Prosolo in a Borrowed Car

Event: SCCA ProSolo

Location: Lincoln, NE

Results: 10/14 (combined Ladies' class)

Best beer of the weekend: Emperian Cucumber Wit

Just one event, and one Test 'N Tune into the season, it's already time for our first national event! Did I feel ready? Not in the least. So, I made a fairly last minute decision to take a few extra days off work, and head out for a driving school and the Prosolo event, prior to the regular Championship Tour event at the same site. Clint couldn't make it out with the Mazdaspeed6 until the Champ tour, so I decided to take the school in my own car and found an offer for a car to drive at the Prosolo.

Photo credit: SCCA

In case you're unfamiliar with Prosolo, it's just a play off of autocross. Essentially, it's an autocross course with a drag race start. Instead of driving through a light beam to start your lap time at your leisure, it starts as soon as the green light on the tree is illuminated, so your reaction time at the start of your run is pivotal to your overall run time. One other difference between Prosolo and Autocross: you line up next to another car at the drag start (because what run would it be to drag race alone?), and you both drive mirror images of the same course simultaneously. As soon as you finish the side you're driving on, you line right back up for the mirrored course on the other side, against the same competitor. It's a really neat concept, and I'd say it tests a driver's endurance and a car's versatility far more than a standard autocross, lol.

I feel obligated to provide a fun background story about the only other Prosolo event we've competed in, back in 2016 (also at Lincoln, NE). Buckle your seatbelts, because this is one of my favorite autocross stories!

In those days, Clint was still using the Mazdaspeed6 as his daily driver. So, he drove that out to Lincoln for the event, and I followed him in my Mazdaspeed3, so we could have a "support vehicle" once we swapped the race tires on. We unloaded and prepped the Speed6 and headed straight over to practice our drag starts, since I hadn't ever driven a drag race start. Clint pulls up to the line to demonstrate, and launches the car like he always does (have I mentioned how much I love launching in that thing?). Except this time, it was followed by a series of foreboding thuds, clunks, and clatters, and an awful lot of lurching and binding in the drive train. First launch out at Lincoln, before the event had even started, and we had already blown up a transfer case. (In case you don't know, the transfer case is the part that transfers movement from the transmission/front wheels to the rear wheels, for All Wheel Drive vehicles.)



Thankfully, we had some autocross friends that had moved out to that area very graciously trailer us to their home and help us swap in the spare transfer case we had brought with us in their garage, rather than in the semi-flooded, un-lit cement pad that we had settled on. We got that done around 1am and headed back to the hotel for some much needed sleep. I was slated to run the car first thing the next morning, still never having gotten to practice the drag start.

The next morning rolled around, I headed up to the line, and I launched it. I had a fairly despicable >1.000 reaction time, aaaaannnnndddd then I DNFed that run (I went off course somewhere, so it's counted as a "Did Not Finish"). Not a good start. I pulled up for my second run, and it went similarly. Except, with noises...

As I pull up to the line for my third run, Clint flags me off course, having finally heard those noises I described to him. We pull the car out of competition for that heat (set of runs), and head back to investigate. About an hour, and one light-colored t-shirt shirt later, we found a hairline crack in the, drum roll please... transfer case.



The problem now, was we only brought one spare. Because who blows TWO transfer cases in less than 24 hours?!? We ended up sourcing a new/used tcase from a CX7 at a local junkyard, and had a few seals overnight-ed from Mazda to make it compatible with the Speed6. We would get the car back together in time for the Championship tour, immediately following the Prosolo, but we weren't going to get to finish out the prosolo.

Meanwhile, Clint had missed his first 2 out of 3 heats of Prosolo (they run 2 heats on day 1, and 1 heat on day 2) and I wasn't any better off without a clean run on the books. On day 2 of Prosolo, I convinced Clint that while we can't have the speed6 ready for competition, we should at least have fun in the support vehicle, so he can experience some of it! At least my MazdaSpeed3 survived! We both finished one place out of last in our respective classes, and had determined that it would be some time before/if ever trying it with the MazdaSpeed6 again.

Ok. So that's my history with ProSolo. And here I am, two years later, trying a prosolo in a car I'd never driven. I took up an offer on a codrive from a St. Louis region local in "Oscar," a CSP Miata (in case you haven't read my post about autoX rules, the "SP" designation means this miata is allowed all the same modifications and racing tires that we have on our speed6). Similar, yes. But Miatas are Rear Wheel Drive, which behave somewhat differently than All Wheel Drive and Front Wheel Drive, which is what I am used to and had most recently raced in.

