My first time on a roadcourse (55 pics)

clawhammer

09-07-2006, 09:19 AM

Gotian

09-07-2006, 09:24 AM

Nice! Did you like it? Musashi and I got to go on a road course they use here for drifting, we did it for an autocross competition, it was alot of fun and the course was long.

-Jayson-

09-07-2006, 09:41 AM

ive always wanted to do that, where was it and when do you plan on going again?

Mad_Maxima

09-07-2006, 10:49 AM

I so wanna try that.

man those are some nice evo's,and the prelude got owned by the course it looks like, what happened there

clawhammer

09-07-2006, 10:50 AM

This was an autocross organized by the SCCA on Labor day. A lot of people showed up to the event, so we only got 4 runs in. The event was held at Grattan Raceway in Grattan, Michigan, close to Grand Rapids.

After seeing the Prelude crash, I decided to take it slowly. I wasn't pushing it very hard. I was almost two seconds behind my buddy in the Jetta. Usually we're neck in neck with me leading slightly.

This got me interested in track racing, and as soon as my S2000 is paid off, I'll be looking at racing in Spec Miata.

Jayson, from the Detroit area it's a 2.5 hour drive. There was a SC Cavy that showed up, black with black wheels. You may know him. I will not be able to go to this track until next year, but will be doing several auto-xes close to home.

clawhammer

09-07-2006, 10:53 AM

Forgot to mention the Prelude. Towards the end of the course there was a long straight-way on which I was able to get up to 95 mph. In the beginning of the day they had a lane change right before the finish line that people were taking at 80+ mph. The lane change was supposed to slow people down, but it wasn't working. Then the Prelude came along, and he got scared, lifted out of the throttle, and started fishtailing, couldn't control it, and ended up hitting the guardrail. Afterwards they removed the lane change.

clawhammer

09-07-2006, 10:54 AM

One more thing. The pictures are not mine. They were taken by Crankwalk on xveedespeed and BoostedBlue02 on streetdisturbance. Gotta give credit where credit is due.

VR43000GT

09-07-2006, 11:58 AM

Nice pics. Really looks like fun.....except for the Prelude that ate shit.

Polygon

09-07-2006, 12:18 PM

Very nice pics and a lot of NICE cars man! :smile:

slideways...

09-07-2006, 12:19 PM

i love the BRE style Z. but is it me or does that track look like its in real rough shape...how was it to drive on?

clawhammer

09-07-2006, 12:29 PM

The track looked rough, but it was very smooth

turtlecrxsi

09-08-2006, 08:29 AM

There were some really sweet rides there. Too bad about the Prelude. Looked like it was fun.

Chiquae07

09-08-2006, 09:20 AM

too bad i cant see the pics as i am currently at school. will take a look when i get home. i want to road course so bad! it will prob remind me going super fast in a go-kart and understeering if i dont brake accordingly.

clawhammer

09-09-2006, 12:55 PM

Prelude crashing:

http://www.ilostmymind.com/upload/prelude_copy1.gif

-The Stig-

09-09-2006, 04:08 PM

Classic lift off oversteer... poor guy.

Musashi3000GT

09-09-2006, 05:38 PM

Nice pics bro, the course looks like its nothing but elevation changes....very interesting course indeed.

See his wheels when he looses the tail Matt? what was it you told me? turn into the spin, give gas, straighten up :smile:

pre98zetec

09-11-2006, 03:19 PM

Nice pics! I know that guy with the SVT Contour from contour.org.

alphalanos

09-11-2006, 03:26 PM

Id take mine on a roadcourse if it wasn't an auto d16. Id like to see how it would do before it broke lol.:p

chevytrucks92

09-11-2006, 08:11 PM

Classic lift off oversteer... poor guy.

So lifting want get ya out of trouble on a road course???

Because thats the ONLY way to get out of trouble on the drag strip.

-The Stig-

09-11-2006, 10:17 PM

So lifting want get ya out of trouble on a road course???

Because thats the ONLY way to get out of trouble on the drag strip.

Well, when the ass starts to come around on you it's best to stay in it with controlled amounts of throttle... this is for a rear drive car really... I suspect the same principle goes for a front drive car.

