[Smokin]

I'll keep my AX posts and results here.
1st event was 4/6/14 with a Test & Tune 4/5/14.
Set-up is butt stock G-Street with the exception of 16" Sparco wheels and 225/45x16 Dunlop Direzza Z IIs.
Temp at the T&T was 39-55 degrees.
Temp at the first event was 72 degrees in Heat 3 at 2:30 PM.

After experimenting with tire pressures all day Saturday, settled on starting at 41F/32R cold.
I bled them off to 41/31 through run #3 and then did not touch them for the last and fastest run at 42F/32R.

Next event 4/13/14 at the same place. Will start at 42F/32R cold and see how it goes.

BTW, the car rotates beautifully. Just a slight turn-in and lift of the throttled and you get a stable, three-legged tailout...unfortunately the club photog also ran heat 3 so I only got a couple of pix...

 

[Smokin]

 

[jimclark]

Lookin' good! Here's hoping the weather this next weekend is good--and that we can put up pics of both of us!

 

[Mightymango]

Those are the pressures I'm going to start out with as well before I get all crazy with 50+ in the rear.

 

[Smokin]

Woohoo! Rookie School tomorrow! i think I have my son in my ST, Jimclark in his ST and a guy in a Focus ST. Gotta go buy some dramamine...

 

[Cligedy]

Last weekend I instructed a kid in a new (seriously, like 5k miles) M3 who had never been to an autocross before. He rode as my passenger for my first run and was shaking when we crossed the finish. He couldn't believe how fast it seemed inside the car.

Btw, those M3s are crazy fast and super comfy. The guy did great and finished 4th out of 50+ novices.

 

[Smokin]

This is the update on the past weekend Novice School and KCR Event #2.
It was 78 deg Saturday and sunny, 70 and downpour rain Sunday, and 28 with snow this morning on my way to work.

Because of a bunch of no-shows we had our pick of heat 1 or 2 on Sunday, and since it was raining during set-up, I gambled on Heat 2 wind, warmth and no rain. Big mistake. The course dried right before Heat 1 and the best times were set in the first 2 runs. Heat 2 went from damp to deluge in 5 runs. As you see in the overall Pax, I still finished 9th, with the top 8 setting times in dry Heat 1. Oh well, luck of the draw.

Changed pressures to 40f/34r and they worked well. The Dunlops do need to heat up some and so far neither event has had enough heat, so may start at 38F next event to create heat. But the biggest surprise was how well they worked in the wet! With run #3 I decided to run in Sport mode and the car handled amazingly well. A tail-out slide was easily controlled, but you could sure smell the heat from the brakes after a run.....

The GLI 52.8 was set in the dry Heat 1, 2nd run, with a very experienced driver coming off of karting.....We have a good field of GS drivers so this will be a fun and competitive year....

A better bet is watching Craig Wilcox on these time sheets this year. You're seeing the 2014 STX National Champion at work....

My son Zac and Jimclark from this forum had a great time and learned a lot!! More fun than just competing was getting to flog a car around in the pouring rain with no consequences!!! The Focus ST novice did not show everything, but it was amazingly loose with and without the traction control. He was on Goodyear F1s or something like that. It does have some grunt in acceleration though!

The next event is 4/27 up at Lincoln on the Nationals course. I think they're having a Starting Line school there so there will be all kinds of hotshots!!

 

[Smokin]

From Saturdays school with 28 entrants. Paxing 6 and 7 with no prior autocross experience, unlike Fogle, Fortin and Miller...

 

[Smokin]

Check out these awesome photos of the Zeck Ford Fiesta ST from Patterson Prints LLC::

 

[Smokin]

 

[Mightymango]

Those are some nice pics, I like the effect on the images (forgot the name of the type of picture)

 

[Smokin]

KCR Event #3 5/4/13, Star Wars Day, was a warm one finally. It was 88 degrees during my heat 3 runs and the track and tires warmed nicely.