As you might imagine, I was looking for a few practice runs on the test and tune course the day before ProSolo began. When I found Oscar and his owner Matt that afternoon, I found them finishing up a rear differential (diff) swap (that's the part that sends power to the rear wheels) in the paddock. Oscar had already blown up a diff on the practice course, and the event hadn't even started. Deja vu? Yes. Yes, indeed.

We got the wheels back on and headed back to the test and tune course so I could get a few practice runs. I hopped in and launched it off the line out onto course. It was about half the power of what I'm used to driving, but even still, this little thing was quick! I'm sure the Hoosier racing tires were my saving grace, nearly teleporting the car around cones in the slalom. Even still, I spun the car coming around to the finish my first run out. Maybe my second too...

The next morning arrived without much confidence in myself, but I was reassured knowing I had 2 more chances with 4 runs each, to lay down a good time (Prosolo has 3 heats with 4 runs each). Surely by the end of them I'd be comfortable with Oscar and get some good times! Out on my first run, I was feeling surprisingly good about the car and myself- at least until I slid sideways through the finish, taking the giant finish cones with me, and maybe even doing a bit of damage to the front bumper :(. I may have been a little too spirited at the end there... so I backed off a little and got some clean runs on the books following that, though of course they weren't as quick as I'd have liked. 

A few hours later Matt pulled Oscar up for his first session. His first run went alright. His second launch resulted in... would you believe it, if I told you it was another blown diff? We towed the car back to our paddock spot and got to work. I had to forfeit my afternoon runs, but we got the 2nd diff swap done in time for his second heat. I was so glad for that- I feel especially bad when I'm co-driving a car and get to drive the car before it breaks on the owner.

With only one set of runs left, it was going to take some sort of miracle to fight my way up the standings in a car I wasn't familiar with, anyway. Unfortunately, I was all out of miracles, and finished 10/14 in my class. I didn't feel great about that, but I was trying to give myself a pass, both for being in an unfamiliar car, and for only getting to complete 8/12 runs (having missed the afternoon session on day 1). 

The class I was running in was a big combined ladies' class, with final times being compared by each car's respective PAX index (as described in Post #2). It's a really fun class to run in- the camaraderie between women competitors is spectacular! Overall, it was a fun experience (because I secretly enjoy frantic drivetrain swaps). I don't think I drove too poorly for being in a new car. At least I had some very fast reaction times at the drag start! With 0.500 being perfect, my fastest from each side were 0.522 and 0.525, respectively. Hopefully we'll get the Mazdaspeed6 back out to a ProSolo later this season, since we think we fixed the issue that was causing all the transfer case failures. I'd love to see what that car can do!

www.GotCone.com

Immediately following Lincoln ProSolo is Lincoln Spring Champ Tour. Stay posted for that excitement! It's up next!

Test and Tune with Indy Region SCCA

Event: Indianapolis Region SCCA Test and Tune

Location: Peru, IN

Results: no official timing, but improvement was made.

Best beer of the weekend: Tin Man Brewing Key Lime Gose (you've gotta check this place out!)

Primary Goal for the event: Get all the jitters out and remember how to drive!

Here's what I learned (or, was reminded of anyway):

• Look ahead!

My driving at this test and tune event suggested that it's been a long winter. First and foremost, I forgot to pick key cones to look at ahead of me at every element on course. I developed this trick a few years ago to help me focus further ahead (one of the oldest trucks in the book to bring a better driver). Not only did this oversight punish my line, but it also manifested in quick, sharp, aggressive steering movements, that the car did not appreciate.

• Focus on executing one, smooth, steady steering input.

I've also been fighting bouncy hands. I don't know why, or when it started, but somewhere along the way I picked up a bad habit of making a lot of unnecessary micro adjustments on the steering wheel, and I'm fully unaware of this habit until reviewing video of myself at the wheel. I'm still trying to figure out how to get over that, but Clint offered a great suggestion that I think might be the solution, at least for now. He asked me to focus on initiating steering wheel movement from my shoulders, rather than my wrists or elbows. It felt very weird to me, but it definitely worked! Until somebody gives me a better idea, I am adding this to my long list of things to remain conscious of while in the driver's seat-both on and off course.

• Be cognizant of your car size and placement through the slalom.

