i am back. got home around 2:30am last night.
how did I do? well. i kinda blew on day 2. but still ended up in second place.
I was leading after day 1 by 0.088 seconds. The entire course the car pretty much riding the rev limiter. But not for too long. Hit the limiter and back off a little, then again, and again. So that worked well. Maybe, if the speeds were a little lower that would have been even better.
Day 2 course was just a little faster though most of it, but with a couple very slow turns. I am still not sure if staying all the way in second or going through gears every few seconds would have been faster. I coned on my first run while staying in second gear. On the second run i trying going to third on the longest and fastest stretch, but ended up going way to fast by the third cone in the slalom that i could not get around and ended up with a DNF. At this time my best scratch time is 59.9 from my first run. My competition, Jame Harnish, in a Civic, had a 60.8 on the first run, 58.7 on the second and then taking off another second on the third to get to 57.6. So after his second run the things still looked good, but were a little grim after the third one. I had loose 2 seconds on my final run, so i went all out. Wiggle one cone in the first slalom, but it stayed in the box. Flew through the first section and started climbing the hill. Yes, a hill. Qualcomm stadium has a nasty hill, but is a blast to drive it. As i am coming up to the slalom i try to go to third and hit the gates. Rev the engine and the car ain't moving. By the time i found third i was too slow for it so i had to go back to second. Too much time lost. End result is a 59.9. I am not sure if i would have been able to drop into 57s on that run, but i might have been in low 58s.
A few things learned this weekend:
* A6 tire from Hoosier in 225/50R13 works great, but we are not sure how long it will last. Rumors have it that they dy after about 20 runs. We have had 10 on them right now. We will have new tire for Atwater national tour.
BTW, the new 225 is wider then the old 225 tire.
* Gearing in a Civic with 225/45R13 will let it run up to 65-70mph. We are stuck at 55 with a 4.10 diff. I think that was the biggest difference this weekend. We were faster through a course with a slower sustained top speed, but were running out of gear on the second course.
* I need to build a 3.91 diff and carry it with me to major events. If the course is fast, i will need to swap the diffs prior to running.
* Overall the car handled great. Very little understeer and only on the entry to the turn if going in too hot. Oversteer was easily correctable with more throttle.
The last time i fase James, we were in Topeka, KS for the nationals. He ended up in 4th spot and i was in 7th. he was ahead of me every day, with an overall lead opf about 1.3 seconds. Now i know that at least in some circumstances I can be right with him or ahead of him.
There was another 2002 at the event. David Venema in a 1974 EP car took first place by over 2 seconds. Congratulations David!!
steve k.
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