100 ft comes up quick when you're going 40 MPH. That's basically what happened in one incident; the very experienced driver nonetheless lost control, and the car skidded or slid towards a far off tree-covered median, and hit the curb hard enough to destroy the front suspension, and damage the engine.

It's like that Jurassic Park quote: "Drivers find a way".

 

this is one of the one's I looked it, its utter crap

 

one of the local sites (Emerald Downs) has a ton of curbs, the course is basically planned around them. My friends think I'm a ***** for not wanting to autox there... then I went on a ride along with them and realized they drive like *****'s.. at that speed I'd have no chance at hitting a curb either, but whats the point if I'm gonna go out there and drive 5/10? I'd rather do that on a twisty road...

 

My car stops from 40 in less than 100ft..


if the car was sliding, uncontrolled, why not steer away from the curb and throttle out? Once the skid is clearly not recoverable, turn with it, and get on the throttle to completely turn the car around and get it pointed away from the object you're hitting. What you described sounds like an inexperienced reaction; hit the brakes and stare at what you're sliding towards until you hit it instead of finding a way out. That's something I've picked up from off road racing.

 

When you're in control it does.

That's what the owner tried to do, but to no avail. It was a lost cause. What you're describing is the perfect recovery, something that even the pros fail to do a lot of the time.

The point is that there's no such thing as "safe" racing. Any car you take on track and compete in should be something you can walk away from, both financially and emotionally.

 

Accidents happen on track, no matter how careful you are. Otherwise they would be called intentiondents

 

I wouldn't call it a recovery because you're not putting the car back in line. You're just not hitting anything except cones...lol


Regardless... Yes, I realize there is risk in any form of track/autocross event. But a lot of it can be minimized if you realize your making mistakes and back off as opposed to trying to drive through it.


I can't watch the corvette video at work btw...

 

I still wouldn't want to risk writing off a really nice Evo 8 or 9. I think track cars need to be disposable. I cringe when people tell me they named their track car.

 

Track insurance sounds like one of those things that we Canadians dream about. Our "track insurance" is $4 figure per event last time I checked. The poor Canadian rally guys that need to have a "road legal and registered car" get hosed with this BS insurance that really doesn't cover much of anything.

I've seen a few IX MR in black. In person, not in pictures. They might have been IX MR SE though, they all had the SE lip.


Its easy to arm-chair quarterback that stuff. But IRL its often easier said than done. I've lost it a few times at the track (with and without damage) and I've saved it a few (more ) times as well. I agree, when the car is out of control its game time; pull out your best skills not curl into fetal position and hope you come to a safe and gentle stop. But **** happens despite best efforts sometimes. Grass thats more damp than you though, a patch of oil on the track, really rough off track surface, blowing a tire, etc. All those things have happened to me at the track....not gonna say which ones I didn't recover from.

This is going to sound really ignorant, but compared to road course I would find it hard to really damage your car on auto-x unless you were being wreckless. Cars do better against plastic cones than concrete walls. Especially at higher speeds on road courses.

 

It was an MR SE since a regular MR was never available in black, like I stated.

Watch out, we got a pro internet driver here! I suggest doing a youtube search to see all the pro drivers who still crash cars sometimes.

 

Given that you're in Edmonton, the person I'm talking about is a person who competes in Edmonton in Time Attack and autocross. He has been doing it as long as I've known him, which is pushing 10 years now. Alberta has very high speed autocrosses. Back when Namao was still being used as a course, I did a few autocrosses where I was getting into 4th in my STI, so 150+ kph.

 

I cringe anytime people name their car period.

 

There is a difference between going for the W and driving at 11/10 in a pro race vs being at a DE event and being out there to have fun. I've seen a lot videos of amateur crashes at DE events that were caused by the driver driving beyond his ability, and/or trying to push through a mistake like early or late entry vs just backing off to gather up the car/line.


Maybe I'm just more cautious on track, but I've gone as far as aborting a corner and going straight off because I missed my braking point. No harm done because going off at 30mph, instead of 80mph, due to extending the braking zone by going straight, instead of trying to make the corner, made it very easy to pilot the car through the gravel and get back on course without incident.


I'm not a pro driver, I just recognize mistakes when I make them and go into "conserve the car" mode, vs trying to make it work to save the lap. Hitting an oil/coolant patch or having a mechanical is completely different scenario.

 

If you are financing the ~20k for the S2000 or Evo, you should consider buying a 2016 Miata (msrp $24,915). With the lower interest rates on a new car, your monthly payment would likely be about the same. That way you would get a warranty and perfect paint you can clearbra.

At only 2332lbs. the new MX5 is going to be a great track car. Some bucket seats would probably shave off another 40lb.

 

This thread just got entertaining again.



I'm a big *****. I drive my **** at like 8/10ths and go off all the time.