Hi guys, I just finished my first real auto-cross! I went to the "Summer Fling II" at Marina Airfield in Marina, and I brought my 84 GSL-SE. =) I worked first group, and ran third. There was another GSL-SE right behind me, and the owner came over and introduced himself and we talked about our cars. Anyways, on to the goods (the pics!).


Here I am on grid. =) Ready to go!


My first run was slow, just so I could get the hang of the course and test out the cars reflexes, which have never been really pushed. I am happy to report that the RX-7 is as flingable as any car I've ever driven (which isn't saying a whole lot, but it really does feel light as a feather).


My runs improved by a second each time, as I got more confident in the cars handling, as well as remembering the course. Unfortunately, the car felt very loose at times. I dont' know if this is because of my rather clumsy pedal modulation or because something is worn out in the suspension (The car
is 19 years old!). Each time I attempted to apply power, the rear wheels just spun and the car just stayed in place. Otherwise, the car brought a grin to my face.


My one unhappy moment occured on my last run. Or rather when I was gridding for it. Before, on all my runs, I had gridded behind a Stratus. It's front-wheel drive, so when he drops the clutch to get the most speed at the start, he doesn't shoot any rocks or pebbles at me. On my last run, I had pulled up right behind a green Mustang which had sticky tires.

Before I could back up, it peel-ed out in a puff of rubber and pebbles. The tires picked up some gravel, and shot them into my windshield. AND IT CHIPPED!!!! :-*(
AUGGGGGHHHHH.
Of course he didn't mean it, and I was stupid to be so close....

So I wrote the director and peoples who arrange or host or whatever make the autocross happen and hopefully something will get done! Has that ever happenned to anyone else? Well hopefully it won't happen again!

*sigh*

Anyways, it was a great day. I really really wish I had more than 135hp, but I know it's the handling that really counts. I can't wait to get my hands on some sticky rubber and some tokicos. =)

Ok thanks for reading my rather long post. Happy rotoring!

 

That is awesome! If there were any autocrosses up here in Bellingham, WA, i would probably go. ER... well ... prolly not. They just had one like a month ago and i pansied out because its scary! Mad props for the guts and the runs... ur car's runs that is.

 

OMG its a beige -SE, I never thought i'd see another one in my life
Nice pics dude, and nice body roll hah
How did you place overall?

 

I had a beige se, i spray painted over it... it looked identical to that.


yeah it was mint, i ruined it.

 

COOL! Nice pics... I cant wait to hit the courses again, its been awhile

 

That is a crappy deal with the rustang and the rocks but at least you beat him right??? :]

 

so thats what the se in my garage was supposed to look like......

 

Chemical: I dont' know how I placed overall because I forgot to look at the time sheets. It totally slipped my mind to check them, but I reckon I didn't terribly bad nor good. Somewhere in between?

Pedestrian X: No... I don't think I beat that Mustang. I think he's got a lot of auto-crosses under his belt, and plus he had sticky tires, compared to my crappy Dunlop Sports

 

All I can say is 'good'. I really need to find one around here. I'm not sure where to look, but I don't know if PA is a big autocross state.

 

Congrats! Its addicting isnt it?
Good luck on getting the windshield fixed, but you are probobly SOL. When you sign up in the morning you are signing a waiver, that says, the club isnt responsible for any damage.
I hope it works out for you.

To be completly honest, you probobly didnt ';even place at the middle of the pack on your times.
It took me about 3 races, to even be at the middle of the pack. but after you start to get some experiance you will start to see your times drop very dramaticaly, and you will be able to very specifically point out where you can go faster, and how to do it.
When you get experiace, it becomes a whole lot less about keeping the car under control, and a whole lot more about making it dance on the course, and be able to put your car any where on the course that you want it to be.
WARNING:Every race gets a little more addicting.

 

Congrats. Yea the worst mistake of my life was going to my first autox. A nice crack habit would be cheaper. But then they dont give out trophies for crack smoking........at least as far as I know.

Wait till you get the road racing bug. Then you get to find out what po' means.

 

Ahhhh no ****! I havent even done a real road race yet, just one track day and another one coming up on the 28th of July.
It costs between $100 & $300 for a track day around here. Thats just a fun play day, not even real racing.......
My damn 7 keeps me broke.

 

Congratulations! Autocrossing is about the cheapest (well, it can be), way to race. 40-50 mph never felt so fast as when you have to make a couple turns. I have raced several 1st gens, including an 84 GSL-SE. I now run my just completed F/prepared dedicated race car. It's a blast. Take your time, ask questions of the more experienced folks.

 

Well, you did better than this guy....