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Autocrossers: Check in here!

352K views 5K replies 408 participants last post by  kevgraydog 
#1 · (Edited)
Frankly, I'm tired of seeing people consider traffic light antics, and other forms of street racing, "real racing". Technically, we autocrossers are careful not to consider our sport "racing" as we do not compete wheel-to-wheel, but the skills we learn in parking lots across the country make us better than 99.95% of the drivers on the road.

I started this thread to call all the autocrossers forward and let us know who you are, what model Civic (or any other car for that matter) you are competing with and which SCCA (or other club) class you plan on building the car for...

DRIVER:
Anthony "Mario" Crea... I am a 15 year autocross veteran with almost 250 autocrosses under my belt at all levels of competition (regional, divisional, and national).

CAR:
Soon to be a 2010 Mazda 3s (5 door)

CLUB/CLASS:
SCCA H-Stock (local and national level competition)

CURRENT MODS:


Anthony "Mario" Crea
NNJR-SCCA
 
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#53 · (Edited)
Highrev1 said:
Tony I can't make nationals, go co-drive with Chris. Full ride on me I will buy you the tires, at least the fronts, the rear will be shared.
Thanks for the offer, I am truly flattered that you'd consider me worthy to drive with Shenefield, but honestly, that's a little too unrealistic considering the event is a week away!

Frankly, I'd be soooo dead at school if I pulled a stunt like that... Additionally, I have 2 grad school courses that I'm taking now! If this occurred 6 weeks ago, MAYBE I'd have a snowballs chance in hell.

Sorry.

Anthony "Mario" Crea
 
#54 ·
Koni's helped the car at least the rears alone. I have yet to run the car with both fronts and rears on the car. I just don't think that in G-stock the car can keep up with the mini's. It could be a trophy winner but not number ONE. So the lx in H-stock with the koni's appear to be the only way to beat the mini's..TONY!!! :) Looks like I am in the market for a new car :)
 
#55 ·
Highrev1 said:
Koni's helped the car at least the rears alone. I have yet to run the car with both fronts and rears on the car. I just don't think that in G-stock the car can keep up with the mini's. It could be a trophy winner but not number ONE. So the lx in H-stock with the koni's appear to be the only way to beat the mini's..TONY!!! :) Looks like I am in the market for a new car :)

Email sent to you.

Anthony "Mario" Crea
NNJR-SCCA
 
#56 ·
It can beat the minis:)

I did an event at the NC scca chapter this past weekend, the course was a low 40 second course, I had a national champ GS driver in my class running his mini cooper S. I was on street tires, running Michelin PS2s in the front and the exaltos in the rear. Duriing the morning session, I led by .600 seconds. We were both on street tires. In the afternoon, he switched to khumo v710s in the front, and I changed my line in the afternoon. for comparison, my best time in the morning was 43.343. FTD for the morning session was 41.2. After he made the switch to v710, he ran 42.9 beating my time in the morning session. We had three runs in the afternoon and the times were going up. FTD for the afternoon was 40.5. I DNF on my first afternoon run, then proceed to run a 41.914 on STREET tires. The event was stopped for about 10 minutes to check and see if there were any issues with the timing equipment. After the check, I had multiple drivers came up to me and sayiing that I would need to back up that time again. In my last run, I ran a nearly identical time of 41.921, which crushed all doubts.

is the SI capable of beating the current minis?

The answer is yes. The SI is extremely caplable if driven to its potential. Although there were other much faster corvettes running on R compounds, I'm not comparing my time with them because I don't know them to be of hiugh caliber drivers, but the mini S driver is highly respected and have been to several nationals. Just for the record, the corvettes and the SM cars were posting mid 41s and high 40s. Let's not forget that I was only on STREET tires. Needless to say that I was first in PAX.

I'll post the link to the results and photos when they are posted.

- Jay.
 
#58 ·
venomous said:
It can beat the minis:)

I had a national champ GS driver in my class running his mini cooper S. is the SI capable of beating the current minis?

