boardkat's Daily Driven CAM-C AutoX Slayer!

[DocWalt]

I use the same mic. Works great.


I *hate* finishes like that. Anything to upset the car like that right at the finish is a huge no-no. It seems incredibly common because "we have to slow the cars down" :headbonk:


Glad you and the car are ok!

Sponsored

 

[wagnor]

Why am I competing in CAM again??? My god man! Is there another level above CAM for you??? LOL all JKs. Hope you can put Team GM in their place this year. I might have to stop and de-mod the stang to compete in more of a street class. Spent an hour reading all this. Mind blown!!!!

 

[boardkat]

Why am I competing in CAM again??? My god man! Is there another level above CAM for you??? LOL all JKs. Hope you can put Team GM in their place this year. I might have to stop and de-mod the stang to compete in more of a street class. Spent an hour reading all this. Mind blown!!!!

I’m overbuilding this car to compensate for the nut behind the wheel, trust me ;)
... that’s why I ALWAYS throw truly fast drivers in my car - to both validate that I’m not getting the most out of it as it currently sits, and that there’s more speed left in the setup. But I’d be lying if I didn’t admit that I’m looking for redemption this fall - even if those GM guys show up with a 50/50 gen6 4banger at 3250

Speaking of which, after (3) seasons on BFGs (which I absolutely love, btw), I’ve thrown in the towel and have brought a new compound into the equation - 305/12 RE-71R vs. 335/12 Rival S vs. 335/13 Rival S:

... does compound and turn-in characteristics trump beast size? Stay tuned, Packwood NT and ProSolo just around the corner ;)

 

[BoostedMike177]

Have you run RE71 on the car before?

 

[boardkat]

Have you run RE71 on the car before?

Never. BFGs are my non-R tire soulmate, they match my driving style perfectly. And I hate that I’m trying this. But when my fast(er) competitors are on them.... I have to see what’s up :(

 

[BoostedMike177]

I'm running BFGs and I love them but thinking about switching to the RE71 next season. I believe your review of the tire will help me make a decision. You say your "driving style" is why you run the BFGs, I've watched your videos but are not following what you mean by your style.

 

[Norm Peterson]

You say your "driving style" is why you run the BFGs, I've watched your videos but are not following what you mean by your style.

I'm curious as well.


Norm

 

[SteveW]

I'm running BFGs and I love them but thinking about switching to the RE71 next season. I believe your review of the tire will help me make a decision. You say your "driving style" is why you run the BFGs, I've watched your videos but are not following what you mean by your style.

The Bridgestones make sense for a lot of us for a couple reasons:

1. It is much easier to get into the upper 60s in 2nd with a 15-17 GT - 3.55s and a 7500 rpm tune is about all it takes.

2. They fit easily even with a competition alignment - 1" bolt-on spacers up front and go.

3. Off-the-shelf 19x11" wheels readily available for our cars.

 

[DocWalt]

The Rival-S reward an aggressive driving style, the RE-71Rs reward precision.

 

[jpaulson]

The Rival-S reward an aggressive driving style, the RE-71Rs reward precision.

This.

I don't think Dennis will run the stones for long....

 

[boardkat]

What everybody else said ;)

I got a chance to scrub them in this past weekend on a very high speed course (for a local event). I never really got used to the turn-in (it's immediate!) in the (4) runs I had, but was definitely impressed with their ability to hold grip through high speed elements without breaking away, and their (surprising) ability to remain in a happy place, temperature-wise, even with (2) people driving. I started spraying right away, so I'm sure that helped, but I was expecting to be able to roast an egg on them by the end - happy that wasn't the case.

Here's a sample:

[ame]

Had that run been clean, it would have been good enough for top PAX. Stood on a run 1/2 second slower and had to settle for 3rd overall (ahead of Ron Bauer, multi-time national champion, and tough to beat even when I'm having a GREAT day). Needless to say, the Bridgestones have definitely earned the right for a proper back-to-back against my 1" wider/corner 335 BFGs!

In other news, my reworked MT-82 arrived this morning:

Ben Calimer built, with the new GForce Engineering gearset installed:

Won't be installing it ahead of this weekend's Packwood NT, and probably not before the following weekend's Packwood Pro, but it's nice to know I've got it if I need it. It'll definitely be in before Nats.

 

[DickR]

Dennis,

Any tire and ambient temp data?

The reason for asking is that a Bridgestone tire "tech" who works mostly at Indy Car races (not an engineer but clearly works with them a lot taking tire temps at races and tire testing) was at the Bristol Match and Tour this weekend. He sounded very knowledgeable about the RE-71R's also and stated that the RE-71R is happy up to around 190 F using a probe.

 

[boardkat]

Dennis,

Any tire and ambient temp data?

The reason for asking is that a Bridgestone tire "tech" who works mostly at Indy Car races (not an engineer but clearly works with them a lot taking tire temps at races and tire testing) was at the Bristol Match and Tour this weekend. He sounded very knowledgeable about the RE-71R's also and stated that the RE-71R is happy up to around 190 F using a probe.