In that little clip it seems that soon as the cars tail started to swing out he paniced like 99% of us most likely would, and slammed the brakes which further complicated things... along with his momentum going probably what... 50-60mph? Or faster even.. he slid up that embankment and bango!

Hard to say what would of helped him out in that situation without seeing a clear video, a string of a few pictures is nice but it's choppy and doesn't tell the whole picture... mainly like how his entry into the chicane was like.

Like I said, hard to say really... just looks like a big ol whoopsiedoodle to me. Shit happens when you go to the track. :lol:

I saw a guy crunch his Nova into the barrier at the race track when I went to run the 1/4 in the LS1. His problem was it seemed to break traction going into 2nd gear and the car (left lane) I believe swung to the left towards his wall, but he over corrected and it snapped the other direction and went across the right lane and hit the opposite wall. Luckily the guy in the right lane was in a slow CRX and had time to stop before T-boning the Nova. Nova hit so hard it dislodged the K-rail. Totaled the Nova, guy was fine though.

Everything I've learned and been told, is that you use the throttle to straighten you back out. If anybody has ever seen the old motorcycle movie 'On any Sunday' by Bruce Brown you'll see a perfect example of this done by (if I recall)Malcom Smith in the dirt... they show it in slow motion, he's on the rear tire going over some small jumps, the ass starts to get out from under him and he just powers through it to bring it all back together.

General concesus is that once you let off, you unsettle the suspension which can cause the car to become unstable.

... then again, what do I know? :dunno:

TheStang00

09-11-2006, 10:43 PM

^^ you seem pretty well on with you assessment. also if you just simply push in the clutch, which the guy probably didnt do, itll give the tires a lot better of a chance to catch.

i liked how there was a mustang and fbody on the roadcourse... i sure hope that stang had suspension work. cause if not... he seems a little out of his habitat there. ive heard that with suspension work they can handle pretty decent though. but i dont know from experience at all.

Gotian

09-12-2006, 08:04 AM

here are some pics I found from our first autocross, sorry to hijack, but since this is related to the topic might as well put them here.

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b262/_dude_u_weirdo/kris%20pictures/AldrwinsCameraPics077.jpg

http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b262/_dude_u_weirdo/kris%20pictures/AldrwinsCameraPics069.jpg

This is when I was gonna go, I'm talking with the guy who drives the red stang.
http://i21.photobucket.com/albums/b262/_dude_u_weirdo/kris%20pictures/AldrwinsCameraPics106.jpg

Gotian

09-12-2006, 08:19 AM

here are two videos , one is me with the jetta and the other is musashi with the 3KGT

Gotian and the Jetta (http://s21.photobucket.com/albums/b262/_dude_u_weirdo/kris%20pictures/?action=view&current=gotianandthejetta.flv)

Musashi and the 3KGT (http://s21.photobucket.com/albums/b262/_dude_u_weirdo/kris%20pictures/?action=view&current=musashi3kgt2.flv)

chevytrucks92

09-12-2006, 04:52 PM

Like I said, hard to say really... just looks like a big ol whoopsiedoodle to me. Shit happens when you go to the track. :lol:

Lol. Yes sir.

Well, it makes sense I guess. Because even on the strip you can feel the car kinda "rock" or "sway" a little bit when you let up. I guess maybe because of that he locked his brakes up, and no doubt over corrected the wheel and then got into the grass and that was probably worse then being on ice.

But now on the drag strip, the only thing to do is just let up completely on the throttle and don't even think about getting back in it! No doubt the guy driving the Nova got the car to weaving, got it out of the groove and broke the rear tires loose, seen the guardrail coming up, lifted, cut the wheel hard left and got it away from the guardrail and then got back on the gas, and then the tires probably hooked and it "slung" him into the left lane and into the guard rail.

That is exactly why you don't ever get back on the gas once you've lifted completely and especially when you got the wheels cut. Because those slicks will hook up and then you'll go really fast whichever direction you got the wheels cut.