I trailed by 0.9 seconds to the Genesis (on wide-ass BFG Rivals) running 41/32 F/R tire pressures after run 3, so I decided to go for broke. The last 2 runs I set them at 39/30 F/R hot and cut 0.5 seconds off both runs.
Got second place in GS, missed 2nd overall of 109 competitors by 0.426 seconds.
Notice how the car is tire pressure sensitive and also notice below the consistency in the runs.

BTW, there were 37 Street class cars from SS-HS and I was 4th overall in raw Street time.
After 3 events there have been 49 competing in all three. I am in 4th overall.

Next event is the ST Octane Academy in Salt Lake this weekend!! Wahoo!! Looks to be 60 degrees and wet so I'll get to show off my wet weather skills!!
May 18th is the first RallyX of the year in Greenwood NE and then the Lincoln National Tour May 25-26. There are 2 Focus STs registered so hopefully the weather cooperates...

 

[Smokin]

 

[Cligedy]

Excellent! That's a deep and diverse GS field ya got there.

Speaking of national tours, the Atlanta Match tour has 6 cars in GS, 3 FiSTs and 2 FoSTs. That should be fun.

 

[Smokin]

And this...If you've seen me say on this forum brakes, who need brakes? Check this out.
Run #2= 47.504. Run #4= 47.147. 5 deceleration points vs. 10.
Brakes? Who needs brakes?

 

[Smokin]

My first ever RallyCross event was last weekend at I-80 Speedway's clover field in Greenwood, Nebraska.
After getting used to driving in the dirt and a track being laid down, I had a blast.
The car can do the Swedish Flick like a dream. Never touched the brakes during the runs.
Guys said I looked like I was having fun out there. Closed in on the veteran SF in a Civic Si throughout the day.
The 3rd run, 52 sec was due to getting lost in a cloud of dust from the previous car.
Unfortunately, no reruns for that so I made sure the course was clear before starting again.

In the afternoon 4 runs I was only 1.7 seconds behind and actually beat him by 0.007 sec in the last run. Finished 5th in stock and 11th overall

 

[jimclark]

"Swedish Flick"? Doesn't the car have to be over 18 to do that?

 

[Smokin]

Well, the Spring Nationals in Lincoln were a bust. After the first shakedown run on Day 1 the clouds opened up and we had a downpour.
Day 2 could not even come close to the Focus STs and their 252 hp 270 lbft 2.0 engines. They don't belong in G-Street as we are finding out.

In the rain where the high hp was negated I was third 0.914 back. We'll have 2 more weekends and 3 days of running in Lincoln before the National Championships. We'll also have 4 days at Heartland Park on the big asphalt pad to continue dialing it in.

Check out the "Petition SCCA" thread and help make autocross equitable.

 

[Smokin]

Back to regional competition we're improving more each time. I think The Dunlop Direzza's are getting to their sweet spot providing more stable grip. Rygh is a good driver, usually in his Cayman, but since he had no competition, co-drove with Jeff to wring out the Genesis.

On my second run I was headed for the cornfield getting way behind the curve. Focus, focus focus! Maybe that was on my mind ;-). Also, when 0.2 seconds is the difference between 2nd and 4th, that's getting too close......

In the regional standing I am still 4th with 2 and 3 being in GS too....that 92.xx was in the rain and will get thrown out in the final standings so it is still a tight race....

 

[jimclark]

I must say, watching you drive was a treat, Greg. Loved the way you made the car do the three-legged run in that sweeper after the loop! And it's going to be entertaining watching you battle it out with Bartz, Hill, and Hesskamp for the PAX points championship. And if Doug Hitchcock runs more like he did yesterday, he may have to get thrown in the mix, too! And Dan Wheeler is probably shaking his head right now, looking at that 90.29. Tight competition!

BTW, I'm hoping to head to Neosho; hope to see you down there!