Thoughts of yesterday's autocross.....

[Iain Mannix <mannix@privatei.com>]

OK, had an autocross yesterday.  I promised I'd post my
thoughts/felings/insights of my new suspension, so here goes.  Press the
wonderous D key now if you don't give an early apex.  I recently redid my
GTI's suspension, with Koni shocks vs Bilstein BTS 172s, stiffer rear
springs (coilover conversion), and new control arms/poly bushings.  The
bushings squeak a lot, sorta annoying.  I also (for those that don't know)
have a 22mm front bar, 28mm rear + homemade OPM type bar, 2.5d negative
camber1/4" toe out in the front, 1/16" rear.  Initially, I set the front
shocks on full soft, rears full hard.  Turn in was violent, tearing the
rear wheel off the ground and inducing a bit of oversteer.  I softened the
rears up 1/2 turn, which helped a lot - the car felt better, pretty
balanced, and the rear was not jumping at the chance to let go.  First run
out on the 70 secondish course was uneventful - I lifted/braked where I
thought I should (based on experience with the previous suspension), and
it was a nice Sunday drive.  The last set of gates before the stop box was
the telling feature - short straight, 90d left, almost immediate 90d
right. The car just proceeded through, umm, that was too damned slow.  Got
a 73 flat, maybe 73.2, forget, but I knew I needed to go faster.  My main
competition came across with a 71.5 dirty, so I still had him, but if he
cleaned up the cone carnage, and I did not go faster, well, I'd lose.
Suck.  I don't remember my 2nd and 3rd run times, but I do remember sorta
wondering how I was going to go faster, I knew my line was pretty good, so
I figured I'd simply have to stay on the gas longer - use the force - keep
my foot in it when I simply KNEW the car would not stick.  It did.  I also
concluded that I needed to use more gas based on watching other's braking
points/apparent braking levels - I was not braking nearly as hard as the
fast people, which means they were carrying more speed to the braking
points.  Not rocket science, I know, but I find that when I have a decent
line - no huge mistakes - I have to look at why the my times are not doing
so well, and braking points are interesting to watch.  If DriverY is going
slow, and not braking very hard/much, but Driver B is fast/braking really
hard, well, one can deduce that DY is not carrying enough speed into the
braking point.  So, HOW do you go faster to the braking point?  Saying
that someone is going fast at a certain part of a course is fine, but HOW
are they going fast to that point?  For me, it was simply not lifting into
an offcamber right sweeper which led into a series of offsets - the
offsets defined your braking point at speed, as they were short enough
that you could afford to get late (carry too much speed) through them - by
the time you were "too late," you were at the braking point.  If you were
going slow, you could brake earlier, as you had more time to look at the
offsets, get set up for thebraking point/right turn.  SO, not lifting
through that right hander, drifting out, early apexing the first offset
(speed was building, and if you got around the first one, you were OK),
toss the car through, BRAKE, turn right and floor it.  Holding it on the
floor around the first right was hard - it did not seem like a prudent
thing to do, but it was the only thing I could see to do.  It stuck, I got
through the offsets, braked, turned right, which set you up for a left
sweeper into a slalom - virtually the same thing, but backwards - hold it
hold it hold it, bring the car back online, quick jog left to get set up
into the slalom, had to lift 1/3 of the way into the slalom, as it
decreased.  The last cone in the slalom was hard to miss, I nailed it on
my first run, someone told me I left it wobbling on my fourth and fastest
run.  I think I could have cleaned up the slaloms a bit, but overall, they
were pretty good.  Next tricky section was a slow, tight left hander on
grooved concrete - the stuff planes land on - it was critical to get set
up on that, turn in, get on the gas ASAP.  Exit speed was really
important there.  I got that rightish on a funrun with Kevin in the car,
only got it OK during competition.  Third gear was in my mind, but I
figured it'd unsettle the car - I wish I had tried it in retrospect - the
car did not seem unsettlable yesterday.  I did not slide once.  The car
was amazing.  My fourth run was a 69.8, good enough for first by a second,
which I was really happy about.  I drove OK, the course was easy to learn,
but the car handled REALLY well, and my power was good.  Really good, in
fact - the car pulled better at lower rpms than it ever has, possibly due
to a new ignition system.  More on that later.


Coolest thing yesterday was having the great Bob Tunnell drive the car -
Bob, for those that don't know, simply dominates whatever class he
chooses.  He had an ES Rabbit for a while, then went to a Jetta (remember
the Dr.Boltz Jetta?  EC did a bit on it a few years ago - that was his),
cooked DS 2 years ago in a BMW 318 (in Neon land - an impressive feat),
then AS last year in a new M3.  The guy is simply amazing.  He took me for
a ride in my car, and was amazingly gentle in it - first run out was a
70.xxx, a few tenths slower than me without the extra 210 pounds.  He hit
a lot of cones in the car, which can be attributed to the wide track width
my car has - the wheels stick out about 2" more than a stock Rabbit.  I
got out, he did two more runs in it - got to a 66.118.  F***ING A RIGHT!!!
Makes me really happy, it is not the car that contributes to my times, it
is the driver.  The car could be faster, but bottom line is this - it is
capable of respectable times.  Not nationals winning times, but good ones
- the top DSP cars across the nation would have been in the 62-64 range,
I'd guess.  Excellent.  If I can pick up 2 of those 3.7 seconds in the
next year or so as a driver, well, I'll be ecstatic.  FWIW, John Ames'
fastest time was a 62.9 - he won ESP last year at Nationals in his new
Camaro, and DSP is similar in speed to ESP nationally.


I had been wanting BT to drive my car for a while - it is all too easy to
think that the car needs such and such to go faster.  I think I could have
gotten into the low 69s/maybe high 68s with a bit of thought/another run
or two, especially armed with the knowledge that the car CAN go faster.
That's a big block we all suffer - thinking that the car is the problem,
even if you know it really is'nt.  Now that I KNOW the car is good for a
few more seconds, I'm hoping that I'll go a bit quicker - I had another
competitor drive the car a couple of years ago, he went 2 seconds faster
than me.  I got back into the car, did the same - 2 seconds appeared
because I knew they were there.  I doubt I'll go 3 seconds faster next
time out, but maybe one - which is huge.  Knowledge is power, right?


Kevin, the list moron I mean adminsitrator did really well yesterday - 73
flat on street tires with a passenger.  I'm not talking to him anymore,
he's too fast.  He's getting race tires soon, which will be really
interesting - they should be good for 2 seconds right off the top, and as
far as I am concerned, his car has a lot of room for improvement.
Denver's DSP is going to be REALLY competitive this year.  Should be fun.
Heh, since he's not talking about his car, and I'm procrastinating, I
will!  He's using Bilsteins, Neuspeed lowering springs, stress bars,
22/28mm sway bars, GTI wheels, and a JH engine/FF trans. Pretty basic
setup, right?  He's within 4 seconds of me, I've been doing it a bit
longer, my car is arguably better set up.  He was on 185/60-14 A509s.
HUH?  Fucker.  It's the driver.  He's good, and even though he does not
know it yet, he's going to Nationals in September.  As should all of you -
get your SCCA memberships, if you don't already have one, get to a
Divisional or Tour (need one to qualify - you don't have to win, just go),
and head to Topeka in September.  Got it?  Cool.


OK, so here I am, preparing another bomb to the list.  Har.  My suspension
is good, the car goes faster than I can drive it, and I am happy about it.
I'll shut up now, hope someone found this interesting, and I'll post again
after the 9th of March (our next event, can anyone make it?).  Take care,
Mannix

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