RT* folks at Nats

[ABQautoxer]

Interesting, I've run both on a couple different chassis (S2000, Boxster, STi, WRX). I'd say they are close enough the driver can decide the difference and the Star Specs last longer by about 50-75% on camber limited cars..

[Scooby South]

Tom...thanks for the report.. It troubles me that the SCCA has such an issue.... Half the reason I have been pushing so hard to try to get the twins classed in ST*... I got really frustrated in 2007 about how the rules were taking place...thats why I really havn't been involved driving since... Then the BRZ came out.. it renewed my love for cars/cones.. it was a synonymous relationship that triggered the passion I once had for Driving. I can understand why the numbers are down..and trying to generate some business...and also trying to make things more affordable... Thats half the reason I am running a ST class plus the mods for ST suite me..RT is a great concept... and should be associated with Stock... R CRack is one reason I stopped running back when...when I bought 2 sets of Hoosiers for a little over $3500 at the time..only to last about 1/3 to 1/2 of the season depending... I once only got 40 runs on a set before the they corded..and with the Camber limits on Stock... makes them that much more susceptible to early wear issues.. I am 'For' the Street tire in Stock class... Good luck ...And keep us posted on what develops... Thanks

Bill

[xwd]

I'm sure there will be a lot more discussion in the coming off-season.

I bought a set of A6s to run in CS end of this year and next year. I really don't care whether we use race tires in stock class or street tires, but I will definitely push for a 140 treadwear rating for street tires. I'd probably have dedicated tires either way.

The fact the ST classes are by far the largest participating classes definitely shows the interest.

[ABQautoxer]

One thing the SEB also stated was they were waiting to class the 86s after Nationals so they could use next year's national results to reclass the car within the first 12 month period clause. To me, this sounds like a more aggressive classing choice, STX, and if next year it proves to be too fast within one year, they could move it to STR. It naturally could mean the opposite but I didn't get that impression.

[ABQautoxer]

We had our town hall with Howard and several SEB members tonight and overall I think we managed to show them very strongly we want the 140tw rating and the use of the exclusion list and that the class is working and should continue in some form.

I ran in RTA today and watched almost all of RTR and I really enjoyed RTR as a class as the variety seen there was just unmatched. All 3 generations of Miata/MX5, BRZ, FRS, Genesis Coupe, Crossfire, S2000, 325i, 330ci, 370z, Cayman, RX8, Solstice, C5 corvette, C6 corvette, and 318Ti. Incredible diversity and the top 6 cars are all different and pretty damn close.

[des]

Tom, it was terrific to meet you and a few of our other BR-S folks (John Ryan and Jeremy Boysen). You're a great advocate for the class.

Here's a link to final Nats results: http://scca.cdn.racersites.com/prod/...%20Results.pdf

Cliff's Notes: One BRZ in CS Open (on Hoosiers), two drivers. Eric Jones turned in some great times but coned a fast run; he wound up 12th of 19. The other driver, Sherman Chang, was smooth but not as aggressive; he finished 16th.

Three BR-S in RTR (Road Tire - RWD), with two drivers in each. John's co-driver, Trevor Jones, finished fifth of 36 drivers in everything from Porsche Caymans to Chrysler Crossfires. His times would have been 31st of 50 in STX and 40th of 51 in STR -- even on stock shocks and 7-inch wheels. He struggled a bit more with the West course but really lit up the tougher East course.

I was seventh, way behind Trevor on East but about even on West.

John was in ninth on Day 1 but coned his killer run on Day 2, and he couldn't match it again. He wound up 12th.

My co-driver Wes had never sat in the car before Wednesday and it showed, but he pulled out some nice runs the second day. He was 17th.

Jeremy was right behind him in 18th --his car looked more tail-happy than mine was, and he also coned away a much higher finish. I didn't get to see his co-driver John Jacobs -- I was on course at the same time -- but he finished 25th.

One FR-S in RTR-L -- and she won! Brooke Bierman took first in the Boysen/Jacobs car by almost 3 seconds.

In all, the car made a great Nats debut. Shocks and a *real* front bar would have cut perhaps a second off each course -- enough so that Trevor would have had a real shot at first.

Sean, great to see you here. Come to Nats!

[ABQautoxer]

Originally Posted by des

Tom, it was terrific to meet you and a few of our other BR-S folks (John Ryan and Jeremy Boysen). You're a great advocate for the class.

It was great to meet you as well Des. Looking forward to seeing you at future events.

I met Trevor online via the Genesis Coupe forums earlier this year so I was rooting for him and he's ordered his BRZ so we'll see him here sooner or later I'm sure. It was good to meet him in person and he showed a lot of speed in John's BRZ. I'll start working on my BRZ on Sunday to start playing in RTR a bit but nationally I'm sticking with the WRX a bit longer as we did well our first year on street tires but still have a lot to learn about setup and naturally the driving could be better.

