Lane's SCA - Spring Hill Trip (6)

The SCCA Solo II Autocross

The local SCCA chapter held an autocross on the Saturn Plant grounds for the members of our group, as well as a bunch of local competitors.

I only have pictures of my runs (thanks Jen), because I was in the car most of the time. You can check the sites of other SPC members (listed on the next page) for additional pictures.

Let's go (25k)
After tech inspection, ready for my first run.

This was my first time in an autocross, and what a rush of adrenalin it was. I had the opportunity to ride in a SC1 with one of the local competitors on one of his runs. I remember rounding the first hairpin turn thinking, "We're gonna roll, we're gonna roll, we're gonna roll..." (No, we didn't. All was ok.)

The time that went by during that run was the fastest 45 seconds of my life.

For those of you who aren't familiar with Solo II autocross, it's you against the clock on a good-sized course outlined by cones. Knock over (punt, drag, or mutilate) a cone and 2 seconds is added to your time for each cone. You compete against other drivers in your class for the best time on the course.

First turn (22k)
Crankin' the wheel for that first sharp corner.

Jamin and I getting ready for another run, with Kevin near the finish line in the background. Pic courtesy of Noah (thanks!).

Too much lean (26k)

The squeal of the rubber and the roar of the Borla exhaust as you're hitting redline in first can be a beautiful sound when you're behind the wheel. Even though the ride with another driver seemed to just fly by, the 48 seconds during each of my runs seemed to go by slowly (probably because my brain was working a bit faster than usual and I was kind of busy during that time).

It looks like better anti-sway bars are next on the list for me judging by these pictures.

Because I decided to run with stock tire pressures to see how the car would react at its limits in normal everyday driving, the understeer was tremendous. Higher pressures would have helped. A few people even bought racing tires on the trip with them specifically for this event.

It did use up quite a bit of gas and a few thousand miles worth of tire life, but the ride was worth every second.

Likin' it (18k)

Third place (34k)

Third place, a mug, and a driving experience I won't forget for quite some time.

Autocross has to be the most excitement you can get out of your car (legally, that is).

First place in my class (those Saturn owners who had never autocrossed before) was won by Kevin Svarda (of SPS), and first place in the more experienced class was won by John Comeskey (also of SPS). They don't just sell parts, they make good use of 'em too.