[straybullitt]

I think that is an EXCELLENT idea!
Going to 18's, that is...
I'm not a big fan of a much wider tread than rim width though. The guy that won my class (ESP) last year went up one size to a 255 on an 8 inch rim and it seemed to neither hurt nor helped him.
Remember, the sidewall is just as angled out on the inside of the wheel as the outside. Imagine what the inside looks like during hard cornering!
You don't want the sidewall pulling the tread up off of the racing surface.
I just run the stock size 245/45R17 200 tires on my stock Bullitt and it has been a very competitive setup.

 

[straybullitt]

SLA set up and run 315s all around! That's what Brian with the 99 Camaro was running at the Oakland event. But he already has SLA.

I think that we'd have to use spacers on the front of our cars to run 315's. Not sure about Static's car.
Here's the thing about Brians car, the difference in times between his ESP illegal Camaro and my stock Bullitt, was about the difference between the R compound tires that he was using and the 200 treadwear tires that I was using.
Either the setup on his car was doing very little to help, OR, he was maybe a little rusty driving the car that he's owned for the last 16 years...

 

[straybullitt]

Why do I run in ESP?
Good question! At first, everyone that I knew was in that class and I wanted to race with them. Then, I discovered, that the leader in FS was, usually, a little faster than the leader in ESP, so, I could be more competitive in ESP.
Also, my car is unimpeachable as far as tech goes...:lol:
I like being the underdog with a stock car, I had a great time chasing the leader all last year and got within 10ths of him at the end of the year... My rookie year in autocross.
I considered going into FS this year because, sadly, Bob, the winner last year, isn't able to attend this year. My ego is getting the best of me though and I'm staying in ESP and going to TRY to win the class because it is the last season that we will be racing at this location (Marina).
I'm still chasing the leader of FS... Just doing it from ESP.

I haven't seen any data logging going on either. That doesn't mean that some of these guys aren't doing it though. Im just not SEEING them do it. A lot of sponsored cars and "test mule" cars from various aftermarket manufacturers show up at Marina, so who knows what they're doing?
Haha. The most that I do that could be considered "data logging" , is to put a few little white lines on the side of my tread so I can tell how far my tires are rolling onto the sidewalls.

 

[straybullitt]

Ron, so what class do you think I'll be in with my next mods and 4.10s?

Im no expert in the SCCA class structure but if I had to guess, I'd say probably OSP.

 

[straybullitt]

Interesting, out here I haven't seen anything in FS come close to the ESP numbers. I am currently taking 1st or 2nd in FS and I am usually 4-7 seconds raw off the ESP leaders depending on class. Granted the ESP leaders are running HEAVILY modified setups but in stock trim there is no way I am competing with those guys.

-Static

There are no 5 litre cars that are regulars in ESP up here... THANKFULLY!
The one guy that had a 5.0 wasn't a regular and apparently isn't driving his car this year so isn't in ESP any longer.
Nobody has been so fast that a set of R compounds on my car wont take care of... even the guys that have showed up on R's...

So far, that is...:lol:

And I WILL use the R's if necessary!

The leader in F stock drives a 5.0 and the dude is smooth as silk. We were talking, one day, about modding cars and came to the same conclusion that you did, basically... If someone else can get in your car and turn a three second better lap... the problem is NOT the car.

 

[straybullitt]

Yeah, the heat must be a killer!
You'll be a LOT happier on the Hankooks or any 140-200 tire. I use Dunlop Dirrezzas.
They don't seem to "grease up" as fast but I've never raced on a 110 degree day.

So where do you guys race in Vegas?

 

[straybullitt]

This will be the last year for events at Marina. We race at a decommissioned Army airfield. It's on a giant concrete ramp area that was used for parking helicopters. Soccerluvr4 and I have also begun attending SCCA events at the Oakland coliseum in Oakland CA.
The event that I'm REALLY looking forward to, this year in June, is the TireRack/ SCCA Nationals at Crows Landing CA. They set up about a 90 second course on these GIANT ex-Naval airbase runways and I understand that speeds get into the 100+mph range. It should be a BLAST!!!

 

[straybullitt]

That sounds like fun. I am seriously thinking about San Diego in a couple weeks.

-Static

It's totally addictive!

We'll all have to meet up one of these days and wear out an expensive set of tires together! :thumb:

 

[straybullitt]

Looking forward to that one also!!! Gears probably would hurt me a bit since I'll be in 4th at 100.

Naw, you'll be good. You'll have more of a selection of gears to choose from on a big track like that.
I can't wait! I think that registration opens in about a month, and we have to pre-register, so we'll have to keep an eye on that.