I'm encouraged that we got to tell Howard and the SEB directly how things are and that so many of us from all over the country basically feel the exact same about where the class should go. Hopefully they value our opinion and maybe they'll even repeal the 180 thing.

As someone who serves as a chairman of an AC, I can assure you the letter system works and the AC/SEB read them. If they decide an AC for RT should be formed, I'll be the first to volunteer as I feel my time on the KAC is nearing its end anyway.

[Scooby South]

awesome drive guys and gal...looking forward to the future...

[Jedi1]

On the road with SRT. Couldn't make nats this year. I'll see you at some tours next year!

[xwd]

What kind of setups did the cars have? Anyone running a different front swaybar?

[FT-86 SpeedFactory]

Was absolutely a great time. I was glad to meet the other FR-S/BRZ owners out there campaigning their cars.

Can't wait to see how this platform develops over the winter for the 2013 season.

[TRev]

Very thankful for John Ryan letting me co-drive with him and to Des for connecting us! It was nice meeting Tom. I don't think I got a chance to meet the drivers of the other FR-S. Things were super busy during competition and I injured my right foot pretty badly over Labor Day scuba diving so walking was very painful (found out today it was plantar fasciitis and was prescribed some nice pain killers)!

Here is the setup on John's car:
2013 BRZ Base Black (same exact car I have on order)
Alignment with front alignment bolts
Drop in air filter
Kosei K1 TS wheels with Dunlop Z1 Star Spec (50mm offset so we had a -16mm track width disadvantage over the optimal track width and -4mm from stock)
Cusco 20mm front bar

I had test drove an automatic FR-S about three months ago. I really enjoyed the car so I traded in my Genesis Coupe 3.8 R-Spec and ordered a 2013 BRZ base in black. With no signs of a car coming, I started looking for a co-drive and Des found John on the forum. John offered to let me co-drive if I was willing to bring a set of rims and tires. Great deal for me as I was going to buy them for my car anyway.

On Wednesday, I met John and got a little seat time driving to tech and the car wash to get a feel for the controls. We had three practice sessions reserved each of which allowed for four total runs (six for each of us in total). We started the first session on John's 42mm Velox wheels with AD08 tires. They had 165+ runs and about 3500 street miles on them. We each took two runs and decided to try out the new Dunlop's. After the first two runs I was still getting a feel for the car but with the new Dunlop stickers, I dropped over a second on my third run in the car. The tires had not even been scrubbed in yet! On my fourth run I dropped another six tenths. I then ran basically the same exact time on the fith run and dropped one more tenth on the sixth. That was it for seat time prior to competition on Thursday. I really enjoyed the car more and more each run. It definitely had a bit too much oversteer and I felt it could use a bigger front bar. We tried playing with tire pressures which helped a bit but the car was still not ideal in my opinion . This was only the second car that I have ever co-drove and first at a National event so I am not used to very limited seat time in a car that is new to me as well.

Our class started on the East course. My first run, I made a few significant mistakes and knew there was at least a second I left on course. My second run, I came up on a down cone. I stopped as it was laying toward my line and was afraid that a worker may see it and attribute it to me. It had already stopped my mental concentration as well. Later I found out the two cars before me both drove by it so I was lucky to get to claim it as my re-run. I only had exactly five minutes before my re-run, it was HOT out and we did not have a water sprayer. The tires were getting greasy and I ran very close to my first run's time due to lots of oversteer. Fun run but significant time again left on course.

Steven and Don who were next to us and are from the Milwaukee Region (one of my home regions), had a water sprayer and were kind enough to let us spray the tires a couple times. This helped significantly in getting temps down and bringing the tires back to a workable state. I ran my third run and it felt good. A few minor mistakes but still managed to drop .9 seconds and put myself in third place, .189 seconds back from first. I hoped to be well in the trophies (top five finish was my goal) and it felt great to be so close to the lead.

Here is a video of my best run on East course.

Friday we drove the West course. It was a less technical course than the East side so it should have been easier to drive. I drove the course well but never had a run that I felt was great. I got late in a few places due to oversteer and too much speed on my first run. Made a couple corrections on the second run and dropped seven tenths. Third run was a bit better and dropped another two tenths. The car was definitely capable of a time that would have kept me in third place. I think it would have taken a miracle to get the car to run a time that would have competed with the first/second place index times though. Congratulations to Des who edged me out by a tenth of a second in his FR-S! The car once again had more oversteer than optimal. I fell from third back to fifth and was .89 seconds from first over the two days.

Overall, very happy with how the car performed based on its prep level and my seat time. Looking forward to getting my BRZ, prepping it, and getting lots of seat time!

[Scooby South]

you guys had a great Series... Very Respectable, First time out... Very Proud to be a part of the group..


Bill

[ABQautoxer]

Doh Trev I wish I knew you needed a sprayer, I had mine we barely used at all during first heats. Welcome to the BRZ party.