Autocross is Worth It

"Andy Sheehan, StreetsideStig" (AndySheehan-StreetsideStig) 10/12/2016 at 13:18 • Filed to: None

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I was scheduled to autocross on Sunday, and at 4am on Saturday, I finally got the transmission back into place. My jack proved about an inch too short, and tired muscle had to do the rest. Sleep and money whirled clockwise into a vortex before disappearing into a lost weekend, but I knew at the first orange cone, a long right sweeper, that it had all been worth it. I’m sold. Autocross is always worth it.

Take one parking lot or other large paved area. Roll flat onto cookie sheet. Sprinkle with orange or formerly orange traffic cones until race track forms. Smoke for 6 hours until golden brown. This is the recipe. Autocross, sometimes known as solo, is a low-cost, low-speed, low-commitment form of time trials driven on in a mini racetrack, usually in runs of a minute or less. Car clubs run autocross events all over the place, though the Sports Car Club of America is the most notable, operating regional competitions and a national championship.

My pack of weird car friends and I had been threatening all summer to enter an event, so we finally picked a day and registered online. It’s $38 per event if you’re a member of the SCCA, with another $10 for a weekend membership if you’re not. Far cheaper than the average track day.

Then, about a week prior to the event, the clutch in my artistically keyed, $760 Civic started to slip. I thought perhaps that there was still air in the clutch lines after I replaced the master cylinder a few weeks ago, so I bled it again. I wonder if the people who decided to force hydraulic clutches into sub-2 liter compacts knew that they would one day have so many enemies. But there was little change after the bleed.

My trusty local Honda shop divined a bad rear main seal, which had begun to drizzle the flywheel and clutch disc with motor oil. And since I’d replaced one of these before and didn’t want to pay a labor fee greater than the cost of the car, I decided to do it myself.

The rear main seal surrounds the engine’s output shaft, so to replace it, you must first remove the: CV axles, transmission, clutch, and flywheel. So you might as well replace the clutch while you’re at it, and vise versa.

But I work slow. My fingers are basically less dextrous half-animated carrots. Undoubtedly contributing are the nerves I keep severing whenever I injure myself, leaving dead zones in my feeling and scars of trepidation that run deeper than the physical ones. I’ve also achieved the human rank of Old and Sore, No I Won’t Play Football With You, which does nothing to speed anything along.

So I’m glad I had a week. I ordered !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! and the accompanying flywheel, and picked up a Honda genuine rear main. Meanwhile, at home, I jacked up the car and began to take it apart with the help of a rather !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! I found on the subject. The CV axles, thankfully, were still in fighting trim, so they stayed.

The Exedy clutch kit was well packaged and included a new throwout bearing, pilot bearing, clutch, pressure plate, and a little ketchup packet of input shaft grease, which came in handy when I realized that I couldn’t open the drawer containing my own grease, thanks to the tiny dimensions of my garage with the car in it. Exedy is a Japanese brand who has been around forever, and they’ve never let me down.

It’s hard to remember the full process of pulling the transmission and replacing the clutch, as if I was some character on LOST , and only brief flashbacks were revealed to the audience. But it was finally back together, with only a few minor details to finish, and it was only 4:30 AM, the day before the race. I scrubbed off and went to bed, then got up two hours later for Cars and Coffee.

Later that afternoon, I finished up those few details and began to prep the car for autocross. After a solid and spirited test drive, I conceded that I had somehow gotten the job right, so I went to overinflate the tires. Tire pressure is a huge deal when autocrossing. Because it depends so much on maneuvering, low pressure can cause more body roll and less traction in the corners. I also dumped my floor mats, spare tire, and anything else loose or weighty in the cabin. I wouldn’t want any extra weight or debris out on the course. Now the beast was ready.

I went to sleep.

And I got up at 5 AM on Sunday to go help setup at my church’s mobile campus. After an hour of this, I headed out to Independence, site of the Metropolitan Community College’s Precision Driving Academy, a grid of asphalt (with concrete at the intersections) used by area police departments to train new officers in the art of controlling a 2.5 ton patrol vehicle at speed. On Sundays, they let the Kansas City Region SCCA have the place, cones are arrayed on the pavement, and a track begins to take shape.

There are no curbs, no signs, nothing to hit but cones. And since the average autocrosser tops out at 50 or 60 before having to brake for the next corner, autocross is about the safest motorsport outside of Forza. This is why no one needs a roll cage or racing harness, just a 2010 Snell-rated helmet. If you don’t have a helmet, you can borrow one for free.

