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Messages - PedalFaster
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31
« on: October 27, 2019, 11:04:48 AM »
I read a discussion elsewhere about how frequently people change their tires before an autocross (e.g. whether drive their cars on different tires during the rest of the week).
There were some assertions made in that discussion which were totally different from my perception, so I figured I'd educate myself by doing a straw poll here. There are actually effectively two questions in this poll: how often do you use your car for non-autocross stuff (e.g. is it primarily an autocross car, or do you use it during the week as well), and how often do you change your tires before an autocross?
32
« on: October 07, 2019, 08:34:46 AM »
These are getting dismounted this morning. They have 1/32" of tread (less than a millimeter) remaining. If you want them and are willing to pick them up in West Hillhurst (near SAIT), let me know via Facebook Messenger or forum message ASAP -- otherwise, they're going in the garbage.  https://i.imgur.com/NQO51kM.jpg
33
« on: October 05, 2019, 10:15:22 AM »
Totally random, but does anyone have any use for a box of fifty compost bin liners? I bought them by mistake.
If someone wants them, I’ll bring them to tomorrow’s event. If not, I’ll compost them. 😆
Note that these are sized for the green bin you put behind your house, *not* the little bin you keep in your kitchen like I thought they were.
34
« on: October 03, 2019, 12:01:30 PM »
I just belatedly noticed that Reijo is listed as a novice. 
35
« on: September 06, 2019, 04:37:54 PM »
US Nationals wrapped up today, and we had some solid showings -- Cam, Richard, and I trophied, Jared was 0.1 seconds out of the trophies, and Sera was fast enough that she would have won FSL if she'd run there instead of in FS.
Final results for our big contingent:
Alan R -- 12th out of 15 drivers in D Modified
Ambrose F -- 7th out of 16 drivers in Super Street Prepared
Brian A -- 50th out of 53 drivers in B Street at his first Nationals ever
Cam W -- 4th trophy out of 71 drivers (!) in A Street
Chris S -- 42nd out of 53 drivers in B Street
Jared C -- 16th out of 51 drivers in Solo Spec Coupe (and just 0.1 seconds out of the trophies) at his first Nationals ever
Jay Z -- 11th out of 16 drivers in Super Street Prepared
Richard B -- 6th trophy out of 31 drivers in F Street
Ryan C -- 26th out of 71 drivers in A Street
Stephen H -- 7th trophy out of 34 drivers in H Street
Sera B -- 18th out of 31 drivers in F Street (and three tenths faster than the FSL winner!)
Tom G -- 28th out of 53 drivers in B Street
Tom K -- 25th out of 53 drivers in B Street
Wayne D -- 39th out of 71 drivers in A Street
Yvonne A -- 51st out of 53 drivers in B Street at her first Nationals ever
36
« on: August 27, 2019, 10:33:53 AM »
37
« on: August 26, 2019, 05:03:39 PM »
Think of it as a bigger, better Fort Macleod. Here's a comparison of it, Fort Macleod, and YYC at the same scale: https://imgur.com/bgNIU1E. (Imgur images aren't embeddable.) Here's the only video of the site I'm aware of -- this is Tom's Camaro on the "foot".
38
« on: August 22, 2019, 03:35:58 PM »
I don't know what the original schedule was, but apparently it's changed, so posting here in case anyone was going off the previous schedule. 8:00am – Gates Open and Course Setup
9:00am – On-Site Mandatory Check-In (with timing vehicle) & Vehicle Tech Inspection Close
9:15am – Guided Course Walk (aka Rookie Course Walk)
9:40am – Mandatory Drivers Meeting
10:00am – Timed Runs Begin
~4:00pm – Timed Runs Finish, Takedown & Cleanup
6:00pm – Everything must be off-site, Runway Now Active
*Schedule may change slightly
39
« on: August 12, 2019, 11:45:01 AM »
What's next?
40
« on: August 11, 2019, 12:35:19 AM »
How difficult logistically was it to have grid on the runway instead of on the pad?
That layout has the huge advantage of eliminating the runway turnaround (which is typically a place where powerful cars can make a ton of time). It would be really tough to design a course with any significant amount of overlap, though.
