Matt RX8

Yesterday, I participated in a "medium speed" autocross :D . It incorporated about 2/3 of a lap of a 1/3 mile banked oval track that used to host some stock car races. The map below wasn't the exact course but will give you an idea. I was hitting over 70 mph (into 3rd gear) on the straight aways. The autox also had a flying start and a flying finish. The use of the banked oval made it more fun than the average autocross but also a little more dangerous due to the concrete walls .

I ran in BS and came in 2nd to an E36 M3 driven by a friend. I beat an S2000 by several seconds that was placed in BS (instead of AS) by mistake but we didn't say anything because that meant a bigger class and more trophies (including one for me :D ). I actually beat lots of other cars (BMW S54 M Coupes, E46 M3s) and had a time that was only a couple of seconds off FTD.

The RX8 was great as always. I'm running totally stock (alignment, stock bridgestone tires, etc.). The guy that beat me in BS is a really good driver and also a club racer (spec miatas and such) and also is very competitive in time trials.

This might be the last autox for the RX8 for a while. I like to save the RX-8 for the track and will autox the wife's BMW 325 convertible for the next few events.

cas2themoe

Good job! Keep up the nice work!

TeamRX8

iTrader: (25)

I won't run an autox at places like that, seen too many cars end up in the wall, hope it never ends up being you ...

army_rx8

^ouch really? that's be rough.. i wonder what that does fo rinsurence...is it covered b/c it isn't really a race race (amateur or professional..but just club racing)..or does that not matter?

i'm not to sure what autocrossing is classified as (soloII?)?

TeamRX8

iTrader: (25)

they generally won't nor would I ever want to try, I did get in an altercation at the drag strip once (of all places, yeah it can happen anywhere) and I just ponied up on the CC because there was no way it was worth losing regular coverage over ...

Icemastr

2 seconds off FTD on street tires in a stock RX-8? 70MPH in a street tire RX-8 doesn't sound like more of a fast course rather than a medium speed course to me. I need to come race with you guys to boost my ego because I can't imagine a street tire RX-8 being within two seconds of me and I have never even been close to FTD

Matt RX8

Actually, I was exagerating a bit. I think it was more like 2.7-3.0 seconds off FTD.
Won't know for sure until the results are posted. I suspect that the raw time will probably be in the top 10-20% of all the cars present though. I'm not the greatest driver either, with only about 12 autocrosses, 1 autocross school and 4 track days under my belt (+19 years of street driving but that doesn't count). This sort of track definitely favored a car like the RX-8.

This was classified as medium speed because it was the sort of autocross where you could get into third gear. Most of the autocrosses that I attend are in 2nd gear with speeds less than 65 mph. A high speed autocross would be more of a time attack/time trial, which used to be called Solo I. Those would have speeds in excess of 120 mph on some tracks (like Road America)

Definitely a little more difficult than a regular autocross and a little more dangerous but in the banked curves I was probably only doing 60 mph. Some people probably take curvy on-ramps and off-ramps at that sort of speed. I've taken some turns at Road America at 75-80 mph and they weren't banked.

As of yesterday, my new insurance policy started which excludes this stuff so I may have to switch insurance or find a new hobby.

here's a pic on the banking of the oval:


Here are some more pics.