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2017 SCCA RallyCross National Championship.


Draco-REX

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As some may remember, I picked up a STI last year for competition in SCCA RallyCross with a goal to win the Championship. The 2016 Championship went well, taking the final trophy place of 6th. But I also managed to beat one of the fastest drivers out there, Warren Elliot.

 

Well, the 2017 Championship is now in the bag. With some delays and a whole LOT of rain, there were only 7 runs for the weekend. But the heavy rains Saturday night made for soft conditions Sunday that really mixed up the standings. When the dust settled, I placed 2nd in Modified AWD, only 2.142 seconds behind a gutted and swapped Subaru RS that probably weighed half a ton less than my STI. Overall, it was a good weekend.

 

Here's the run from Sunday that got me into 2nd. At 53 seconds it was 2 seconds faster than the next fastest car that run. Due to the soft conditions, it was actually a pretty flashy and fun run. Usually fast runs are smooth and somewhat boring looking. But if the ground is too soft the cars tend to understeer badly if you take those lines. They key to those conditions, I've found, is to get the car rotating as I enter the turn. So this makes for some really enjoyable runs to watch and drive.

 

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*golf clap* Very well done, looks like that's a whole lot of fun. Drifty drifty stuff without the new tires every few minutes! I see a pretty wide range of cars in the "pits" including the always present Miata... how capable is a typical street car out there compared to what you are running with your Scoobie?
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Thanks everyone. :) It was a great weekend. I don't think it could have gone much better.

 

Very cool. Where do they run these events around here? I'd definitely like to try and go watch for a bit.

Locally we hold events at Bitzer's Farm in Greenfield. The last event of the season is this Saturday. I won't be there though, we're doing Inventory at work.

 

Congrats to bot you and ZB- sounds like you guys had a great weekend

Z.B. was on FIRE! He kicked ass to take home the win. It's even more amazing considering he only raced one regional this year before the championship.

 

*golf clap* Very well done, looks like that's a whole lot of fun. Drifty drifty stuff without the new tires every few minutes! I see a pretty wide range of cars in the "pits" including the always present Miata... how capable is a typical street car out there compared to what you are running with your Scoobie?

There are stock classes. It really comes down to the tires. Winter tires are pretty essential for a stock class car.

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Interesting, would have figured people were swapping to an even more aggressive like off road truck tire not just a winter tire. Might have to give something like this a try next year!

The trouble is getting them to fit. Most truck tires won't fit under the arches without modification. Plus, you can't change your wheel diameter/width in stock class, which makes finding a 16"/17"/18" truck tire that will fit on a car pretty much impossible. The tires also have to be US DOT approved, and can't be cut/studded. Also ATV tires have been banned due to their low side-loading strength. But you'd be surprised how much grip a winter tire has in the dirt.

 

The higher classes (Prepared and Modified) allow non-DOT tires. For those classes you'll see actual competition rally tires. My current favorite for soft/damp conditions (and the ones I used to get 2nd) are a German Euro-RallyCross tire with big tread gaps/blocks and a rubber compound that almost feels like a gum eraser when it gets up to temp.

 

Was Fairmon there? Orion that is.

He didn't go this year. He didn't feel confident in his current car so he decided not to go. Considering the distance, all the delays, and that we only got 7 runs this year, it's probably a good thing he stayed home. He wouldn't have had a good time.

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