BRZ in a Wet Autocross
 

Here's a video of my BRZ in a Wet Autocross:
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-gMPwfwEqKo"]BRZ in a Wet Autocross - YouTube[/ame]

There were 9 cars in my class (mostly Honda Integra DC2 and Renault Clio RS/Sport) and I placed 2nd behind a Honda Integra DC2.
(This took place in Switzerland near the French boarder. They call it Slalom and not Autocross here.)

At the long right turn which starts at 0:45 I should have driven full throttle and shifted in fourth and I could braked later before the chicane at 1:09 and at 2:31. But I was concerned about those puddles and possibly trashing an almost new car. After all 3 cars crashed in the woods and 2 cars on that concrete zigzag section at the end.

I ran on Toyo R888 235/40 R17 on 17x8 (stock suspension). They are better than I thought they would be in the wet.

If you follow the steering wheel movement, you can see that the rear broke out many times. I drove in VSC Sport mode.
Since changing the sway bar in the front is against the rules, I haven't given up on the idea of running a staggered set-up (I wouldn't consider it, if changing the sway bar in the front was allowed).
I also think about changing the shocks and running them stiff in the front and loose in the rear.

PS: Sorry about that sound quality. I think the plastic housing of the camera is responsible for this.

Wow its like a mini circut. Cool to see the differences from the states since its much longer and higher speed. Great run!

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wow... i thought my area was fun. we have huge wide open decent condition tarmac to play with without light poles and permenant objects. i would love to run on a course where its advantegous to use 3rd gear

I hit 3rd gear a couple times at TGPR with Alabama Region. Those were a lot of fun.

Great, great video! Looks like tons of fun.

Wow, that course is crazy long! (I autocrossed last weekend and my best time was a 37.6...and we only got five runs) I love how raw European hillclimb type events are...there are many places to total your car. Not that you want to do that, but the danger is what makes it more exciting (yes, I am a Stirling Moss devotee). That's not really possible in American parking lots...I've never even seen grass during autocross.

All the chicanes would drive me nuts though. I hate when they insert even one chicane into a short autocross, and it seemed like half of what you did was slalom. Hence the name "slalom", eh?

Oh man that place would be fun dry. However both dry and wet there's sections that people could get really hurt in. Those buildings right at the start and then during a fast element close to the end you had to go around some fence. Sketchy. I hope all cars stayed free of the grass that day.

3 cars crashed at that 1:10 chicane and 2 cars crashed on that concrete section after 2:45 but nobody was injured (just last year one guy was helicoptered out because his back hurt after his crash).

It is certainly a lot of fun, but I would also prefer autocrosses on wide open areas like they have in the US. But unfortunately they don't have big empty parking lots here and nearby residents are usually very sensitive to noise pollution (they come up with anti-petitions even if it only happens once a year). They sometimes have an event on a closed airfield but usually its on a closed area with non-public roads which belong to the military and is normally used for tank driving lessons and such.

:confused0068: That wouldn't fly here in the states. I've done maybe 60 events and the closest thing I saw to a crash was a stretched tire pop a bead on some idiot's S10. One event I missed a guy hit a curb and it was almost the end of that event.

Yes it is more dangerous but all drivers have to wear fire resistant clothing and pay for additional insurance to cover themselves as well as the spectators.
There are also many marshals and spectators are fenced off. In addition, tow-trucks as well as an ambulance are on standby during the entire event.

For those reasons it is unfortunately also significantly more costly to take part at such an event than an autocross in the US.
(On the bright side though you also receive a beautiful dust collector, if you rank within the first 3 ;).)

Guess it's more like a time trial than an autox in the states. Either way, that course did look like a lot of fun.

I have meanwhile attended an unofficial Slalom-event which resembled more an US Autocross:
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Br47BNQMuz8"]BRZ in Dry Autocross - YouTube[/ame]

In this case there was little chance of crashing the car, but they put up these nasty cones which are made out of hard plastic and filled with water. (I guess to somehow encourage people not to hit them.)

In this case the car was mostly understeering and hardly oversteering at all as opposed to the faster courses before. (The suspension set-up was unchanged).

(I'm not sure what's been clunking around. It might be that pressure gauge behind the passenger seat which is somehow the size of a Kuckucks Clock and a left over from the Karting days.)

Here's another event in the wet.
[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlW2pdMuKzs"]BRZ in another wet autocross - YouTube[/ame]

I meanwhile realized that the car actually handles more predictably when you turn everything off (no VSC sport).
I ran on smaller 205/40 R17 semi slicks. They were still prone to hydroplaning but at least they warmed up a little bit. (This was the first time I was faster than the guy on a WRX STI running on 255 semi slicks.)

(I stopped the video early because the car ran out of fuel again (fuel starvation for a few seconds). Even though there were still 6 liters of fuel left in the tank.)

Nice driving! I used to own Renault Clio RS and nice to know that you can beat them with BRZ, they are fast and nippy track cars.