It’s this frank accessibility that permeated my day. From the moment I arrived at the facility, I only met kind, welcoming people, eager to introduce me to the sport and show me the ropes. First there was Kent, a gentlemen in his late ’50s. We stood under his tent in to keep the rain off and discussed his half-caged E30 coupe and the supercharged AW11 MR2 he had at home in the garage. Then there was Shawn, a championship level driver who patiently walked me and the other noobs around the course on the novice course walk, pointing out apexes and proper lines. I learned what “backsiding” a cone is. Everyone I met there asked what I was driving, eager to jaw about the sport, especially when they found out I was new. The guy loaning out the helmets, the folks at registration, the guys in tech who checked my battery tie down and my tire and wheel bearing integrity.

Heat one began, and my friends and I stood in the rain, spectating, until Reuben, the only experienced autocrosser among us, yelled at us to go find some rides. That’s another cool thing about autocross. As long as you have a helmet, or can borrow one, ridealongs are totally fine. I wound up riding in a Veloster Turbo with a nice guy named Brandt, whom I had just met. I’ll have a much harder time making fun of the Veloster’s looks after that. It was a ninja through the cones.

Brandt’s run took the edge off of my growing nervousness. Nerves hit me sideways whenever I do anything at speed, especially if I haven’t in a while. Trail riding my mountain bike. Roller coasters. The bunny hill. First dates. Jerry, an autocrosser since 1989, told me he feels the same way before every event.

I talked with Jerry for about two hours during our work heat. See, if you run a heat, you’re required to work a heat. And autocross requires many workers. Not only does every cone need to be monitored, it needs to be reset quickly if hit. Each cone the driver knocks out of its chalked-in box costs a 2 second penalty. If the driver goes the wrong way around a cone, it’s a DNF. If a driver wipes out several cones, the next driver, who is already on track, needs to be red-flagged to stop while the course is reset. (That driver will get a re-run at the end of the heat.) All of this takes eyes and hands, so a big part of autocross is standing still, watching awesome cars careen around the course and running to reset the occasional errant cone.

But it’s no problem when you’re hanging out with a fellow car enthusiast. Jerry and I talked about cars, racing, how quickly the track was drying, and a host of other subjects. When a car spun out at our corner, he told me why, and how to avoid the same mistake. When the vintage 911 ran into some snap oversteer, he let me know how common that was. We also talked politics. See, Jerry and I probably haven’t voted for many of the same people. But we found ourselves agreeing on many of the issues that common sense used to solve with the obvious. It was incredibly refreshing, like the cool and cloudy day we were having after a sweltering, nuclear summer, to sidestep all the media-fueled outrage and indignation for a moment to have a calm and reasoned conversation about the state of government in a country we both loved, despite our differences.

I found that throughout the whole day. Autocrossers are an intelligent, civil, calm lot. It makes for a relaxing Sunday.

But I wasn’t relaxed when our conversation ended, because now it was my turn. “Don’t let me miss the first turn,” I charged my friend and passenger Jay as I queued up for my first run. Building up to the event, my goal had been to finish with a faster run than my first one. Now it was just not to completely embarrass myself in front of all these cool, smart car people.

Then the official gave me the wave, the throttle opened, and my nervousness melted. I was back home. Ignoring Jerry’s advice to take my first run easy (we only got four of these, after all), I charged into the first corner, a medium right sweeper, and didn’t relent until I passed the finish. 63.9. That was my baseline.

It’s been a long time since I’ve had so much fun. There’s something about that freedom, that license, to just drive as fast and as hard as you want without fear of repercussions. No one cared how fast I lanced into corners or ripped my way out of them.

My second run was a 60.4. But I missed a cone, so that surely helped. DNF. On my third run, I took on Jeff Evans as a passenger. Jeff is another autocross veteran and a friend from church. His usual beast of choice is a tuned Fiat 500 Abarth, but it was in the shop, so he was codriving his friend’s 370 hp monster of an Evo IX. It’s completely caged and kitted specifically for autocross, with suspension, rigidity, and braking mods, and it shows. I had ridden with Jeff on an earlier run to see how the pros do it (and because it was stupid fun). That run had been 49 something.

Jeff showed me that my seat was too far back, and I needed to scoot up a bit so I could get a better crossover grip on the wheel without having to remove either hand in sharp turns. Confident and eager to impress, I fired through the course, trying to heed Jeff’s impromptu critiques. I ended up with a 62.9, zero cones hit, all obstacles conquered. I got faster!

