WhoHoo! What a GREAT time at Rankin Road we had today!! Sort of cool
(mid-30s in the morning) at the start, but with no clouds in the sky, and
a light wind, things warmed up nicely into the upper 60's, or so.
I showed up in the SS, ready too test the 6-point harness system I
finished installing on Friday. Barbara brought the Dakota. We met Todd
there, and he was the only other SS competing. The rest of the Stranczek
crew joined us around lunchtime. Unfortunately, it was RIGHT after we
finished our runs for the day and were about to go work the course.
There was a light turnout for a Saturday event. I guess the competition
with the Rodeo, Mardi Gras and Valentine's Day took it's toll. That was
okay, though, as we got 6 runs in per driver (g).
It was a relatively fast course, it was a vintage layout pulled from the
archives of two years ago. Still a good course. It had a couple of
optional-direction slaloms that we had trouble deciding which direction
to take them. The first one was smoother one way, but shorter, and
quicker the other. The direction to run the other one was decided more
on wheelbase. The behemoths we were driving pretty much had to take the
outside gate while shorter, lighter cars could go either way. I still
feel that the outside gate was the faster way around the course, no
matter what you had.
Now for our times. I managed a best of 54.4+ seconds. Barbara ran a
55.3+ second pass in the Dakota. I pulled off a 55.1+-second pass in the
Dakota during the fun runs, but that didn't count for anything. Todd had
a best time in the 54.1+-second range. Good job, Todd!!
Man, I now have a new appreciation for anti-lock brakes! The Dakota does
NOT have them, and I almost slid off the track a couple of times while
braking and turning. That feat was doable in the SS, but the Truck just
had to be driven through the turn. As you can tell, the truck compared
admirably to the SS times. With a little lower stance, and a little more
tire, I think it could be a bit faster than the SS. Of course, the SS
needs new tires, too. It was SEVERELY traction-limited.
As for the harness test. WOW! It is amazing how much better you can
drive when you are using the steering wheel as a steering wheel, and not
a handle!! Ed, I HIGHLY recommend you get these. Besides looking cool,
they WORK! At least get yourself one of those autocross straps
(available for ~$20 at local performance stores). I wish we could devise
a way to install them in the Dakota, but we would have to either replace
the seats or install a roll bar. I think we will reserve that for the
autocross car.
Well, thanks for listening. It was fun. Again, if you missed it, well,
you missed it! It sure was cool hearing the 3-inch exhaust of the Dakota
roaring as Barbara crossed the start/finish line. That truck sounds cool!
Gene Beaird
95 DGGM SSSS
Barbara Beaird
98 Flame Red CC R/T
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Fri Jun 20 2003 - 12:12:35 EDT