Mountain Run July 11th!!!

turbofb · Post by **turbofb** » Mon Jul 12, 2004 8:41 pm

I saw that cop, he eyeballed the hell out of me to. I was wondering what happened to you. I kept a eye out for you and him. Damn you and the Porshe are fast. I'm ready to do it again whenever if its on a sunday.

darkducati · Post by **darkducati** » Mon Jul 12, 2004 9:01 pm

Everyone was quick! That was the cool part! I just can't wait to get the MR2 done. It can't take too long if I keep reminding myself why I need once a month. Or maybe we should do it four times a month! GAME ON!

jo · Post by jo » Mon Jul 12, 2004 9:13 pm

haha goodbye brakes and tires!

so you're actually gonna get the mr2 running this lifetime?;P

CodyW · Post by **CodyW** » Mon Jul 12, 2004 9:14 pm

wow, looks like i missed out a lot on this one. hopefully i'll make it up there again soon though

.

darkducati · Post by **darkducati** » Mon Jul 12, 2004 9:42 pm

nobody wrote:so you're actually gonna get the mr2 running this lifetime?;P

Shut up!

Post by **andysapp** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 1:52 pm

nobody wrote:I came into a left hand turn a bit too hot around 60 or 70mph [we were going that fast to keep up with the porsche] and knew that I was going to lose it. My car oversteered like crazy [thanks drift set up!] and my tail came out and I turned 180 degrees into the other lane.

During the last mountain run we went on... while driving in the very back,
and watching how everyone was drving/entering corners,
I had a bad vision:
--
Someone up front driving extremely fast... everyone trying to keep up and overstepping their limits/experience as a result.
One person losing control, and everyone else behind that person barrelling towards them at the same speed: multiple car pileup on a mountain road. The thought really hadn't occured to me until that point... but when it did, I shuddered.

When we used to run the mountains back in the day... we would split into two groups. Fast group/Faster group. The faster group would run up front, and would fly ahead & get their rox off... then they would pull off to the side, and wait for everyone else. That way, everyone had a good time, without all the pressure of keeping up/having a faster driver on your tail. There was never any negative stigma attached with not being in the faster group. It was just recognized that there were different levels of skill present, and this was the "safest" (I guess I use that term loosely) way to do it.

Everyone's pushed it a little too hard up there trying to keep up with the car in front of you. I'm guilty as well. You figure "If they're pulling it off... I can pull it off". Then you end up following their lines, instead of focusing on your own lines, and then you're thrown off balance.

Bottom line, I guess... the mountains aren't a race track. They are fun to drive full speed on, but are extremely dangerous and unforgiving at the same time. One slight error, and you're in trouble. There's no runoff space, and no safety walls. I don't usually rant on safety very often (never really (have you seen me drive through traffic?))... but something about these mountain runs gives me a bad feeling, that I just can't shake.

[/rant to everyone going to the mountains]

Post by **andysapp** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 1:55 pm

turbofb wrote:I will tell you what you had a great braking drift going on...

Did you hit the brakes while turning into the corner?

jo · Post by jo » Tue Jul 13, 2004 2:01 pm

There were two turns in a row. The FOERST was a righthander, and as I came out of it I knew I was going a bit too fast. I broke a little bit before i came to the left hand corner to try and slow myself down a bit, but I don't recall braking on the turn in to the left curve [or in the curve for that matter]. I think that trying to slow myself down beforehand was enough to get the weight shifted, though.

Post by **andysapp** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 2:12 pm

nobody wrote:I think that trying to slow myself down beforehand was enough to get the weight shifted, regardless.

That sounds about right to me. It's a weird trick... and I'm not 100% sure if it applies to AWD, but in a situation like that , if you floor it through the corner, it can get you out of the hot situation. It's goes completely against what your natural reflex is (to apply braking).
I beleive it has something to do with keeping the weight to the back of the car to aid in maintaining maximum contact patch with the rear tyres. I know your car out of the box had a bit of understeer... so that trick wouldn't work as well... but you're car (with the suspension) is setup to oversteer, so it should work.
It would be a technique you would need to experiment with on a track,
or possibly even an autocross.

jo · Post by jo » Tue Jul 13, 2004 2:19 pm

Yeah for sure...this time around I'll have enough funds to pay for auto-x so i'll definitely be able to go. haha at least i hope so. grrr i hate bills. i think we should set up a dega day for us soon.

If i remember correctly, the flooring through the corners does work for AWD.... I already felt like I was going too fast though so flooring it was definitely against my instincts.

Post by **andysapp** » Tue Jul 13, 2004 2:33 pm

nobody wrote:Yeah for sure...this time around I'll have enough funds to pay for auto-x so i'll definitely be able to go.

Haha... you mean if you can wake up next time?

nobody wrote:If i remember correctly, the flooring through the corners does work for AWD.... I already felt like I was going too fast though so flooring it was definitely against my instincts.

Yeah... it's definitely against what your reflexes want to do. I still don't know if I could pull it off. It's a lot like looking down the line to where you're going instead of looking in front of the car... it's something that'll only come with practice and experience.

Silent23 · Post by **Silent23** » Wed Jul 14, 2004 11:28 am

Glad you came out of it ok, nobody, and didn't end up like me, with a bruised nose;) And accelerating out of the turn does straighten the car up, at least in my car it does. Especially on gravel roads.....turn into the curve with lower speed, feel the back end swing around, then on the gas and it straightens right up. Nice feeling.

marshun · Post by **marshun** » Wed Jul 14, 2004 4:12 pm

it should be more like turn, brake, then accel. of course the initial turn shouldnt be at some retarded speed.

i wish i could run with you guys.

djdorifto · Post by **djdorifto** » Wed Jul 14, 2004 4:24 pm

sigh, this meet puts me back into the mtn races we did in SoCal. Many of the inexperience people got right in the middle behind a faster skill driver or a right infront of one, so u start to get pressure and aswell showoff that you can do it too. But they start to oversteer and weeeeee, right over the cliff. Sucks thou and it gives us a very bad image. So yeah keep it safe out there guys! Hopefully i'll be at the meet soon enough.