First FRS National Tour win ...

[des]

Not by me, unfortunately, but Steve Hui in my Dunlops-only FRS in the RTR class at Packwood, Wash.

He'd never driven the car before Saturday. I was a few tenths back. This is my buddy:[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=arNWgWaZlQE"]Autocross: 2012 SCCA Packwood National Tour Day 1 - Scion FR-S - YouTube[/ame]

About 2 seconds off STR and CS on Day 1, 3 seconds on Day 2, which had a few more technical elements that exposed the complete lack of prep on my car. No bolts, bar or alignment on it yet. Without any of that, the car is quite pushy.

The Dunlops may be fried already (about 100 runs, not flipped). Hazards of passing the keys around ... but I think I would go with the 235/45/17 again if I lived somewhere where faster courses were the norm. The fronts need a lot of water.

[fastmike]

Good job you guys!
I was excited to see the car out there.
FM

[bspike]

Congrats on the win.

The car is looking more and more like a C class car.

The car is supposed to oversteer so the pushing is a surprise.

Any thoughts on going to RS-3? It seems like you're going to have plenty of co-drivers this year to build up heat.

[xwd]

Congrats on the 1-2 finish in the car.

I wonder if this will be used as a datapoint in ST classing. The top STX guy paxed 32nd in what looks like a fairly strong event. The fact the first 25 cars on PAX are almost all Miatas probably gives some indication of what type of course it was, so maybe a bit more BRZ/FT-86 friendly versus the WRX which won STX... I can't watch the video here at work.

You (your co-driver) finished about 2.3 seconds behind the STX winner across two days in a new car with no prep done to it other than better tires. Obviously Stephen is a very good driver and used to RWD, but it is a brand new car to him as well.

I think with the gains I've seen in HP from some of the posts on here and suspension mods the car could easily make up 2.3 seconds across two days...

[des]

Originally Posted by fastmike

Good job you guys!
I was excited to see the car out there.
FM

More excited than winning STR over almighty Kevin Dietz by a whisker? Congratulations! And glad to know you like the car -- I'll be interested to hear what you say after a few runs in one ...

bspike, dwx -- my codriver comes out of a long line of Porsches and S2000s and RX8s and Elises. Given another three runs, he'd have padded his lead a bunch.

That said, he was pretty emphatic that the car is slower than he expected.

Personally I think it's a great STR candidate and an overdog in STX -- and unlikely to dominate CS at all. But until a prepped car winds up in the hands of someone like Steve Hui or Fastmike, I don't think anyone takes this win as anything other than a curiosity.

[Sam Strano]

STR? Come on, really? I indexed 21st at a local event in DC (where I'm typically top 5 or higher in whatever I drive that's competitive) running my FR-S on an STX index on coil-overs and wheels and Hankooks. Sorry, that doesn't seem like STR to me. An STR car was 2nd on index, he ran a raw time of 52.9 to my best (coned) of 54.8. I've got... well, let's say a history of results. The other guy is fast, but cone happy and hasn't really done that well at big events. But he's still a good indicator of where I was vs. STR.

As for the push. Sure, with no camber it's gonna push. If it's truly stock with tires, I'm not sure why anyone is shocked by that. And as you add grip that will happen more and more.

[Sam Strano]

Oh, and congrats on the win...

[xwd]

Originally Posted by Sam Strano

STR? Come on, really? I indexed 21st at a local event in DC (where I'm typically top 5 or higher in whatever I drive that's competitive) running my FR-S on an STX index on coil-overs and wheels and Hankooks. Sorry, that doesn't seem like STR to me. An STR car was 2nd on index, he ran a raw time of 52.9 to my best (coned) of 54.8. I've got... well, let's say a history of results. The other guy is fast, but cone happy and hasn't really done that well at big events. But he's still a good indicator of where I was vs. STR.

As for the push. Sure, with no camber it's gonna push. If it's truly stock with tires, I'm not sure why anyone is shocked by that. And as you add grip that will happen more and more.

I agree it's not going to be competitive in STR against S2000s, that's why I think the classing of the car is going to be really interesting for ST. I honestly think they will put it in STX and it will end up being competitive with the other top cars in the class nationally. Unless guys start getting like 40whp out of them with all the power mods and a tune, then I don't see it being in STX.

[des]

Originally Posted by Sam Strano

Oh, and congrats on the win...

Thanks, Sam. You're one of the drivers whose opinion matters when the SEB listens, and I intend to hold off on any real prep until I see which way you and the other tuning magicians are headed ...

But if you were two seconds off the STR winner and I was two seconds off the STR winner, I'm betting you didn't have your best day. You're certainly a better driver than I am.

My old STR car was running in the same heat -- a decently prepped S2000 driven by the car's new owner and my old co-driver. The STR class was filled with people I've raced with for 10 seasons.

The FR-S sure doesn't feel like strong STR candidate, and I don't think it was my greatest hour as a driver -- but a bar, camber, 255s and a few breathing mods would have knocked a chunk out of that two seconds.

I think.

Glad to have you on the board!

[UncleFester]

I agree with Sam, we should not be classed STR.

Also, to his credit, he would have done better with some power mods. I felt good to be ~ 4 seconds behind him running RTR and battling my oversteer all day.

[Sam Strano]

This particular course had tight spot followed by pretty steep uphill pulls. In other words, slow corners that then showed the huge lack of torque these things possess.

Quick math tells me that the FR-S plus BRZ + the engine my 200 Mustang GT had just about equals my Z06.....

[Brett]

Cool video. Thanks for posting.

I found that it pushes a lot too. You can tell when it happens in the video pretty easily because the whole car shakes.

[blu_]

Nice video

For some reason most people think a car either has understeer or oversteer and don't grasp that a car can easily have both as part of its character.

[MannyO]

Congrats on the win!