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Supreme Being
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 10/9/2008 7:49:22 AM
Posts: 269,
Visits: 1,221
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Thanks again to the committee for the impromptu improvisation due to the bike school and the car....obstacle. Perhaps we should have used the tow truck to tow the car away  Things you did well: Making the course easy to follow in spite of having no maps nor parade lap. Loved the box just before the end (except when I had to pick up the cones when working corner 6)....okay, I was a little guilty of some cone nudging too too. You worked out the dips well and in the process managed to create the off camber sweepers just a couple of gates after the start. Keeping the 'danger' away from the light posts. Finally, thank you Mark for releasing the results so quickly too! I really struggled with traction..talk about fighting extreme understeer then suddenly oversteer, not to mention this is the most wheel spin I've managed to get out of my asphalt warping 184hp torque monster  .....all this without abusing the clutch at all.
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When it comes to Auto-Xing, I'm like an elephant
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Supreme Being
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 2 days ago @ 4:14:05 PM
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Great job guys! Super smooth running event. I can believe we were finished so early. I'm not a huge fan of the pin turns with straights after them due to my torqueless-wonder of a car, but there were some really fast and fun parts in the course.
Thomas'06 Mazda RX-8 
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Junior Member
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 8/11/2008 11:31:08 AM
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I thought it was a very enjoyable event as well.
+1 on a well marked course. I know at least one guy on his second autocross ever who didn't have any trouble navigating it.
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Supreme Being
Group: Board Of Directors
Last Login: Yesterday @ 5:16:17 PM
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97Msedan (4/22/2008)
Great job guys! Super smooth running event. I can believe we were finished so early. I'm not a huge fan of the pin turns with straights after them due to my torqueless-wonder of a car, but there were some really fast and fun parts in the course. Hmm.. I don't hear the Elise owners (133 ft-lbs of torque) complaining about those turns  Sounds like a personal problem! ha! <grin> I kinda like the pin turns actually... to be honest though, they are no different than a gated turn.... they are really just missing the outside cone. Many people do complain that the AWD boost buggies and big motor cars have an advantage out of slow corners that lead onto straights, but in small lot like TMS/Lagrave... there's not a whole lotta straight...
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Supreme Being
Group: Board Of Directors
Last Login: Yesterday @ 5:16:17 PM
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Thanks for the compliments from all... the LaGrave course always seems to have a wrinkle attached to it, I know that SCCA had issues with extra parked 18 wheelers from a motorcycle show at the FW convention center on one of their events. Having to wake up the owner to get the bathrooms opened is another.. (sigh) That said, the bathrooms are nice, the surface is clean, and the light poles can be designed out fairly easily. I'm glad we were able to use the parts of the lot with the camber to much better success... This past course was what I envisioned when we had our first event there, but we did not pre-run the course with a lowered/stiffly sprung car, and that's how we ended up with a course that had issues with bottoming out. We learned from our mistake! 
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Supreme Being
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 2 days ago @ 11:58:09 AM
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| +1 on a fun setup. Talked with the driver of the C6 Z06 (came in 4th behind the 3 Elises), and he said he was really surprised you could get a 60 second course out of a lot that size. So, kudos once again. I rarely criticize a course segment; I just don't see how you guys come up with great layouts time after time. However, on this course that last cone prior to the lights was really hard on wider cars. The box corner had already slowed us down, and if the last cone had been moved to the right a little, maybe one foot, it would have flowed much better into the lights. BTW, I talked to one of the Elise drivers and he was complaining about the pivot cones as well! One of these days I'm going to upgrade to some better wheels and tires; I think I've finally got to the point I can use them! I'm going to be at a graduation in Arkansas for the May event, but I'll see y'all in June! Have a good one, Mike
Rider: Mike Bridges, Class Z Steed: 1 of 189 2000 Nassau Blue Metallic FRCs, born on December 1, 1999, adopted June 14, 2002
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Supreme Being
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Last Login: 2 days ago @ 4:14:05 PM
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M3 Adjuster (4/28/2008)
Hmm.. I don't hear the Elise owners (133 ft-lbs of torque) complaining about those turns Sounds like a personal problem! ha! <grin> LOL! They also aren't pulling around that extra 800 pounds the RX-8 has on the Elise. Good job navigating the course through the transitions/ditches in the lot. I do have to agree that the finish was overly tight. Wasn't Hanchey going to make some longer cables for the timing lights??? The short finishes with turns are a little scary.
Thomas '06 Mazda RX-8
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Supreme Being
Group: Board Of Directors
Last Login: Yesterday @ 5:16:17 PM
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I will say that messrs Hanchey/Fair may have over promised and under delivered with respect to a longer cable, but to be honest, the ending was really not distance limited in this situation. It's a little tough at LaGrave to route cars from the end of the course to the start, while also taking into account that cars need to come from the paddock... if the same course were, say, an SCCA/ER course, where cars go back to the paddock and wait (insert interminable length of time here) for the next run, we could have ended the course at the stop box and that would be that.  With our format of running multiple runs at a time, we did not want cars zipping through the paddock to line up again, let alone managing two lines of cars coming from the paddock. I suppose we could route cars onto the street in between the two parking lots, and thusly *around* the paddock.... *shrug* This is a GOOD reminder, because similar issues abound at TMS depending on course design..... having a mega- long cord allows more flexibility in course design. I know that there are some wireless options for gates, but the pricing on those is staggeringly high... prices begin at 3K ... and ohmigod what if someone hits one?!
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Forum Member
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: Yesterday @ 10:04:41 PM
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M3 Adjuster (4/30/2008)
prices begin at 3K ... and ohmigod what if someone hits one?!Take a second mortgage on the Bimmer?
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