Hot Molten Lava Toyobaru

[Jeff_DML]

nice job

what would you want to replace the fr-s with?

[Biggins]

Originally Posted by Jeff_DML

nice job

what would you want to replace the fr-s with?

That's a tough call. I actually don't think I'd replace it in the near future, but I'd look to add something else.

I've always wanted to own an M3, but I suppose it will depend on my priorities at the time. If not an M3, I'm waiting to see what happens with the Focus RS and Honda Civic Type R. If I'm still hyper-focused on autocross like I seem to be at the moment, it might be a purpose-built autocross car.

[clyde]

Originally Posted by Biggins

I’m finally going to get some all-season or snow tires for the FR-S this year, so I’m intrigued to see how it will do for occasional winter use. I don’t plan to drive it in the snow at all, but I want to have the appropriate tires for the job in case it comes up.

I can't sing the praises enough of the Dunlop Winter Sport 4Ds I bought last fall. Great traction in all the snow and ice last winter and a pretty nice ride in the cold and dry or just wet. Car was not nearly as nervous or jittery as with the GY F1s or the Hankook RS3. Much more compliant and comfy. More apt to get unintentional wheelspin, but not too bad. They also had good incentives when I bought in November that got me a couple hundred back in pre paid Visa cards.

I ended up 21st/63 cars in the enormous class.

Better than me. My god, I was slow. But I don't think I drove that badly. Whatever re: me. Congrats!

edit- added clarity on Winter Sports

[bren]

Big car count classes are fun, until you are sitting on the bubble and realize there are still like 30 people to run.

Congrat's on still being excited about autox heading into winter after Nat's.

Originally Posted by clyde

I can't sing the praises of the Dunlop Winter Sport 4Ds....

[clyde]

Originally Posted by bren

oops

[Biggins]

I'll have to take a look at the Dunlops. I've always gone with Blizzaks, but they seem to have climbed in price in recent years. I will probably go with whatever brand has a sale going in a month or two.

Originally Posted by bren

Big car count classes are fun, until you are sitting on the bubble and realize there are still like 30 people to run.

Congrat's on still being excited about autox heading into winter after Nat's.

As a "first-driver" this year, I crossed the line after my last run in 12th-or-so and temporarily forgot about all the second drivers who had yet to clean up their runs... I'm okay with how my second trip there turned out.

I'm glad you guys could make it out there this year. I hope you thought it was still fun?

[clyde]

Originally Posted by Biggins

I'll have to take a look at the Dunlops. I've always gone with Blizzaks, but they seem to have climbed in price in recent years. I will probably go with whatever brand has a sale going in a month or two.

IIRC, The Winter Sport 4Ds were about $170/tire and with rebates equal to about $100/tire...so, $70 net price per tire. I think some of the Blizzaks are supposed to be slightly better in snow and ice, but not that much while the Winter Sports are supposed to be much better on dry pavement and not as squirmy in higher temps.

I went out and played in the snow a lot last winter. There was one steepish side street hill I couldn't get up in about 5" of unplowed snow. Made it about 50 of 100 yards the first time and stopped short at about 55 yards the second time because I wasn't sure I would clear a parked car a few more yards in front. I backed out and took the long away around into the neighborhood.

I also had trouble with another steepish hill into a parking lot off a main artery 30 minutes later that day. Only gave it one shot and didn't quite make it. With traffic on the way, the quicker and safer option was to go back onto the street, turn the corner and come in that way without a hill.

As a "first-driver" this year, I crossed the line after my last run in 12th-or-so and temporarily forgot about all the second drivers who had yet to clean up their runs... I'm okay with how my second trip there turned out.

I'm glad you guys could make it out there this year. I hope you thought it was still fun?

It was weird. Nate totally didn't get the "tire warmer" thing until it was too late to change numbers. I tried to explain it to him earlier, but he wanted to drive first. Okay, whatever.

It was fun, but very different for me than past years. Some good, some not so good, but just very outside my past routine.

[Biggins]

Yesterday marks having the car for four years! I cannot believe I’ve had it this long, but it really has turned into only an autocross car. I did get some free used Pirelli winter tires from my coworker who got a new set for his Focus ST, so it was driven a little in the winter more than previous years, but this car still sucks in the snow. I don’t really understand why, but it just doesn’t work in the snow at all compared to the E36. I’ve said this before, but this car is almost good enough to be a daily driver, but it’s not a good city car at all. I still very much have the itch to find another car, but I don’t think I’ll replace the FR-S anytime soon.

