Dang, glad I asked. What about an ic water sprayer?

I'm also curious if boost controllers and boost solenoids can effect your class.

You just have to be sure your sprayer is turned off. I think that actually goes to an overall rule that you aren't allowed to drip fluids of any kind on the course or on grid. Boost changes are allowed this year in everything but Stock, so you're okay with any of that.

If you really are staying totally stock you are better off in A-stock (TAS). An STi can do very well in A-stock, just look at last year's Hawthorne results.

The 275/35 Hoosiers helped a little. ;)

I may be off base but if I remember correctly, unless it's factory equipment, waterspray systems are illegal in all classes. And I believe if you're using your OEM waterspray system and getting the track wet, you can probably be protested. :(

Okay...what about running Torco or race fuel?

Legal but not worthwhile if you aren't mapped for it.

Fixed...

I've never autoX'd so maybe you know somthing I don't, but raising the octane of your fuel a couple points will protect against knock and the resulting power loss. On a hot day I'd think it would protect the engine and keep the power where it should be.

It is good protection but unleaded race gas is at least 100 octane, so it's more than just a "couple" points. You could potentially lose some power due to the decreased volatility of the fuel, although race gas is typically more pure than pump gas since it doesn't have oxygenates or other emissions additives blended in with it... so the power issue is a toss-up. Just something to think about.

Yah, I wouldn't run 100% race gas. Thats good to know that it doesn't have the emission additives though. Maybe that makes it slightly more desireable than using Torco?

Shouldn't your custom tune be able to do that? Granted, there are power gains to be made by mapping for higher octane, but safe is safe.

Regardless of my tune, if the IC is heat soaked, once I get into boost, the ECU will see knock and the ECU will pull timing as a result. Filling up with 93 or 95 would help prevent this a lot.

You're car won't pull enough timing for it to matter. Maybe 5 peak hp or so, but if I've learned anything about auto-x, its that driver skill is much more important then 5 hp at the top end.

I think you stand to lose a lot more than 5hp given a thoroughly heat soaked IC and high ambient temps. I hope to do the driver skill mod as well. :P

But you're still only really going to see the losses at the top end. You won't even be getting out of 2nd gear at 90% of the events, top end really isn't an issue.

As far as heat soak, bring a spray bottle and cool the intercooler before each run. It helps for the 1st 9 maybe 10 seconds of the run. :lol:

When you are moving, though, its not really an issue since you'll have plenty of airflow. The biggest problem for heatsoak is after you stop the car between runs and you just sit there.

What you can do, and a lot of us do, is grab a 1 gallon pesticide sprayer from Lowes or Home Depot. You can use that to mist your intercooler between runs. That should help quite a bit with the heat soak. If you don't pick one up in time, mine should have enough volume for the two cars if you want to use it also.

Actually, I meant to ask, can I do that? What about a big bag of ice on the ic? Once the car gets moving, heat soak isn't as much of an issue. It's when the car sits for 10-20 minutes between runs. How long between runs in an autox typically?

Cool, I'll definately bring a mister. Do you guys ever mist your tires if they get too hot?

Ice is probably overkill... plus, if the session gets moving you can have as little as 5 minutes between runs, which isn't enough time for a bag of ice to really make a difference.

You really should run a few events before worring about minutia like this... the things you're talking about will gain you hundreths per run, whereas seat time alone will gain you seconds per run.

Water on the tire is a double edge sword unless you've got a pirometer to know exactly where your temps are at.

Wow, 5 minutes. That's not much time. I can see why you guys use sprayers.

I'm not worried about my time as much as I just want a happy car. Just trying to get a feel for things, that's all. I wish I could do a larger hoodscoop and an IC sprayer, but I like the low budget method of using a mister since it's free! :)

You can do these things, you will just be in a higher class. Unless of course you run the season in Novice, then modifications don't matter.