Even with the bouncy steering movements improved, I still never really felt like I got in the rhythm of the slalom. Other than not looking far enough ahead, and "getting behind" (turning in too late), I've always struggled with the boundaries of that car, typically turning in too soon and nailing the cones with my passenger side bumper. Like Clint always says, "Drive the car like it's wider" is as good advice on this as any, and usually pays off when I am concious of it (though sometimes I get a little carried away, and leave way too much space... like I'm in a big ol family sedan, or something... lol).

• "Trail braking" can help corner entry significantly.

Later in the day, I gave a ride along to the Indiana region novice chair (which I didn't know until after he rode) and he suggested I do more trail braking- which I suppose I should expect from a rear wheel drive regular. This is a technique to help carry the rear end of a car around a turn as you enter it. I realized on my next run, after focusing on it, that I had been driving the car like it was front wheel drive- braking early, turning (too) hard, and pushing out wide all the way through the turn. Add that to the problems I have been having with picking the proper braking zone, and my line turned into a complete disaster.

Anyway, my first run out after the ride along, I focused on braking a tiny bit later, and starting my turn input just as I was beginning to lift off the pedal. The weight transfer off the rear tires generated by this technique is what helps to bring the back end around, and is what I mean by trail braking. With the help of the wing that Clint designed and we were testing that day, using more of this technique allowed me to get the car pointed where I wanted it, carry more speed, and stay on my line through the corners. The rear end would carry nicely and remain stable, while recovering straight grip very quickly with the addition of throttle.

• Learn and know the braking limits of your car (and remember concrete is different than asphalt).

On the same vane as trail braking, braking zone selection is a primary goal of mine this year after reviewing accelerometer data between Clint and I anyway. He pulls much higher G forces than me in braking, proving the car is capable of much more. This weakness was especially confounded by the fact that I was on street tires (Bridgestone RE71r) which have much less grip than our racing compound tires (Hoosier A7). Getting on the brakes harder means I can get on the brakes later, and keep up my speed for longer.

This is accelerometer data averaged over a run back from 2015. Not recent, but still a really neat comparison of 3 different drivers in the same car. North=braking, South= acceleration, E/W= turning, and everywhere in between is transitional zones.

• Put your left foot on the dead pedal!

Let me preface this by saying neither Clint nor I use left foot braking. On one of my runs, Clint caught me hovering with my left foot at one point, and suspected I might be accidentally putting light pressure on the clutch pedal at times which lowers the car's rev limit. So I'll add "DEAD PEDAL!" (as Clint so gracefully put it) to my impossibly long list of things to remember while I'm driving too. Thankfully, I don't usually struggle with this one- just gotta remember to put my left foot on the floor next to the clutch (there's a metal plate there called the dead pedal).

• I love launch control.

The only other issue the car gave me consistently was launch control, or rather lack thereof. Not only was I really struggling to figure out the new clutch with a pickup point stupidly high in the range of travel, but the car must have remembered the last ProSolo I did two years ago, where I broke (one of the two) transfer cases that weekend. We haven't used launch control much since then, and it seemed to be protesting me now. Sitting at the line and putting the throttle to the floor, it was holding the revs at 5500rpm instead of 3500rpm, where Clint had it set. At least I noticed before I dropped the clutch (on the Hoosiers, nonetheless) and exploded some more transfer cases! We're still not sure of the circumstances which are causing this for me specifically, but I finally got it to behave and catch 3500rpm after giving a small bump to the throttle just before putting it to the ground.
And oh how I've missed launching this car...

• Bring more fuel to events than we think we need.

Overall, the car held up spectacularly for us, getting easily 50 runs on it over the course of the weekend (mostly on the RE71rs, because those Hoosiers are expensive and we're not made of money)! After running the snot out of the RE71rs, to work on this very extensive list of things I'm trying to improve, we were planning on doing three runs each on the Hoosiers at the end of the day Sunday, so our last memory of the car will be how it will behave next week at Spring Nationals in Lincoln Nebraska. Unfortunately, after we put the Hoosiers on and both had one run each, Clint started getting fuel pressure drops during his second run. We assumed this meant we were low on fuel, and we had already burned through the five gallons we brought, so we called it a day and packed up. (And in case you were thinking it, you should know that the gas gauge is purely cosmetic these days. #racecarproblems) 

• Know where to start your tire pressures, and monitor them as they build heat.

