Managed to take 1st place again today, which means I’ve still got a perfect record for this season with Chicago Region! (I missed event 5 entirely, but we get up to three drops for the season, so that doesn’t matter.) Only managed 39th in PAX, which isn’t that hot, but I never really managed to get a truly “satisfying” run in today. I’m trying to work on getting closer to the cones, as that is still a weak point of mine, but as always I’m trying not to tear up the sides of my car either…
Date: Sunday, August 27, 2017
SCCA Chapter: Chicago Region (Event #6)
Location: Route 66 Raceway, Joliet, IL
Weather: Partly Cloudy, 70-80 degrees F, 5 MPH winds.
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Car: 2015 Subaru BRZ
Class: 345 STX
Wheels/Tires: 949 Racing 6UL (17×9)/Bridgestone Potenza RE-71R (245/40R17)
Brakes: AP Racing Factory 4-Piston Front BBK w/ APF404 Pads (Hawk 5.0 Rear Pads)
Suspension: KW V3 coilovers, Raceseng Cas/Cam plates, Velox LCAs
Exhaust: Fujitsubo Authorize R Catback
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Raw: 46.966 (1st of 4 in Class)
PAX: 38.606 (39th of 120 Overall)
Sharp Limiter
Hitting the limiter continues to be a frustrating experience. My current plans are for a header and tune after tax season early next year, so hopefully this issue will be resolved then, but in the meantime, it continues to be a huge annoyance. You can see the two points where I run into the limiter, and in both instances, I would have loved for the car to maintain speed a little longer. Especially the third slalom, which could have been taken more quickly if the limiter had allowed it!
Looking Ahead!
There were a few places in today’s course that were tricky if only because looking ahead in the course meant trying to look through one of my A-pillars. Everything seemed to align perfectly with my blind spots, which added another layer of difficulty! There were a few places on course (the longer left turn after the first slalom, and the left turn heading into the third slalom) where I kept thinking things were tighter than they were, and so I didn’t fully commit, and lost some time. I also was WAY late coming onto the power around the far turn-around. I’m starting to think it would really benefit me to review my runs on video throughout the day to help remind me of where I’m not getting on the loud pedal soon enough, but I’m still a bit too lazy to bother with that, lol.
Rogue Garage Door Opener!
I think I’m going to start removing the garage door opener from my visor before my runs. My last run of the day was also my fastest run of the day, and so that is the video you see below. It was also the run where my helmet gently bumped my garage door opener, which had already been bumped into on previous runs. This time I knocked it off entirely, so out of nowhere, a giant object went shooting across the cabin from my driver’s side visor, and impacted the passenger side door. It scared the crap out of me and distracted me for a moment until I realized what it was. You can actually see the moment it occurs in the video. Look closely at the 43 second mark. You can see the opener on the visor before I make the left around the slalom cone. Then it’s gone. It distracted me enough that you can see me need to correct when I turn in too early for the next cone.
Can you do a follow up post on the trailer? How was it for the autox season? Would you do it differently now? I have a very similar setup, it worked ok for the first season. I think i’m going to add the third wheel for while it’s parked in the paddock.
I’m so sorry, George. Somehow this comment completely slipped past me. I do intend to do a follow-up post. In the meantime, I’ve used it for two autocross seasons. So far I have no major complaints. I’ve only had two issues with it so far. One was that the bolts for the main “tongue” beam started backing out a bit, causing it to wiggle. That happened in the second year. Tightened them down a bit and they are good now. At some point I should probably go back and use Loctite on them. The only other issue I had was the short wood screws I used to secure the wheel chocks to the bed started tearing out. That’s not surprising. They were far from ideal. I replaced them with nuts and bolts going all the way through and that’s fine too now. I did just receive, in the mail, a recall notice because apparently the tires they sold do not meet DOT requirements, so if I take them off, and drop by HF, I’ll apparently get brand new wheels and tires for free, lol.
Things I would do differently? Well, I would like to build my own next time if possible, but some things I would do to improve this one:
1. After assembly, have it welded and powder-coated. I’m sure I could find somewhere that could do that quickly and easily, without costing an arm and a leg. I figure if it’s properly done, then it’ll last forever. My paint job isn’t perfect, and the welding isn’t really necessary, but just something I would like to have done.
2. Take out one of the leaves in the leaf springs. It’s just too tightly sprung on account of it being rated for over 1000 lb of cargo. I only use half of that, which makes it bouncy at slower speeds. I may still do this come spring.
3. Make the bed about 6″ longer. I would have loved to have been able to fit an EZ-UP tent between the wheels and the cargo box.
4. I eventually want to come up with a better system for securing the wheels. The current system is OK, but takes a little while to do/undo. Maybe a strap across each wheel front-to-back, with some sort of plates on each end to keep them from falling off to the side? IDK. I just know there must be an easier way. I’ve seen people stack them sideways, but I don’t like that layout.
5. A spare tire, and maybe one of those fold-down 3rd wheels like you were talking about so I don’t have to always unpack the jack stand first before I unhitch it!
Hope this helps.