Hey gang,

Upcoming SCCA Pro Solo II event on Sunday, September 21st. Anyone wanna go play "avoid the evil orange cones"?

The '71 has a leaky rear tire, so-so transmission, and worn out suspension. It's going to be out of any serious driving until I can pour some money into the open wounds.

Going to see if I can get permission from the High Commander to take the '02 Cooper S out there though. Still haven't run it through an Auto-x course.

Anybody interested in going? If we can get a handfull of people at least maybe we can borrow the MINI of Hawaii tent and at least get us some shade out there!

-Andy

_________________
Andy Kauffman
Kaneohe, Hawai'i
http://www.miniclubofhawaii.com

 

I have another event to go to with my family that day from about 12 noon to 5pm. The best I could do is attend for the early morning in a support role only.

 

Hey...even support is a good thing. If anyone wants to stop by and see what the whole Autocross thing is about - please just let me know! :smile:

 

I'm game...if I don't have to work
It would be nice if there were more Coops to represent in H Stock. Even in "showroom stock" form, I think the MC's could do some damage in H Stock

 

minihune -- you can always run your car in the morning heats if you won't be able to stick around in the afternoon. i think the rule is that you can always run earlier than your assigned heat but not after your heat has completed their runs.

 

I thought that those who run the morning heats are doing support in the afternoon and vice versa.
Otherwise it would not be fair to the others to "play and run".

 

as far as i know....

morning:
if you run heat 1, you work heat 2.
run heat 2, work heat 1.

after lunch:
run heat 3, work heat 4.
run heat 4, work heat 3.

is this correct baronious?

 

I would like to go to this event, but there is a possibility I will be traveling off-island sometime during that weekend.

My car is stock MCS. I've only been to the Aloha 500 (driving instruction-wise) so I won't be impressing anyone with my times. I just want to drive Lucy on a fun course.

So I will say, definitely maybe.

MINIangelD

 

Mini-t - I think you're correct. Looks like what I saw over at the hawaii SCCA page. The big thing is ya definitely gotta work a heat to run one. It kinda baffles me that people would leave before doing so, but apparently they were having a problem a while back where the morning guys (then everyone but stock I think) were running, the stock guys were working the heat, and then the morning guys would just leave ...leaving the stock guys with very few corner workers. Not cool. :smile:

-Andy

 

okay, i got the schedule from http://www.sccahawaii.org

SOLO II: September 21 Hawaii Raceway Park
Heat 1: All Prepared, STS, SM
Heat 2: All Stock
Heat 3: ASP, BSP, CSP, DSP
Heat 4: ESP, FSP, All Modified

REMEMBER that all novices(1st timers) should run 3rd heat no matter the car classification. so that means work heat 4. this means that you can come just before lunch instead of the morning. BUT novices are highly, highly, highly recommended to attend the drivers meeting in the morning as there is NONE in the afternoon. plus you won't have to rush anything. 8:30am is perfect.

procedure:

-enter gate
-go to the sign in tent and pay/sign in
-take paper from sign-in to your car and stick on windshield when filled out.
-clear out car, no loose items
-get car inspected by a tech person who will check off your paper and give your car a sticker AND a # on your window
-WALK the track!! ask Q's if not sure.
-make sure you have a helmet and shoes. if no helmet, get one at the scca trailer by leaving your license.
-work assignments will be announced AT the trailer so go there as soon as you have to work.
-go to trailer and learn how to properly call cones in. see the examples of what qualifies as a cone penalty.
-have fun
-have even more fun runs when you can take and be a passenger for $1.

post if you got any q's. closed toe shoes are required.

 

I'll be there. In the final negotiation stages to FINALLY drive the '02 MINI Cooper S for the first time on the track. :smile:

Even if I don't drive I plan on comin out to watch and help out. It'll be fun! C'mon!

-Andy

 

Hi, all! Being that my weekends are work/family-related -- I'll be there @ 11:00 a.m. to run Heat 3 & work Heat 4 :smile: . Many thanks for the lowdown, baronious

 

mini-t seems to remember a lunch meeting for people who come in the latter part. this makes sense although i haven't ever gone to any of those lunch meetings. so there may be one. either way, i would say come in the morning so you can see people run and get a feel for what is going on. plus you won't have to rush. see you there. b

 

I second that - if you can be there for the whole thing, definitely do it. It's a lot of fun and there are a lot of really good drivers out there.

Bring a notepad (something like a spiral bound one) and a pen... that way when you're walking the course you can kinda sketch it out. For me, the goal is to have the course memorized or at least "figured out" before I run it the first time. They run a lot of slaloms in the course here, so it usually wound up being like this in my head:

"Enter right side [for the first slalom], then enter left side, then left again, then triangle, then right side, then hairpin" etc, etc. I'm not the smartest bear in the woods, so it always helps me to keep it simple.

