4/20 Marina Autocross Pictures

[Dietsch Werks]

I like the sea of helmets!

[Enigma]

Originally Posted by LarryB

Jason- The hard part, for most is in doing so is to then not to hit them. Forgot to hand out SweetDaddyD cone killer decals- they certainly would have been well earn.... our one year old cones are aging quickly.

I think the BMW guys have to replace about 100 cones a year due to "use". The GGLCs cones are actually getting much less use than some of the other clubs.

I guess next time I won't keep telling my students that if they never hit a cone they are not going fast enough.

[LarryB]

Suppose the light weight of the Elise helps. Also our cones are pretty darn soft. LOL - am really starting to sound like a administer. I rarely have hit them. Sounds like if I tried a little harder to cut it close, might even get a little quicker, sure was slow Sunday.

[khamai]

What a GREAT way to start off the GGLC 2008 Autocross season!!!

Hugh kudos to LarryB, Apkom & TinTin for a fantastic event!

It was the inagural event for the new GGLC Event "Mover", currently still white, it will get better and more "Lotus-ized" as time goes on and will serve the Lotus community for years to come. We also added a timer display, so now you can see your time as you leave the stop box.

Many thanks to all the instructors who came out for the entire day to share their knowledge and skills.

Next event is May 31st. See ya there!

Cheers,
Kiyoshi
Driver of the GGLC Event "Mover"

[knucklehead]

Michael,
I think your suspension is too soft.

[John Stimson]

Tonight I discovered that one of my front swaybar bushings had slipped out of its mount, rendering the swaybar ineffective. No wonder I was getting wheelspin and the car was behaving oddly...like the spins at the end of the slalom...Dang!

[def]

Originally Posted by knucklehead

Michael,
I think your suspension is too soft.

Are you calling me fat??? Just because I'm in the passenger seat... !!!

I know his 240 has track pack - but it does seem to be rolling a lot, can even see the wheel pulling away from the rear tire

[Dietsch Werks]

Originally Posted by knucklehead

Michael,
I think your suspension is too soft.

+1 I had the same thought

[knucklehead]

Originally Posted by def

Are you calling me fat??? Just because I'm in the passenger seat... !!!

I know his 240 has track pack - but it does seem to be rolling a lot, can even see the wheel pulling away from the rear tire

Pictures don't lie my friend, only people do.

[ConeFusion]

Originally Posted by snowairg

Thanks for letting some V8 muscle crash (or should I say spin out ) your Elise club gathering.

Glad to hear that you had fun. You did very well. 10 seconds faster on the last run than the first run is a great improvement. See how much better it works if you drive with both hands on the wheel?

Nice job on on the spin, too. That was one of the goals of the day.

Thanks to the event organizers. This was a great event, and it looked like everybody was having a good time. Just remember to turn off the wind next time.

Thanks also to the people (Jason, Mike) who let me borrow me all the items I forgot at home.

[snowairg]

Originally Posted by Dietsch Werks

THANKS! Your a life saver, We didn't get a single shoot of my GF's Miata the whole day Too much time looking @/driving the Lotus's and other cars.
We ran the Elise in A and B but only in the afternoon.

No problem, glad I was able to get at least a few for you. I checked through my pics again and only have one or two cars from run group A, and then just a few more from B. Working the course during C allowed me to take a whole bunch more pictures of those guys...

Originally Posted by ConeFusion

Glad to hear that you had fun. You did very well. 10 seconds faster on the last run than the first run is a great improvement. See how much better it works if you drive with both hands on the wheel?

Nice job on on the spin, too. That was one of the goals of the day.

Only such great instruction could help someone improve 10 seconds. Thanks for all the tips, Reto!

Originally Posted by def

Are you calling me fat??? Just because I'm in the passenger seat... !!!

You are fat, Kevin. That's why you were only able to do 1 second better than me and my even fatter Goat.

[khamai]

Originally Posted by ConeFusion

Thanks to the event organizers. This was a great event, and it looked like everybody was having a good time. Just remember to turn off the wind next time.

Hey, LarryB and Apkom did turn off the rain from last year, so a little wind was nothing!!!

Cheers,
Kiyoshi

[LarryB]

Actually the morning was pretty nice. Even pulled off one of the many layers I was wearing. However once that afternoon sea breeze kicked in, it was bone chilling.

Yeah, our first event last year was in a cold pouring rain. We had so many die heart drivers, stick around, that I couldn't leave. Summertime, Marina will be a nice spot to escape the heat of the rest of the bay area.

[JonOrangeElise]

Originally Posted by Enigma

The in car video from my last run of the day

~17mb, please save first

Not my fastest of the day but I did managed to avoid the cones.

Wow! Great driving, Jason! (I don't know how you guys "see" the layout -- it just looks like a sea of cones to me.)

[Enigma]

Originally Posted by JonOrangeElise

Wow! Great driving, Jason! (I don't know how you guys "see" the layout -- it just looks like a sea of cones to me.)

Come down and give it a try Its easier in person.

[JonOrangeElise]

Originally Posted by Enigma

Come down and give it a try Its easier in person.

I'll try to finally make it out this year. Hey, has anyone (in the entire history of autocrossing) ever tried to use different colored cones, or anything at all to create better landmarks on an autocross course? Or would this be considered compromising the basic premise of autocrossing? (Just thinking out loud.)

[LarryB]

Jon- there are key cones (usually laid down pointer cones) to guide you. That said yesterday on my first run (didn't walk it or really think about it- was doing more the ops end of things). I missed one at got lost in a sea of cones.... brings back old memories to my first GGLC autox. It will past, but may come back to bite you if you lose focus. But the offs there are a whole lot more forgiving then the track.

[knucklehead]

Originally Posted by JonOrangeElise

I'll try to finally make it out this year. Hey, has anyone (in the entire history of autocrossing) ever tried to use different colored cones, or anything at all to create better landmarks on an autocross course? Or would this be considered compromising the basic premise of autocrossing? (Just thinking out loud.)

The American Autocrossing Assoc. use flouresent yellow cones as directional markers. Which definitely made it easier. The down side is it makes it harder to switch to SCCA competitive autocrossing. Bad habits or lazy habits are hard to break, better to learn the "right" way in the first place IMO.

[Randy Chase]

Originally Posted by JonOrangeElise

I'll try to finally make it out this year. Hey, has anyone (in the entire history of autocrossing) ever tried to use different colored cones, or anything at all to create better landmarks on an autocross course? Or would this be considered compromising the basic premise of autocrossing? (Just thinking out loud.)

Its been done. San Diego Region did this for years, but then people start relying on the colors.

Some regions also "chalk" the course by lining it with flour. Again, you may start depending on the lines.

The "sea of cones" thing is a novice issue and you get good at reading the cones and picking out the important ones. Many times you can see 25 cones and only one matters.

[LarryB]

Yeah, in that sense it's very much like driving a track. You just pick up your key points.

I briefly toyed with the idea of varied colored cones but decide against it. The other thing is we do use lots of cones to define the course. And with Enigma doing the design the all pretty much flow like a mini-road course.