Adventures on the Shen

Here's a video I assembled to show some highlights from my recent track day on the amazingly fun Shenandoah Circuit at Summit Point Motorsports Park.  I spent about 100 minutes on track, and I managed to overtake every car I came across, with a single exception.

Scream, Expletive, Scream

One of the many internet memes that float about in the subculture of automotive enthusiasts is the video of a race-car driver taking his significant other, his mother, or a celebrity for a lap around a race track. Screaming, swearing, and wild gesturing ensue. Although these videos appear to reinforce the stereotype that women are afraid of driving fast, a few of them are actually pretty funny.

Here's a vid of former Formula One driver Riccardo Patrese taking his rather expressive wife for a spin in a Honda Civic Type-R. It's a street car, and they aren't wearing any safety gear, and, given Mr Patrese's relaxed and subtle smile, I don't think they are going all that fast. Still, Mrs Patrese is moved to offer her husband the traditional Italian gesture of love and respect.

In the below video, Rolex Sports Car series driver João Barbosa* took his bride for a lap in a Dayona Prototype. They are clearly wearing full safety gear (minus her gloves and probably shoes), the vehicle is a race car, and I've read that they reach 185 mph in the video, so Mrs Barbosa probably has a lot more to scream about. And scream she does. Indeed, its sometimes difficult to tell whether the high-pitched wails in the soundtrack emanate from her or the car's gearbox.

* And by the way, how crazy-cool is that first name?

Lucky Number 13

The latest issue (volume 1, issue 5) of the online magazine Miata Journal---a scholarly publication with a readership rivaling that of Nature or Science---features an article I wrote about Zelda. A few copy errors were introduced during the online publishing process, but it's otherwise very close to what I wrote. To read it, go here, register, click on "Contents," then click on "134 Lucky Number 13."

Primer: Autocross

(I've recently had call to describe autocross to a few people, so I'm placing this introduction here to have something to point to in the future.)

The Setup

Autocross is perhaps the most accessible form of motorsport. In auto-X, a course it set up, using traffic cones, on an open expanse of tarmac or concrete, usually a parking lot, but sometimes an airfield. A new course is used at each event. Each driver runs the course, effectively alone, attempting to minimize his or her time while not hitting any cones. A penalty, usually 2 seconds, is added to the driver's raw time for each displaced cone. The driver's best net time, after several attempts, is compared against the best times of drivers of other similarly capable cars. The courses are designed to be very challenging for the car and driver. Typical autocross runs have more turns per minute than a lap of a Formula One race. When not driving or preparing to drive, each competitor must work the event, either reseting downed cones, recording times, directing drivers, safety-inspecting cars, or doing whatever else is needed.

Safety

The risk of car damage or injury is very low for three reasons:

• The course is defined by cones, so, as long as you don't go too far afield, there's nothing to hit but orange rubber pylons. The courses are designed to keep cars away from light poles, curbs, and other fixed obstacles.
• The coursees are kept very tight, which keeps speeds in check. For many cars, most courses can be run without shifting beyond second gear, though some vehicles will need third for short periods. Indeed, one figure of merit for an autocross car is its top speed in second gear.
• Cars are released onto the course at intervals of 20 or 30 seconds. As a result, the odds of a two-vehicle collision are low.

All the organizations that I've run with require each vehicle to pass a technical inspection. To pass, the car must have all loose parts removed from the interior or exterior, and the car must be in good mechanical condition. I've worked as a tech inspector at numerous events, and the most common cause for rejecting a car is a loose battery; that's a problem that can usually be fixed in a few moments, allowing the car to be reinspected and passed.

All the orgs I've competed with also require the driver to wear a Snell-rated helmet, ether M (motorcycle) or SA (special applications, meaning auto racing). Most orgs seem to accept the current rating (currently 2010) and the two previous ones (2005 and 2000).

Duration

Depending on the organization, location, course design, car, and driver, each run takes from 30 to 80 seconds, though most of the events I contest have 40- to 60-second runs. The number of runs each driver gets depends on the organization, the duration of the event, and importantly, the number of drivers that must be fit into the event. Bigger events, with 150 or 200 people, usually offer 4 runs, while smaller events, with 20 or 30 people, might give each driver 20. Numbers like 4 and 5 are most common.