Didn't bring my probe with me, but I didn't have anywhere close to 190f in 'em. Good to know about that threshold, I'll see how things go this weekend and keep an eye on temps along with spraying liberally. I'll have the Rivals with me though, just in case things go south.

 

[Rexpelagi]

My review:

+10pts for diff
-5pts for shifter
-5pts for clutch feel

Net: Par.

Note: 78" is wider than 82"

Thanks for the codrive! Car is working great!

 

[boardkat]

The 2018 SCCA Solo Championship Tour event calendar concluded on a scorching hot July weekend in Packwood, Washington - the 8th and final event of the year before Nationals. Situated on the site of an abandoned lumber mill at the foot of Mt. Rainier, this competition is on the bucket list of many autocrossers nationwide, known for both it's beautiful backdrop, as well as the 20+ acres of undulating asphalt and covered paddocks to escape the elements. The latter was especially useful this year, as temperatures started in the mid-upper 90s, and soared into triple digits by Sunday. That didn't stop nearly (300) competitors from battling for position across more than (40) different classes. The class I competed in along with my co-driver (Jim Boller), CAM-C, had (12) entrants. With a handful of former national champions in the mix, I knew I'd have to bring my A-game if I wanted to be on the podium at the end of the weekend. To that end, I worked tirelessly in the months since the spring national events on a softer, more Packwood-friendly setup - since my previous one was optimized for high-grip and low/no-bump concrete surfaces. Experimenting with softer springs, stiffer bars (including the Steeda 38mm Massive Front Sway Bar), shock valving and even different tires, I brought the narrowest car with the most compliance I've had to-date. On Day 1, the changes were confirmed good as STP national champion Ryan Otis and I battled back-and-forth on our runs, swapping places at the top. Otis ultimately took a 0.684s lead into Day 2, as I threw away my final run with a cone that would have put me only a couple tenths back, while Jim started to get a good feel for the car by the end and put himself into the final podium spot. Day 2 was a completely different story, however. Running the narrower and more heat-sensitive Bridgestone RE-71R 305/19x12 setup (relative to my usual BFGoodrich Rival S 335/18x13), on a day where surface temperatures exceeded 140 degrees, proved to be an exercise in futility. I could only muster the 3rd quickest time in-class on the day, while Ryan and his co-driver, James Paulson - @jpaulson - (on BFGs), both put time on me. I still ended up 2nd overall for the weekend (Jim fell back to 5th), sandwiched between Ryan and James, but the overall gap to Otis was disheartening to say the least, especially after being so close (save for a cone) on Day 1.

Here's a video of my fastest run from Saturday:

Obligatory "You should come to Packwood" shot:

The following weekend, competition continued with the SCCA Pro Solo. Another hot weekend, I learned my lesson from the Tour and switched back to the more heat tolerant BFG tires. I also had a different co-driver, John Laughlin - @Rexpelagi - the defending ESP national champion. Paulson (former STU champ) was back in Ryan's car, although Otis decided to compete in his usual class to continue accumulating points for the season championship. After morning runs, I sat in 1st place, slightly ahead of Paulson and CAM-S competitor David Rock, with John putting in scratch times fast enough to be just ahead of me (albeit dirty). I slipped to 3rd in the afternoon behind Paulson and Rock, after not finding any time and red lighting/coning my fastest right side run, while John put down a class leading time on the same side (but remained far back with no clean runs on the left). Sunday morning saw us leapfrogging each other on all (4) runs, as times dropped; when the dust had settled, Paulson had class-leading runs on both sides to take the win over John by 0.155s, who finally managed to get a clean run on his final left side run. Rock took the final podium spot just 0.095s behind, while I was a further 0.194s back - 1st to 4th, separated by 0.444s; quite the battle indeed! With such close competition, all of us made it into the Super Challenge. I won my first round matchup, but coned out in the round of 16. John managed to make it to the round of 8, but fell to the eventual 3rd place finisher. Paulson made it all the way to the final, but an untimely deep-stage resulted in a red light to end his hopes of winning it all. Needless to say, CAM brought the heat this weekend; I'm about as happy as I've ever been not finishing on the podium!

John getting it done with his fastest right side run:

Moar "it's worth the trip to a 1-stop town in the middle of nowhere" shots:

Next up will be the SCCA CAM Invitational and Solo National Championship events in Lincoln, Nebraska - which sold out in record time this year, with 100 and 1400 entrants, respectively. I'm excited for the opportunity to defend my CAM-C and overall Invitational championships, while looking to improve upon my 2nd place finish at Solo Nationals. Both will offer formidable competition once again - GM is back with at least (3) versions of the new Camaro (LS 1LE, SS 1LE, ZL1 1LE), supporting a team of in-house vehicle dynamic engineers/drivers that often make changes to their factory traction control, electronic differential and shock programming on the fly, while both Otis and Laughlin will abandon their chances at defending their national STP and ESP championships and compete in CAM-C instead. No doubt it will be another exciting year at the "concrete beach", and with all the tweaks and improvements I've made since last year, as well as generous help and support from @SteedaTech, I'm ready to go!

Sponsored