41
« on: August 08, 2019, 05:24:03 PM »
Anyone going to Fort Macleod Saturday have room to bring the timing gear down?
It consists of two hard cases, the two timing displays, and three small bags. I'd conservatively estimate that it's a cubic meter of stuff, total -- it fits in the back seat of my M3 with room to spare.
If you're willing, I could deliver the stuff to you sometime tomorrow (Friday).
Alternately, anyone with a Street-class car that's better in the rain than my 414-hp RWD car on mostly-worn tires interested in having a codriver? 😁
42
« on: August 07, 2019, 09:34:19 AM »
I think you'd derive more benefit for less effort by moving as much of that 70% weight off of the front axle and towards the rear axle than you would by attempting to modify the track (or wheelbase!) of an already-existing car.
A few quotes from elsewhere by Andy Hollis, a multi-time national champion who's built a number of winning ST-class cars, about weight distribution in FWD cars (which I assume you have, given your stated weight distribution): if you can physically move weight to the rear, do so. Put it in the RR. By the time PWC was done with us, we had 350lbs of ballast in the TOMO TCA car. That's because we were super-careful as to placement. Our weight distribution got better and better the more they gave us ("Please don't throw me in the briar patch!!"). Sure, it affected accel and decel, as expected. But our handling actually got better up until the final 50 lbs or so. Behind the rear axle jacks weight off the nose.
My first clue on this idea was a number of years ago driving my FWD autocross cars to events...they actually handled in a more neutral fashion when the rear was loaded up with race gear. I've yet to see a FWD production car that wasn't nose-heavy, especially on the LF. So they steady-state understeer badly to the left and even worse to the right. And power application is always a problem, even with a good LSD. So equal side weight on the nose helps there, too.
Even on a short-wheelbase CRX, that RR weight placement just works.
43
« on: August 07, 2019, 09:28:52 AM »
I saw a good response elsewhere on the internet: As always, "it depends".
Wider track width is better for maximizing cornering G-force without rolling over. Narrow track width is better for fitting between obstacles. If the criterion involves negotiating a slalom, the increased cornering G's allowed by a wide track width may be negated by the vehicle having to go much further side to side in order to negotiate the slalom.
Long wheelbase is better for ride quality and stability in general, worse for tight-parking-lot maneuvering, worse for the above-mentioned slalom course. If the overall length of the vehicle is defined, it's usually not wrong to make the wheelbase as long as you can within reason, because weight hanging out beyond the axles is generally bad. But urban transit buses have relatively short wheelbases and long overhangs (with the engine usually hanging out way beyond the rear axle!), because maneuverability in tight quarters takes priority over how quickly the bus can negotiate an autocross course.
I'm not aware of any "ratio" that is "optimum" between the track width and the wheelbase. Production vehicles cover a pretty wide range. TL;DR: A problem as complex as designing or optimizing a vehicle platform for performance generally can't be accurately distilled down to a single simple guideline. Look at Formula 1 -- even though the rules place very tight constraints on the car designs, and the teams all have annual budgets in the hundreds of millions of dollars (so their cars are very heavily optimized), the cars still have varying wheelbases because their designers have different design philosophies. Based on your short blurb, I think you're focusing on the wrong thing -- I think you'd derive more benefit for less effort by moving as much of that 70% weight off of the front axle and towards the rear axle than you would by attempting to modify the track (or wheelbase!) of an already-existing car.
44
« on: July 30, 2019, 11:22:29 AM »
For better or worse, for as long as I can remember, the Canadian "national championship" has never attracted people from across the country -- at most, it got some people from adjacent provinces. We didn't even get BC or Manitoba contingents this year. Their programs seem to have withered in the past few years, which presumably accounts for their non-attendance. Fun facts: AB is sending more people to US Nats than any other Canadian province; we account for 43% of all Canadian registrants. There are only 37 Canadians registered to go, period, which is a bit depressing -- most medium-sized American cities send that many people. There isn't a single person from BC registered! 
45
« on: July 26, 2019, 01:49:09 PM »
Nitpick: the season points table says it's counting the best seven events, but the championship format was amended to only count the best *six* events. Currently moot point since we haven't yet had seven events. 
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