The answer is yes. The SI is extremely caplable if driven to its potential.
- Jay.
Jay,

How's life in NC treating you?

Who was the GS MINI Cooper S driver?

I'd like to see if he's in Kansas now, and if so, how's he doing compared to my known benchmark regarding GS drivers... Tony Savini. All I know is that Shenefield drove at the haggard edge (borderline sloppy/out-of-control) just to get about a 1/2 second off Savini at Warminster (Philly) on the 10th of September.

It may be as fast in certain instances, but there is also consistency at play here. One event you may take the MINI Cooper S by a second, at another, he may take you by a second. The job of dethroning the MINI Cooper S is going to be more difficult with Si owners in GS than with my LX in HS against the base MINI Cooper. That's what I've been implying.

Anthony "Mario" Crea
NNJR-SCCA
 
#60 ·
#61 ·
honda93 said:
Jay,

How's life in NC treating you?

Who was the GS MINI Cooper S driver?

I'd like to see if he's in Kansas now, and if so, how's he doing compared to my known benchmark regarding GS drivers... Tony Savini. All I know is that Shenefield drove at the haggard edge (borderline sloppy/out-of-control) just to get about a 1/2 second off Savini at Warminster (Philly) on the 10th of September.

It may be as fast in certain instances, but there is also consistency at play here. One event you may take the MINI Cooper S by a second, at another, he may take you by a second. The job of dethroning the MINI Cooper S is going to be more difficult with Si owners in GS than with my LX in HS against the base MINI Cooper. That's what I've been implying.

Anthony "Mario" Crea
NNJR-SCCA
He's not running this year, his name is Ken Porteous.
 
#63 ·
venomous said:
His name is Ken Porteous.

HOLY SCHMOLEY!!!

I didn't know Ken moved / ran down there! I've often wondered where he went as he stopped showing up like 5 years ago. He used to be killer in the 94-99 Celica ST in HS.

He's a wonderful guy and was a great instructor, very patient and insightful. Tell him all of us in the NNJR say hello, myself and Perry in particular...

Anthony "Mario" Crea
NNJR-SCCA
 
#64 ·
Highrev1 said:
On a national level the si can't keep up consistantly with the mini's imo. Look out of the top 23 spots in gs there is one spec-v in 10th other than that they are ALLL MINI's :( Mini owns GS for now.
1st through 20th is covered by 2 seconds. That's actually pretty damn close considering how many cars that covers... However, Savini is 9th! That tells me how competitive the class is.

Anthony "Mario" Crea
NNJR-SCCA
 
#65 ·
honda93 said:
HOLY SCHMOLEY!!!

I didn't know Ken moved / ran down there! I've often wondered where he went as he stopped showing up like 5 years ago. He used to be killer in the 94-99 Celica ST in HS.

He's a wonderful guy and was a great instructor, very patient and insightful. Tell him all of us in the NNJR say hello, myself and Perry in particular...

Anthony "Mario" Crea
NNJR-SCCA
:)

You got it. I'm running with them on oct the 22nd. He told me that he moved down about 5 years ago and loved it down here:)

He's a great guy, he knew pretty much everyone in the Jersey/New York region.
 
#67 ·
Some interesting stuff is happening in Kansas.

First, it seems like the weather is holding out for everyone, so I think the inevitable comparisons from class to class will be easier to make this year.

Second, I don't think the 2006 Si that finished so low in the results (Sam Karp and his codriver) is being driven to its potential in such a tough GS; I'd be interested to see where Greg and Chris would have been with the car. Hate to say it, but the 2005+ Cooper S (w/LSD) is the king of that class...

But, in HS, things are much more open regarding being competitive in something other than a MINI. A Mazda3 is in second after Day 1.