Autocross has been the purpose of the car for the past three years, and I’ve struggled a good bit this year trying to get the car right to my driving. I made two changes to the car in the off-season. The first was to add TRD lowering springs (linear front, progressive rear) that were deemed legal for my car a couple years ago. The springs lowered the car about 1-1.2 inches, and it’s taken a good bit of time for me to get used to the change. The car actually became a little vague on course in spots where I always had the feel for what was next… The other change I made was trying the new Kumho V720 tire. This tire really works well with the car and seems to have made the car have stability in high speed transitions, slaloms, and braking. Every chance I’ve tried to test this tire against the benchmark Bridgestone RE71R (which I also have), it has rained or been variable conditions. When comparing times to other consistent autocrossers, they seem to be about as fast, but my gut is telling me the Bridgestone is faster by a not insignificant margin. People on the internet have said the Kumho V720 delaminates and falls apart very quickly, but I have 53 runs on these tires now including a couple events of codrivers, and they still look brand new.

The results I’ve had this year have been all over the place. The new ND Miata is in my class now and is very fast and will probably beat my FR-S on 50-75% of the courses with a decent driver. Locally, I’ve been up against two top drivers in an ND, but I’ve yet to get a good comparison due to weather and breakage/severe reliability concerns with their ND. I had one of them driving my car at the last event, but rain prevented a good comparison of their driving vs mine (in my car). Since the ND Miatas were broken and other owners were fearful of breaking, the DC ProSolo that John V won ended up being my best event since I started autocrossing. I missed the win by 0.062 seconds and was a little disappointed about losing by so little, but I did win some Kumho money to use for more tires. I also got to be in the shootout that John V won, but I lost in the first round to multi-time champ in a Corvette. I’m still hooked on the autocross thing, but I’ve been trying hard to cautiously select events so I don’t get burnt out. I would like to go to Nationals again, but I have to stick to local events from now until then.

I still browse turbo and supercharger kits for the FR-S every once in a while, but it’s still a pretty good as it is. I drove a BRZ with a header/tune and fancy suspension a few months ago, and it is a totally different animal. It truly transformed the car and reminded of going from an E36 318i to a 328is: it was the same car and did the same things, but it was just substantially better in every way. I’ve resisted the urge to go that route because it’s probably an extra $5-10k in parts to do all of that the way I’d want.

Other than that, I’m still eyeing the Honda Civic Type R and Ford Focus RS as my next “daily driver.” The more realistic outcome is that I end up with a used Civic Si or Fiesta ST. For now, I’ll keep plugging along with the FR-S with the growing number of stacks of tires in my basement.

[Biggins]

I got out for a nice drive last night through some of the curvy back roads near where my father-in-law lives, and it reminded me how much fun this car can be. Living downtown, it really does make me scrutinize every road imperfection and cringe at each bump, pothole, 1800s rail line, etc. that pops up on city streets that I have to traverse. It also makes me hate driving my car around town. I think I'm really going to need to do these kinds of drives to help me remember that my car is good for something other than autocross.

Saving for a car for my wife and juggling/planning multiple house projects has put a dent in my autocross budget for the year, but that's not a bad thing. I've decided and been proven that the ND Miata is unbeatable with an FR-S/BRZ in the class I'm running. The courses we have locally will never play to my car's strengths. I plan to give it one more go at the National Championships in September with my car, but I'm pretty disappointed at my results this year vs ND Miata. I don't think my driving has gotten worse and my "good" tires are very old, but I think the ND Miata is that good (and it has national champion caliber drivers). I hate losing, but it really sucks losing by ~2 seconds even after you think you had a great run. Perhaps some classing changes will happen, but we'll see for next year...

Though I could drop $10k on the FR-S to get it in a more competitive class, I think I would rather spend $10k on a used car and some parts/tires to try something new next year if the ND Miata and my car stay in the same class... or maybe splurge for the RS or Type R

[bren]

Originally Posted by Biggins

... it really sucks losing by ~2 seconds even after you think you had a great run.

Don't ever run in SSR.

I really haven't been paying attention, do the miatas still run away on larger national style courses?