More Autocross Love

Sorry for the long interval, faithful reader(s?).

July was a good month, back-to-back weekends of autocross fun. July 23rd I ran with the SVT (Ford) club. Very well-run event, a bit more expensive than usual, but they provide lunch, and we got in a whopping 11 runs. As an added bonus, my brother-in-law Dr Kevin was in town and co-drove my car. We had a great day, and Dr Kevin even beat a Porsche 928 in his first event! I, of course, DFL'd.

My results:


Dr Kevin's:


July 30th was the regularly-scheduled Renegade Miata event. Very good course, technical but surprisingly fast. I had trouble getting a clean run, only one was cone-free (each cone is a 2-second penalty). However, my times were very consistent, thanks in part to a tire sprayer I purchased. The tires I run lose grip very easily when they get hot, and a sprayer cools the tire quickly by evaporation of the water. My first two runs were solid, and my third one felt awesome right up till I spun one gate from the finish. I lost my nerve after than and backed off a bit. Here's the video of that third run (admit it: you only watch the videos where I spin).



In other news, I got a free (!) set of nearly-new winter tires and wheels from a guy who moving to NYC and getting rid of his car. I didn't need them, so I put them up on Craigslist and got a good price for 'em. Schwing! The money is going toward a set of wider wheels and newer tires. I've got my eye out for a deal, which will probably come along at the end of the autocross season, when guys are getting yelled at to clean out the garage.

Moms and Cars

Last October my mom visited during an autocross weekend. She was game enough to come along for a lap, although I doubt she'll repeat the experience. At least she's smiling! That might have been a "before" shot, though.



Enter this guy:


He took his mom on a ride in a prepped Corvette at the famous Laguna Seca course in California. At about 1:45 they hit the Corkscrew, a blind, downhill turn that is allegedly one of the most challenging in motorsports. The mom's reaction seems fairly appropriate.

In conclusion: thanks to all the moms that support motorsports obsessions. But be wary if your son offers you a ride-along lap!

Align this

As previously discussed, the Miata has been making some clunking noises during turning and braking. Were it a car with power, it might make noise during acceleration, too. This problem has been well-documented to be caused by movement of the alignment cams. After the autocross I put dabs of paint on all 8 cams (two per corner to adjust toe, camber, and caster). I re-inspected today after about 200 miles of driving, and none had moved (yay!). Hopefully this means my super-duper alignment is still intact.

Front right wheel, rear cam.


Close-up of cam, note paint dot ensuring alignment.


Front left, rear cam. Also in good shape.


To protect things in the future and reduce the noise, I used a high-tech breaker bar setup to tighten the front cams. I had not heard any noise from the rear, so those are staying the way they are.


Shakedown run with the G-dawg as navigator showed that noise is definitely reduced. Slight clunk on hard braking, but I can live with that. Since the cams are marked, I can always dial the alignment back in should things shift.