Season Wrap Up

The sun has set on my third season of racing...

So after getting back into the game, the season has now drawn to a close in only a month's time and the big winter wait is upon us. Nothing to do but look back on the season and plan for the next. So How did I do? The best answer to that question is "I improved". I definitely got faster. Technically I placed exactly the same as I did last year, Second place for the season. The Blue CRX still beats me, but this year I beat some real competitors.

The difference is last year, I more or less out attended all of my competitors except one. In 2010 There were several people who beat me head-to head, but I earned more points by showing up to more races. This year only one competitor who was faster fell behind on attendance. This year I can legitimately say I was the second fastest car, and probably the third fastest driver in the class. It's also gratifying that the class is the 5th most popular out of 35 classes. Also, one of the cars that I beat (and not just once) is a seriously modified car; A miata with a full custom suspension, and a 2.0L stroker, turbo charged engine. Also, I made second place decisively despite being 3 events short of a full season.

Here are the final standings...

Don Kuehl (Blue Supercharged CRX)	(8 events)	60 points
Gus Heck (Black N/A Lotus Elise)	(6 events)	35 points
Brian Kuehl (Blue Supercharged CRX)	(2 events)	18 points
Matt Neiman (Blue Turbo/Stroked Miata)	(4 events)	17 points
Chris Raposo (1994 Miata)	(3 events)	11 points
Bill Sallie(Blue Corvette with engine swap)	(3 events)	9 points
Gregory Walter(Blue/White turbo Miata)	(2 events)	9 points
Camron Bosnic (Flamed Turbo 240SX)	(2 events)	9 points
Gerard Mauvis (2003 Porsche 911C4S)	(1 event)	6 points
Bryan Mancuso (Red, stock MR2)	(1 events)	4 points
Gavin Williams(1978 Nissan 280z)	(1 event)	3 points
Bill Brundige (Blue Turbo/Stroked Miata)	(1 event)	2 points
Andrew Leonas (White '91 Turbo RX-7)	(1 event)	2 points

Other YOY stats:

• Number of competitors in the class 12 (up from 11)
• Number of days raced by all other competitors 29 (vs 28)
• Races attended 6 (down from 9)
• Final season pax rank 53, (up from 65)
• Pax points earned 450.28 (up from 442.86)

The number of competitors racing in the class was similar, although last year's winner went off to college, and only raced in our class twice this year (and twice in the Pro class). Given that, one could argue that the level of competition went down a bit, but not a whole lot since it was only one competitor.

Pax Points are based on the best 5 races, and are across all drivers in all classes, so improvement there is a good solid measure. Last year I attended 9 races and got to drop my 4 worst results, and I only could drop one this year, If I'd made all 9 races that one might have improved a bit more.

Back on Course

August was a non-racing month for me. Too much going on. Buying a house, moving, Hurricanes, and stuff. I also found a minor maintenance issue on the car (torn caliper slide bolt boot). I missed 2 events, so my chances in the season standings are pretty slim now, but the good/bad news is that the top driver decided to graduate to Pro class.  So the standings when I returned looked like this after event 5 & 6:

Don Kuehl (Blue Supercharged CRX)	(4 events)	39 points
Brian Kuehl (Blue Supercharged CRX)	(2 events)	18 points
Gus Heck (Black N/A Lotus Elise)	(3 events)	11 points
Matt Neiman (Blue Turbo/Stroked Miata)	(3 events)	11 points
Camron Bosnic (Flamed Turbo 240SX)	(2 events)	9 points
Bill Sallie(Blue Corvette with engine swap)	(3 event)	9 points
Gerard Mauvis (2003 Porsche 911C4S)	(1 event)	6 points
Chris Raposo (1994 Miata)	(1 event)	3 points

So the good news there, is that Matt didn't make it to the New Hampshire race, and we are now tied. Brian who is probably the fastest driver, has moved on to pro class. Then comes Event 7. Beautiful day, and an awesome course, which was a re-hash of some course elements that were used at Nationals. I had a good day, and took home my second ever second place trophy. Still waiting for a first, but beating the CRX is a tough nut to crack.