For run four I was probably even faster. But the clock said “90.000” when I pulled through the timing lights. For a moment I thought that had actually been my time. But then I realized that the clock had malfunctioned, which ended up being my favorite thing about the day. Because I got a free fifth run out of it.

A few other cars had been blessed with the same curse, but I lined up after them, the very last car of the whole day. During the novice course walk, Shawn had talked about the “100% rule.” Your tires can only do 100% of one thing at a time. Braking or turning. Not both. Try to brake and turn at the same time, and you’ll lose traction. The wheels will turn, but they won’t be spinning, so the car will not. Get your braking done before you need to turn.

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

I forgot this rule in the middle of my run, almost slid into some cones, and didn’t get on the clutch fast enough, killing the engine. My final time was 70 something.

But I had a blast anyway, and on my clean runs I actually was improving. When I head back at the end of this month, I hope to do even better. Still, I think I’m about at the limits of the car, with its tired suspension, stock brakes, and bargain basement rubber. I had to coast through several corners because trying to accelerate out of them only led to understeer. “You can usually get used race tires on the forums for cheap at the end of the season,” Jeff told me.

And I guess that’s how it begins. Before I know it, I’ll be $100k into an Evo.

Still, autocross is very cheap. For under 50 bucks (under 40 if you’re an SCCA member), you can spend the day chilling at a racetrack with your friends, watching the coolest collection of cars tear around it, and you get to drive on it yourself for a few minutes. It’s cheaper than a track day, and less harmful to your car. When I told people later that I’d autocrossed my daily driver, their eyebrows shot up. “You weren’t worried about your suspension? Your tires?” Nope. It’s not that much stress over all.

I would, however, like to see more seat time, as I’m sure most racers would with most types of events. I wonder how the future could provide this. Incredible things are already developing with Google Glass and other augmented reality devices. Perhaps one day we’ll have virtual cones that you can only see if you’re looking through a special pair of glasses. This could cut down on workers and setup or teardown times, allowing more runs. It could be cheaper, too. Cones cost money, and they’re not immortal. I saw many a bright orange carcass, shredded beside the course.

All that is for later, however. For now, autocross is enjoyable in itself, mostly because of the people you meet and spend time with once you’re there. Everyone, to a person, was kind, happy to be there, happy to talk. I think it’s because there’s so little seat time. Autocrossers know that if they spend their day being jerks, it’s not worth the time or money. But if they spend the day among friends and friendly competitors, catching up about life, jawing about cars, cheering for and laughing at each other, catching roller coaster-like rides, it really is worth it. How better to spend a day?

I find myself wishing this attitude could permeate all of motorsports, all of car culture. Cars and racing are incredible even if you’re alone. The will to win, overcoming the fear of danger is important and profound. But I’ll always argue that the most essential aspect of cars and racing is that they bring us together. And when I see F1 teammates refusing to congratulate each other or when I hear people badmouthing others’ cars at shows (or when I slip up and do it myself), car culture becomes something less.

Don’t get me wrong. Car culture in general is a friendly, fraternal place. But we can still do better, and if only to learn that, we could all stand to run an autocross or two.

If you’d like to sign up to hit some cones, check out !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! . You’ll be able to find your regional page, and they’ll get you started.

This post originally appeared on !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , where I split it into two parts so it would look like I’m working harder than I am.

Needmoargarage > Andy Sheehan, StreetsideStig 10/12/2016 at 13:31

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Which SCCA region is that? Looks so much better than the small, lame parking lots we have around here.

Andy Sheehan, StreetsideStig > Needmoargarage 10/12/2016 at 13:52

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Kansas City Region. Yeah, it’s a pretty great facility.

Brian Silvestro > Andy Sheehan, StreetsideStig 10/12/2016 at 14:03

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$40 for just four runs? Ouch. That’s almost as bad as the NNJR region, and 150 people show up per event there.

Dr_Watson > Andy Sheehan, StreetsideStig 10/12/2016 at 14:48

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Yikes, 4 runs. I’ve only raced in 3 regions but always gotten at least 6 with a 3+3 split morning and afternoon. Usually it’s 3+4 since afternoons tend to go smooth.

Closer I get to 40 though the less I find myself wanting to stand around in a treeless stadium parking lot for 8 hours. Gotta see if I can get into NASA time trials. More seat time and less sun baking for not outlandish expense.

uofime-2 > Andy Sheehan, StreetsideStig 10/12/2016 at 15:05

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Glad to hear you made the push went out and then had such a good first experience.

