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Hmmmm
Let me guess who's running the MINI Cooper...
Good luck
Just remember, pay attention to the differences the shocks and swaybar have made and use it to your advantage.
Yessir. I intend to take advantage of the test & tune on the 18th. I need to balance the car again and I hope the pressure out back will come down without losing the wag.
A 1hz is not sufficient for an autocross or anything else. 5hz is ok for the track but not autocross. 10hz, which the Dual 160 gives you, will be good. You need the external antenna to drive the app to a higher sample rate.
Eddie,
I dunno how or when I can discharge this debt, but I owe you one. Mebbe dinner on this one as a beer would be insufficient.
I've defined a local housing development as a Autocross course, with start and stop POI. That's magic, and I've now added in the automatic control of the GoPro. That's mega-magic.
And today the GPS receiver came in, and plugged and played.
I hearby swear that I will not be distracted by these spells in Dixie, but I will give them a try. After the fact we shall see, but in real time and at the beginning of the season, and with SO much data in store, I have to fortify my focus on what worked last year.
There is a time in March - even a gentle March such as that which we've had this year in New England - when one aches for blossoms, and Spring seems cruelly out of reach.
Normally I endure it, but not this year. This year Gollum and I went walkabout as you shall hear.
We left on Monday and returned on Monday. We drove 3,450 miles across 17 states in a bit less than 180 hours. We averaged 35 mpg across a diverse selection of roads ranging from smooth Interstates to the tight coils of the Dragon and culminating in the Dixie National Tour competition autocross courses.
Gollum never faltered, never hesitated, never hiccuped. Instead this mighty mite of a 3 cylinder Grand Touring car stretched it's legs at 3,000 rpm eating long distances like hors d'oevres.
Chapter One Route
The eastern slopes of the Appalachians on I-81 South brought us to Virginia at the end of the first half day, and rising early on Tuesday morning allowed us to arrive at the Tail of the Dragon by early afternoon.
I had packed light, so the boot had tools, a spare RE-71R, light clothes, collapsible chair, air tank, and a fair old bit of padding to keep the lot secure. Despite this I stopped at Dennis and Jane's inimitable establishment "Dragon Pitt & BBQ" to unload and get down to fighting weight before continuing to renew my affair with the Dragon.
And lo! Oh spirit-blasted and tattered New Englander, there is Spring here!
The gentle purple of the Jacaranda (correction: Redbud! thanks Rach... :-) ) trees signals the blessed season of renewal.
And for the rest of Tuesday Gollum and I wallowed in the warmth, light, and extraordinary beauty of this region with songs in our hearts.
Gollum's song the growl and wail of the B38 powerplant digging out of hundreds of tight bends. My song was from the immortal "Last Waltz" album by The Band - notably "
Now I haven't yet mentioned the subject of telemetry, but I had been thinking about it. Among the new tools that Gollum and I had were the remotely controlled roof mounted GoPro, a 10 hz GPS receiver, and the Grand Prix version of Harry's Lap Timer.
I tried to teach Harry's that the Dragon was just a big autocross course, but although Harry's iPhone app cheerfully noted the Start location, I could not keep it interested long enough to make it to the Stop location.
In the end I decided to wait for Regional events to get comfortable with Harry's, but did find the GoPro app on the iPhone quite convenient.
Thus, here is what happened Wednesday morning, at the crack of dawn. Get popcorn, strap in, and enjoy! My favorite two corners are the incredible camber at 9:18 which allows the car to feel like a roller coaster.
And so continued the day, until my arms and shoulders were sore and the grin on my face was damned near permanent.
Gollum and I danced and danced, and I renewed my sense of wearing the car like a pair of new summer sneakers. The Bilstein B8 shocks and NM 22mm bar worked brilliantly under the most demanding conditions, and by nightfall I felt ready for the challenges that lay in wait for us further south.
Note the minimal body roll, and yet carefully inspect the left front sidewall - the car is turning in quite hard and yet remains flat and neutral.
Turning in hard and spotting the exit.
Thanks to 129 Slayer for this photograph. Between that team and the Killboy team I am always blessed with some memorable images.
Just bloody brilliant!