And you might be there for 3 or 5 hours. So, for the events I go to most, the ratio of waiting to driving is about 60:1. This fact is my least favorite aspect of the sport, but I've made peace with it. I try to find a work assignment that keeps me busy rather than bored, and I focus on the non-driving activities that I enjoy most: the car preparation, the socializing, the "bench racing," and so on.

Organizations

Numerous organizations host autocrosses. In any given metropolitan area, there are likely a handful of such clubs to be found.

• The club that organizes the largest number of autocrosses is probably the Sports Car Club of America. SCCA calls their version of autocross "Solo," and they also offer a version called "ProSolo," which features two cars running head-to-head and a drag-race start. You can read more about ProSolo and see an annotated video of my last Pro event here. In the area around the nation's capital, the local chapter of SCCA is the Washington DC Region. You can sign up for the WDCR Solo mailing list here.
• The National Auto Sport Association is another national organization that runs autocross envents, which they call NASA-X, pronounced NASA-cross, races.
• There are a number of smaller motorsports clubs around the country. In the DC area, the most popular are the Capital Driving Club and Autocrossers, Inc., which is an affiliate of the SCCA's Washington DC Region and uses SCCA rules. You can sign up for the AI mailing list here.
• A number of marque clubs also host these events. At least in my area, the BMW Car Club of America, the Porsche Club of America, and the Mazda Sportscar Club of Washington all put on races.

Classing

Each club has its own system for classing cars.

• SCCA, being the most popular group, has the most byzantine ruleset. It's a two-dimensional system; one axis is based on the stock performance of the car in question, while the other is how modified the car is. I don't have the room to discuss the SCCA classes here, but I hope to add a post about that in the future.
• NASA uses a points system, where each car is awarded a certain number of points based on its stock performance capability and accrues more points for each modification. Each class spans a range of points values.
• The CDC uses a simple indexing scheme based on power delivered to the wheels, weight, and treadwear rating.
• The BMW CCA, at least the National Capital Chapter, uses a matrix approach, like a streamlined version of SCCA's, for BMWs. For non-BMWs, it applies a very simple, four-class structure based on engine displacement, engine type (piston or rotary), induction type (natural or forced), and, of course, treadware.
• The MSCW, which puts on very relaxed, casual events, imposes no classes at all.

Schools

Several clubs offer schools that teach you everything you need to know to compete in and work during an autocross. In my area, the Washington DC Region of the SCCA offers several Level 1 and Level 2 schools throughout the season.

Cost

The cost varies form org to org, but, for single-day events, 25 to 35 dollars is normal, at least in the DC area. It's very affordable as motorsports go.

Video

This video, a class project of someone in the San Diego Region of the SCCA, covers some of what I discussed in this post. Keep an eye out for the lime-green, rotary-powered Bugeye Sprite.

2010 DC ProSolo: STR

Almost a month ago, I competed in the 2010 DC ProSolo. "What's a ProSolo?" I hear you asking. Well, solo is the name that the Sports Car Club of America uses for their version of autocross, which you've read me discus repeatedly on this blog. A ProSolo is not simply a solo contested by professionals; otherwise, I certainly wouldn't have been allowed to participate. No, a ProSolo is a closely related motorsport that mixes traditional solo with drag racing. It's a lot of fun, and, since the format is so different, I thought it warranted posting a video of me running my '09 NC Miata in Street Touring R at the event. Unfortunately, The video was cropped when I tried to embed it, perhaps because of the large number of pixels. So, instead, here's a link to said vid on YouTube. The superimposed text didn't work out as well as I would have liked, so I apologize for the difficulty you may have with reading it.

Alison's Perspective

Regular readers are no doubt tired of reading all my long-winded posts about my various adventures in motorsport. So, for a change of pace, I thought you might enjoy reading Alison's post about her adventures in motorsport. See? Totally different. Anyway, Alison recounted her impressions from her recent autocross outing on the My Smart Puppy forum. Check it out.

Team Grondul Goes Racing

A couple of weeks ago, Alison and I attended an autocross run by Autocrossers, Inc., an affiliate of the local SCCA region. Below is a video summarizing our exploits.

