Monday, April 26, 2010

AutoX

Since we have the luxury of a running car we took it down to the Atlanta SCCA autocross event this Sunday. The novice orientation took place on Saturday, but our car's lack of windows was incompatible with the 3 inches of rain that fell. Mark and I met up with Jeff and his friend Mark. The had brought their Merkur that they've done a pretty nice job of turning into a track car.

Thanks to Kevin from the Hong Norr racing team for helping me through my first day. Piloting through cones was harder than it looked. I did my last run with Mark in the passenger seat (and without Kevin) and only managed to wander off course once.

Racing in the car was fun, and it was great to get Kevin's feedback on the car. There are some things we need to change.
1) Smaller steering wheel: will keep the driver from hitting his legs with his hands and effectively make the steering a higher ratio.
2) Lower clutch pedal: the engagement is pretty high and makes the leg-steering issue worse when shifting.
3) Put the trunk back on: we're sucking a lot of exhaust into the cabin with the wing.
4) Patch the holes in the floor: they're another source of exhaust fumes.


Location:Turner Field Green Lot

Saturday, April 3, 2010

You won second prize in a beauty contest. Collect $10

We took the car to the Georgia Tech auto show this weekend. It was pretty fun. The car got lots of attention. We even managed to get second place in the Race and Experimental category. Chip's GT40 replica beat us out for 1st.