The Dragon is a temptation, and at one point I found myself trying to keep pace with a Miata driven by "Tiger" Williams. Not a good idea, so I backed off. One must have rules at the Dragon, and mine include:
1. stay in my own lane
2. do NOT race anyone else - drive the road
The hospitality Wednesday evening at the Dragon Pitt was outstanding, as I was invited to join two other lodgers (not codgers, lodgers) who were vastly experienced riders and old friends on their way to an Irish Pub. I offered to buy them a round for their forbearance, and then left my wallet in the car as we took their truck on the outing. They busted my chops, bought me dinner, and I paid them back. Thank you gentlemen!
And so again we slept well, this time foreseeing the unknown wilds of southern Georgia.
But that is Chapter Three.
Cheers,
Charlie
#defylabels
Last edited by cmt52663; Mar 24, 2016 at 04:46 AM.
And so on Thursday morning, I left the northwest end of the Dragon, forgot to pay Dennis and Jane for my lodging, but DID remember to explore the Parkway before heading down through dreaded Atlanta towards Valdosta and the SCCA community gathering there.
The Parkway is breath taking, and affords this view of the Smokies.
Smokie Mountains in Springtime...
And then fully re-loaded Gollum and I hightailed it out of the southern foothills and hurtled towards Valdosta and the next great challenge.
Atlanta is immense!
After escaping the interminable suburbs of Atlanta, and on flat and warming ground marked by the tillage of the season, Gollum and I ultimately arrived in Adele GA and found the venue for the inaugural National Match Tour.
Ghosts of previous autocross courses..
As Adele is in a dry county, we slipped down to Valdosta for dinner which was a great meal marked by a meeting which charmed me no end. That however is a tale for another time.
And thus, unloaded at the Day's Inn and now dreaming of the hustle and bustle of the Test & Tune slated for Friday, I tried for another good night's sleep.
Ah, the gathering of the eclectic and delightful SCCA flock! More Floridians here than I see back home in Devens, but the National Crew is the same - Clancy and Sandi and Howard have the complex logistics of 290 drivers well in hand as Friday unfolds.
Tech inspection on a warm and humid Friday morning.
The Test and Tune was well subscribed indeed, as I was not the only driver seeking to scale off a winter's rust.
Note that Mr. GH Sharp was the starter - one of the two multi-time National Champions that Gollum and I would face in G Street. The other gentleman was Mr. Jack Burns, and both were driving the latest Volkswagen GTI. Between them they've almost a century of autocross and racing experience, and should anyone think these two tigers have dull claws they would be grievously mistaken as you shall see!
From a setup perspective, Gollum showed no inclination towards excessive tail wagging despite the newly stiffened rear suspension, so that too was encouraging.
Finally at the end of a busy day the Saturday Day 1 course was unveiled for walking, and miraculously my bum left knee (bolstered by a "Tommy Copper" sleeve) lasted through three course walks before complaining too much.
And Friday night I went to bed rehearsing the course in my mind - endlessly.
Which brings us to Chapter Five, and Day One of the Dixie National Tour.
An overnight rain had soaked Adel Friday night, and the weather radar depicted the Florida panhandle being assaulted by waves of thunderstorms as Saturday dawned.
I woke, and wrapped my head around the possibility of a wet course, and scooted south to the venue in the pre-dawn humid murk.
Among the many blessings of the weekend was my work and run assignment - working Heat 1, and running in Heat 3. This allowed me to see the other cars on course first thing each day, and on Saturday it assured Gollum and me of a dry heat, as the deluge remained to our south throughout the day.
A salty crew of regulars joined me at 9:00 am on Corner 2, where we observed the still damp and slithery chicane with awe and glee. Only a few competitors left their braking too late, but those few decimated our wall a few times, giving us cause to stay warm through vigorous activity.
And then we staged in grid, and waited for the fun to start.
12 G Street entries - GTI, Mazdaspeed 3, Focus ST, and my very own odd duck Mini!
I ran first, and on both days of competition I paid no mind to anyone else's times. Our opening run turned out to put Gollum in 1st place however, which apparently caused a bit of a stir among my worthy competitors.
Run 2 was a bit wrinkly - initially the starter released me while the sweep car was on course. On the re-run, the timing malfunctioned which prompted some radio chatter and was ultimately corrected with yet another re-run, which went well.
The 3rd run was a touch slower (run 2 was dirty) but left Gollum and me .0038 off GH Sharp in 4th place, and kept all of the Focus ST drivers out of the trophies which I rather expect hurt their feelings a touch.
And thus Gollum's debut was an unqualified success - showing me and anyone else that paid attention that the little B38 engine in the F56 chassis can truly compete with cars that look much faster on paper.
