PCA-CWR AUTOCROSS - Sat, Aug 17

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   I've been sitting here all evening thinking about my experience at the track today. 
I don't regret at all that I co-drove Charles' 3800sc Fiero (and I really appreciated the opportunity... Thanks Charles!), but man oh man... what a HUGE disappointment it was on the track. 
The car sounded fantastic, and it pulled well from the starting line, but...
That 4-spd automatic transmission absolutely ruins the car for autocross. No matter what "gear" is selected with the shifter, the damn tranny decides on its own whether it wants to be in 1st or 2nd gear. That just sucks big time. I never knew what amount of acceleration to expect when I stepped on the throttle in the middle of the course. The tranny would decide when it wanted to kick back down into 1st gear. And when it kicked into 1st, the revs would jump and the supercharger would come to life... but totally at the wrong time!  
I had some spectacular spinouts when the rear tires would break free in the middle of a slalom/gate, because all of a sudden there was this burst of power in 1st gear when I only wanted a little more acceleration in 2nd. I just hated that.
And even though my pretty decent track tires were on the car, it cornered very badly. I don't know if the alignment or camber or whatever is off, but the car was terribly unstable in the sweeps. Maybe the shocks and/or struts are shot as well. I don't know.
It's funny... driving this 300 HP Fiero has made me appreciate my anemic 90 HP duke all the more.  The duke has little to no acceleration, but once it gets going, it's very predicable... and corners like it's on rails.
Next month I hope to be driving at autocross the 5-spd '88 Formula I've been working on with Gary and Colby. I hope and trust the experience will be a positive step up from The Mighty Duke... and not a big let down like this 3800sc Fiero unfortunately was.

Edited by Patrick

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Patrick Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 19 April 2008 Location: Vancouver Status: Offline Points: 5	Post Options Post Reply Quote Patrick Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 17 August 2013 at 10:32pm
	I've been sitting here all evening thinking about my experience at the track today. I don't regret at all that I co-drove Charles' 3800sc Fiero (and I really appreciated the opportunity... Thanks Charles!), but man oh man... what a HUGE disappointment it was on the track. The car sounded fantastic, and it pulled well from the starting line, but... That 4-spd automatic transmission absolutely ruins the car for autocross. No matter what "gear" is selected with the shifter, the damn tranny decides on its own whether it wants to be in 1st or 2nd gear. That just sucks big time. I never knew what amount of acceleration to expect when I stepped on the throttle in the middle of the course. The tranny would decide when it wanted to kick back down into 1st gear. And when it kicked into 1st, the revs would jump and the supercharger would come to life... but totally at the wrong time! I had some spectacular spinouts when the rear tires would break free in the middle of a slalom/gate, because all of a sudden there was this burst of power in 1st gear when I only wanted a little more acceleration in 2nd. I just hated that. And even though my pretty decent track tires were on the car, it cornered very badly. I don't know if the alignment or camber or whatever is off, but the car was terribly unstable in the sweeps. Maybe the shocks and/or struts are shot as well. I don't know. It's funny... driving this 300 HP Fiero has made me appreciate my anemic 90 HP duke all the more. The duke has little to no acceleration, but once it gets going, it's very predicable... and corners like it's on rails. Next month I hope to be driving at autocross the 5-spd '88 Formula I've been working on with Gary and Colby. I hope and trust the experience will be a positive step up from The Mighty Duke... and not a big let down like this 3800sc Fiero unfortunately was. Edited by Patrick

karnak Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 28 August 2009 Location: Canada Status: Offline Points: 349	Post Options Post Reply Quote karnak Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 17 August 2013 at 11:33pm
	well.. time for some pictures.. here is the course map, the times and a couple of shots of Charles and Patrick enjoying the automatic transmission. I know the Formula we are cobbling back into shape will be a fun car indeed. watching the 3800 SC launch away from the start was pretty amazing. the sound! mmmmm.. all good from the outside!

karnak Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Member Joined: 28 August 2009 Location: Canada Status: Offline Points: 349	Post Options Post Reply Quote karnak Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 17 August 2013 at 11:37pm
	..and here is a video of on of my good runs

Bassman Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Senior Post God Sir Brian Joined: 12 February 2007 Location: Canada Status: Offline Points: 2501	Post Options Post Reply Quote Bassman Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 18 August 2013 at 7:27am
	Nice OPEN course, good run Gary
	Brian (Bassman) 86 GT Fastback 3.2L 2013 Mazda3 Sport GS SkyActive [IMG]http://i170.photobucket.com/albums/u243/Bassman68/BassmanSignature.png">

Patrick Members Profile Send Private Message Find Members Posts Add to Buddy List Newbie Joined: 19 April 2008 Location: Vancouver Status: Offline Points: 5	Post Options Post Reply Quote Patrick Report Post Quote Reply Posted: 19 August 2013 at 11:40am
	Found a couple of images online. Here's Gary rocketing down the course... And here's the 3800sc. Charles looks very relaxed. I look tense. The front of that Fiero is slammed down a lot. Combined with the front brake conversion (the front hubs stick out more), we were having trouble with the top of the driver's side front wheel well opening rubbing the top of the 225/50/16 tire. The tire actually chewed off part of the plastic inner wheel well liner. I was hoping my tires (which I had on Charles' car) weren't going to be damaged. Thankfully, they all appeared to be okay afterwards. I'll eventually upload a video or two shot from inside the car. I haven't even watched them yet... been kinda busy! [EDIT] Decided to level the playing field... Edited by Patrick