Winona TnT April 27, '08

[Dan I.]

So, anyone hittin' this one up? It's a Sunday and they usually don't start until noon or so. A good chance you'll get 8-10 runs. No pre-registration; show and go. I'm in...

[Andrew]

Yeah I'd probably go just for the practice.

[ada///M]

I'll try and convince the formula SAE guys to go... how much is it?

[washburn]

http://www.scclac.org/SCCLac_Downloads/2008-04-27%20Flyer.pdf

[davidv]

I'm in since it's only 45 minutes from Rochester.

[ada///M]

hmmm, ok, assuming I get my tires before then and the weather looks nice I think I'll go. Quick question though, since every event I've done so far has been with MAC, when they say SOLO rules, are those the same as soloII? Or is this potentially going to be a much faster course?

[benswen]

If they're still using the Winona Tech driver's training course, the speeds will be similar (if not a bit slower) than DCTC.

I may be there, depending on work.

[washburn]

hmmm, ok, assuming I get my tires before then and the weather looks nice I think I'll go. Quick question though, since every event I've done so far has been with MAC, when they say SOLO rules, are those the same as soloII? Or is this potentially going to be a much faster course?

MAC has essentially run under Solo rules for awhile. What I mean is, operationally we are very similar to any SCCA club out there. Winona events are fun, but keep a couple things in mind. Noise is sometimes an issue...bring quiet exhaust if you are unusually loud. Neighbors...be nice, quiet and slow going through their neighborhooods to get there. Stay on the pavement...in some ways, Winona is more dangerous than DCTC. Replacing a fence and me almost rolling Paul's Sprite is enough for me to say "be careful". :) Dan Hampton usually runs things...great guy, say hi for me!

[phile]

when they say SOLO rules, are those the same as soloII?

SCCA has retired the "Solo II", "Solo 2", and "Solo2" monikers. The SCCA registered trademark for autocrossing is now simply "Solo".

The ruleset formerly known as "Solo 1" has moved out of the solo bailiwick in the SCCA organization and is being run by the Club Racing division under another name.

[ada///M]

any more interest in this? Ive been messing with my car all week and can't wait to try it out! Adjusting the rear koni's was such a pain! Why couldn't they just put an adjustment screw on the top like the fronts?! Anyway, hope to see a few of you there.

Oh, and I know we would, but will they still put on the event if it rains? Oh Oh, and if we show up are we assured to get in if we register during the listed times? Any cap on the number of entrants?

see ya there,
-adam

[AlexL]

Adjusting the rear koni's was such a pain! Why couldn't they just put an adjustment screw on the top like the fronts?!
What's the deal with the rears? Are the single adjustables the compress and twist variety? If so, I imagine you could just unbolt the lower mounting bolt, push up, and twist. You shouldn't even need to jack the car up.

[ada///M]

What's the deal with the rears? Are the single adjustables the compress and twist variety? If so, I imagine you could just unbolt the lower mounting bolt, push up, and twist. You shouldn't even need to jack the car up.

...I hate you... that's definitely a good idea though; guess now I know for next time8)

but yeah, its such a pain to dig around all the carpet and the rubber deals over the rear tires, especially on the right with the battery cables and cd changer in the way. The other problem I had was that it was simply too hard for me to compress the shock all the way and twist it at the same time. I had to get a buddy to compress the shock while I got at it with an allen key.


edit: now that I think about it, I had to remove the bump-stops temporarily to get the shocks fully compressed... guess I could just remove them completely, but I suppose that would take me out of stock :p

[murph]

Why couldn't they just put an adjustment screw on the top like the fronts?! Anyway, hope to see a few of you there.


They're expensive, but I believe TC Kline customize Konis for your car as well. Top knob adjuster for rebound, lower flathead screwdriver for compression. Very convenient. =]

[ada///M]

They're expensive, but I believe TC Kline customize Konis for your car as well. Top knob adjuster for rebound, lower flathead screwdriver for compression. Very convenient. =]

yeah I looked at those a little bit, but like you said, for the same set I have with an external adjuster for the rear would have been about 800$, whereas I got mine for 550$ shipped :D I figured stepping up to a single adjustable from never having an adjustable shock was pretty good. The 4 way adjustable shocks on our formula car this year have me boggled:?

[murph]

IMO, if you're doing single-adjustable in a stock class car, the adjusting is really important. (unless you don't drive on the street)

What I mean is that SA's usually just adjust rebound, and it can help a lot to pump rebound up to the max setting. Rebound at max prevents the suspension from decompressing for around 5-10 minutes, so your car stays "hunkered down" and has much less roll.

This may not be as advantageous on an M3 with decent spring rates, but it makes a world of difference in my car. The downside is that it's really not streetable, which is where the adjustability becomes important.

[washburn]

Rebound at max prevents the suspension from decompressing for around 5-10 minutes, so your car stays "hunkered down" and has much less roll. .

Not sure about 5 minutes, but you got the idea right for sure. I measured my Neon with the rebound literally off the shock dyno charts, and it took around 15 to 20 seconds to rebound back up to full height. More than enough to do the job. Note also that single adjustables, at least Koni's that I had, are usually are adjusting bump too. They are just adjusted together at a pre-determined rate.

[ada///M]

I had an awesome time out there on sunday. Sucks that it had to be 2 and some hours drive each way with $3.75/gallon gas (YEAH!) but it was worth it to get the first event under my belt for the year. Got 11 runs in and we were outta there before 3:00! Wish a few more of you guys woulda made it out. I was definitely looking forward to seeing the 330Ti :( New setup feels drastically different than last years. Ill probably be looking for a bmw-spert to give it a drive if we have buck runs at mowog 1. I'm just really not sure how to set the shocks/swaybar. New front bar tamed my rear drastically! I don't think I had the tail out once all day, whereas last year was a constant effort to keep the rear behind the front! Not really sure how I did, other than that I dropped a bit of time throughout the day, and I think I finished about 1.3 seconds behind David and I'm plenty happy about that!
See you all this weekend!