How is everyone doing in STX???

Well, we finally got the KW Competition 2-ways back last week and finished the install late Saturday night, errr, I mean Sunday morning at 2:00am. We woke up and went to our first local event of the season at Arrowhead stadium. All I can say is, THESE KW's REALLY ROCK!!! On my first 2 runs, I gave rides to a few newbies and ran fast enough to win the class by about 1 second over my co-driver and 5 seconds over the next closest competitor. On run 3, I ran quick enough to take top PAX by .3 seconds. Anyway, the MAJOR difference is, this thing now sweepers SO good compared to the Moton's, I cannot believe it. AND, this is with the suspension just bolted up with ZERO alignment, I have no clue what camber, corner weight or toe is set at. Honestly, my car is now definitely capable of a National Championship. Now I just need some serious seat time to adjust being able to drive it WAY faster on all corners and sweepers.

The first real test will be at the Walnut Ridge National Tour and Prosolo starting April 28th I think. :-)

 

Made the jump to DSP from STX this year. First event this past weekend on R-comps, what a differences a little grip makes. I must say, last year I was feeling less than exicted about street tires, the car was solid, I just knew there was more out there but my gut check kept getting in the way. Now I'm on R-comps and I'm not going back. I know it's an uphill battle in DSP, those BMWs have so much more tire on the ground, but I'm going to give it everything I've got. Heading Atwater next month, should be exciting.

Dudley

 

Dudley

Cool, I will see you at Atwater then. One good thing, they are going to restructure SP class next season, so, maybe the Mini will be competitive in SP class. You know, in DSP, you can take the back seats out and us the GP panel and lose another 30-35 pounds I'd guess. :-)

 

Craig,

I agree with you on the GP back seat, however I'm still running the Wilwood brakes so I'll have to stay in the STX trim until I decide what to do about the brakes. I sure hope the restructuring gives us a better sand box to play in, after seeing the results from San Diego, I really feel the BMWs would be tough to compete against. If the restructuring sounds favorable then I'm going to go full bore on a DSP setup. I'm looking for a truck and trailer now with anticipation my wife and I will be traveling a lot next year. I look forward to meeting you at Atwater. We'll be in the Astro black JCW.

Dudley

 

It'd be a pleasure to see a real JCW STX car in action....

 

I guess not...

 

Oh, sorry, I missed the headliner on your post. Anyway, no, I unfortunately won't make it up there this season. I think the closest I will come will be the Toledo Prosolo.

 

Craig,

Can I ask what wheels and tires you're running on the STX car?

I'm sure it's on the forums somewhere, but I'm too lazy to search

 

At the moment, after a season that featured some good days and some disappointing ones, I am in the points lead for STX in the New England Region.

If I take a 2nd in the last event, I earned the jacket for the year.

It's a curious situation though, as Rob Lapierre can beat me in his car or mine at any event he shows up for. He would be champion going away (and might yet if things go haywire for me) except that he didn't run STX the first few events.

I have mixed feelings about taking the jacket with the "slow and steady" approach, as I've no illusions regarding my progress as a driver. I normally pax in the top 25 in a field of 120 or so, so my driving is decent, but not championship grade as yet, not even regionally.

Rob co-drove my car for one event this year, and I rode in the right hand seat. He took 1st in STX and 5th in PAX that day, and would probably have taken top PAX except that he forgot the ASC switch on the run that mattered. He taught me a lot that day, and I very much appreciate that education.

So the car is good, the driver is fair, and sometimes showing up regularly can offset a lack of speed.

In sum it has been a humbling and frustrating year, particularly as Rob's performance deprived me of any excuses related to the equipment.

It is damned hard to be a top rank autocross driver, and it will take me much more time if I ever make it.

The last event I was consistant, trying hard, and slow. We got 8 runs, and you can see the wall that I was banging my head against in the times:

32.77533.22032.75732.824
32.80032.65232.82532.893
Four afternoon runs, each with a slightly different approach, each with slightly different errors, and three of four are identical to within a 10th of a second!

Rob took that event in the Civic with the following times:

32.30731.82838.377+DNF31.805
31.38431.79331.57231.397

Over a second on a short course! Made me crazy wondering how he got that underpowered car with no Quaife around the course so much faster.

But I have to believe that if I stay at it, I will eventually get faster.