You’re definitely right about the social aspect or motorsport, it’s crazy how nice and helpful the community is at these sorts of events.

If you want more time on the course check your local calendar for “test and tune” sessions, there’s often ones at the beginning and end of the season they’re less formal, but you get a lot more runs so they’re a great opportunity to gain driving experience and learn about your car.

Andy Sheehan, StreetsideStig > uofime-2 10/12/2016 at 15:23

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Definitely. I wanted to get to T&T earlier this year, but couldn’t for some reason. Probably a broken car.

Shift24 > Andy Sheehan, StreetsideStig 10/12/2016 at 15:24

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Should come to the Dirt side every once and awhile. It is the land of Subarus, Evos, VW hatches, and a random Honda or two. Dont get me wrong AutoX is great and gets you more track ready but like you said not that much seat time. Our division, depending on the amount of drivers, will get 10 - 12 runs in a day and be home before 4pm. (when stuff doesn’t break, which happens if you dont take care of your car)

Glad it was fun though and nice to see another DD Honda out there running around.

Andy Sheehan, StreetsideStig > Dr_Watson 10/12/2016 at 15:25

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Time trials would be awesome. And it definitely helped that we had such nice weather at this event. At 100 with 100% humidity, I might not be so enthusiastic.

Do you need a dedicated roll cage car for NASA’s time trials?

Andy Sheehan, StreetsideStig > Brian Silvestro 10/12/2016 at 15:26

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Yeah, it’s not cheap.

I think the best value is probably one of those simple endurance series, like AER or WRL, but you need a dedicated car for it, obviously.

Andy Sheehan, StreetsideStig > Shift24 10/12/2016 at 15:29

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I was actually signed up for a rallycross earlier this year, but my car broke and I had to bail. Now I’m too chicken. My cars break enough on the road.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Andy Sheehan, StreetsideStig 10/12/2016 at 15:52

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My first Autocross was in July 2015. I then proceeded to attend 6 more events that season (one of which was a 35 run test and tune) followed by another 12 events during the 2016 season (two test and tunes, a school, and more events to come still). Usually they are close by but I have driven 5+ hours to get to events before. I think it is safe to say that I am thoroughly addicted.

For the entire 2015 season, I ran my Miata completely stock and on all season tires. I definitely learned that this is the best way to get the basics down and have fun before adding mods. At a certain point though, the tires just made it not very fun anymore. I picked up some basic summer tires for 2016 and instantly felt better about my runs. Somewhere in May though, I fell off the deep end and added coilovers, sway bars, and Hoosier racing slicks because why not?

While I have more mods planned (exhaust, intake, headers, roll bar, racing seat, lighter wheels, better tires) that is all realistically in preparation to eventually do track days with my car and have more fun in the canyons. For autocross though, it really is all about tires and driver skill. I actually find it monumentally harder to run in stock/street class since people with more experience than I have been alive absolutely dominate and are all on 200TW tires.

But yeah, overall my favorite part of it all is the community. I havent done any other racing format but I imagine nothing can really rival how friendly autox people are and how much it truly is about just having a great time out there.

Shift24 > Andy Sheehan, StreetsideStig 10/12/2016 at 15:54

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Yeah i will agree it is a bit harder on the cars. Probably will go through my second set of control arms and bushings before next season. But still worth flinging dirt every once and awhile.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Shift24 10/12/2016 at 15:57

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This. As soon as I get a roll bar in and source a hard top (or get another car with a roof to daily) then I will definitely be checking out some rallyx and hopefully ice racing. My favorite part of autox is freely drifting around turns when I take a corner too hard and just going balls to the wall. Doing this in dirt or snow just lowers the limits of grip, making the shenangans way more accessible and therefore fun.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Brian Silvestro 10/12/2016 at 16:01

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Yeah I cant stand the NNJR pricing and how many people show up. That is why I always go to SJR instead for $35 events with sub 100 people generally (I have seen as low as 60 cars which is excellent). They do have great courses usually though at Metlife.

Either way, yeah I thought he meant 2 heats of four runs, which sounded fair. But yeah 4 total sucks a lot. I have had that happen at events due to timing issues or weather and it totally ruins the experience. 2 heats with 6-8 total is perfect (although more is of course better).

Andy Sheehan, StreetsideStig > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 10/12/2016 at 16:01

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Yeah, that was another cool thing about it. Aside from a muffler delete and an aftermarket header, my car was totally stock, right down to the all season tires. I was probably at the limit of the car (as you can see above), but it was still fun to try to work on my skill.