-Andy

 

Just found out that I've got some "stuff" to do on Sunday that I can't get out of. Ugh! Looks like I won't make this month's SCCA event.

 

>>Just found out that I've got some "stuff" to do on Sunday that I can't get out of. Ugh!

Yea, SCCA October it is!

 

>>Too bad that there's only 24 hours in a day, huh? I say that we need to increase that somehow

Sure I do that all the time. I go to sleep and wake up in 3 hours feeling like I slept 7. So 24 becomes 28.
It's called sleep math. Dreams make time happen!
>>
>>Yea, SCCA October it is!
That's only 720 hours away!

 

Eric808 and mini-t are on the track doing heat 3 in the hot burning afternoon sun.
Good luck to them both. I hope lunch stays down.

Early in the day Kohu'ulaMINI tore up the track and led the stock class.
While baronius managed a quick (faster than in his subaru-heat 1) 52.4 second lap in heat 2 while driving a flower covered EB MCS.

The course was an uphill slalom essentially. Neat triangles to wiggle your MINI through.

 

We need more MINIs to show up in full force at these autocrosses. I'm sure we could make a tremendous impact like the Subarus.
So all you 808 MINIacs, gotta at least try one auto-x event and prove to yourself what these "street legal go-karts" can REALLY do.......and to boot

 

>>

Well that is good someone got to see my baby. It wasn't mini-t, eric 808 or baronius because I was walking.
I spent 6 hours cleaning up everything under the car overnight after installing a stage 1 brake upgrade a few days before.
Now everything is spic and span.
(installed: Zimmerman crossdrilled rotors front and rear, Mintex Red pads front and rear, Stainless steel brake lines, super blue brake fluid. Sanded and refinished all calipers in silver). Cleaned and polished all under suspension parts. Cleaned, polished and waxed my wheelset completely.

>>We need more MINIs to show up in full force at these autocrosses. I'm sure we could make a tremendous impact like the Subarus.
On the other hand it looks like fun-give it a try.

>>So all you 808 MINIacs, gotta at least try one auto-x event and prove to yourself what these "street legal go-karts" can REALLY do.......and to boot

If I can make the next day I will be there. Gotta be before Oct 20 or else.

 

Awesome motoring folks! Randy took top honors in his class and was 6th overall in his PAX adjusted time! Mini-t and Erik also ran on Sunday for thier first time. Practice makes perfect.

http://www.eng.hawaii.edu/~panos/9-21-03.pdf

 

beastmaster and others.

curtis lee emailed me a copy with my MCS listed as i ran 2 cars. he said that he could only take my frist car that i drove which is why my time for the MCS is not listed. i'll have mini-t post the document of the OFFICIAL-UNOFFICIAL results list from him if we used the mini's times instead.

erik808: the run i took you on was a 52.324. just so you get an idea what that would feel like. that is a 7th place overall, no handicap run. so basically faster than the 84 other cars, HEAD to HEAD with my G stock mini cooper s.....with flowers. i think the people cheering at the gate when i passed by liked the cooper.

minihune: i now have a timekeeper saying that i ran a 51.xxx in the STI which wasn't recorded properly. the officials have taken the stance as toughsheez, the sheet says.... so, my mini was not faster than the STI although the link from beastmaster shows the incorrect but now official time. any attorneys?

everyone. come out. it is a fun event and mini-t had fun while improving her driving skills. due to the driver situation, i will be driving the STI for time runs and mini-t will use the MCS, BUT i will be driving the MCS on fun runs to take any mini owner for a top ten ride.

b

 

MCS autoX review:

notes on the course:
-uphill course made the MCS feel underpowered....personally
-slalom like course was a definite advantage for the mini
-the 2nd triangle was a breeze to take with the mini

MCS personal competitive review:

pros
-good turning. the best turning car i have ever owned or driven. made the course easy.
-brakes did the job
-the stock MCS suspension was more than enough. the front swaybar was the MCS factory one and worked fine.

cons
-the car IS underpowered for the uphill design. it needs about 20-30 more solid HP to be a dominator.
-the weight only seems to affect acceleration and not so much handling.

conclusion:
-i was very, very impressed with the MCS and its results.
-it was hilarious when the 2nd place guy in the same class was crying about how a MCS should have been in a higher class.
-good car with potential, a pulley would solve the power problem BUT would also put it in a modified (SM) car class which actually wouldn't be too bad. it would've beat the 2nd place M3 that had race tires. and that is before the pulley power difference.

just my review. come out everyone.
b

 

Simply put: I'M HOOKED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That was just way too much fun . Yesterday, I couldn't have imagined posting what you clocked

 

Oh yeah...

*Thanks for the results, The_Beastmaster!