Other than getting a better feel for the car and testing the new wing, we managed to finish the weekend with some great data on tire temperatures and pressures over the course of a few runs. First, by watching the gradient of heat across the face of the tire during a run, we can see if the car needs changes in alignment (if either the inside or outside of the tire is hotter, it's telling us we need to change the camber- the tilt angle of the wheels relative to the car- and even out the contact patch of the tire on the road), and how often we're pushing the tires to their limit. You can literally see the whole width of the tire light up in the videos, when they're being fully utilized. It's really cool. Second, This will give us a better idea how to dial them early at the Championship tour events, where they need to be optimal on your first run out (before they are hot), since you only get three total.

Check out this tire temperature gradient thermographic video!

Recorded on the front left tire over the course of my run, and narrated by Clint. 

The three targets show temperature at the outside (right bottom corner), middle, and inside (left) of that tire.

You can watch tire temps respond to him yelling at me to push it harder!

Obviously, while a bit overwhelming, this was a very useful event for me. I feel much more prepared for the season, having faced all these bad habits right up front. Now, it's time to eliminate them, and get out there and drive! 

Primary Goals for the next event:

• Smooth steering arms

• Trail braking

• Later braking Zones

• Slaloms (always)

• Launches

Stay tuned to see how our first National event goes!

We'll be at Lincoln Spring Nationals next weekend.

Actually, I'm really behind on blog posts, so you might already know, but let's not spoil it for everyone else...

What is This, "Autocross?"

In case you know nothing about autocross, my current motorsport of choice, hopefully this post will get you up to speed (pun intended), so this blog might be a bit more meaningful.

https://www.scca.com/pages/solo-cars-and-rules

At the most basic level, autocross is driving around a course laid out by cones in a parking lot, and competing for the fastest time. Each cone you hit adds 2 seconds to your time, and every event has a new and different course. Length/time of a course is typically between 30-70 seconds, but varies widely based on course design, and the size and condition of the parking lot in which the event is held. Thus, the goal is to get through the course as quickly as possible, without hitting any cones. As a vast over-generalization, the closer you are to the cones, the less distance you have to travel, and the less time it will take. Your time will also be rewarded by carrying as much speed through slaloms, turns, and straights as your vehicle can handle (without losing grip and/or spinning), and minimizing your time on the brakes (by braking hard and late... but not too hard or late).

Autocross offers a safe environment to test the limits of your vehicle, and learn how to handle it under extreme, or non-ideal conditions. I absolutely recommend everyone to autocross at least once or twice- if not for the appreciation of driving, than for a very important lesson in safe handling and vehicle dynamics which can be applied on the streets for accident prevention and avoidance. The SCCA even partners with an autocross-themed "Street Survival" School aimed at teens, to help them become safer drivers. At most events, cones are the worst thing you can hit, and the risk they present to you and your car are basically null.

This would have been my fastest run at 2017 SCCA SOLO nationals, but that cone added 2 seconds to my time.

In short, autocross trains and tests your ability to perform at every limit of your vehicle. It's an event won or lost by thousandths of a second, so every single input you give the car, matters.

Now you might be thinking- every vehicle has very different capabilities, so surely vehicle selection matters more than a driver's experience! And sure enough, if you're competing at a national level, against vehicles that are designed or set up specifically for autocross, it might be hard to keep pace in an un, or under-prepared vehicle. But until a driver is knowledgeable and comfortable with using a vehicle at its limits, and sticking to the fastest "line" throughout a course, it's going to be very difficult for them to achieve peak performance, even in a theoretically perfect vehicle. Thus, while autocross certainly emphasizes the relationship a driver has with their vehicle, that vehicle isn't going to drive itself! It all comes back to the driver.

If you aren't sure what I mean by "line" above, it refers to the exact path you drive on a course. Think of staying tight inside a corners vs. swinging out wide, or taking a 90* turn with an increasing or decreasing radius. There's typically a "fastest way" through every turn based on factors like: how tight it is, how fast you are going, what came before it, what's coming after it, and how fast your vehicle can accelerate or brake, etc. Learning optimal vehicle placement on course is a huge part of learning how to excel at autocross, and as you may have just gathered, can get complicated. Thankfully, there are many resources and schools available to help drivers of all ability levels learn this skill. I'll be touching on some of these in later posts.

http://www.formula1-dictionary.net/cornering_tech.html

Going back to vehicle selection and set up topic, I need to give a quick introduction/explanation of how the SCCA attempts to equalize the differing abilities of the vast diversity of vehicles available. There are approximately 49 different autocross "classes" that a vehicle can run in, across eight-ish different levels of preparation. The exact class your vehicle falls into depends on what make/model/type of vehicle it is, what performance-enhancing modifications it has done to it, and what tires it is on. I'm not going to delve into all of those here, but the takeaway, is that if you want to race your totally unmodified car at an autocross event and be competitive, you can!

