So I had a terrible first outing for the autocross season. I had one clean but slow initial run and then 2 DNFs for being off course and then another on course run. Never had a truly fast lap, cause my only 2 on course runs I was holding back looking for the course.
So I forgot to post it, but I got some really sticky tires for autocross. I closed the roughly 4 second gap I had at SCCA in my first outing to less .2 of a second. I really didn't think this was my best performance either, it the first time I had really pushed the tires and beyond that the first time I had really had really sticky tires. A few weeks later was the Mazda Club autocross and we got lots of runs so I was really able to get used to the tires at the limit and figure out what they were capable of. The result I ran 5th overall in the morning, less than a second behind the fastest car and 8th in the afternoon session after they opened the course up a bit to make it more power friendly. I was the fastest FWD car and everything that beat me also had more power. The best was I got into a battle with my friend Byron and his 2015 Mustang V8 and I was able to best him in the afternoon session by less than .2.
So I'm quite proud of those results, but it has left me feeling a bit uncertain. I've finally answered the question of if had proper tires could I hang with the rest of the pack? Now I feel like I need to do something else to progress in the hobby, like FWD driving skills are fulfilled, time advance some other skill.
What happened with those 30 second and 29 second laps was it just trash on the track or unexpected stuff happening? I guess just like with any racing, being consistent with times will be better and if you can do that in a Mazda 2 then a slight upgrade to a chassis which allows a more efficient but also more powerful engine will allow you to wreck the rest of the competition.
I assume everyone strips the interior of the car and places roll cages and racing seats in the car right?
What happened with those 30 second and 29 second laps was it just trash on the track or unexpected stuff happening? I guess just like with any racing, being consistent with times will be better and if you can do that in a Mazda 2 then a slight upgrade to a chassis which allows a more efficient but also more powerful engine will allow you to wreck the rest of the competition.
So that was the morning session where I was really still learning the limits and behaviors of the new tires. Notice the afternoon session had considerably tidier lap times (aside from the one total fuck up of a run). Also the course designer was my friend and she made the morning course slalom heavy cause I needed to work on my slalom skills. I'm going to keep running the car and polish my skills, but I'm thinking I'm going to start saving for a first gen miata to run in STS in a year or so.
George, I did buy the Mazda 3, it's been great so far.
The 3 is a solid car. My 2 is a great little race car, but I kinda wish I'd bought the larger 3 for day to day driving.
I got the 3 with one step up on the trim level. It's really just my city and freeway car, I've got my motorcycle which I ride about 80 percent of the year and I've got my crazy offroad truck on the way for just having fun with.
The 3 is perfect for a good city car. First new car I've ever owned.
We took a 2 to Wildwood this past weekend. But, it was a 2 with a level of trim below what I even knew possible.
Ah, the "sport". Mine is a Touring, which is better in that it has alloy wheels, a rear deck lid spoiler, 2 more speakers, steering wheel stereo controls and (most crucially) cruise control. I'm guessing the cruise control is what you noticed it lacked. That and power as the automatic tends to suck away what little pep the engine has.
Actually I have the cruise control, that was a mandatory add for me since I will be using it for freeway trips to visit my folks. The sport comes with cruise control now. It also has the steering wheel stereo controls. I'm not familiar with the 2014 packages, so this might all be add ons in 2015.
I do wish I had the backup camera when backing into my garage. It's taken awhile to get used to not putting a key in the ignition. Since I don't have the advanced unlock your doors when your near feature I have to get my fob out, unlock the door with a push button remote, then put my keys back in my pocket... I'm still saying keys even now when I just mean the fob.
I drove a stick for a long time, I'm happy to have an automatic for my get around car and it doesn't seems to lack power for my type of driving... I'm not 19 anymore and I can get my speed needs in at work.
No heated seats, no power adjust lumbar, no center arm rest, no built in nav system, but I'm pretty impressed by all the things that do come with it at such a low level.
My last car was a Honda Accord that I had to 11 years, so I don't think I'll be selling the M3 anytime soon.
I would like to get a good stereo for it, probably something I'll do after taxes.
So the carburetor on the Caprice has gotten real bad and rather than rebuild it I'm going to bite the bullet and just convert to a Throttle Body Injection system. I found a complete TBI system on eBay that has everything attached to the engine for $300. I'm going to get the fuel tank sending unit from a later model that has the provisions fuel return and an in tank pump. Then it's just fuel lines and megasquirt.
Just going to put this in here. Katie and I sold both of our cars this weekend and got a new Mazda CX-5 to be our first family car. We both really like it so far (though I definitely miss having my stick-shift).
Here's something, I don't know what a "family car" is supposed to mean and why people change their cars. When I was a kid my Dad went through a motorcycle, Datsun, Ford Falcon, Toyota Camry as vehicles.
A family car can mean many things, but simply put it's something that is more kid friendly, can seat people in the back without them having their knees in their chests, has room in the trunk for more than just your golf clubs and usually gets better gas millage than your sports car.
It's like when we bought a mini van when I was a kid... I don't think that was because my dad thought mini van's were cool.
A minivan drift fail video and it DOESN'T end with it flipping? I feel jipped.
EDIT: Holy crap! The Famous Footwear store at the end is, like, 2 blocks away from my house! That's the stripmall that my local Radio Shack used to be at. On the corner of Chatsworth and Zelzah in Granada Hills.
A minivan drift fail video and it DOESN'T end with it flipping? I feel jipped.
It's literally the only good video I could find of the Tofu Drift Van that wasn't either go-pro bumper footage that doesn't look like much, in-car footage that doesn't look like much, or just the TDV doing american style boring burnouts. The one exception is the new-engine video, and that's just a dude doing doughnuts around the cameraman, not terribly exciting.
