wheelman Posted July 17, 2006 Share Posted July 17, 2006 Yesterday I attended a drivers school hosted by the local Auto-X club (Sand & Sage Sports Car Club, http://www.ssscc.org). I had a blast. The course was short and relatively tight which made it pretty challenging. I was able to make 12 runs in the morning but had to skip the afternoon session as my cooling fan failed and the Z overheated a bit. I'm going to rewire the circuits with larger relays and heavier guage wire so I don't have this happen again. Apparently the Taurus fans pull close to 90 amps on startup and 35 amps during continuous operation. More than the relays I used are rated for and they stuck open. I'm also thinking of putting in an override switch so I can manually turn on the highspeed circuit. Anyway my first run I was a bit tentative and managed to do it in 55.7 seconds. By the end of my session I had my time down to 51.1 seconds. I mangled a few cones but generally managed to avoid them and didn't miss any gates. 2 different instructors rode with me, both were very impressed with the power output and the balance of the car. I let one of the instructors take a run and he had all kinds of good things to say about the handling. Said it was well balanced, didn't push at all, turned in with no hesitation and was easy to steer with the throttle. I've been anxious to Auto-X the Z and finally got the opportunity and now I'm hooked, I haven't enjoyed myself that much in a long time. The next race is in September so I have plenty of time to get the fan circuit rewired and install the LS1 fuel tank I just bought but I'm already looking forward to it. Wheelman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
christoc Posted July 17, 2006 Share Posted July 17, 2006 Welcome to the useless hobby called autox They're a blast, but I really question why I autox sometimes. A few weeks ago I drove to DC, from St. Louis, for a ProSolo. 28 hours round trip, for less than 12 minutes of actual competition!!! Crazy? Yes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mason4300 Posted July 17, 2006 Share Posted July 17, 2006 heh sounds fun Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wagz Posted July 17, 2006 Share Posted July 17, 2006 Where did they setup the course? Years ago I used to autoX with the Sand and Sage guys running my buddy's Renault or one of my Fiat Spiders. We used to run in the WPPS parking lot in Richland or at the colesium parking lot in Kennewick. It was always a blast. Now that I'm moving back, I'll have to get the VR done so I can run against ya! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted July 17, 2006 Share Posted July 17, 2006 12 runs? I think the most I've ever gotten was 6 and that was because turnout was about 1/4 that of a normal autox. 12 runs is pretty incredible. Glad to hear we snagged another one. It's great fun and relatively cheap. You might try a track day if there is a track around you too. A typical track day is 3 or 4 20 minute sessions. Hardest part about the big track is flying down the straight away and then deciding where you're going to stop accelerating and start braking. Much bigger pucker factor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wheelman Posted July 17, 2006 Author Share Posted July 17, 2006 Wagz, This event was setup at Dust Devil Stadium and they also use the Tri-City Raceway. Not sure how familiar you are with the changes in the Tri-Cities but the stadium is located just off Road 68 in north Pasco. So when are you moving back? If you want any help with the VR just let me know. Be sure to PM when in town and I'll take you for a spin in the Z. I'm a total newbie at Auto-X so if you have any experience you'll probably be able to easily take me. jmortensen, I think the closest large track is in Portland, possibly Seattle. Do you know when they do HPDE events and how to get involved in them? I might have to add safety features to the car before I can run on a track, unlike Auto-X where if there's nothing rattling around and you have seat belts and a helmet your good. I know what you mean about the brake zones. Even though the course was tight there was a straight where I reached 65-70 mph followed by a 180 degree corner. I missed that brake zone on one run and slid through a wall of cones with the front brakes locked up and the steering wheel at full lock. Good fun. The event was a driver's school and the field was limited to 40 cars. I did the 12 runs in the morning and would have been able to run 12 more if the car hadn't over heated. They had also set up 2 identical courses, otherwise we wouldn't have been able to make that many runs. Wheelman Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMortensen Posted July 17, 2006 Share Posted July 17, 2006 I think the closest large track is in Portland, possibly Seattle. Do you know when they do HPDE events and how to get involved in them? I might have to add safety features to the car before I can run on a track, unlike Auto-X where if there's nothing rattling around and you have seat belts and a helmet your good. Most HPDE's have the same requirements as autox, battery secured, no broken lug studs, just basic safety stuff. Some require a fire extinguisher. They aren't competitions, so they don't require cages and all of that. As far as finding out where and when they are, I don't really know. I haven't been doing any racing at all since I moved here so I'm way out of the loop. You might try http://www.wwscc.org/ and see if you can dig up any info there. They have a forum, you could probably ask and get an answer there if you can't find a calendar on the normal website. The event was a driver's school and the field was limited to 40 cars. I did the 12 runs in the morning and would have been able to run 12 more if the car hadn't over heated. They had also set up 2 identical courses, otherwise we wouldn't have been able to make that many runs. Must be a HUGE area they're running in, and the rent must be CHEAP. Where I used to run there was a 5 acre concrete pad that we ran on (perfect surface, great grip). They'd use the whole thing and times were generally around 1 minute. We'd usually see between 120 and 180 drivers and get 4 runs in a day. They'd only make maybe $1000 per event, but the couple that ran it would let smaller local car clubs "guest host" and design the track and also keep the profit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bartman Posted July 17, 2006 Share Posted July 17, 2006 I think that I will give Auto-X and/or track days a shot as soon as I get a couple more of the bugs worked out of my car. It sounds like it would be fun and a great way to put some of that new found power and handling to the test! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moridin Posted July 19, 2006 Share Posted July 19, 2006 Wheelman, you could try NASA too. I really like the way they set their stuff up. http://www.nasaproracing.com/hpde/index.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jt1 Posted July 19, 2006 Share Posted July 19, 2006 Glad you had a good time. I highly reccomend track days & autoX to anybody that's a car guy. You learn a lot about your car, how to drive it, and about yourself. Most people who give it a try walk around with a big grin for a few days. Congrats. jt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.