Team Grondul Motorsports: Part 3

I'm quite confident, gentle reader, that you haven't been pining away, wondering when I would post an update on my exploits autocrossing in the SCCA's Street Touring R class. Well, here is said update anyway.

My lackluster---nay, terrible---performance in the Washington DC Region's practice event, which I reported earlier, was delivered with Zelda in mostly stock trim. I'd installed stiffer engine mounts (to reduce engine motion), a stiffer, adjustable front anti-roll bar (to reduce body roll), and a lighter, higher-flow axle-back exhaust, and I had removed the Induction Sound Enhancer (because it was unnecessary), but the car was otherwise unmodified. I discovered on the course that stiffening only the front swaybar did reduce roll, but it also yielded substantial understeer. I did my best to compensate with differential tire pressure, but I only achieved partial mitigation. Even so, I made steady progress during my 4 runs; each was faster than the last. My final run was substantially quicker than the others, and I knew it as I headed for the finish. Sadly, I hit the last or next-to-last cone on the course and incurred a 2-second penalty. So, I finished an embarrassing 10th out of 10 drivers, but only by 0.003 s. Curse you, Aure!

The class winner at the practice autocross was driving a well prepared Clown Shoe. Also present were an M Roadster, a Z4 roadster , an S2000, and various generations of Miata. One of the things I like best about this new class is the variety of makes and models which are able to compete on a near-level playing field due to the wheel- and tire-width restrictions, which fact segues nicely into my report on my next autocross. Of course, the playing field is not completely level. I hope to post a quantitative analysis of of the potential performance of the most conspicuously competitive cars in the this class sometime soon. For now, I will only say that I expect the car to have for STR will be either a 2008-9 S2000 CR, a 2006-8 Miata Club Spec or SV (the trim level with the 5MT and without air conditioning), or a 2009-10 Miata Touring 6MT (in other words, my exact car).

For the next WDCR event, which was the first points event of the season, I fitted new rolling stock: Enkei RPF1 wheels, size 17x9+45, and Yokohama Advan Neova AD08 tires, size 255/40-17. These wheels and tires are the maximum width allowed in STR, and the tires' treadware rating of 180 is near the 140 minimum allowed in the Street Touring category. Just for comparison, the stock wheels are 17x7+55, and the stock tires are 205/45-17. This change should give Zelda more grip potential that almost any car eligible for the class. Again, my times improved during the event, although everyone struggled on the newly resealed and thus slick surface. With Zelda's new shoes, I was able to finish 9th out of 15 entrants. This time, the class winner drove an M Roadster.

Below is a photograph, taken by my Miata clubmate Kate Claffie from SCCA WDCR #1. This photo shows the wider wheels and tires that I've fitted. Note that I'm not looking directly ahead here; I'm looking at the exit of the left-hand sweeper I've just entered in this shot.

Here's another shot, this one by Danny Kao, from the same event. This is probably my favorite shot of Zelda so far. Because I'm turning left in this shot, the car has rolled to the right, and the ridiculous static wheel-well gap is hidden. If you could see the car from the other side, you'd be amazed at how high the left side of the car is.

For the second points event, I made no modifications to the car, other than tire pressure. However, I did change my approach to driving in an effort to improve my times. In particular, I used a bit of visualization to help memorize the course and plan my line. I was frustrated with my first 3 runs, but I somehow managed to uncork a fast run on my final attempt, and I finished 5th out of 13. The drivers who had won the previous two events were absent---this event's winner was behind the wheel of an AP2 S2000---which almost certainly helped me as much as or more than my more careful preparation. We did have a couple of non-competitive drivers in second- and third-generation MR2s, though, which added some nice variety.

Below is a photo, by Kate Claffie, from SCCA WDCR #2. The car looks quite attractive in this shot.

Below is a photo, by an unknown photographer, of me queuing before the start. It appears I'm concentrating on planning my run. In actuality, I believe I'm squinting because the sunlight is quite bright, but I don't want to lower my tinted visor, thus blocking off cooling air flow, until just before the green light.

After SCCA #2, I fitted higher-performance brake pads. The new parts are still "street"pads, rather than "race" pads. Race pads resist fading at higher temperatures but need to be heated to an elevated temp to work properly. In autocross, since the runs are short and nonconsecutive, the brakes need to work at ambient temps, and brake fading is not typically a concern.