There is system of time multipliers which serve as a handicap (officially called PAX, or sometimes index), set out to equalize the expected difference between say, an unmodified Mazda3 driving on street tires, a heavily modified Porsche GT3 driving on racing compound tires, and a purpose-built tube chassis autocross machine. (Did I mention that tires are almost certainly the #1 most important modification on a vehicle in autocross?? Or on the road for that matter!!) Obviously, given equally talented drivers, the tube chassis car would have the fastest (smallest) time, and the Mazda would have the slowest (largest). But, each of these 49 classes has a different multiplier to aid in comparing it to other classes. So while the tube chassis car may have gotten the course done in 40.000 seconds, and the Mazda3 in 51.000 seconds, the time from the tube chassis car would be multiplied by 1.000, and the Mazda by 0.781 (the most generous of all pax), resulting in a time of (51.000 x 0.781 =) 39.831 vs the (40.000 x 1.000 =) 40.000- thus beating the tube chassis car.

SS	0.817		SSP	0.852		XP	0.884		AM	1.000
AS	0.814		ASP	0.848		BP	0.860		BM	0.956
BS	0.808		BSP	0.846		CP	0.847		CM	0.890
CS	0.805		CSP	0.857		DP	0.858		DM	0.895
DS	0.794		DSP	0.835		EP	0.850		EM	0.894
ES	0.787		ESP	0.828		FP	0.863		FM	0.904
FS	0.797		FSP	0.819		HCR	0.812		FSAE	0.958
GS	0.786
HS	0.781		SSR	0.838		SMF	0.839		KM	0.928
HCS	0.791					SM	0.853		JA	0.855
SSC	0.806		CAM-C	0.816		SSM	0.871		JB	0.825
			CAM-T	0.807					JC	0.718
STS	0.810		CAM-S	0.831
STX	0.813
STR	0.823
STU	0.824
STP	0.815
STH	0.811

Rick Ruth PAX/RTP Administrator: https://www.autox4u.com/announcements/2018-pax-index/

The handicap/pax multipliers are statistically re-examined every year based on the results from nationals, and altered slightly where needed. Of course, cars running within the same class (2 different Mazda3s on street tires) will have the same multiplier, so they can just compare their  "raw times," or their actual, un-multiplied times (51.000 seconds for the one Mazda). The takeaway about autocross classing through the SCCA, is that you don't have to spend a bunch of money to be competitive.

The flip-side: if you like modifying your car, you do have to keep a close eye on the rules so you don't accidentally land yourself in a class you'll need another $10,000 worth of modifications to be competitive in. For example, my Mazdaspeed3 was that way because it had a bigger turbo that stock. It was a fun turbo, but that alone landed that car in a class at the forth level of preparation ("Street Modified" or "SM")- something I'd never realistically be able to be afford to be competitive in. The pax multiplier for that class is very high and unforgiving, reflective of all the modifications allowed for those cars (only one of which is an upgraded turbo). That means big, unrealistic expectations on the car's ability to perform, since it didn't have many of those other performance enhancing modifications allowed. I recently removed that turbo and went back to stock, just so I could back the car off to the class at the second level of preparation- "Street Touring" or "ST" ("STH" or "Street Touring Hatchback" to be specific).

https://www.scca.com/pages/solo-cars-and-rules

The Mazdaspeed6 I drive is in the third level of preparation- "Street Prepared," or "SP." Further, it's in "ESP", to place it with cars that would be similarly capable with all the same allowed modifications (the E doesn't stand for anything)- as opposed to, say, "CSP," which is the class where Mazda Miatas with all those same modifications belong. ESP and CSP are no closer related than any other two classes though, in that their times are comparable only through each class' pax times. The same is true for ASP, BSP, and DSP.

Here you can see the lettering "ESP" to designate our car in E Street Prepared. The "L" here is because I chose to run in the "Ladies" class at this event. Ladies classes were created to encourage more women to participate and build relationships, but women are able to choose between running in "Ladies" or open class. I'm sure I'll come back to this topic in a future post.

This is as simple as I can make an activity with a 300+ page rulebook. Still fairly complicated for driving around cones in a parking lot, but hopefully this helps. Please feel free to leave comments if you are seeking any further clarifications!