Vid of my horrible SCCA performance

[Mercutio]

I sucked it up big time at this event, but if you want to see an autocrossing SC, go here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bBIap_vSYa0

[Miller]

you missed a few of them.
Watching that remind me of this game.

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your car = the hippoooooo ;):D

[Mercutio]

Aww, no love? My car may be big as a hippo, but it doesn't eat cones. That was a clean run, just slow!

[Ira R.]

Looks fine to me. I wouldn't mind trying that one day, although I can see it would take quite a bit of practice to be any good at it.

Also seems to me that the course is setup for cars half your size and weight. Kind of hard when you are starting behind the eight ball to begin with.

Ira

[Miller]

on second viewing I realzied those cones were already down... my brain worked slow befor and i ddidnt realize this..... not 2 bad then why say horrible performance

[Mercutio]

on second viewing I realzied those cones were already down... my brain worked slow befor and i ddidnt realize this..... not 2 bad then why say horrible performance

First: I let myself get behind mentally and I was just barely hanging onto the car rather than thinking about driving the proper line.

Second: you can hear the car sputtering off the line because I either fried a plug wire or fouled a plug.

Third: it's not obvious in the video, but three times on course I lost power steering assist.

Fourth: I lost. By a lot.

[seawalkersee]

I noticed at the end of your run that the nose dipped a BUNCH for the speed you were going. I would put the car on a diet and/or put a larger bar on the front. It is hard to tell because the camera is shaking but I would try that. If you are losing steering, get that back and try it again.

Chris

[Ira R.]

First: I let myself get behind mentally and I was just barely hanging onto the car rather than thinking about driving the proper line.

Second: you can hear the car sputtering off the line because I either fried a plug wire or fouled a plug.

Third: it's not obvious in the video, but three times on course I lost power steering assist.

Fourth: I lost. By a lot.

.......and sometimes you have days where it just doesn't feel right. Frustrating as he$$, that.

Hang in there Will. The season is just getting started. You'll get the feel back.

Ira

[coolhand]

Hey Will

Well done, Dude. Its not easy wailing on these massive beasts, is it? Ive done a few events myself, and its even harder in an underpowered 4.6. And I know what you mean about getting ahead of yourself. I started to notice that the regs walk the course and draw out a map for themselves and give it some study before the race begins. and that many times, the course has been pre-designed IE: you can only do so much with it at the same venue. Some of the competitors have been on these courses before.
But I must say, that even with all the weight, the slow steering, and the poor suspension, I had one hell of a time everytime I did it.
Keep up the good work.

Matt

[Mercutio]

I noticed at the end of your run that the nose dipped a BUNCH for the speed you were going. I would put the car on a diet and/or put a larger bar on the front. It is hard to tell because the camera is shaking but I would try that. If you are losing steering, get that back and try it again.

Chris

I have a 1-1/4 front bar, but I also have Brembo 4-pots up front and 275-wide Hoosier race tires...so the nose is going to dip on braking no matter what. And the end was probably faster than you're thinking; I entered the braking zone way deep into 2nd gear and had to slow it down a bunch.

I was actually very pleased with the chassis setup...this was my first race with a new sway bar/tire/alignment combo, and suspension-wise the car performed quite nicely. I just need to get used to it and fix the power steering, I think. The one change I might make based on photos from the event is more rear camber. I had 1.5 degrees all the way around, and that seemed to work on the front but the rears were leaning over a bit too much for my liking.

[Mercutio]

Oh, and as for dropping weight from the car, apparently the SCCA uses magic scales. When weighed at the event my car was somehow 300 pounds less than it is on my scales, and when I told them there was no way that car only weighs 3400 pounds they got quite upset at the insinuation their scales were inaccurate. So maybe it's a good thing I'm nowhere near the class minimum weight!

[91bird]

Well done either way I enjoyed watching it. Was this the car with the MPX on it? The blower wine is very noticable.
Thanks
Drew

[Mercutio]

Yes, the MPX is on this car, but as I leave the line you can also hear it firing poorly under load. But in general everyone who has heard that car and its MPX think it's awesome.

[mywhite89]

Yes, the MPX is on this car, but as I leave the line you can also hear it firing poorly under load. But in general everyone who has heard that car and its MPX think it's awesome.

Very cool, how much power are you making Will?

[Mercutio]

That's a secret for now but it's a pretty healthy amount.

[Ira R.]

That's a secret for now but it's a pretty healthy amount.

BUY THE MAGAZINE!!! :D :D ;)

Ira :p

[mywhite89]

I think these cars were made for a more open type of road course. I would like to go to Indianapolis raceway park sometime this year to do some road course racing. You can get up to well over 120mph on the straight-away.

[Mercutio]

BUY THE MAGAZINE!!! :D :D ;)

Ira :p

Thanks Ira...I will say your worries that I might outdo you were unfounded, but Dave still did a hell of a job.

[Ira R.]

Thanks Ira...I will say your worries that I might outdo you were unfounded, but Dave still did a hell of a job.

He alway does. I look forward to reading the article. I am curious how closely matched the engines ended up. I mean parts wise. Not too I supsect, bit I think it may be interesting to see.

Ira

[Mercutio]

I think I've fixed the car, so now that I'm not quite so pissed at it, I'll offer a few notes on my current combination. After last season I ordered new 17x9 95 Cobras and 275/40-17 Hoosier A6s for all four corners. I added a 1.25 sway bar in front and 1.125 in back. The day I drove down I had 1.5 degrees negative camber put in all four corners. Before I started having problems the car felt really good--the balance was right on, with a bit of understeer, but with as much torque as these cars have dialing in oversteer with throttle isn't too hard. Judging by still photos from the event, -1.5 camber seemed just right in front, but the rear could have used another degree or so. The course wasn't ideal for an SC; it only had one sweeper but lots of crazy offsets and transitions, so the car's weight and size hurt it more than on some of the other courses I've run.

I've got some aluminum Mk8 parts and an AL driveshaft that I'll install soon to try to shed some weight. I might also get a set of fixed-back racing seats to drop some weight. After this year, though, I hope to have an Explorer engine in my LX, and if that's the case I'll return it to racing duty. Those who have seen my SC will hopefully vouch that it's just too nice a car to gut and turn into a dedicated racecar.

[racecougar]

Looked like a pretty good run to me, Will. I was digging the blower whine. :)

Those who have seen my SC will hopefully vouch that it's just too nice a car to gut and turn into a dedicated racecar.

Yeah, that car is too nice to strip out.

-Rod

[90blkbrd]

BUY THE MAGAZINE!!! :D :D ;)

Ira :p

Can I go out and buy an issue newer than the one where the snow system and MPx was installed? I just got around to reading it today, had 8 hours to burn waiting around at a swim meet.

[quick35th]

Nice run Will. You should invest in an in car camera mount. I had one in my old 35th years ago and got tons of good autocross videos with it.

Shane
Glynn Motorsports