of). Like last month my final run was the best, 52.074 good for 20th overall (out of 59 cars) and first in my class (only 2 cars in A Stock). Also like last month just about everyone in front of me was on DOT autocross tires.
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You can't see it here, but the inside tire is almost off the ground! My car under heavy braking for the hairpin. |
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We were hoping for big things with Franceen's GS-R, but a decision to try to run with lower air pressures in our new tires resulted in a whole lot of rollover on the front tires. After Franceen’s first run (60.676) we could see wear on the sidewall of the tire. These meant the tires were far too under inflated and not keeping the most tread on the ground. I think the addition of the rear anti-sway bar made this problem even worse. As I watched Fran’s succeeding runs, there was so much weight transfer to the outside front, the inside rear was almost lifting off the ground. Her second run shaved nearly a second off the first run and got here down to a 59.759. Her third run was 60.319 with a 2-second penalty for hitting a cone. She finished with a 58.325 good for 55th overall and 5th place out of 7 in G Stock. Although SCCA rules mandate changes to the rear suspension are not allowed in the stock classes, we were allowed to run the car in G Stock since that was the limit to our modifications. We’ll need to improve our setup if we are to be more competitive with the Subaru Impreza’s that are flooding GS.
