STU #86 - 2006 Evo IX SE
May 1, 2017, 09:13 PM
#109
The Crows Landing Championship Tour was this past weekend, great pair of courses by Ben Martinez, and other than Friday's wind, the weather was pretty nice 
I didn't drive well on Saturday at all, was lucky to be as close to the trophies as I was (4th place - 3 total trophy spots, .6 out of 2nd and .2 out of 3rd). Every time I would make an improvement during a run, I would give back the time through a mistake in another section. First run was dirty but the scratch time would be my fastest of the day (2nd run was clean and was my "actual" fastest time). On Sunday, my first run was dirty but the scratch time was there for me to move up to second. Second run was slower and dirty as well, so it came down to my final run. I ended up cleaning up on my final run and hopped into second place by .011 seconds. I thought the car wasn't rotating much or at all, so I stiffened the rear sway bar a bit more after Saturday's runs - it helped a bunch! Though I was fairly happy with my final run on Sunday, STR and STX smoked STU on Sunday so it shows that there's still a long way to go. Congrats to Bill Zerr and Brent Vitolins for their 1st and 3rd place finishes in STU, respectively!
Saturday:
Sunday:
I didn't drive well on Saturday at all, was lucky to be as close to the trophies as I was (4th place - 3 total trophy spots, .6 out of 2nd and .2 out of 3rd). Every time I would make an improvement during a run, I would give back the time through a mistake in another section. First run was dirty but the scratch time would be my fastest of the day (2nd run was clean and was my "actual" fastest time). On Sunday, my first run was dirty but the scratch time was there for me to move up to second. Second run was slower and dirty as well, so it came down to my final run. I ended up cleaning up on my final run and hopped into second place by .011 seconds. I thought the car wasn't rotating much or at all, so I stiffened the rear sway bar a bit more after Saturday's runs - it helped a bunch! Though I was fairly happy with my final run on Sunday, STR and STX smoked STU on Sunday so it shows that there's still a long way to go. Congrats to Bill Zerr and Brent Vitolins for their 1st and 3rd place finishes in STU, respectively!
Saturday:
Sunday:
May 2, 2017, 11:01 AM
#110
looked like an awesome course! is that concrete? I couldn't tell too much difference between the setup change b/w sat & sun, car looked like it turned a little better, but I feel like I would personally keep going looser? you're obviously killing it & I'm def a nobody but I think I'm starting to want to go looser & looser on the setup for both of my cars
May 2, 2017, 11:13 AM
#111
Nice job Jimmy. I think only feed back I can give on the video is in a few place on right handers you seem to be able to come in hotter, but others looked like it was a little too hot? I know speeds were really fast there so perception was probably way off from normal autox speeds.
Also, slow your hands down. That's always a tough one, even for me. Its also hard to practice in autox so I try to go karting and thinking about slowing and smoothing my hand movements.
Also, slow your hands down. That's always a tough one, even for me. Its also hard to practice in autox so I try to go karting and thinking about slowing and smoothing my hand movements.
May 2, 2017, 08:51 PM
#112
looked like an awesome course! is that concrete? I couldn't tell too much difference between the setup change b/w sat & sun, car looked like it turned a little better, but I feel like I would personally keep going looser? you're obviously killing it & I'm def a nobody but I think I'm starting to want to go looser & looser on the setup for both of my cars
. As for making the car more loose, that's the plan; I liked how the car was on Sunday but it might be even better so it's worth trying. Plus, no more National events this year until the Pro Finale/Nats for me, so plenty of time to tweak with setup and sharpen the nut behind the wheel. Though the results have been ok, the time deltas to other drivers (Bryan Heitkotter, James Yom, Jon Lugod, etc.) haven't been very favorable for me - I know in order to do well at Nats this year, I need to close the gap to those guys by a good amount.
Nice job Jimmy. I think only feed back I can give on the video is in a few place on right handers you seem to be able to come in hotter, but others looked like it was a little too hot? I know speeds were really fast there so perception was probably way off from normal autox speeds.
Also, slow your hands down. That's always a tough one, even for me. Its also hard to practice in autox so I try to go karting and thinking about slowing and smoothing my hand movements.
Also, slow your hands down. That's always a tough one, even for me. Its also hard to practice in autox so I try to go karting and thinking about slowing and smoothing my hand movements.
As for my hands, it's been a habit I've been trying to break, I'm fortunate that the car doesn't seem to mind too much if I'm being "nervous" with my hands, but I know it would be better if I am smoother with the wheel so I can lead the car better. I'll be co-driving a friend's DS FR-S locally for the rest of the year, hopefully that will help with this
May 22, 2017, 11:05 PM
#116
Was back out at Crows Landing on Saturday for AAS #7, was glad to run in heat 2 (before the temps rose above 90 degrees 
). I didn't get a chance to stiffen the rear swaybar before the event, car felt decent as-is but I do really want to try for more rotation - I should get a chance in late June with an event at Crows Landing on a Saturday followed by an event at Marina the next day.
As for my best run, the clutch didn't like how much I slipped it when leaving the line on run #3, ended up bogging the hell out of the start on the next run. At least it drove fine on the way home :P. SoloStorm said I lost a few tenths on this one just due to the bogging at the start, if I didn't do that and improved on the final turnaround, it might've put me at a high 45 second run which I think was pretty doable.
). I didn't get a chance to stiffen the rear swaybar before the event, car felt decent as-is but I do really want to try for more rotation - I should get a chance in late June with an event at Crows Landing on a Saturday followed by an event at Marina the next day.As for my best run, the clutch didn't like how much I slipped it when leaving the line on run #3, ended up bogging the hell out of the start on the next run. At least it drove fine on the way home :P. SoloStorm said I lost a few tenths on this one just due to the bogging at the start, if I didn't do that and improved on the final turnaround, it might've put me at a high 45 second run which I think was pretty doable.
Last edited by Jim3142; May 22, 2017 at 11:10 PM.
May 23, 2017, 07:06 PM
#119
Nope, would be too much vacation time to take this year with the Pro Finale, Nats, and Montreal (going to the Canadian GP in a few weeks 
). I'll have to do it one of these years though, PNW crew makes a good case for it every year at Crows
I was actually going to lightly prep my DD for DS after I drove Ric's car in March...then I bought another set of wheels for the Evo
It's a pretty fun car in DS trim. The approach is definitely different and forces you to rely on momentum more...though I think you should have to drive with momentum in mind for autox at most/all times
). I'll have to do it one of these years though, PNW crew makes a good case for it every year at Crows
I definitely support driving the DS car for your local events. You'll pick up some good habits, driving a low powered momentum car. It'll definitely rid you of that pesky point and shoot driving that an Evo teaches you.
It's a pretty fun car in DS trim. The approach is definitely different and forces you to rely on momentum more...though I think you should have to drive with momentum in mind for autox at most/all times