SCCA Chicago Region Autocross 5/30/09

Another great event put on by CR-SCCA! The course was tight in spots and it taught me a lot about slowing down to go fast. LOL I will have video this weekend where you can see me miss gates and plow into tight corners.

This Mustang II was totally prepared and a really neat car to see out on the track.

***Bonus Lesson***

Here are the 3 ways to cross the finish line after a 90 degree right hand turn.

First, Understeer. Thank you to Mr. What-up-ski for demonstrating this painful way of slowing down.

Next, flat cornering…

…and finally, oversteer. Possibly the funnest way to finish.

Chicago Autocross Event 2 5/17/09

It was a great day for autocross, bright and sunny with temps in the high 60’s. The day was long as I had to work the last heat of the day. I left my house around 6:20am and didn’t get home until 8:30pm. Whew, I was exhausted but it was a lot of fun. The course was good, there were offset chutes that kept going further left and the last one was way to the right. You can see in the video I almost didn’t clear the first cone of the last chute since you had to turn so hard.

This was my best run of the day. A 63.567 that put me in 34th place out of 56 drivers in my class. I need more practice.

4/26/09 Autocross

My first official event! 4/26/09 at Route 66 Raceway in Joliet, IL.

It was a lot of fun. There were a variety of cars there and everyone was really nice. I also achieved my goal of not being last in my class. Bonus!

These videos were made possible by my excellent in-laws and their Christmas gift of a GoPro Motorsports Hero Wide camera.

Best run in the morning. It had just stopped raining about 15 minutes before this. Camera was inside and you can see the amount of steering input required.

This was my best run of the day. This was in the afternoon after the track had dried out. I moved the camera to the roof for the afternoon runs.

I am already registered for the next event. I can’t wait!

Autocross School

Hello everyone! Wow, that was a long break. Life has been so hectic lately and winter isn’t the best time for car stuff anyway. It’s good to be back…

Earlier this month I attended The Learning Curve put on by the Chicago Region SCCA. It’s a 2-day autocross school where you learn proper driving techniques and how events are run. It started with about an hour of classroom time and then it was over to the lot for practice runs. There were 2 short courses set up and I ran course 1 in the first half, course 2 in the second half. On Sunday, they were combined into 1 big course and it was timed so we could experiment with racing lines and see how we were improving. It was a lot of fun and I learned a lot. I had an excellent teacher who took me for a wild ride in his prepped car. It was a blast. Below are some pics I took of the event. There were all kinds of cars, from vintage vettes to new M3’s to Scions (love the old school wheels on the XA).

My favorite group shot of the day. A Miata, a Lotus,a VW GTI, a Neon, a 70s Corvette, an S2000, and my Vibe GT.

Me on the course! Courtesy of Mike Bridge.

Look out! Comin’ thru!! Ha ha, actually I was proably 100 feet from this person and turning the opposite way but the camera guy was at a funny angle.

Cant wait to get back out there!

Porsche 356

Well, it seems my ode to convertibles and fall was a little early. While it was in the 60’s that week, temps have been well into the 80’s since then. Of course, that has given people more time to enjoy their classic and sports cars, like this Porsche that was on Algonquin Road last week.

Mmmm, thats good roadster.

Time to put the top back up

Well, it is starting to get cool here in Chicagoland. I thought a post about convertibles would be a nice way to say goodbye to summer and hello to fall.

I can’t believe I had a hard time catching this Karmann Ghia to take these pics. Of course, it’s most likely putting out close to 60 hp. LOL

A Lotus 7 replica I saw a few weeks ago. There are so many companies that make these that I have no idea what this really is. Oddly enough, there is also a convertible in front of it. An Audi, I think.

A bad shot of an old T-Bird on the freeway.

A nice ratrod. I didn’t have my good camera so I had to take this with my phone. I left the SUV in the shot to give a sense of scale.

Vegandiva snapped this Prowler while on our last trip to Michigan. The east side of Michigan to be precise. So far east that is actually Canada in the background.

Lastly, here is the ride we cruised around in while in Michigan. Hope everyone enjoyed the summer!

Fun on 2 wheels

I enjoy all kinds of transportation. Cars are my main interest, but I can appreciate all modes of personal transport. From sleek and powerful to odd and geeky, I like to look at and learn about anything that moves people.

This Stella scooter, made by the Genuine Scooter Company right here in Chicago, was parked in Andersonville on a nice Saturday morning.

Here is something I saw while searching through some garages on a recent trip to Michigan. It’s a 1952 Whizzer motorcycle with a custom sidecar that was displayed at the 2008 Detroit Autorama.

The same person who restored the Whizzer also made this neat machine. It’s a bicycle built for… 4?

I’ll be back soon with more.

Old Ford (with a rumble seat)

I got some up close shots of this ride while talking with the owner. Talk about retro…

The other set of wheels were getting painted. Once they are done they will look like the spare.

1974 Dodge Charger

This red Charger was in an apartment building parking lot. It looked good as we went by.

Was that a for sale sign? I convinced Vegandiva to go back for a closer look which was no easy task since she wants an El Camino “so I can haul my drum kit”.

We looped through the parking lot and stopped to check it out further. While its not concourse quality, it is a nice driver you could easily take to a cruise night or parking lot show.

What is that?

Here are a few cars I have seen lately that were definitely out of the ordinary. This first one speaks for itself. I wonder if gas station owners eyes turn into cartoonish dollar signs when this thing pulls in.

Yeah, I’ve seen camo trucks before. Usually they are in an area a little more rural than Irving Park.

Spy Shot: The all-new Toyota Amy.

Much more to come!