Re: SCCA thread was BFG R1 Team T/A

[Iain Mannix <mannix@privateI.com>]

>Thanks, Iain, for the sobering but fascinating read.  It's nice to get that
>occasional reality check.  I was starting to believe that a stock diesel
>Rabbit could dust an F50.

Mine can!  Oh wait, this is not the newsgroup.  You're welcome, I guess:),
it sorta sucks to know that these great cars are starting to show their
age(be it a 76 or 96 - the Rabbit GTI was ahead of its time, and we all
know the Scirocco is basically the same car, but not much has changed since
then, well, except the Plus axle or whatever it is, the thing which makes
them understeer _more_.  Cool).


> This year, he put the M3 in CSP, and placed 6th,
>>which he was not happy with - the CSP BMW M3 was beaten by the Hondas, a
>>Miata(which won), an a 79 RX7.  If an M3, an E36 car prepped well and
>>driven by one of the all time best drivers in SoloII can't do it(this year,
>>98 is another season, I believe he _can_ do it), do you really think a
>>GTI/GLI 16v can?  I don't.
>
>
>Aren't E36 M3's within spitting distance of Corvette performance?  How can
>the universally worshipped M3, well prepped and driven no less, get spanked
>by a Miata and Hondas (Preludes?)?  What is done to these cars?  You're
>sure this is an E36 and not E30 M3?

It was an E36.  The Tunnells have one of each - when both were Stock class
legal, they brought both out to see which was faster - both Patty and Bob
were a couple of tenths quicker in the E36, but the E30 is not considerably
slower.  Anyhow, a CSP car is set up much like a DSP car - same rules.
Suspension is basically unlimited, intake and exhaust are free, any wheel
and tire, etc.  Full interior.  The Hondas do well because they are really
light and can be made to produce a LOT of power - 150-160hp in SP trim, so
they have about a 10:1 power to weight ratio.  The M3 makes 260-270, but is
heavier.  It has bigger tires, which is a benefit, so they produce similar
grip to that of the Hondas.

The biggest reason Bob had trouble was size.  This year's Nats courses were
fairly small, and the M3 is a BIG car compared to the rest of the class.
Bob won CSP for the season in ProSolo2, where acceleration is more
important(even though the Hondas from Hell have lots of power, they're FWD
and have less torque - the M3 has boatloads of torque).  Bob and others
mentioned that this year's Nationals was two smallish courses - not
terribly small, but he tells me that normally, at Nationals, there is one
bigcar course, one littlecar course - this year, both were littlecar
courses, and in the classes where small and big cars competed together, the
small cars prevailed - the ASP Lotii kicked butt on the Corvettes, Hondas
and others beat Bob, which is not a small feat - if Bob enters a National
event, there is a good chance he is going to win.  He's going to try, that
is for sure.  Not this year, though.  In autocross, the driver makes the
biggest difference, but at Nationals, all the top drivers are _really_
good, and the car really does come into play - the added size of BT's car
seemed to be a big factor in his (for him) not so good finish.

>
>
>Sorry, non-racer speaking but what is it about the X 1/9 and RX3 that make
>them so competitive?  Is it their RWD handling?  The RX3 probably puts out
>a lot of power but the X 1/9?  Is it because they have an "X" in their
>name?  What kind of truck does Leicester campaign?  Thanks, benton-------

RX3 - 200 horsepower, rear wheel drive, 2000#.  Supposedly do not handle
all that well, but what they lack in handling is made up for in power.

Fiat X19 - only a few _really_ fast ones in the country - Hoelscher's car,
the ex-Condrashoff mobile, Akkana Peck's.  These are superquick because
they are _tiny_, make decent power, but are rear wheel drive, mid engine,
ultra balanced, superior handling cars.

I believe the VW can make more power than the Fiat, and handle better than
the Mazda, and with the right driver, could overcome the liability of FWD.
The Mazda got booted to CSP, so it is the Fiat to look at now - I really do
think the VW could beat the Fiat, but it'll take a LOT of work.  Hoelscher
is the man to beat, but if the Engstroms bring out the Condrashoff car,
well, there's another car to concern ourselves with.

The truck is a 77 Toyota.  It is fast - not unbeatable, but a year ago, I
thought it was.  It has a stiff suspension, dual Webers, no idea how much
it weighs, 245/45-16 tires, basically a very well sorted out truck with a
very good driver.  Not so speedy - I drove it around a bit at an event a
while back, it is really pretty slow.  Tons of torque compared to the VW,
but the VW walks away from it.  After driving it, I really don't know how
the hell the owners make it go so fast - not so quick, slow steering ratio,
but good brakes and ungodly grip.  I guess it is the grip.  It is a really
neat truck, and has been responsible for my drive to build a fast Rabbit -
I like the owners a lot, and the way I figure, if a truck can do it, so can
a Rabbit.  The owner of the truck, an odd guy named Matt, is a fascinating
person - has lots of great ideas, does really good work, and is not hiding
anything.  I look to him for a lot of ideas - he and I disagree on a couple
of things(but I'm guessing that you all know by now that I don't agree 100%
with many people, and absolutely nothing personal comes of most of that:),
but is willing to discuss why he thinks I'm off base on certain things, and
respects my opinion on other things - I'm really glad they're around.  Fun
people, and to me, a big part of what autocross is all about - people
having fun, trying to make their cars go faster, and doing what it takes to
make that happen, all while having fun.  Anyhow......


TTYS! I.Mannix


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