You can drive them out of some things, but if it gets too bad, then the best thing to do is just shut it down and save your car. Becuase once you get squirly, you've done and lost the race, lol, especially a bracket race.

And the really cool thing about a race car is when you shut it down, no matter how bad of shape you were in, it just settles right down.

clawhammer

09-12-2006, 07:19 PM

Well, when the ass starts to come around on you it's best to stay in it with controlled amounts of throttle... this is for a rear drive car really... I suspect the same principle goes for a front drive car.

In that little clip it seems that soon as the cars tail started to swing out he paniced like 99% of us most likely would, and slammed the brakes which further complicated things... along with his momentum going probably what... 50-60mph? Or faster even.. he slid up that embankment and bango!

Hard to say what would of helped him out in that situation without seeing a clear video, a string of a few pictures is nice but it's choppy and doesn't tell the whole picture... mainly like how his entry into the chicane was like.

Like I said, hard to say really... just looks like a big ol whoopsiedoodle to me. Shit happens when you go to the track. :lol:

I saw a guy crunch his Nova into the barrier at the race track when I went to run the 1/4 in the LS1. His problem was it seemed to break traction going into 2nd gear and the car (left lane) I believe swung to the left towards his wall, but he over corrected and it snapped the other direction and went across the right lane and hit the opposite wall. Luckily the guy in the right lane was in a slow CRX and had time to stop before T-boning the Nova. Nova hit so hard it dislodged the K-rail. Totaled the Nova, guy was fine though.

Everything I've learned and been told, is that you use the throttle to straighten you back out. If anybody has ever seen the old motorcycle movie 'On any Sunday' by Bruce Brown you'll see a perfect example of this done by (if I recall)Malcom Smith in the dirt... they show it in slow motion, he's on the rear tire going over some small jumps, the ass starts to get out from under him and he just powers through it to bring it all back together.

General concesus is that once you let off, you unsettle the suspension which can cause the car to become unstable.

... then again, what do I know? :dunno:

:iagree:

I used to do that a lot when I started autocrossing, but as I got more confident, I learned to be gentle with the throttle.

There are several ways that could have been avoided. First of all, had he not been that choppy with the throttle none of it would have happened. Second, once he realized he was going too fast (which he did before making the lane change) instead of attempting to make the lane change by slamming on the brake he should have knocked over a few cones and gone straight. At the first hint of oversteer he should have added more throttle, straightened out the car, and then slammed on the brake.

-The Stig-

09-12-2006, 11:46 PM

But now on the drag strip, the only thing to do is just let up completely on the throttle and don't even think about getting back in it! No doubt the guy driving the Nova got the car to weaving, got it out of the groove and broke the rear tires loose, seen the guardrail coming up, lifted, cut the wheel hard left and got it away from the guardrail and then got back on the gas, and then the tires probably hooked and it "slung" him into the left lane and into the guard rail.

Hmm I'll agree with that, I suppose in a drag race where you have limited race track to work with, being you're in a closed section with the guard rails, you don't have any run off room if you get all loose in the caboose.

Road racing, unless you're in a very tight street course like say the Long Beach Grand Prix track, you've usually got a nice grassy run off if you get a bit outta shape for recovery.

I'd have to say you're right in the fact that 99% of the time it's best to just shut her down when you're doing the 1320.

chevytrucks92

09-13-2006, 04:31 PM

Yeah. You dont have any wiggle room, even on a big NHRA member track when you start getting out of shape.

And then all these "local" tracks that the Professional series don't go to have even less room, lol. And no track is perfectly smooth. There's always bumps and rough spots and you feel every bit of that in a car.

And then a race car will move around a little on a normal run. So its not like they go perfectly straight down the track to begin with. I'm still pretty new at driving a race car, but I've drove enough that I can tell when it time to just shut it down. And anybody that drives a car will tell ya that's the best thing to do when they get out of shape.

2000LS1Z28

09-13-2006, 05:13 PM

Wow, that looks like a killer event to go to. If my car had a decent suspension setup i'd definitely try my hands at that course. Too bad for the prelude owner. Luckily it doesn't look too expensive to repair.

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My first time on a roadcourse (55 pics)