I suck.

Jodi and I did the Autocross thing this weekend and I must say that I really suck. I came in 25th out of 26 entries in the SportsModified Division. Two of my 6 runs were DNF due to missing a gate. The good news is I did not take out a single cone. (two second penalty for that). In my own defense, I was running against cars that way out-classed my 92 Accord, even with the recent mods to it. (see previous post: Frankenstein Lives!)
We forgot the camera, so I will not be able to post any pics of this run, but will try on the next event to take a few for posting.
All in all, it was a learning experience for me. I learned that my car, as much as I love it, is NOT autocross material. She is too long and heavy. I learned that one must increase the tire pressure in the front tires, and lower the pressure in the rear tires in order to improve the pushing that is inherent in a front wheel drive car. I had this backwards, and subsequently ended up really pushing the front-end, especially through the 180 turn-around at the far end of the course. I also learned that I should NOT have said that Jodi could not drive my car on the course. I will be paying for that comment for years to come. Next event, Jodi will be a co-driver.
In addition, I have learned that a "Chicago Box" is an evil thing, designed to make even the most seasoned driver take out a cone or two. Some of the fast guys were just taking the cone and the associated 2 second penalty in leiu of trying to get cleanly through the box. I reckon this will work only with the fastest of drivers, as in my case, it would not have made sense to take a two second penalty with ZERO chance of making it up later on the course.
Most of my runs were in the 55 second range, whereas the fast guys were in the 43 second range. Fastest run of the day was set by a guy running an open-wheeled, Porsche powered roadster, with a 40 second run. Next fastest run was set by a Lotus Elise. What a Sweet car!
Well, enough about how bad I suck...stay tuned for the next chapter: Autocross-Session 2:Revenge of the Cones.