Today's autocross - RT4WD FTW!
White&Nerdy
Senior Wagonist
OK, I didn't win - but I was definitely appreciating RT4WD today. Had an amazing 8 runs, around 45 seconds a piece. Low turnout - thunderstorms were in the forecast, and indeed one hit soon after we started running. My first two runs were plagued by a newfound problem - the engine kept cutting out on me! It was only around hard left hand turns. Then I remembered a similar problem I had in my '83 BMW 320i, caused by fuel starvation. Didn't have this problem the last time I autocrossed, but then I was on crummy all-season tires. Today I ran my Falken Azenis on 15" Saturn alloys (which bumped me into STS from H Stock - I threw a spare K&N cone air filter on the throttle body for a little extra power and a lot of extra noise :twisted: ).
Then the event was put on hold after the first bolt of lightning flew overhead. I took the opportunity to run to the gas station and top off the tank. No engine cutout from that point on! So there's a trick to keep in mind. One of the club Honda gurus (and a close competitor of mine when I run the CRX in STS2 against him) says he'd heard of this happening in a Civic before. Apparently the CRX gas tank is better baffled, being a sports car and all.
So anyway, I made the majority of my runs in the rain, or at least on a wet track. And wow, was I thankful for RT4WD. Not that I couldn't have driven without it, by any means, but between that and the automatic transmission, I COULD NOT spin a wheel. All the other Hondas were struggling with wheelspin, but not me. Over time I learned that I could get back on the power harder and earlier than the other Hondas. Conditions that would make a whole lot of tire smoke and not much speed on the CRX just made the wagon go. After morning (wet) runs, I was only .1 sec behind that close competitor I mentioned in STS2, who runs a CRX Si modded pretty much to class limits. (The way our club bumps undersubscribed classes together, today STS and STS2 were lumped together, which put me running against my usual competitors in the wagon, but with a PAX advantage.
)
The other neat part about the automatic was that I'd put the lever in 2 and lock it into LOW, meaning 1st gear only. The course was tight enough and my 1st high enough (higher than a manual) that I could run the entire course in 1st, no shifting. All my competitors had to shift once or twice, depending on how they did it.
Afternoon runs were dry, and I was still impressed with the wagon. The CRXs and such pretty much left me behind, as expected, but the wagon's own performance capabilities still impressed the hell out of me. It'll never be a CRX, but it was darn good. The benefits I gained in the wet still existed, though not as much now that the 2wd cars had better grip. Out of 7 in the combined class I didn't trophy in the top 3, but given that I was beaten by a CRX and a pair of Miatas, I can't really complain.
Can you say body roll? Video to follow (that little white box on the roof is my Flip Video Ultra on its magnetic base, recording the run 
)
Then the event was put on hold after the first bolt of lightning flew overhead. I took the opportunity to run to the gas station and top off the tank. No engine cutout from that point on! So there's a trick to keep in mind. One of the club Honda gurus (and a close competitor of mine when I run the CRX in STS2 against him) says he'd heard of this happening in a Civic before. Apparently the CRX gas tank is better baffled, being a sports car and all.
So anyway, I made the majority of my runs in the rain, or at least on a wet track. And wow, was I thankful for RT4WD. Not that I couldn't have driven without it, by any means, but between that and the automatic transmission, I COULD NOT spin a wheel. All the other Hondas were struggling with wheelspin, but not me. Over time I learned that I could get back on the power harder and earlier than the other Hondas. Conditions that would make a whole lot of tire smoke and not much speed on the CRX just made the wagon go. After morning (wet) runs, I was only .1 sec behind that close competitor I mentioned in STS2, who runs a CRX Si modded pretty much to class limits. (The way our club bumps undersubscribed classes together, today STS and STS2 were lumped together, which put me running against my usual competitors in the wagon, but with a PAX advantage.
)The other neat part about the automatic was that I'd put the lever in 2 and lock it into LOW, meaning 1st gear only. The course was tight enough and my 1st high enough (higher than a manual) that I could run the entire course in 1st, no shifting. All my competitors had to shift once or twice, depending on how they did it.
Afternoon runs were dry, and I was still impressed with the wagon. The CRXs and such pretty much left me behind, as expected, but the wagon's own performance capabilities still impressed the hell out of me. It'll never be a CRX, but it was darn good. The benefits I gained in the wet still existed, though not as much now that the 2wd cars had better grip. Out of 7 in the combined class I didn't trophy in the top 3, but given that I was beaten by a CRX and a pair of Miatas, I can't really complain.
Can you say body roll?
Video to follow (that little white box on the roof is my Flip Video Ultra on its magnetic base, recording the run )
Comments
Some depends ont he course as well seeing as how the first few events were very tight, but the long sweepers at the last event made us realize with a quickness that it was gonna be an issue.
Nice vid too. Love the way your reigon puts a different colored cone on one side or the other. That has to make it easier for teh rookies.
First event I had the wagon at it hailed/rained like a bastid inbetween rungroups. I was chomping at the bit to try the awd for the first time. They let em do a run before all the water drained off the lot and thier was still piles of hail all over the course. I was running 225-40-16 T1S Toyo's (badass rains that double as dailys). I was able to put down the same time as a STS2 Miata with Falken Azenis' that ran in total dry.
I think thiers a lot of potential for the wagons in autox. I just havent dialed in a car yet.
Agreed. I like whoopin ass in the wagon legally. Its just like puttin salt to open wounds, lol.