Dr_Watson > Andy Sheehan, StreetsideStig 10/12/2016 at 16:02

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Not if you have a fixed roof. You don’t get to cage requirements until you’re club racing. From my impressions if youer car is good for an HPDE track day it will pass.

This is of course why I haven’t gotten into it yet... Need to replace the NC Miata first. PRHT is track day no.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Needmoargarage 10/12/2016 at 16:03

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small parking lot events are the best! It is significantly harder to master and presents a far greater challenge.

Brian Silvestro > Andy Sheehan, StreetsideStig 10/12/2016 at 16:10

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In terms of most Seat time per dollar (for autocross anyway), places like Lime Rock’s AutoX program are the best. A dedicated small infield autocross/karting course means there are no working sessions, because there aren’t any cones to knock down. Sure, at $225, it’s approaching track day money, but you get as many runs as you and your car can handle.

I still prefer track days though.

Brian Silvestro > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 10/12/2016 at 16:12

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I haven’t gone to NNJR in a couple of years now, since finding smaller, local chapters with 30-40 entrants max at each event. Sure the cars aren’t as crazy and the courses usually aren’t as big, but the prices are lower and you get more runs for your dollar.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Brian Silvestro 10/12/2016 at 16:34

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What regions are those? I would certainly be interested in trying out some more events like that! I have found that test and tunes in small regions are the absolute best. Usually the 30+ runs actually gets me feeling motion sick and I am totally wiped of all energy by the end of the day. I have had those calculate out to less than $1 per run!

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Andy Sheehan, StreetsideStig 10/12/2016 at 16:39

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I had one of those Civics, a shame I never got a chance to autocross it. It was an autotragic though so it would have been especially terrible.

http://oppositelock.kinja.com/not-a-miata-without-body-roll-1782782499

And I am especially familiar with body roll!

Brian Silvestro > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 10/12/2016 at 16:50

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PSCC

FCSCC

Needmoargarage > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 10/12/2016 at 17:04

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I do agree that small courses help you learn to keep your eyes up and react better. However, I really like to be able to use gears, footwork, and wind out the car a bit when driving.

Shift24 > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 10/13/2016 at 09:59

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Very true, and definitively should get out there. There are at least 3 Miatas that show up to our meets. One is Turbo NA and the others are stock a NA and NB. And there is a guy in a E36 that just shows up to fling dirt. One thing I would suggest is get some stud-able snow tires (you can not actually stud them though). You can still get loose but its more controlled when you do plus they are way cheaper than rally tires and if your stock then it will keep you in that class. Rallys will move to prepared.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Shift24 10/13/2016 at 10:18

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Maybe I should hold onto my snow tires then. Would snow tires be the right tire to use for rallyx in warmer weather on dirt? I always kinda wondered since I definitely wouldnt want to run my summer street tires off road like that.

Shift24 > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 10/13/2016 at 19:16

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Yep definitely, if you see in my pic I’ll run snows up front. (Hard to see but getting snows for the back next year).  Its amazing how drastically it changes how the car feels and handles, especially if there is mud. I had all seasons my first go around and they didn’t want to grab anything and immediately bought general altimax artic.

Now there are some difference between the snow tires stud-able vs non stud. The stud-able normally have a bit more aggressive tread and will dig more. Non-stud ones are aimed more for ice and spread out more surface area. Though blizzaks are still damn good.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Shift24 10/14/2016 at 07:53

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Ive got the studdable gt altimax arctics as well. Those have served me well in the snow but I figured I would run past the expiration date before I run out of tread. I think I could get a bit more use if I save them for dirt usage. I just had thought the soft compound would get destroyed while doing that sort of stuff. But I guess rallyx doesnt usually have too many large rocks and crap in the way.

Shift24 > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 10/14/2016 at 13:22

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Nice and usually not but every once and awhile there will be a rock or two that was buried and after runs will come up. Normally the crews are looking so its not really an issue. And to be honest the runs will barely cause any wear to the tires. I had more wear on the tires when I had to use them as a spare recently than the whole 1.5 years of running in the dirt.

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Shift24 10/14/2016 at 15:23

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Now you have me debating if I want to keep my snow tires even though I am planning on moving to Los Angeles, where I will never again have a need for snow tires in the snow. But I would hate to get rid of the ones I have, just to buy more that I end up using only for dirt. Are there dirt specific tires or are snow tires really the best choice?

