Lake Charles, LA: Auto-X 2006: All pics up

[ZfrkS62]

Today i was on the road at 7am heading west to Lake Charles for a SCCA Solo 2 event. L.C. is about 80 miles or so west of Lafayette, so it took my co-worker and i about an hour to get there. Unfortunately the weather was pretty shitty for most of the trip.

I took the Yoda out to test out the new KYB GR2 struts i put on on Tuesday. My co-worker took his 83 E21 out so that we could have the Battle of the Bargain Beaters :D He got his car for free from his brother and i picked up the Yoda for 200 bucks :D

The Yoda: http://img187.imageshack.us/img187/7808/autox060023qh.th.jpg (http://img187.imageshack.us/my.php?image=autox060023qh.jpg) vs. The Panzer: http://img433.imageshack.us/img433/681/autox060033ub.th.jpg (http://img433.imageshack.us/my.php?image=autox060033ub.jpg)

The course was a pretty long one. 1.1 miles in total and allowed for some decent speed. I got up to about 45-50 mph, which a good clip for a Solo 2 event.

Baisically you do the course twice, as laid out in blue. At the end of the 2nd lap you go straight to break the timing beam (laid out in purple). The dotted line is the wrong way to take the slolom. Going to the left of the first cone set you up perfectly for the sweeping left since you could get up some good speed and let your momentum carry you through. Still though, there were alot of pansies who were too scared to take it without slowing down significantly.

http://img206.imageshack.us/img206/7713/autox063bx.th.jpg (http://img206.imageshack.us/my.php?image=autox063bx.jpg)

For each cone you take out, you get a 2 second penalty added to your time. the cones are '.' and if there is a '>' next to it, it represents a cone laying on it's side, next to a standing cone. Which ever way the cone is pointing, is the side you have to drive on. If you miss it, you get a DNF for your run. Each driver got 4 runs, lowest time per class was the winner.

my first two runs were plagued by fuel pick up problems entering the slolom and coming around the back double apex which caused the engine to stall out until the fuel sloshed back to the pump, which roll started the engine back up (thank god i have a 5 speed) :roll: which caused me to log a 122.049sec (2:02.049) which thanks to clipping a cone at the bus stop, bumped me to a124.049 (2:04.049). Second run was a 122.801 (2:02.801). my coworker killed a cone on each of his first 2 runs which took him from a 113.448 (1:53.448) and 114.785 (1:54.785) to a 115.448 (1:55.448) and a 116.785 (1:56.785) respectively (see pic)
http://img301.imageshack.us/img301/5778/autox060396ve.th.jpg (http://img301.imageshack.us/my.php?image=autox060396ve.jpg)
As you can see, i killed no cones on my 2nd run :D After that i went and refuelled to solve my pick up problem.

I killed no cones my 3rd or 4th runs and posted a 118.336 (1:58.336) and a 116.401 (1:56.401) my coworker's 3rd run was a 113 something but he murdered 3 cones when he came in too hot into the last corner and powerslid through them :lol: so that one ended up as a 116, but he trounced me on the last run with a 112 :( So the Panzer won the Bargain Beater Battle :(

Anyway, enough recounting, here's a few pics of the the other 33 attendees :D

First, my coworker and i messing around with his natural weight reduction method (read: rust). And yes, these are taken from inside the trunk..except the last one which was outside looking in:
http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/4053/autox060353xu.th.jpg (http://img19.imageshack.us/my.php?image=autox060353xu.jpg)*http://img19.imageshack.us/img19/972/autox060326jc.th.jpg (http://img19.imageshack.us/my.php?image=autox060326jc.jpg)*http://img56.imageshack.us/img56/2782/autox060349se.th.jpg (http://img56.imageshack.us/my.php?image=autox060349se.jpg)*http://img515.imageshack.us/img515/7313/autox060376fv.th.jpg (http://img515.imageshack.us/my.php?image=autox060376fv.jpg)

Dodge Ram SRT-10:
http://img318.imageshack.us/img318/839/autox060066ax.th.jpg (http://img318.imageshack.us/my.php?image=autox060066ax.jpg)*http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/4052/autox060099jx.th.jpg (http://img163.imageshack.us/my.php?image=autox060099jx.jpg)

Lotus Elise:
http://img224.imageshack.us/img224/3345/autox060211jc.th.jpg (http://img224.imageshack.us/my.php?image=autox060211jc.jpg)*http://img212.imageshack.us/img212/6819/autox060208wl.th.jpg (http://img212.imageshack.us/my.php?image=autox060208wl.jpg)

since i'm using imagevenue.com now, here are the others, in an unlabeled set:

[img=http://img22.imagevenue.com/loc55/th_35445_autox_06_010.jpg] (http://img22.imagevenue.com/img.php?loc=loc55&image=35445_autox_06_010.jpg) [img=http://img133.imagevenue.com/loc185/th_35451_autox_06_011.jpg] (http://img133.imagevenue.com/img.php?loc=loc185&image=35451_autox_06_011.jpg) [img=http://img129.imagevenue.com/loc190/th_35457_autox_06_018.jpg] (http://img129.imagevenue.com/img.php?loc=loc190&image=35457_autox_06_018.jpg) [img=http://img134.imagevenue.com/loc268/th_35463_autox_06_019.jpg] (http://img134.imagevenue.com/img.php?loc=loc268&image=35463_autox_06_019.jpg)
[img=http://img40.imagevenue.com/loc98/th_35469_autox_06_015.jpg] (http://img40.imagevenue.com/img.php?loc=loc98&image=35469_autox_06_015.jpg)
[img=http://img37.imagevenue.com/loc47/th_35876_autox_06_014.jpg] (http://img37.imagevenue.com/img.php?loc=loc47&image=35876_autox_06_014.jpg) [img=http://img44.imagevenue.com/loc54/th_35882_autox_06_012.jpg] (http://img44.imagevenue.com/img.php?loc=loc54&image=35882_autox_06_012.jpg) [img=http://img40.imagevenue.com/loc96/th_35887_autox_06_013.jpg] (http://img40.imagevenue.com/img.php?loc=loc96&image=35887_autox_06_013.jpg) [img=http://img111.imagevenue.com/loc55/th_35893_autox_06_027.jpg] (http://img111.imagevenue.com/img.php?loc=loc55&image=35893_autox_06_027.jpg)
[img=http://img141.imagevenue.com/loc177/th_35900_autox_06_026.jpg] (http://img141.imagevenue.com/img.php?loc=loc177&image=35900_autox_06_026.jpg)
[img=http://img124.imagevenue.com/loc99/th_36262_autox_06_030.jpg] (http://img124.imagevenue.com/img.php?loc=loc99&image=36262_autox_06_030.jpg) [img=http://img101.imagevenue.com/loc136/th_36270_autox_06_031.jpg] (http://img101.imagevenue.com/img.php?loc=loc136&image=36270_autox_06_031.jpg) [img=http://img14.imagevenue.com/loc71/th_36276_autox_06_051.jpg] (http://img14.imagevenue.com/img.php?loc=loc71&image=36276_autox_06_051.jpg)


Nothing to see here...just a Toyota driving dumbass getting ready to tackle the track
[img=http://img108.imagevenue.com/loc202/th_36284_autox_06_038.jpg] (http://img108.imagevenue.com/img.php?loc=loc202&image=36284_autox_06_038.jpg)



Unfortunately i was too slow to get the F430 Coupe hauling ass with a 997 Westbound on I-10 while i was Eastbound :( It was my first Coupe spotting too :cry:

PS: TT, i read your Photoshop tutorial, but my pics are 1280x960 so instead of resizing them i left them as they were and just did the other stuff. Anything you can spot that you think could use a little improving, please let me know. :lol:

[TT]

Such slaloms are always funny events, no idea why I never tried one.. probably just too stressed about tires and other consumables :roll:

I see no major problem in your pics BTW, only little thing, they are a bit "aliased". What camera are you using? Or maybe even a phone since they pics are so "small"? if it's a phone, nothing to say, quality is already too good for a thing that is meant to pass phone calls :P if it's a camera, maybe you can do something in the settings to improve picture quality a bit.

[ZfrkS62]

i use a Fuji Finepix 1300. The thing is a 1.3MP and is old as dirt :P 1280x960 is the highest setting it has. I was using manual mode to change the type of light i was in, and turn of the flash. there is another setting i don't really understand yet and can't see any difference in the pics when i change it, so i don't mess with it.

[dingo]

Great fun these events, I've been doing a few in my car lately too. :D Who had the best time of the day out of all the cars?

Such slaloms are always funny events, no idea why I never tried one.. probably just too stressed about tires and other consumables :roll:



Do what I do, I started doing these events when my tyres were nearly at the point of being replaced.....doesn't help grip but good for cheap bitches like me. :lol:

I also want to wear my front pads down so I have an excuse to get new race-spec ones. ;)

[sameerrao]

The Yoda strikes back ... Well almost ... Good Job Zman.

[Wutputt]

Must been fun the battle of the bargain beaters :D

Eagerly waiting for the other pics :)

[ZfrkS62]

I'll have the rest of the pics up shortly.

How do i take care of the alias-ing thing you mentioned, TT?

[TT]

Uhm, sadly I think there isn't much you can do if it's up to the camera output quality.
The result is not so bad considering the camera you are using afterall ;)

[ZfrkS62]

Uhm, sadly I think there isn't much you can do if it's up to the camera output quality.
The result is not so bad considering the camera you are using afterall ;)

sweet :D thanks for the help

Dingo, i think the Lancers (there were 3 or 4 of them) were turning out 1:37's i can't remember what the Porsche did, but he was hammering it. there are 3 corners were the front inside wheel was picking up off the ground by an inch or more. I didn't pay much attention to what the open wheel cars were doing either.

[dutchmasterflex]

What a great way to have some fun. As soon as I can afford insurance I'm gonna get a nice RWD beater..

ROFL at the rust.. made some awesome speed holes* for the BMW

I've always wanted to do an autocross but never had the chance, some day..



*Simpsons reference