I will be running in novice, but I'm trying to plan ahead so I can run ESP. :)

Sprayers work fine, probably better than resting a bag of ice on the IC. They work for hot radiators too. The water you spray on boils away, which pulls quite a bit of heat energy out of the exchanger.

God, I love free mods. Water bottle FTW!

Your car will be fine. :) If your car didn't have such an amazing ecu and you were tuned for perfect peak power, then you might have something to worry about. But your car is equipped to handle poor conditions without destroying itself. Yay for Subaru.

Word. Suby ECU's are amazing.

Wow so if you over spray your IC and water makes it onto the track someone can protest. so any amount of water if 1 drop makes it down there ? :| eeks. hopefully won't happen to me but i love spraying down my IC . (dunno why just makes me happy)
would an IC spray modulator bump you up a class , if you car comes stock with an ic sprayer?

Theoretically, yes. And yes, but not necessarily one class, straight to prepared, or Street Modified. Not allowed in S, SP or ST. The basic rule is hat unless it is specifically allowed in the rules, you can't do it.

found this link off the Reno scca website, is this the correct set of rules for Auto X ?

http://scca.org/_filelibrary/File/2006_solo_rules.pdf :) thanks

Yes

I thought the rules stated STi's and Evo's are in BSP?

How can I run TAS?

STis and Evos are only in BSP to run under Street Prepared rules. In Stock they are classed as AS.

I use to run a small tube from rear window washer to the I/C on my Talon. It did help cool it down on a hot day.

If I run AS, I would be running against all those damn vettes. Will the T give me an advantage so that I am competitive with them, or should I just run TBSP?

Yes, Vettes in AS- but also in BSP. C4 Vettes anyway. Also, any modded Evos or STis in BSP will smoke you (car vs. car anyway; you could still outdrive their mod adantage potentially). In AS you can be regionally competitive with nothing done at all.

Street tires help you stay competitive without having to buy Hoosiers or V710s. Doesn't affect the competitive balance between make/model. Your best chance, by far, is to run TAS. You'll still get clobbered by Pat and Mike Mulhall, but you'll have your best PAX results in that class.

If you run TBSP you will be running against all those Vettes also... Larry Capen specifically, and he beats the ASP Vettes with his BSP automatic...

I thought Pat was running in F125 this year. And Mike Mulhall isn't running at all, he is overseas for a few months.

I thogut Pat was RNPing in the kart, and I didn't know about Mike.

Did Mike already leave? What is he doing with the Boxster?

Last I heard he was trying to sell it. I have no idea if he got rid of it though.

I will be running the S2k in AS until I get a bit more adept w/ the kart. Plus I have 3 1/2 sets of race tires to use up.

Can I autoX with this damage? I'm wating for the autobody shop to get parts, so it won't be fixed before the Apr. 1st autox class.

The damage is only cosmetic, but I have a feeling this will keep me from running.

In the GCR, section 11.2 says that cars must have "appearance suitable for competition" and "appearance neat and clean. Specifically, "cars that...show bodywork damage...shall not be approved for competition." HOWEVER, I think I can let it slide since there is nothing under the solo rules that specifically mentions damage to the exterior, or that references the GCR inspection requirements. Plus, you're running novice, so you aren't protestable anyway. If we didn't want you and/or your car specifically to run, someone could probably use it as an excuse to bar you from entering, but I highly doubt anybody is going to take issue with it given that one of our region's primary goals is promoting our events to new members and increasing participation. However, it will probably have to be repaired before you can run at Club Trials. The Time Trial rules are basically the same as the GCR as far as tech inspection goes.

So, Dean... wanna run ESP?

That's great news. Thanks Kevin. :cool:

Dang, I don't think I've read the intro in years... Very interesting... Technically, I could run TESP as well which is just plain humorous.

Noob question that I couldn't find an answer to in the rulebook. . .

What does the "T" tacked on at the beginning of the class mean (TESP, TSM, etc.)?