Don Kuehl (Blue Supercharged CRX)	(5 events)	48 points
Brian Kuehl (Blue Supercharged CRX)	(2 events)	18 points
Gus Heck (Black N/A Lotus Elise)	(4 events)	17 points
Matt Neiman (Blue Turbo/Stroked Miata)	(3 events)	11 points
Camron Bosnic (Flamed Turbo 240SX)	(2 events)	9 points
Bill Sallie(Blue Corvette with engine swap)	(3 event)	9 points
Gerard Mauvis (2003 Porsche 911C4S)	(1 event)	6 points
Chris Raposo (1994 Miata)	(2 event)	7 points
Gregory Walter (Blue/White Turbo Miata)	(1 event)	3 points
Bill Brundige (Blue Turbo/Stroked Miata)	(1 event)	2 points
Andrew Leonas (White '91 Turbo RX-7)	(1 event)	2 points

Faster, but not closer

The new shocks were great fun. The car seems much more stable and I felt much more confident with it not leaning as much. I also noticed that the tires squeal more easily (possibly because I'm going faster), and when they do begin to release it's not as sudden.

I ran the sway bar in it's lowest setting, and the Nitrons on the dealer recommended starting point of 10 clicks from full stiff. The car seemed pretty neutral, neither particularly pushy or particularly tail happy. My times were the best I've ever had.

Unfortunately, my competition had a good day as well. Brian drove so fast that he would have been mid-pack in the Pro class. Although I went faster, I'm sure there are places I could still fine-tune. But I'll have to wait a bit, since this month I need to concentrate on buying a house and moving. Come September I'll race again, and hopefully I'll get a chance to fine-tune myself and the car. In the mean-time the class leader will likely run-away with the season, but that's life. In any case here's the standings after the last event.

Don Kuehl (Blue Supercharged CRX)	(4 events)	30 points
Brian Kuehl (Blue Supercharged CRX)	(2 events)	18 points
Gus Heck (Black N/A Lotus Elise)	(3 events)	11 points
Camron Bosnic (Flamed Turbo 240SX)	(2 events)	9 points
Bill Sallie(Blue Corvette with engine swap)	(3 event)	9 points
Matt Neiman (Blue Turbo/Stroked Miata)	(2 event)	7 points
Bill Brundige (Blue Turbo/Stroked Miata)	(1 event)	2 points

Nitrons - 650Nm of fun

The issue with the left front riding low turned out to be a broken left front coil-over. Given that I busted the stock one once already, I figured an upgrade was mandated and by luck I found a set of used Nitron single adjustables with 650Nm rear, 525 front springs. That's approximately twice the spring of the stock Bildstiens.

So what happens when you double the spring rate on a sports car? Well after a couple of drives to work I would say the answer is you get noticeable improvements in everything except comfort, and handling over bumps. The ride over bumps is definitely stiffer overall, though the little stuff doesn't get the car jiggling around quite as much, possibly because the dampers are better.

However, body roll is now almost non-existant. The car is much more sure feeling on good pavement. The acceleration is sharper too. When you step on the gas pedal there are only 3 things that can happen:

1. The car can tilt. Nose up rear down, you see this in the extreme with dragsters that actually lift the nose of the car.
2. The tires can slip. Also common in dragsters and drifters, and teenagers who mistakenly think that sliding the rear tires around has something to do with going fast.
3. The car can move forward. Well duh, of course this is the one we really want.

Since the springs are stiffer you get less of #1 and more of #2 and #3. So the car accelerates faster, but it's a bit easier to break traction if your not careful.

Also the stiffer springs increase the tendency of the car to unweight the tires after hitting a bump, and so the inconveniently placed manhole cover at the exit from my work tends to cause the tires to chirp when I leave. It didn't do that before the change. Similarly, the car sometimes has a feeling of slightly walking sideways when turning across a bumpy surface. I had previously noticed this when I added the stiffer sway bar, and it's increased.

I also noticed that the jerkiness and bumps can make the shifter a bit more reluctant to go into gear, so I'll have to keep an eye on that. Don't want to blow shifts. That can be expensive.

Basically the car now expresses an even greater preference for smooth pavement. When you feed it what it likes, the driving is very tasty indeed.