Whoo that was a fun five laps. Had my first time autocrossing in my new-to-me car that I got a month ago. It's a stock '06 Infiniti G35 sedan 6MT. I didn't spin out anywhere, I didn't DNF, but I learned the embarassing soft-rubber-cone way to brake before instead of during the turn or suffer the point deductions of understeer plowing.
First lap was 49.7 seconds, final and fastest lap was 46.3 seconds. The G35 is a big heavy sedan, but with a hammer of a motor under the hood. Second gear all the way. Nice and predictable throttle-induced oversteer too. If the rear of the car steps out and tries to outrun the front, either stay on the throttle to keep turning or back off halfway and it steps right back in line.
I got to ride in my friend's stock M3, which was nice too. I beat his fastest time by a full second, but his front tires are 4 years old.
There were some other nice cars there. Several tuned Miatas and old Civic hatchbacks. The Miatas were quick and entirely undramatic: very nimble and very composed. The Civic hatches were also fast. Tires make a big difference, and a low suspension with stiff sway bars helps a bit too. It was cool to see them go through a decreasing-radius turn: they'd pick up their inside rear tire and not put it back down for like 50 feet. The highlight was definitely the GT-R though: it's an imposing-looking car with tons of power; it just leaps out of the corners when the driver gets on the gas. There was a new Mustang there too that just sounded gorgeous.
Triad Sports Car Club in Winston Salem, NC runs a pretty well organized event. I plan on going to more. /garage_blog
First lap was 49.7 seconds, final and fastest lap was 46.3 seconds. The G35 is a big heavy sedan, but with a hammer of a motor under the hood. Second gear all the way. Nice and predictable throttle-induced oversteer too. If the rear of the car steps out and tries to outrun the front, either stay on the throttle to keep turning or back off halfway and it steps right back in line.
I got to ride in my friend's stock M3, which was nice too. I beat his fastest time by a full second, but his front tires are 4 years old.
There were some other nice cars there. Several tuned Miatas and old Civic hatchbacks. The Miatas were quick and entirely undramatic: very nimble and very composed. The Civic hatches were also fast. Tires make a big difference, and a low suspension with stiff sway bars helps a bit too. It was cool to see them go through a decreasing-radius turn: they'd pick up their inside rear tire and not put it back down for like 50 feet. The highlight was definitely the GT-R though: it's an imposing-looking car with tons of power; it just leaps out of the corners when the driver gets on the gas. There was a new Mustang there too that just sounded gorgeous.
Triad Sports Car Club in Winston Salem, NC runs a pretty well organized event. I plan on going to more. /garage_blog
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