Hey guys

I am going to be starting up Solo 2 for the first time. I have done several autocrosses with bmwcca and I have also done the Evolution autox school. I decided the next step for me is to start gaining some more experience and seat time by joining scca.

the class I have decided on is STX since I am planning on more mods later on. and as of now I dont want to take out the mods I have in my car.

my question to you STX guys is how brutal is the competion in SCCA and more important how is the STX competion in Southern California? I know I wont be competetive in the beginning but I would just like to find out some background on how the competition is before I go for my first time.

Thanks for any help in advance!

-joe

 

it's brutal in general joe - plan on having a really good time, and plan on spending a few years learning the trade... the SCCA has fast, experienced, and helpful folks and welcomes new drivers! I'm NER so I cannot comment on SoCal but with the better weather those folks should be even faster!

 

The top 2 finishers at Nat's are from S. Cal. They drove a WRX. The competition should be tough.

T 1 188 Steve O'Blenes 2005 Subaru WRX Falken Cal Club 106.519

T 2 88 Jeff Barco 2005 Subaru WRX Falken Cal Club 106.663

T 9 29 Derek N Punch 1997 BMW 328 Yokohama San Diego 107.930

13 113 Mihai Surubarriu 2004 Subaru Wrx Yokohama Cal Club 108.512

14 98 Grant Barclay 2005 Mini Cooper S Yokohama Colorado 108.636

20 73 Sebastian Rios 2003 Subaru Impreza WRX Yokohama Cal Club 109.570

21 13 Peter John Loney 2004 Subaru WRX Yokohama Cal Club 110.538

 

were JCW cars allowed in STX though for those results? That should certainly make things more interesting in the WRX vs MINI battle. . .

 

Craig (OasisTan) needs to chime in. He built a no expense spared JCW for STX and gave up. He had fun and was competitive, but didn't feel he could win the big show. Grant Barclay was running the car, see results 2 posts up.

 

Complete results are here. Grant is an experienced driver and was only able to pull off a 14 place finish.

14 98 Grant Barclay 2005 Mini Cooper S 108.636

 

Here I am. I love the car, its an absolute blast to run in STX. I think that with the proper development and tuning, the car COULD possibly win STX with the correct course/conditions. The problem is, on certain courses and certain conditions, it seems that the WRX has a fairly significant advantage so its really course/condition dependant on whether the Mini can hang in STX. Now that I have not sold my 06 JCW, I am fully dedicated to giving it another shot in 2007. I am making a few changes, we got rid of the Moton's and now have some KW Competition 2-ways currently on the way to KW to be valved specifically for our needs. We are also going with a 17x8 Motegi traklite up front with the Yoko Neova 235/40/17 to help with a bit more front grip and we may even try a Yoko 205/50/17 in the rear to stimulate rotation, last season, that was an issue on slower sweepers since we had the 235's also in the rear. Anyway, once we get the Mini fully tuned, I think it has a shot at getting it done in STX, but, it will be no small feat to get it done, everything has to be 100% perfect.

As far as being competitive in Socal, it looks like #1 and #2 are from there, so, its going to be a long battle, but, thats OK since thats how drivers improve to the best of their ability. Usually though in most regions, it generally comes down to driver ability at local events so the JCW will be competitive enough to get it done in the correct hands.

Oh, as far as why I jumped ship in STX, I felt that my car was good enough to get into the top 6-7 for sure, but, my goal was not to place in the top 6 or 7, it was to win, and, I didn't feel my car had the ability to achieve that with the suspension/tire issues. However, it wasn't like my car was bad in 2006, it was handling OK, just not 100% perfect which was needed for the championship IMO in STX. For 2007 though? I'd guess I'll have it right by the time September rolls around, so, maybe I'll find out. ;-)

Craig

 

One very interesting note was that I actually beat the STX top time in the GS Mini by a tenth or so in clean time and .8 or so in RAW time. During warmup's and throughout the season, I was ALWAYS quicker in STX than GS in my Mini. If I remember at a test/tune that I attended at HPT just before Nats, I was a 39.7 quick time in my STX Mini and was only able to get down to a 40.2 in the GS Mini. There are countless other events where I was quicker in STX when I ran both cars, I was never quicker in GS, not once that I remember, although, there were events where GS was quicker than STX, mainly concrete events where R-compounds thrive compared to street tires. Hmmm, maybe I should have ran STX.

On a side note, I will say the STX Mini is MUCH harder to drive 100% when compared to the GS Mini. Its very tempermental and hard to simply jump into and drive fast, if you brake slightly too late it will make you pay, if you get off line, your going to pay, if your not ultra smooth, your gonna pay etc.... Basically, everything is amplified in STX with street tires and mega power compared to GS.

 

all these comments are great. now its just a matter of me learning the trade and having fun doing it. should be a good experience.