Shift24 > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 10/14/2016 at 23:47

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Yes, like i was saying there are Rally tires but there are also Gravel tries. Very similar but Gravel handles better on pavement and Rally is better in mud. Now here is where it RallyX differs a small amount from AutoX. There are tons of different classes for AutoX and for the most part RallyX there are only 6, what drive the car is (RWD, AWD, FWD) and Stock, Prepared, and Modified. So it depend on what class you want to run. If your car is stock and you are not thinking of adding anything (other than safety items like a hard top) you can not run Rally or Gravel. 

All-terrains are allowed in stock but normally you wont find any thing for smaller cars. I have never seen anyone run ATs so im not sure if they are better than Snow. The other thing to realize is Rally tires are expensive compared to Snows. Mine were $65 a piece, Rally Tires for mine would be $240 a piece. Now thats not what i have heard some people pay for AutoX but thats almost 4x as much.

Just saw this but nice break down by Justin Hughes

http://rallytakeover.kinja.com/how-to-rallycross-on-the-cheap-1762616662

And just a class break down

Stock-Snow tires and things deemed as safety items (like your hard top or a skid plate)

Prepared-Light suspension work (can be heavy most dont care), Rally or gravel tires, and very light power performance upgrades (exhaust, intake, short throw shifter, and accessory deletes).

Modified-Removing any weight not deemed as safety and any performance mod not in prepared

Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) > Shift24 10/17/2016 at 10:14

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The more I read about it, the less I want to use my Miata lol. I imagine running dual duty autox/rallyx is not the greatest of ideas. It would probably be much more enjoyable to find a crapcan with an actual roof and then rallyx the hell out of it. I really like the classing, it sounds quite interesting.

My coilovers would put me in prepared anyways, so running this car would necessitate the acquistion of some used rally tires. Then I would be transporting them to/from events just like I do now for autox. The worst part is storage of ANOTHER set of tires haha. Definitely think crapcan would be best!

I dont quite understand why light power performance upgrades knock you out of stock class though. Since I could add 20-30hp to my Miata and still be down 100 or more vs V8 stuff. Not that power really helps much anyways as Justin described.

MotoMan23 > Andy Sheehan, StreetsideStig 10/17/2016 at 12:55

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I know that guy! He goes to KC Cars & Coffee every single month.

Andy Sheehan, StreetsideStig > MotoMan23 10/17/2016 at 12:59

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He’s a good friend of mine. I also go to KC Cars & Coffee every month. I bring my rusted out ‘87 CRX Si. What do you drive?

MotoMan23 > Andy Sheehan, StreetsideStig 10/17/2016 at 13:00

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Nothing. I might bring a nice nothing sometimes, though.

MotoMan23 > Andy Sheehan, StreetsideStig 10/17/2016 at 13:01

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So you live in KC? I just found this

http://oppositelock.kinja.com/how-to-love-too-many-cars-1782961997

of yours, and I really enjoy seeing that amazing Ford GT40 once again. Did you see it being loaded onto the truck?

MotoMan23 > Andy Sheehan, StreetsideStig 10/17/2016 at 13:04

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Also, is your CRX a red convertible?

Andy Sheehan, StreetsideStig > MotoMan23 10/17/2016 at 13:04

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I did not, but I did get to see and hear it driving in on the other side of the green. And yes, I’ve lived in KC for the last 8 years and have been impressed with the car culture here.

MotoMan23 > Andy Sheehan, StreetsideStig 10/17/2016 at 13:08

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Then there is the green Lamborghini Huracan driving around, the Ford GT40 is in Denver now, and KC Car Culture is so understated. Like, I see a Bentley every day. Thanks, KC!

Oh, and I know a guy who has a huge car collection, with a bunch of Ferraris and Alfas, including a 275 GTB, a Daytona (I think), and a Lotus Elan racecar.

Shift24 > Wrong Wheel Drive (41%) 10/26/2016 at 00:37

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Sorry for the really late reply but yeah might want to consider a cheap Subaru or Honda especially if the car is your DD. It can beat up suspension parts a bit faster usual and if you do buy one expect to refresh the suspension because if it didnt squeak before it probably will after the first couple of events. But yeah I hear yeah, another damn set of tires lol. Where if you have a beater just leave the winter tires on there because beater racecar.

And I do agree that the division are a bit unfair but its not always about power. There are fully built out Rally STi, WRXs, Evos, and BMWs that will get beat by stock STi, Evos, and even miatas.  There is normally an overall time winner and in our division I want to say 9 of the last 10 have been won by a guy who drives a stock STi, He was only beat once by a stock Evo (he blamed it on Subarus basic AWD).