 

[straybullitt]

Addictive doesn't even begin to describe it, but yeah I need to find a tire sponsor riki-tik.

Running on a bigger track has a lot of appeal for our platforms. Being able to take advantage of some acceleration out of turns and on the odd straight is really where the I could see my car come into its own.

-Static

The club that I race with at Marina is infamous for setting up these, almost, insanely tight little courses. Lol. They're a Datsun 510 club...
I used to HATE some of the tracks that they came up with, but, now that I'm a bit more experienced they don't seem as tough anymore. They'll have at least one this year that will have me saying, "WTF was that?!?!?!??", though. They usually throw in a couple of fast courses every year as well. Ive still never bumped the rev limiter in second gear though.
I'm going to miss Marina. The people that run the show are very nice, along with all of the entrants. It makes it a fun experience no matter how the driving went that day.

 

[straybullitt]

Well my Torque Arm and LCAs come in today

AWESOME!!! :thumb:

 

[straybullitt]

Lol.
I know it. Its those corners that we just can't keep the front end down all the way through that are the real challenge!
My first experience with a true slalom was just two weeks ago at Oakland. They set up walls of cones at Marina rather than the typical single cone. It was a challenge for me, I had to think about which side to start the slalom from for WAY too long...
Haha.
I didn't even notice if it might have been getting progressively shorter! There were two, a long and a short, but I think they were both evenly spaced... I'm going to definitely watch for that in the future!
There's another club, American Autocross, that has events at Marina as well. Their tracks cater more towards our cars. I guess that I'm a glutton for punishment because I've never even been to one of their events. Everyone that I talk to says that their tracks are fun but the way that the event is run is kind of disorganized and there's a lot of waiting around. Everyone seems to favor the 510 club events so I just drove with them last year. This year, I might give the American Autocross at Crows Landing a shot... providing it doesn't interfere with Marina.
I think that there are three big events at Crows Landing this year. I might try them all!
It's the long straightaways where you guys with the 5.0's leave me in the dust!
I'll get KILLED on those long runways... But it will sure be fun!!!

 

[straybullitt]

Well don't keep us in suspense... What kind did you get?

 

[straybullitt]

Haha
I find that pretty isn't always fast.
I'm glad the new setup is working well for you. Going to 200 tread wear is a big difference from 300's. I don't think that I could go back...
It will take you a bit to work up to the new "edge" of those tires but the confidence level that you feel on 200's is incredible. And they will get better by about the fourth race. I had my Dunlops dismounted and turned around on the rims after about 7 races and they are still in pretty good shape.
Well, my year was a giant misfire! I bought a set of Hoosiers and raced on them one time before the series that I was in got cancelled. Not only that, I installed a new Torsen differential 3 days before I heard of the cancellation.
It was too late to be in the points contention in any of the other series so I'm going spend the rest of the season putting together a new car built specifically to run in ESP on the Hoosiers. I've found a loophole in the rules that should even up the playing field and get me closer to the Coyote powered cars, as far as power to weight ratio goes.
Where in Utah did you race?

 

[straybullitt]

I'm trying to look at it the same way. I'm going to focus on doing mainly SCCA championship events next year and, hopefully, in 2016, I'd like to do the entire SCCA National championship tour. It's usually 5 west coast events and 5 east coast with it ending in Lincoln, Nebraska for the National Championship.
Greatness? I don't know... Probably more of a reality check. :lol:
I bought another True Blue Bullitt. It's exactly like the car that I already have. It spent it's life in San Francisco and was backed into by a big truck so its pretty beat up, but I paid so little for it that I'm going to be able to fix it and not be under water on it... Too bad. lol

As you know, it can be helpful to ride with faster drivers, and better yet, get faster drivers to drive your car with you as passenger. A lot of times, guys get to thinking that the car is maxed out and the only way to get any faster is to start modding. It helps to have someone that can show you, first hand, that there is more left in the car.
I don't think that's you though.
Just gotta go do it. Keep pushing yourself and the car harder and harder.

I'll watch the vids when I get moment.

 

[straybullitt]

That looked real smooth!

So what kind of setup are you using to do the telemetry? That's pretty neat! Although it was a little distracting, I had to watch the vid a few times to see a complete lap. Lol.
I can see where that would be useful information, though...

 

[straybullitt]

That's pretty cool!
It's amazing what these phones will do. I haven't looked into it but there must be something similar for my Galaxy.
I should just start off small though and get a Gopro... lol