Chattanooga Ho Ho

Discussion of anything that doesn't fall into the Solo II and RallyX Categories
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scottgib
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Chattanooga Ho Ho

Post by scottgib »

This was an interesting, different and fun autoX. Flannagan designed the course and managed to get a 60 second course out of the Auto Auction site. Two laps, two cars on course, and tight as hell. Course was for small cars.

Results:
By Class
Overall and Pax

Richard Miller took FTD. He drove like he stole it and his car ran great.

I got my better times running the whole course in 1st gear. Lest than 10 ft of hitting the rev limiter. The course was difficult for most larger cars, although a Z06 was second overall.

ETR did well. FTD, Top Pax, and five firsts in class. 68 people there.

I had to red flag a car when a police car came charging onto the course. That stopped action for a while while he got satisfied we were not the cause of an alarm going off in the Auto Auction building.

For the record, Tony Bolton drove well IMHO -- His car was just not made for this course. The 92 Civic Si that Bill Miller and Flannagan used to win SM, was really an STS car and was driven by four people, three of which were in the same group. The car is owned by Nathan Peters. Brian used it to test the course also. I don't think Bill Miller got any practice runs, but he did drive it well taking first in SM.

My highlight was taking Hester and his SVT Focus by 1.6 sec. (and yes, he was on Kumho V700s).

A number of ETR cars that didn't come could have done well here, but some would have had problems. This course hated WRXs.

BTW the trophy was a Christmas ornament made from a matchbox car, so I didn't pick up anyone elses.

On Nashville -- Congratulations David for being the fastest car that looks sorta like a real car!
Old men can still dream!

Scott Gibson
ConeJunkie
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Post by ConeJunkie »

Well from the way the course sounds, I kind of lucked out getting sick that night :? Any time I hear someone describe the course as "tight as hell" is not a good thing for me. Congratulations JW for putting the smack down on the "TIGER".
I am so good I will race you and only use one hand.
steverife
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Re: Chattanooga Ho Ho

Post by steverife »

scottgib wrote: got my better times running the whole course in 1st gear. Lest than 10 ft of hitting the rev limiter.
:eek:

of the handful of courses and events i've ran this year, this was my least favorite. for me, it was approximately 60 seconds of fighting to keep in my powerband and hit all the gates. the only part that felt even remotely close to fast was the little donut part. hopefully, the experience'll make me a better driver.

on a positive note, before the day, i set 2 small personal goals (run within 3 seconds of Tony and beat someone in SM that i didn't beat last chatt event) and accomplished both of them.
'16 FRS - PSTX 97
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scottgib
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Post by scottgib »

Steve, it looked like you moved that VW around the course very well. Seemed like you are improving. That course took a lot of work to get around. It was probably the most busy course I have ever seen. It made power pretty much a non factor and did favor cars that have good transition ability (quick movments as opposed to sweepers). That FV would have done better if he had a 1st gear synchro. He wasted all sorts of time trying to downshift and he couldn't just leave it in first. I guess the course also favored a car that could stay in one gear. Did you use just second after the start?
Old men can still dream!

Scott Gibson
steverife
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Post by steverife »

scottgib wrote:Steve, it looked like you moved that VW around the course very well. Seemed like you are improving.
Thanks for the kind words. I'm driving the course with more confidence and less fear of "messing up" and it's making the experience MUCH more enjoyable. I can hardly wait until next season.
Did you use just second after the start?
I did and, for the most part, I feel it was the right gear for me. It would have been advantageous for me to downshift to 1st for the start of the 2nd lap, but I'm not going to manhandle my daily transportation into first against its will unless absolutely necessary.
'16 FRS - PSTX 97
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scottgib
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Post by scottgib »

Double clutch and rev match. Seems to be a lost art. I learned to drive on an old old pickup that had no syncros (crash box) and later learned to change up and down entirely without the clutch. I am not as good as Mark Pilson however. He doesn't use the clutch when swapping gears in an autoX.

Stu is still working on this double clutch thing in an autoX. Many times it requires heel & toe operation of the brake and throttle. That is not so easy to learn since one has to match the rpm to speed by ear and sight all the while braking with the same foot and trying to get around a turn. Fun ain't it! I can double clutch down shift using heel-toe, but I still screw up left foot braking enough to keep me from doing it when a run actually counts or if there isn't much safe run-off space. It is all just practice, and in the case of these two techniques, lots of it.
Old men can still dream!

Scott Gibson
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MARKP
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Post by MARKP »

[quote="scottgib"] I am not as good as Mark Pilson however. He doesn't use the clutch when swapping gears in an autoX.

Only on the downshift and only when the shift linkage is good and tight. I couldn't do it at Talladega which is where I would normally be best at it. The bushings in the shift linkage let go, evidently on the way down.

I had to check a lot of bolts and such when I got down there. That highway is awful. :x
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tscott
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Post by tscott »

I've been granny shifting when I should've been double clutching.

Whoa my avatar got owned.
steverife
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Post by steverife »

my heel-toe capabilities are somewhat limited by an ankle that had a metal rod and 4 screws placed in it earlier this year.

even though i've never tried it in the autocross course (i don't know if my drive-by-wire setup would even let me), i can left foot brake like a champ. back in the spring, i drove an auto ford f150 daily for about a month using only my left foot to brake, as my ankle was in a hard boot.
'16 FRS - PSTX 97
thrdeye
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Post by thrdeye »

I've only had to downshift once -at nashville- after the drag race at the start. I did the ol heel toe and pulled it off pretty smoothly. I was quite proud of my self and felt like a real live race car driver.

So anyway, my front lip fell off again today. time to paint it black.
Chris Harp
2009 Mazda RX-8 | 2018 Toyota Tundra | 2011 BMW M3
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