EricVonHa
Well-known member
This past Sunday I took my Callaway to an Autocross. I've participated with this group for the last three years and unfortunately my other toy has been in a state of disrepair for quite some time... soo.. after having withdrawl of missing the first two events of the season, I decided to take the Callaway to this event.
It was a great time and generated a lot of interest for the twin turbo era. I lost count of the number of people that stated that they had never seen a Callaway in person (some asked what is was!) and were curious what it's capabilities were. Most people were amazed at the shape of the aerobody and how it seemed to take seconds off of my times
Well guys, I did us proud! I took second place in my class of about 6 cars and finished ~5th overall for the day out of 40 or so drivers. A n.a. Porsche 911 beat me out in my class!
If I were to do it again I seriously would have to hone my technique further in order to aim for the fastest time of the day. Let me tell you.. with this type of machine-- that goal is not out of reach. This was the 1st time I drove this car competitively and it was very predictable and concise. The technique that I would change is "power on passing apex". With my '93 Vette the torque is right there under your foot. Standing on the gas pedal gives a predictable result with a n.a. car in being able to power out of turns. With the Callaway there is a slight lag, then tire haze as the boost blows away the tires. As a result, I found myself not taking enough speed through most of the turns thinking that I could power out of them like I could in my '93. Not the case! Also, modulating the power under boost is another skill that needs some work. At least once during every run I found myself being either hesitant to fully stand on the gas or staying in it too long and hazing the tires... the spectators loved the latter
When I returned from my run there was one guy that mentioned that the car sounded as if it were jet propelled. He wasn't too far off!
I would hope to do it again with this car but the wear and tear is a little much. I run Hoosier racing slicks and the amount of stones that get tossed into the delicate aerobody is too much to risk. If I were a waxer turned wannabe racer I would apply multiple layers of "Racer's Tape".. but I always thought that stuff made more of a statement about not really wanting to race than actually doing it.
Here's a link for the results. Go down to the "ASP" class to see the '87 Vette:
http://www.nerdsracing.com/images/BMC_06_08_03.htm
It was a great time and generated a lot of interest for the twin turbo era. I lost count of the number of people that stated that they had never seen a Callaway in person (some asked what is was!) and were curious what it's capabilities were. Most people were amazed at the shape of the aerobody and how it seemed to take seconds off of my times
Well guys, I did us proud! I took second place in my class of about 6 cars and finished ~5th overall for the day out of 40 or so drivers. A n.a. Porsche 911 beat me out in my class!
If I were to do it again I seriously would have to hone my technique further in order to aim for the fastest time of the day. Let me tell you.. with this type of machine-- that goal is not out of reach. This was the 1st time I drove this car competitively and it was very predictable and concise. The technique that I would change is "power on passing apex". With my '93 Vette the torque is right there under your foot. Standing on the gas pedal gives a predictable result with a n.a. car in being able to power out of turns. With the Callaway there is a slight lag, then tire haze as the boost blows away the tires. As a result, I found myself not taking enough speed through most of the turns thinking that I could power out of them like I could in my '93. Not the case! Also, modulating the power under boost is another skill that needs some work. At least once during every run I found myself being either hesitant to fully stand on the gas or staying in it too long and hazing the tires... the spectators loved the latter
When I returned from my run there was one guy that mentioned that the car sounded as if it were jet propelled. He wasn't too far off!
I would hope to do it again with this car but the wear and tear is a little much. I run Hoosier racing slicks and the amount of stones that get tossed into the delicate aerobody is too much to risk. If I were a waxer turned wannabe racer I would apply multiple layers of "Racer's Tape".. but I always thought that stuff made more of a statement about not really wanting to race than actually doing it.
Here's a link for the results. Go down to the "ASP" class to see the '87 Vette:
http://www.nerdsracing.com/images/BMC_06_08_03.htm
Magic Dragon - aka Turbo Joe was tops in the local autocross & road racing - I think he snuck into stock classes then blew everyones doors off :eek
. I hope some of you can come out so I can have some real competition. hehehe
shhhhhh