Sunday dawned cool and dry and sunny. The Floridians would call it cold, but to me it was still a welcome improvement from New England.
We prepped, waited, and then redeployed for Heat 1 at the Turn 2 chicane, now being approached from the opposite direction.
As before, watching other competitors offered lessons on how to best drive that section which served me well later in the day.
And so Gollum and I had three hard runs on the Sunday course, and there was good news and bad news.
The good news is that the lowly Mini turned in the fastest raw time in G Street - a 49.696.
The bad news is that again I paid attention only to the course and the time slips - and the time slips do NOT include late cone calls. This lead to my thinking I had a safe and clean first run of 50.629 when in fact I had hit a cone with a wagging rear tire during that attempt. That would come due after 2nd runs, in the form of undue pressure during my last run.
Things look much better without the cones, however...
Here's the course, and please excuse the last two slalom cones! This was my 2nd and fastest run. (Wait for the sweep car...)
So when the dust had settled, and after Messieurs Sharp and Burns had shown us how it''s really done, and after Trevor Renson's lovely 3rd run, I was banished to the middle of the pack - but still grinning!
And well pleased with this first outing of the new season, and believing my run for a National Title is not the suicidal act of the pathetically out-classed, I left South Georgia and headed back to the Dragon.
(Fortunately - remember I owe Dennis and Jane money!)
Which brings us to Chapter Seven.
Cheers,
Charlie
#defylabels
Last edited by cmt52663; Mar 23, 2016 at 08:45 AM.
So the rest of the trip must have been anti-climactic, right?
Well no actually - as Sunday afternoon I said fond farewells to my competitors and headed north for the Dragon Pitt again. When I called Dennis to ensure he had room he politely mentioned I had skipped out on him earlier in the week, which made me doubly glad I had decided to pass once again through those beautiful Tennessee mountains.
But those mountains greeted me Sunday evening with temperatures that fell from around 65 degrees right down to 33, and they tossed in a spring snowstorm just for good measure!
And thus at 8 pm Friday evening Gollum and I challenged the Dragon with a damp road, white-out conditions, and a tempered exuberance.
Driving the Tail any time demands concentration - driving it with 50-100 feet of visibility is an exercise in fierce scrutiny, rote memorization, and the experience is now burnt into my brain never to be forgotten.
We never flirted with the edge, nor the berm, nor did Gollum ever put a foot wrong. Though the temperature finally dropped to 32 degrees along the ridges, and the wet road was streaked with bands of wet snow in the corners, we never slipped or faltered.
And thus we made it back to the Dragon Pitt and BBQ, and made things right again.
And the following morning we shed a coat of ice on the fast run along the reservoir (now depleted by ongoing work on the dam) and got one final South/North lap before heading back to New England.
The 15 hours from Deal's Gap to home passed swiftly on the Monday, and I-84 treated us kindly as we chased the tail of a winter storm that had visited Massachusetts in my absence, and finally at midnight on Monday we pulled back into the garage from whence we departed.
Tired, healthy, and deeply content.
Thank you dear reader for attending to this long tale!
Cheers,
Charlie
#defylabels
Last edited by cmt52663; Mar 23, 2016 at 10:53 AM.
Super Spring trip and write up! Fun in a Mini is always a Plus+. Love the stats against the cars with significantly higher power output... then again, you still have to factor the pilot! Nice work. Our Mini was originally sold by Peabody. They must be a good group of enthusiasts there at the dealership and will be the dealership doing the maintenance on our Roadster later this Spring. No dealership in Maine. Lots of Minis, but no dealership for some odd reason.
Super Spring trip and write up! Fun in a Mini is always a Plus+. Love the stats against the cars with significantly higher power output... then again, you still have to factor the pilot! Nice work. Our Mini was originally sold by Peabody. They must be a good group of enthusiasts there at the dealership and will be the dealership doing the maintenance on our Roadster later this Spring. No dealership in Maine. Lots of Minis, but no dealership for some odd reason.
Thanks for your comments, and yep the Mini of Peabody gang is instrumental in my enjoyment of the marque. They've been behind me for three Minis over 14 years, from the original JCW installation in 2004. They are both pit crew and sponsor, and I obviously bet my health on their efforts.
Check out the New England Region SCCA at www.ner.org, and consider visiting us for a day of fun on the spacious expanse of Moore Airfield (Ayer, MA). There are other distinguished Mainiacs (and Miniacs) that have made that trip a time or two.
If you catch the bug, then Cumberland County will entertain you more locally.