And I'm pretty sure I've already linked the Fast 'n Nice V8 Vanette twice now, don't want to repeat a trick too many times. Plus, parcel vans are not really minivans.
A family car can mean many things, but simply put it's something that is more kid friendly, can seat people in the back without them having their knees in their chests, has room in the trunk for more than just your golf clubs and usually gets better gas millage than your sports car.
It's like when we bought a mini van when I was a kid... I don't think that was because my dad thought mini van's were cool.
I think you can pull that off in any good 4 door sedan or even some hatchbacks, no reason to buy an SUV. Disclaimer: I hate SUVs they seem to have been manufactured to make it impossible for me to turn into a T junction if I pull up at a busy road and make it super hard to read what the next few cars are doing in terms of braking or slowing down. In addition the passengers seem to think its awesome to smash open their doors and dent my car in parking lots (across the nation).
Tell me about it. I made the mistake of running a delivery during schooltime traffic, on a route that takes me past a few primary schools - fucking saw my life flash before my eyes a few times on that run, tell you what. Fucking twits in their giant ascot tractors, get a fucking vehicle that doesn't have 1.5 tons of metal for each child you're putting in it, and better yet, learn how the fuck to drive.
A CX-5 is just a taller Mazda3, it's perfectly fine. I'm seriously considering the new CX-3 (a taller Mazda2) because I desperately need a more up right seating position for my back. It makes me sad to consider leaving "cars" but it's just not worth it anymore.
I don't own a SUV, but I often miss my truck's cargo space. Having that amount of space available in a waterproof interior can be really nice. There is a reason that sedans have become more SUV like rather than the other way around.
Here's something, I don't know what a "family car" is supposed to mean and why people change their cars. When I was a kid my Dad went through a motorcycle, Datsun, Ford Falcon, Toyota Camry as vehicles.
In our case, "family car" means "we are planning to have kids soon, so we need a vehicle that can handle them and the crap you have to bring around with them." My fiancee's car was way too small and my old Golf would've worked, but it would've been tougher. Another reason we went with one car to share is that it is actually cheaper overall for us to buy a new car than to keep our two old ones (because of insurance and parking).
Fucking twits in their giant ascot tractors, get a fucking vehicle that doesn't have 1.5 tons of metal for each child you're putting in it, and better yet, learn how the fuck to drive.
I don't own a SUV, but I often miss my truck's cargo space. Having that amount of space available in a waterproof interior can be really nice. There is a reason that sedans have become more SUV like rather than the other way around.
I can see the space argument but you can do that in something like a Subaru Liberty or Forrester if you want real off road with a car which can hold enough things (while still being normal height, kind of like an estate car). If it is a "truck" which is I think American for "ute" then yes there's not replacement for a work car which required you to move a lot of things.
However I don't agree that sedans have become more SUV like, well not the Japanese cars and the Australian branches of American and European car companies. To me there has just been more of these toy miniaturised big cars sold to parents as a "safe" car. When reality you're selling something which deteriorates optimal driving and parking conditions for everyone else.
My opinion would be just to replace SUVs with estate cars however I can't change what others buy so I'll probably continue to get the dents in my doors fixed or maybe I'll give up and pretend like they are aerodynamic features like a golf ball.
Comments
Oh well, next weekend I can only do better.
Man, everybody fucking LOVED that car.
Results: http://mscw.com/autocross/MAX-46 - Final Results.html
So I'm quite proud of those results, but it has left me feeling a bit uncertain. I've finally answered the question of if had proper tires could I hang with the rest of the pack? Now I feel like I need to do something else to progress in the hobby, like FWD driving skills are fulfilled, time advance some other skill.
I assume everyone strips the interior of the car and places roll cages and racing seats in the car right?
The 3 is perfect for a good city car. First new car I've ever owned.
I do wish I had the backup camera when backing into my garage. It's taken awhile to get used to not putting a key in the ignition. Since I don't have the advanced unlock your doors when your near feature I have to get my fob out, unlock the door with a push button remote, then put my keys back in my pocket... I'm still saying keys even now when I just mean the fob.
I drove a stick for a long time, I'm happy to have an automatic for my get around car and it doesn't seems to lack power for my type of driving... I'm not 19 anymore and I can get my speed needs in at work.
No heated seats, no power adjust lumbar, no center arm rest, no built in nav system, but I'm pretty impressed by all the things that do come with it at such a low level.
My last car was a Honda Accord that I had to 11 years, so I don't think I'll be selling the M3 anytime soon.
I would like to get a good stereo for it, probably something I'll do after taxes.
When I was a kid my Dad went through a motorcycle, Datsun, Ford Falcon, Toyota Camry as vehicles.
It's like when we bought a mini van when I was a kid... I don't think that was because my dad thought mini van's were cool.
EDIT: Holy crap! The Famous Footwear store at the end is, like, 2 blocks away from my house! That's the stripmall that my local Radio Shack used to be at. On the corner of Chatsworth and Zelzah in Granada Hills.
And I'm pretty sure I've already linked the Fast 'n Nice V8 Vanette twice now, don't want to repeat a trick too many times. Plus, parcel vans are not really minivans.
In addition the passengers seem to think its awesome to smash open their doors and dent my car in parking lots (across the nation).
However I don't agree that sedans have become more SUV like, well not the Japanese cars and the Australian branches of American and European car companies. To me there has just been more of these toy miniaturised big cars sold to parents as a "safe" car. When reality you're selling something which deteriorates optimal driving and parking conditions for everyone else.
My opinion would be just to replace SUVs with estate cars however I can't change what others buy so I'll probably continue to get the dents in my doors fixed or maybe I'll give up and pretend like they are aerodynamic features like a golf ball.
I would still personally buy a GT-86 if I had that much disposable income.