[TPR] Oh! that hurts.

Sun May 29 07:20:05 PDT 2011

Agreed.
I have a line on some new shocks, I just need to wait a little longer 
for the budget money.  Unfortunately I'm not living a "stimulus plan" 
kind of life.  :)  Once I have those, I have a local shop who offered to 
help set up the corner weighting and new alignment.  Feedback on here 
has also indicated a 1" sway bar both front and rear might benefit me, 
but those will be farther into the future.  What I have now works pretty 
well, even if not optimum.

Asa Jay

Asa Jay Laughton, MSgt, USAFR, Retired
&  Shelley Marie
Spokane, WA
******************************
http://www.racingagainstautism.com
http://www.teampanteraracing.com
http://facebook.com/racingagainstautism

On 5/29/2011 3:28 AM, michael at michaelshortt.com wrote:
>
> what I meant was,  is that any little thing cause lead to problems 
> that get much bigger when you add in all the physics of speed, 
> Momentum,  weight transfer,  etc
>
> Just having cold tires didn't put you in the ditch all by themselves.
>
> I always get a kick out of watching some well meaning racer try to fix 
> a problem by adjusting ten things at once. to solve an issue.  How do 
> you know which thing was the problem if you do it that way?  change 
> adjustments one at a time and if what you just did doesn't fix it, put 
> it back where it was and change something else.
>
> not remembering if You braked or not is good I think, you were in the 
> moment and I'm sure you did, otherwise the damage would have been 
> worse.  sounds like you were trying to save it the whole way, unlike 
> some novice who might have braked hard,  been rear ended, stirred up a 
> lot of debris and used stiffened arms to brace themselves for a nice 
> big thud.
>
> nothing wrong with trying to drive it of trouble until the bitter end.
>
> I personally like a car that is "loose" with maybe 52% rear weight 
> bias, that way you can usually induce a slide with a little extra 
> throttle if you meed too.  nothing gives me the willies more than 
> being a passenger when a car is tight or pushes so hard that driver 
> input is meaningless,  it like just being along for the ride, except 
> your * gets real tight and eventually your wallet gets real loose.
>
> it didn't get real cold often in NC where i grew up, but when we did 
> have ice storms, i used to find big empty parking lots to play on to 
> try and learn car control, that was fun.
>
> aside from letting the tires warm up, I'd look into some adjustable 
> shocks and get your weights set up, it will feel like another car.
>
> thanks for sharing.
>
> michael
>
>
> On May 29, 2011 12:26 AM, "Asa Jay Laughton" <asajay at asajay.com 
> <mailto:asajay at asajay.com>> wrote:
> > On 5/28/2011 6:33 PM, michael at michaelshortt.com 
> <mailto:michael at michaelshortt.com> wrote:
> >>
> >> glad that you and the car faired so well. sounds like min damage
> >> that could have been much worse.
> >>
> >> can we surmise the cause?
> >>
> > Yes, it was a loose nut between the steering wheel and the seat.
> >>
> >> you drove in nose first, was that by choice?
> >>
> > No, however if I had been thinking faster, maybe 10 times faster, I
> > could have cranked the front to the opposite lock and perhaps swung the
> > ass end enough to stay on the track.
> >>
> >> understeer or "push" involved?
> >>
> > probably some trailing throttle oversteer, brought the ass end 
> around on
> > me and I couldn't correct myself back into line.
> >>
> >> did your brakes do all that they could?
> >>
> > Funny I can't even remember using the brakes until I knew I was going
> > off the track.
> >>
> >> sand on the track?
> >>
> > Nope.
> >>
> >> cold tires?
> >>
> > Most definately.
> >>
> >> wrong pressures?
> >>
> > No
> >>
> >> what size sway bars front and rear?
> >>
> > Front = stock (3/4" I think)
> > Rear = 7/8"
> >>
> >> ride height front and rear?
> >>
> > That's anybody's guess with my wacked shocks.
> >>
> >> have you done your corner weights ( with the car wet and your weight
> >> in the drivers seat?
> >>
> > Nope
> >>
> >> what ties at what if any tread depth?
> >>
> > Toyo Proxes R888, one season already on them, I'm between a 1/16" and
> > 1/8" from the wear bars.
> >>
> >> every boo-boo is an opportunity to learn, some lessons ( like broken
> >> rockers sometimes) just cost more than others.
> >>
> > This one had to do with getting excited early in the morning on a cold
> > track. I was -not- the first to spin on the track today. They were
> > even warning all the drivers to take the first run slow. I thought I
> > was until I got to that one cone.
> >>
> >> I was reading about Senna again today, gone too soon, killed by
> >> suspension parts directly, but all caused by a broken steering
> >> column. Every little part counts, they're all ultimately connected to
> >> each other.
> >>
> >
> > Now you lost me.
> > Asa Jay
> >>
> >> Michael Shortt
> >>
> >> On May 28, 2011 8:48 PM, "Asa Jay Laughton" <asajay at asajay.com 
> <mailto:asajay at asajay.com>
> >> <mailto:asajay at asajay.com <mailto:asajay at asajay.com>>> wrote:
> >> > Autocross today at Spokane County Raceway, not the usual course 
> at Deer
> >> > Park airport. They've just finished re-routing the road course 
> and our
> >> > local autocross club managed to get a big chunk of it today for us to
> >> > try out our driver skills. This makes for a faster course as all the
> >> > autocross elements are laid out in-line with the road coarse.
> >> >
> >> > This can also be deceptive, challenging and dangerous if you're not
> >> > paying attention. Such unlucky fortune found it my way today.
> >> >
> >> > First run of the day, cold track, cold tires. Didn't take it easy
> >> > enough. Ran OFF track and nosed my Pantera into a ditch when I failed
> >> > to negotiate a slalom. The previously dented front valance now is
> >> > dented severely to include new creases. Well, I -was- going to 
> replace
> >> > that anyway. And as further luck would have it, as I inspected and
> >> > hammered it out just a tad, I found where that funny warm coolant 
> odor
> >> > was coming from. <sigh> Looks like the Fluidyne radiator is weeping
> >> > just a tad on the drivers side from some tube (I haven't found 
> exactly
> >> > where yet). Not enough to leave drops on the garage floor yet, but
> >> > we'll need to get that fixed.
> >> >
> >> > Second and third runs went much better and by the end of the day we
> >> were
> >> > spanking the course pretty darn hard.
> >> >
> >> > Sooo....
> >> >
> >> > - Glad I've not started a restoration project yet
> >> > - She's still pulling hard and driving fine (though the driver 
> needs a
> >> > bit more experience)
> >> > - Having fun despite the tiny setbacks.
> >> >
> >> > :)
> >> > Asa Jay
> >> >
> >> > --
> >> > Asa Jay Laughton, MSgt, USAFR, Retired
> >> > & Shelley Marie
> >> > Spokane, WA
> >> > ******************************
> >> > http://www.racingagainstautism.com
> >> > http://www.teampanteraracing.com
> >> > http://facebook.com/racingagainstautism
> >> >
> >> > _______________________________________________
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