Anthony "Mario" Crea
NNJR-SCCA
 
#68 ·
I'll be the genea pig for next year. I'm going all the way to nationals. I will also be spending a lot of time finding the perfect setup for the SI in GS. The SI potential, lies in the fact that it is a quicker car than the mini on the straights. This is where the advantage comes in. If you're able to get on the power sooner mid-turn, you'll have a hell of an advantage on the straights. Next year will be key. I have been doubting myself, but in reality, I'm truely ready to take on the challenges that are set ahead for next year.
 
#69 ·
venomous said:
The SI potential, lies in the fact that it is a quicker car than the mini on the straights. This is where the advantage comes in.

Jay,

You are correct, but if I may clarify something... The amount of time going "straight" in autocrosses isn't enough to make full use of the drivetrain's potential. Even CHris Shenefield has admitted to this.

You are talking about tryng to eliminate (or greatly reduce) one of the biggest weaknesses of autocrossing FWD cars, and that is how to get a car that can make power and get it to the ground. There are FWD people in Street Modified ($M) who are making a bit more power than you with gigantic wheels and tires, mega-grippy, clutch-based LSD's, and perfectly matched, high-rate shock and spring rates who can't do **** against the 4WD and RWD cars there. In fact, this is one of the many points that convinced me to sell the 93 Civic $M car and make my move to HS with the 2006 Civic.

And yet, to try this in GS with a weak LSD, a heavy curb weight, and 7" wide wheels is going to be quite the challenge. Though I am trying to avoid what I am about to suggest, here goes...

You may need to contact Moton. Why? Custom Koni's can be made super stiff, and work well in the process, but the Motons can make the car as easy to drive as the OEM units. And that's what you need to compete with the Cooper S... All the nervousness of an overdamped car without all the nervousness of an overdamped car.

Greg, any input on this... Assuming you're still reading this thread.

Anthony "Mario" Crea
NNJR-SCCA
 
#70 ·
honda93 said:
You may need to contact Moton. Why? Custom Koni's can be made super stiff, and work well in the process, but the Motons can make the car as easy to drive as the OEM units. And that's what you need to compete with the Cooper S... All the nervousness of an overdamped car without all the nervousness of an overdamped car.

Greg, any input on this... Assuming you're still reading this thread.

Anthony "Mario" Crea
NNJR-SCCA
I am going to have to agree.. I don't know if the koni's are going to be the way to go. You are going to need as much fluid displacment as possible on the new surface. Also things aren't as stiff on this new surface as on the concrete. It is more finess and less grunt. I know motons are made for the new fg, the guy in ESP has them on his si. With that said I still don't think that the car will be able to keep up with the mini's. Not enough camber, too heavy, no torque down low..I mean the list goes on.
Jay got some wheels 2 sets of brand new hoosiers and maybee koni's for the si PM me if interested :)

PS: If I were going to continue to campain this car I would defintly get the motons. But Chris and I are gonna take on a new project.
 
#71 ·
Highrev1 said:
I am going to have to agree.. I don't know if the koni's are going to be the way to go. You are going to need as much fluid displacment as possible on the new surface. Also things aren't as stiff on this new surface as on the concrete. It is more finess and less grunt. I know motons are made for the new fg, the guy in ESP has them on his si. With that said I still don't think that the car will be able to keep up with the mini's. Not enough camber, too heavy, no torque down low..I mean the list goes on.
Jay got some wheels 2 sets of brand new hoosiers and maybee koni's for the si PM me if interested :)

PS: If I were going to continue to campain this car I would defintly get the motons. But Chris and I are gonna take on a new project.
what's your price? :)
 
#75 ·
venomous said:
I would need a ride, since I'm flying there.
I'll see what I can do.

Team CT is supposed to get back to Team NJ and Team NY regarding the new rules package for the Tri-States. I'll keep you posted.

I'd offer up a ride in my car but I have a co-driver this weekend and I am on tire conservation mode after this Saturday's "Double Points" event at Raceway Park.

Anthony "Mario" Crea
NNJR-SCCA
 
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