:. Racing .:. 2004/01/04 - Autocrossing
Results: Here
Writeup/Notes:
(This was originally scheduled for 2004/01/04, but was delayed a week due to weather, and was the 11th instead)
In stark contrast to the autocross two weeks ago in Denver, the weather for this one was fantastic! About 50 degree weather and sunny skies - not much else you can ask.
SM2 went last, as always, so there was a decent amount of rubber put down beforehand, which was nice. I was still extremely nervous about the slippery black crud they put down, and it did get me again on the last run, fortunately without any ill effects this time. At that point, the sun had gone down, and the tires were getting cold again. (not that they really get up to temp with only 50* temps.)
For once SM2 actually had several other competitors, namely friends of mine from the Colorado Springs Corvette club - the Yanineks and Mark Forbes. Steve and Mark were competing in Steve's 400whp car, and it was fun to try and make up the horsepower difference in handling. The result? 0.03 difference at the end of the day, and I couldn't challenge it on my last run, due to my spin. (which I didn't get on camera...arg!)
ON the upsides, the car is feeling pretty good - front grip isn't a problem. No ABS codes this time either. Particularly encouraging is the top 25% finish and over 900 points, despite a car that is still esstentially an underpowered Z06. Taking the PAX's out, I had about the 12th quickest time of the day, which is also encouraging, especially given the twitchy feel of the car. It would be interesting to see if I can do this at the more difficult Coors courses as well.
On the downside, it does seem a little twitchy, but this may be due to the cold weather. A bigger problem is the rubbing occurring with the front wheels. I've been running the 18x10.5 8" backspace wheels in teh front, and they do not leave enough room. The RF has actually rubbed a small hole through the fender liner, which I will have to get repaired.
To fix this, I've ordered a set of T1 swaybars, which should tighten up the car nicely on the tighter sections of the course, and tip the balance of the car a bit back towards understeer. As well, I'm going to run the 8" backspace wheels up front to get back the 1/4" of space. Failing that, I will try a 1/4" spacer for the fronts to see if that will solve the issue. Winter development is fun!
LGM headers are on the way, just need to find time and money to gather the parts together to install them and get the result tuned for an extra 40hp/40tq. Hopefully there will be two more good autocrosses for winter development before the regular season starts, and Michael and I are headed down to San Diego in March for our national tour event.
It's going to be a great year, and a great year of racing!
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