The next event was not a competition but yet another school. This time, that school was the DC Region's Level 1. I suggested to Alison that she enroll as well, and she agreed. I was quite proud of her performance. I was worried that she would be tentative, afraid to hurt my car by stressing the engine or driving over pylons. Before we arrived, I encouraged her to use full gas and full brakes when necessary, and to hit the cones if she needed to. Based on how she drove, I believe she took me at my word. She drove faster than most of the first-timers in the class, including all 5 of the other novice women. For comparison's sake, I think my fastest clean run of the practice course was 33.o s, and Alison turned in several cone-free runs ranging from 37.7 to 37.9. That's not a bad performance differential for her, given how much more experience I have.

Last weekend brought my most recent events. I was involved in 3 days of autocross-related activities surrounding the SCCA Northeast Divisional Championships. On Friday, before placing the required decals and passing technical inspection for the Divisional, I attended the Evolution Performance Driving School's Phase 1 class. The class was helpful, certainly, though I struggled to improve my times much after the first few. The looking-ahead drill was quite challenging, as well.

Saturday and Sunday made up the Divisional proper. There were 4 runs of each day's course on each day. The lowest Saturday time and the best Sunday time were combined to yield a total time for each driver, and the total time was the figure of merit. I somehow managed to finish third on each day and---wait for it---third overall, out of 7 drivers. That high a placing might incite you to ask about the competition, and you'd be right to be suspicious. Several of the faster local drivers were absent, and only one competitive driver traveled in for the event. He won the event in his well-developed S2000 CR. My friend and fellow Miata driver James finished second in his 2006 6MT NC. I somehow finished ahead of Noel and his Z4. Noel has beaten me in every event where we've met so far. He said he was pushing his car as hard as he could, but that it just wouldn't give him any more. He also pointed out, quite rightly, that his car is not likely to be competitive, given equal driving talent. The Z4 has about as much power as an S2000, but weighs 200 lbs more and is limited to equal-width wheels and tires in STR. That means weaker acceleration and grip. Meanwhile, his wife said that eye's been eying S2000s. So, if Noel shows up to the next event in an S2k, well, I called it.

Here's a photo of me on Saturday by Danny Kao. Note that, although I've barely turned the wheel, I'm looking far off to my right toward the exit of the element I'm entering. This picture also shows off the Tire Rack banner required of all participants in the Divisional Championship. (The Tire Rack is a major cash and merchandise sponsor of of SCCA Solo.)

Below is a shot from Sunday by Kate and Alan Claffie. This is another of my favorite photos of Zelda, because the blurred wheels and background suggest significant speed. This shot shows 1 of the 2 Divisional Championship decals required for the event.

This next photo, is also by the Claffies and is also from Sunday; you can tell because I've removed the front license plate to maximize cooling on the nearly-90-degree day. This pic shows clearly that I have the happiest car at the whole championship. Mazda really needs to dial down their corporate smiling grill, at least on their sports cars.

So, what's next for Team Grondul Motorsport? I hope to install an STR-legal cold-air intake this weekend to help bring my torque-to-weight ratio more in line with the competition. In a week and a half, I'll be attending one of the regular points events of Autocrossers Incorporated, an SCCA affiliate organization that uses the SCCA rules and has a strong membership overlap with the DC Region. A week later is the DC ProSolo. ProSolo combines autocross, which the SCCA calls Solo, with a drag-racing-style start, and there are only about 8 ProSolo events each year, in the entire country. It sounds like great fun, so I am very much looking forward to it. A week after that is the WDCR's points event number 3. So I'll be pretty busy autocrossing for the next month.

Meanwhile, somewhere during that time frame, I should finally receive the custom coilovers I ordered a couple of months ago from Fat Cat Motorsports . Once I get them installed, no doubt with significant help from members of my local Miata club, the car should be much less prone to roll, and it should have much, much more grip on all surfaces. I hope so, at least.

Team Grondul Motorsports: Part 2

Alison and I have been very busy working on the house (and working at work) this spring, but we've also managed to squeeze in some more recreational activities. Aside from my adventures in CrossFit, I've also been autocrossing a bit more seriously than I have in the past. I've been to 3 autocrosses so far this season, so I thought I'd share a few photos with you, gentle reader.

