Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Autocross and Open Track 7/14 Ozark

Cole, look forward to seeing you there with the Altima--maybe a ride????

As far as I know S\V/T Kris will be there too, he's staying the night here and we'll probably head out around 9:00-9:30.

Could be some scattered showers, now that I have a set of dedicated KDW's I hope it rains like heck!

EDIT: Apologies for the public PM, but I know how you are about checking them

Matt, maybe we can swap cars for one run....just remember, I have no ABS. No spins or flat-spotting allowed! I still think the Contour is a faster auto-X car! The SVT handles better but the Altima accelerates faster so a lot depends on the type of course...fast vs. curvy. I do have my Superleggeras on the car so I won't run G stock..STX like I did in Tallahassee.

I'm trying to convince my daughter to come run her car but she is surprisingly reluctant to do the bonding thing with Dad?!? I think it has more to do with a new boyfriend. grrrr. See ya'll manana.

No more course layouts from you!!!

Cole entrusted me with the magic time sheet to put results up on the web. CEGr's in bold

Honda S2000 (Ian) 48.084 FTD
Honda S2000 (Brian) 48.614
Honda Civic FSP ('01 Natl Champ 51.068
Honda S2000[a] (Spencer) 51.488
Audi A6 (SM) 51.558
Nissan Altima (STX) SVT Cole 51.581
Mazda Miata (SM2) 52.029
SVT Contour (GS) bigMoneyRacing 52.622
Honda CRX 53.162
Mazda Miata (SM2) 53.290
Mitsu Galant VR4 (SM) 53.853
Honda Civic Si (STS) 54.611
Ford Contour SE S\V/T Kris 54.805
Dodge Neon (STS) 55.171
Honda CRX 55.272
Ford Focus (HS, auto) 55.604
Honda Prelude 56.694
Nissan Sentra GXE (STS) 56.837
Acura Integra (STS) 58.655
Mitsu Eclipse GS (HS) 59.512
Honda Civic Del Sol 59.022
Honda Civic Del Sol 61.095

It was quite the day. S\V/T Kris nipped a cone on his second run and in the process of heading back to get it (we shag our own cones in Wiregrass Region) he crushed the timing light! Oh well, I don't THINK they'll stick him with the bill!

I had a chance to drive Cole's Altima on one of the runways after the event. One word summs up that car, smooooth. The engine is sooo smoooth, so much more than the Contour. It also accelerates faster, both from a stop and in the middle of a gear. Handling probably isn't as crisp as the SVT Contour, but with suspension tweaks it could be a great 4-door-corner-carver too. The power is just always there though and so smooth, I can definitely see the attraction.

Well done, Matt. I like the bold treatment and the fastest to slowest time order. We were all kind of freaked out when this fully decalled Honda Civic shows up on a trailer and on the back window it says "2001 Solo II FSP National Champion" We were even more freaked when he violently spun out repeatedly on his first two runs. Turned out his rear Hoosiers were totally gone and he had to finish the event on stock street wheels/tires. That explains the time. Great guys. Neat looking car.

These times also do not show that prior to my last run, Matt had posted TWO times within one tenth of my best and possibly a third that was lost to a run that was not timed. I dropped a full second on my final run as my new Kumhos finally got rounded off on the edge. He was experimenting with left foot braking and I think he is getting the hang of it. His times are definitely improving and if he had attended SZ, I remain convinced he would have had the second fastest overall time. Go Alabama! If you are autocrossing a Contour and are not left-foot braking, you are LOSING TIME.

Thanks Matt and Kris for coming down. Where's our new timer Kris???? :p We hate timing by hand....except when it makes me faster!

I also forgot to mention the Mitsu Eclipse Fast and the Furious wannabe. All so and no go, of course . It was so all show that the carbon fibre wannabe hood was simply a steel one painted black!! WHAT A LOSER!!!!

My personal favorite was how the national champs Honda rear hatch kept coming open and propping open. If I wasn't sure the guy must know it would not work at lower speed I would swear he had it rigged to do that on purpose to act as a spoiler. Those things must have one heck of a pneumatic strut because once it opened up, it stayed up, even at 40 mph.

They finally posted the Dixie Region results from June 30th: http://www.dixiescca.com/2002results/jul2002.htm

I was kind of bummed to get beat by the STS Maximas even though they were driven by the number 1 and 2 STS drivers of the region and they had a rear sway bar, strut bars, Tokico adjustable and Falken Azenis.

I also got hosed by the G Stock VW Golf GTI 1.8 turbo on Victoracers. We were dead even until his last run and he improved half a second! Of course I did the same to Matt on 7/14. Still don't know where that extra second came from.

The Ian and Brian that ran S2000s at Tallahassee also came up to our 7/14 Ozark event to slam us again. They are both excellent drivers for young guys. I barely finished in the top 1/3 in PAX with the Altima because the STX index is really fast. I'm probably going to stay stock because you will note the G Stock and STS cars have nearly identical PAX indexes and both finished in the top 8 in PAX out of 45 cars. My time was almost dead even with theirs.

They're all a great group of guys...I just hate to lose. Won't be able to go back to Dixie until I have Azenis or Victoracers.

Using your time in Tallahasse and our times from last weekend that probably would have put me in the 30.0xx bracket. That would have been 3rd out of 4 cars in GS behind the two GTI's--OUCH! Both of those had Victoracers surely! Guess I might have to get some better rubber if I don't find a real toy soon.

I got a few pics I'll try to post this evening.

When and where is everyone meeting next?