Well finally some pics...

[RacingManiac]

Detroit SCCA Season Opener: MK6 GTI Run3 - YouTube

First autox of the year...

[Kitdy]

Detroit SCCA Season Opener: MK6 GTI Run3 - YouTube

First autox of the year...

The worst part is we had to see your face...

But seriously, how did you do?

[RacingManiac]

Not well...I am running in a pretty serious class in a pretty not serious car...mainly because the wheels I am using now puts me out of stock...

The fastest car in the class I am in runs mid 85 sec run. The best I can manage with a clean run was a 93.2. If I am a better driver the car probably is capable of 90-91 maybe?

Thing is GTI is not a very competitive car to dump money in....

[RacingManiac]

[Kitdy]

What wheels/tires are they?

[RacingManiac]

Volk Racing CE28n wheels in 17" x 8", ET50 and Michelin Pilot Super Sport 245/40-17

[Niko_Fx]

Looks really really good!

[RacingManiac]

At Grattan Raceway last weekend...


http://youtu.be/nRtyXwPFtOM

Also autocross on sunday...
MSCC Belle Isle AutoX Sept. 9, 2012 Run4 - YouTube

[RacingManiac]

How about some thread update....

2013 saw some changes to the car that may have been mentioned elsewhere. The beginning of the summer season the car getting a set of Eibach rear sway bar. Then promptly the car wore through a front Michelin Pilot Super Sport at the Evolution Performance Driving School.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=26bp9r1pSCc"]Evolution Performance Driving School Phase 1: 2013 Pontiac Silverdome - YouTube[/ame]

Drive that course 24 times in a hot day and the left front tire cord started to show...

Not without result though, as immediately the day after(after rotating the said tire to the rear) I finished 2nd in my class.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGK92J83foA"]2013 DR SCCA Season Opener, Run3 Car 125 RTF GTI - YouTube[/ame]

While the result was good, the car needs new tires, so a set of new Bridgestone RE-11As were acquired, in size beefier than before(going from 245/40/17 to 255/40/17, stock 17" size is 225/45/17).



The new size does require some wheel spacer to clear the front strut, so 4mm spacer were added to each front wheel.

First event after the new tires were the immediate week after last event. At this point the tire had 500 miles on them already(I drove home to Toronto and back the days before). But still not properly heat cycled. Plus the a 15C temp cooler temp resulted in not so great first outing of the car on the new shoe.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cmqUjoGxnZ4"]DRSCCA Memorial Day AutoX 2013: VW GTI RTF Car 125 - YouTube[/ame]

Video was mainly made to see if it rubs. It does not(not significantly at least).

The result was I think only mid-field in class(24 cars, 12 or 13th place I think).

[RacingManiac]

Now its time to explain some local autoX events. Mainly 2 bodies that runs them locally, Detroit Region SCCA, and Detroit Council of Sports Car Club(DCSCC). The previous 2 events were DR-SCCA events. Large field and a lot of cars(120-150 cars per event, almost 20 cars in my class most of the time. I run in Road Tire FWD class). I also run in the DCSCC events for the PAX championship. PAX is basically a handicap system to normalize the performance for different cars in different state of prep. I run in G Stock, Street tire class(TGS), which is mainly for these heavier hot hatches with powerful engine. This class actually gets pretty favorable PAX factor, which allows me to be pretty competitive in the grand scheme of things....

So the next event is a DCSCC event hosted by the local Alfa club, which typically known for smaller courses. A hot day plays into my advantage, and allows me to finish 1st in PAX, and overall 11th fastest time out of about 70 cars.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FoVBqm2ghw0"]DCSCC 2013 Champ Event 2: AROC at OU June 9, 2013 Run4 - YouTube[/ame]

Whats cool about this event too was that it was sorta a Viper club gathering, so I think a dozen Dodge Viper showed up across all gen(including 1 new SRT Viper, actually brought by Ralph Gilles, the current CEO of SRT). Ralph actually ran 3rd fastest time overall outright, behind a local hotshoe driving a C5 Vette on slicks(Viper was on Corsa Pirelli), and a FSAE car.

[RacingManiac]

Back to DR-SCCA the week after, at the same lot which was cold last time around. This time at a more seasonal temperature, I was able to run 5th in class out of 19 cars. At this point I start to feel pretty confident in these tires. They are noticeably grippier in the dry, without being any worse at being a daily driving tire than the slightly less extreme Michelin.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TuAuE6dWICA"]DRSCCA 06/22/13: Silverdome Great Lake Divisional Run4 - YouTube[/ame]

After this autoX there was a long break until the next event. During this time a group of us decided to do a trip down to North Carolina again for another driving/riding trip to the Great Smokey Mountain area, with obligatory trip to the Tail of the Dragon. Outside of that we also paid a visit to the Blue Ridge Parkway. There was a lot of rain in the area and we had our share of wet driving/riding(well I don't ride), the new tires fared quite wet in the rain.

A clip of a short run in the Dragon:
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iedlmukbyq8"]Short Blast on the Dragon - YouTube[/ame]



This was our selection of motorized vehicles...

[RacingManiac]

Around the end of July is the next DCSCC event, this time hosted by Michigan Sports Car Club. This was the first event in about a month so there was definitely some rust I feel in my driving. This particular lot has always been pretty odd in that its abrasive, but actually not very grippy(concrete). The car's behavior was a bit odd and I felt like there were time left to be found by the end. The result was good for PAX in 6th overall but I was actually only 3rd in class(behind another GTI, and a new Focus ST, we were seperated by 0.05 sec between the 3 cars). 23rd place in actual time.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8etWAy-KK9g"]MSCC Belle Isle 07/28/2013 - YouTube[/ame]

Then 2 weeks later was another DCSCC event hosted again by Alfa club. Same parking lot as before and again I did pretty well. Outright time this time was 23rd overall of 98, 9th in cars on street tire, and again with my PAX factor I was able to get another 1st in PAX.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t4ASAOwOcp4"]DCSCC AROC AutoX Aug 11, 2013 Run 5 - YouTube[/ame]

Interesting Ralph Gilles came back, I think he feel like he had some unfinished business with the Vette that beat him last time. This time he showed up on some Hoosier slicks as opposed to the barely streetable Pirelli. And he successfully set the fastest time of the day and beating the Vette by 2 tenth, and even beat the FSAE car....For refernce the GTI was 4.5 sec slower than a SRT Viper on slicks on a 41.5 sec course(for the Viper, I was at 45 dead)

Currently in DCSCC's PAX based points championship I am sitting 3rd, which is pretty sweet....

[Kitdy]

These are cool events, but I don't have any faith in the comparison/competitive aspects of it. I'd just go and tool around. I think it is impossible to say who is best in class with any system.

[RacingManiac]

There are nothing to be drawn on the cars really in an autoX. A car like mine could have a much more committed driver who are more willing to push than maybe a really otherwise faster car. I say in each event there are maybe less than a third of the cars are really being driven at the potential of the vehicle. Maybe a bit higher on DR-SCCA events than DCSCC ones. But you are bench racing the guys you are bench racing with, you know who you try to beat and thats what is fun about these. Granted, I've seen some really nice, really fast cars driven by really good drivers in my autoXing days. Ralph Gilles was definitely one, I've also seen John Heinricy absolutely destroying the course in a Cobolt SS.

Also more fun/competitive than regular track days since those don't have any competition....I can at least win T-shirt and pint glass in autoX...lol

[RacingManiac]

Finished 2nd in the points race this year...lost to the winner by less than a point. Still pretty happy.