Here are Zelda and I at an Sports Car Club of America autocross on March 28. You can see in this shot how high the stock suspension on the third-generation Miata is. And this is with the car cranked over to starboard a bit. The coilovers I'm expecting in May should solve that problem.

Here I am at a Capital Driving Club autocross on April 3. Notice the substantial body roll resulting from the excessively soft stock springs and dampers. The new suspension parts should ameliorate this problem, as well.

This photo also shows off Zelda's new axle-back exhaust. I considered several options when purchasing this part; all were from Goodwin racing. All 4 options offer a few-percent improvement in engine power and, being entirely stainless steel, all 4 would have lasted far longer than the stock part. The RoadsterSport Q(for quiet) dual exhaust is the most mild, at nearly stock sound levels, and shaves a pound or two off the stock unit's 27-pound weight. The RoadsterSport II dual is much lighter, at 16 pounds, but the cost is a louder exhaust note. The Street Single, being single-sided, cuts the weight down to 10 pounds with only a small penalty. The Race Single is very light, at just 7 pounds, but it is also the loudest choice. I settled on the Street Single as the best compromise, so I saved 17 pounds compared to the stock exhaust while gaining a few horsepower and considerable longevity, all at the cost of a louder, but not obnoxious, exhaust note.

In the next photo, I'm successfully dodging cones at the SCCA's Level 2 autocross school on April 4. The cones lying down are that way intentionally; they tell the driver on which side of the stand-up cone to pass.

In this shot from the same day, I'm being less successful:

My next outing will be this Sunday, April 18. I have much larger and somewhat stickier tires to put on the car for that event, so I hope to experience much less understeer and much more overall grip. We shall see.

Team Grondul Motorsports: Part 1

For those of you wondering how I spent my Sunday. I have some evidence.

Sunday was the first autocross of the season for the Washington DC Region of the Sports Car Club of America. I'm planning to run the whole season in a new and potentially very entertaining class called Street Touring R.* Zelda is not currently prepared to anywhere near the limit of the rules of STR, but she could get pretty close without extreme effort or expense. The real limiting factor is the driver, especially given my apparent lack of driving talent and the long duration since my last autocross. So, needing practice, I attended this event, which is described as a "practice" autocross, since its results don't count toward the season championship.

Here are a few photos of me on the course. These were taken by locally famous autocrosser and general nice guy, Danny Kao. You'll note the rather extreme body roll in several of those shots. I plan to fix that problem with new dampers and springs in May or so.

Here's a video recorded by Daniel Donohue in Street Touring S during one of his runs on the same course. Just imagine the sliver first-generation Miata replaced by a silver third-gen Miata and dial down the speed just a touch, and you'll have a pretty good idea of what the experience was like for me.

So, how did I do? In a word, poorly. Actually, I would have been pretty happy with my performance in the only car in the class running on stock tires if I hadn't hit the second-to-last cone on my final run--the only cone I hit all day---thus incurring a two-second penalty and turning my fastest run of the day into an uncompetitive** one. Sigh.

* I hope to post up a bit more about SCCA Solo and its classification system at some point in the future.

** Interestingly, STR was won by one of the two drivers sharing a Clown Shoe.

One of These Things

I'm sure that you, gentle reader, have been asking yourself, "When will Michael update us about the music he's been listening to?" Well, your wait is over. Here's a small sampler of songs I've been playing frequently recently:

• Tapping the Vein, "Burn."
• Tapping the Vein, "Time."
• Flyleaf,* "Again."
• Third Day,* "Slow Down." I came across this song in a video compilation of the SCCA, Washington DC Region's 2009 solo season. (Incidentally, here's another good autocross video.)

Once again, I will ask you to identify which one is different from the others. This should be easy.

* Why is it I keep finding songs by Christian bands and bands that happen to be Christian? I mean, really. I'm not sure how to explain this trend.

Pity the Navigator

Pity the poor rally navigator. First, you get saddled with the ambiguous title of co-driver. Then, your driver gets most of the recognition and money, even though his job would be impossible without you.* And finally, if you are Timo Rautainen, you have to cope with projectiles striking you in unexpected an uncomfortable locations. Pay attention to the gesture at the very end of this video for a graphic illustration of the injuries and ignominies that a co-driver can suffer.

