i did an autocross driving school today! video inside

Discussion in 'General Maverick/Comet' started by Bryant, Nov 22, 2014.

  1. Bryant

    Bryant forgot more than learned

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    today i took a scca autocross driving school. it was so much fun! i killed lots of cones! taking a 400 hp beast and trying to make it turn is tricky.
    heres video of my first run.


    that was so much fun

    heres another video of a better run



    im hooked. i need better tires. the scca has a class for muscle cars. i think im going to look into competing in that.
     
    injectedmav, Mavman72 and Stefan like this.
  2. GrabberGT

    GrabberGT Chris

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    Lookin good. Just a little oversteer there. Maybe disconnect the rear sway bar and see what it does. If I remember right, you're in the San Diego area. The SCCA CAM class is alive and well there.
     
  3. Bryant

    Bryant forgot more than learned

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    ya they said that they get around 12 cars at each event.
    thats a good tip on the rear sway bar. ill definitely try that. while i have your attention Chris, i have all the addco sway bars front and rears. the bars on the car right now are the regular adco bars front and rear. should i step up the front bar also or first just take off the rear bar then see what the results are?
     
  4. GrabberGT

    GrabberGT Chris

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    The last GG autox I did, I was beat by a 66 mustang with the only mods being 200tw tires, Shelby drop and a Watts link, (I assume newer springs as well). For you, this is were I would start. Remove, the traction bars and get some good tires. Taking the rear sway bar loose is easy enough to do at an event. Its a tuning device just as your adjustable coilovers. It takes time to learn your car and driving style. Start with maximizing your tire pressure, then tune with your shocks and sway bars. When you go to your first CAM event, hook up with Bryce in the falcon. Super nice guy and will get you going in the right direction.
     
  5. Bryant

    Bryant forgot more than learned

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    thanks Chris
     
  6. tody

    tody Member

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    sure looks like a lot of fun!
     
  7. SamsDad

    SamsDad Member

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    BAD AZZ, man I was laughing and loving it on the first vid, I was thinking if your Mav could talk here's what it was saying "hey man you wanna get me off the pansy azz parking lot with these pansy azz rice burning toys, I got serious power going on here!" second vid for a 40 year old car looking right at home:clap::clap:
     
  8. Bryant

    Bryant forgot more than learned

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    it was a great experience. if i used over about 1/4 throttle it would spin the tires and all go to hell. the video runs are the first part of the day. they had 2 courses set up. at the end of the day they linked the 2 courses in to one long 1 and gave us 3 timed laps. they also set up the sound meter. for run i did pretty good, then they had put a little bit of a straight after the last turn to the finish line. so i was able to get to the floor with the throttle and it took off and then right though the timing traps the tires let loose and i had the biggest spin yet of the day, but it was after the finish so the run counted! i got some interesting comments about a finish with flair! then i got the notice that i was 7db to loud! they said that i cant get that loud again and that i dont get on the car as hard as i had that last run. the end was the only place i really was able to get on it and it looses control so it was not a big deal to not get all the way on it again. so the next run i came out of a turn too fast and didnt get set up for a slalom and missed a few of the slalom cones. that run was my best time but wouldnt count because i went off course. then on the last lap i keept it all to gether. i dont think i hit any cones. i stayed on track and didnt trip the db meter. it was 1 second slower than the off course run.

    so now that ive had a day to think and evaluate it all ive got some improvement plans to make.
    the steering box! its a manual box and man am i sawing away at that steering wheel. my instructor was surprised by the amount of steering input needed but impressed that i was handling it. i have a couple of power steering boxes so i will see which one is in best condition and put it in.

    there was a fair amount of rear tire rubbing on the most aggressive turning. i will build a watts link to stop the rear end from being able to shift side to side. this should also help with the rear handling of the car.

    as chris suggested ill disconnect the rear sway bar and the traction bars. i found info that talked about the cal tracs bars will mess with the instant center of the rear end under acceleration and can contribute to the oversteer under power.

    tires. i have nitto 555s they have a tread wear of 300. the cam class in scca and the good guys autocross have a 200 minimum tw. a few people said if i get some "real tires" on the car it will make a huge improvement. the problem im finding is no one makes a 275/40r17 with a 200 tw. the fronts are no problem, but i dont have a front grip problem, just a rear. so i will have to do some more research as to what my best rear tire options will be. a note on the nittos. they have been great. Mo did 2 silver state classics on them and lots of street driving and both of us have done some drag racing on them. they did hook well on a prepped drag strip. i suspect that they are a tire that needs heat in them to soften up. also they are 3 years old now so they are probably significantly dried out compared to new.

    next sunday is the next scca cam event. i have family in town that weekend and am not sure if i can get away but i if i can ill go and see if i can not kill any more cones!
     
  9. GrabberGT

    GrabberGT Chris

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  10. Bryant

    Bryant forgot more than learned

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  11. jayman

    jayman Member

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    SCCA events are way more fun than just drag racing in a straight line!

    Don't make too many changes at the same time. Disconnect the caltracs and make a few passes. After that, disconnect the rear sway bar and see what that does. A Watt's link will make a huge difference in the feel how the car handles going into and coming out of the corner. By making the changes one at a time, you will have a better understanding of exactly what each part does to the feel and performance of the car.

    In the mean time, go have a blast! Wish I was there to see it in person. I am stuck out here in Midland, Texas with no time to even attend the local car shows. 8-(
     
  12. injectedmav

    injectedmav Member

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    Just out of curiosity, what problems are you guys having with the rear sway bar?
     
  13. Hottrod1991

    Hottrod1991 Member

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    CAM-T is where its at
    Good vids man, keep them comming
     
  14. Bryant

    Bryant forgot more than learned

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    did my first race with the cam group today. it was great. there were 13 pre 78 muscle cars there. it was lots of fun and lots of learning accomplished. i posted more detail in my build thread.
    im not going to be able to get very much video of this. it takes a spectator willing to do it and you can only clearly see almost half of the course. i am asking santa for a go pro camera this christmas and i was a good boy this year so maybe ill get it. then ill get some good in car and on car video.
     

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