* But seriously, if you want to see an amazing display of 4-wheel drifts, jumps, and handbrake turns, check out any rally highlight video.

Automotive Reese's Cups

Late last year, I posted a link to rally driver Ken Block's now famous "Gymkhana Practice" video. Since that time, he's published a second, equally impressive and equally viewed display of car control. Yesternight, in an automotive case of chocolate meeting peanut butter, Block appeared on the world's most popular and most entertaining show about cars, Top Gear. When you combine Block's driving skill* with Top Gear's peerless cinematography, the result is an automotive spectacle of the first order.

* Ken Block is clearly a very proficient driver, but his sartorial style, which I can only describe as Attempted Skater, leaves a lot to be desired.

I'm In

After a little trouble with submitting my race results, I'm now a member of Mazdaspeed Motorsports Development. This membership will allow me access to and reduced pricing on competetion parts directly from Mazda. Neato!

Need to Recover

Alison and I had a busy weekend.

On Friday, we drove to the Philadelphia area and met up with my grad-school friend Ketan and his wife Patricia.* Patricia is also a Georgia Tech graduate, and she was, very briefly, Alison's last roommate in Atlanta. We had a nice dinner** with Ketan and Patricia, and they were kind enough to put us up for the night.

On Saturday, I spent all day at an Evolution autocross school,*** which was the event that instigated the whole trip. Meanwhile, Alison spent the day with Ketan, Patricia, and their nephew Dhruv visiting the science museum in Philly. I met up with all four of them in the evening and, after dinner, Alison and I drove into the city to see my Rice roommate and Joint Best Man, Shuaib. After some Guitar Hero World Tour, we all crashed at his place.

On Sunday, the three of us enjoyed a nice breakfast before Alison and I headed back to the Grondulbarn in Maryland. We then set to work finishing wiring the house for surround sound. Apparently our coax/network-cable project wasn't arduous enough for us. The wire-running went well enough, but the 'barn contained no new Cracker Jack style surprises, like last time.

So, it was a fun and productive weekend, but not exactly a restful one. I think I need another weekend to recover from this one.

* Be sure to pronounce this name as if you were Bolivian.

** Mmmm, sushi.

*** I hope to say a bit more about the school in a later post.

Formula One Teams Association to Create New Series for 2010

If the Formula One Teas Association follows through with their announced intention to create their own race series in 2010, that would be huge news in the mortorsports world.

Forza 3

Speaking of the Xbox 360, I'm very excited about all the features of the upcoming Forza Motorsport 3. Is it October yet?

Take That, Works Teams

Speaking of Formula One, one feature of the current season that I'm really enjoying is that the factory-supported "works" teams of McLaren* and Renault are being outperformed by the "customer" teams powered by the same engines:  Brawn GP and Red Bull, respectively.  Now if only Toro Rosso** were outperforming Ferrari... 

Another enjoyable feature is that Brawn GP is dominating this season, despite being formed, at the last minute, from the ashes of the Honda factory team after the manufacturer pulled out of F1 at the end of last season.

* McLaren is partially owned by Mercedes-Benz.

** Scuderia Toro Rosso, as those of you who speak any of the romance languages might guess, is owned by Red Bull GmbH, and it acts as a second-string team for the first-string Red Bull Racing.

Sebastiens Aplenty

Of the 22 drivers in the 2009 Formula One season, 3 are named Sebastien.*  That's almost 14%.  I guess if you want your child to grow up to be an F1 driver, you should give them that name.  And make them Finnish, while you are at it.

* Although two have an accent aigu above** the first E.

** Hey, look:  4 A-words in a row.

Autocross, Yet Again

Over the last three weekends, I attended three autocrosses.  Two of those were this past weekend.  Clearly, autocross is an Easter activity, right?

That's a lot of driving around in parking lots.  And even more waiting around in parking lots.  I'm not sure if I'm learning to drive any better, but I am learning which organizations I like to run with;  those are mostly the ones with higher ratios of driving to waiting.

Plus, now that I have competition results, I can join Mazdaspeed Motorsports Development, which will allow me access to all sorts of performance parts.