Autocrossing first tournament
Dear Diary,
I went to my first autocross event in stockton on last sunday, sept. 21. Paul stopped by, handed over his car, Phil and I met and I followed Phil back to his friend's place to pick him up in Sac and then we drove off to Stockton. It was amazing. Phil was taking a corner hella fast on a freeway entrance and I just followed him. I thought he might slow down but he did the turn without any breaks and I did the same thing. It was funny because his friend Steve was driving first, then Phil followed him and I was following Phil. At one point, Phil pulled a 90 to pass a car and I had to follow him because well, we were late and I didnt want to lose him and get lost and miss the registration. He was using a manual of course so I had to floor my damn car for about many seconds until I reached over 100mph before I caught up and was able to stay behind him. It was crazy. Paul stopped looking at the speedodmeter after 90mph cuz he knew I had to catch up or I'd be lost and then it'd take forever for me to find him and registration closes soon and we're already quite late.
I made it there and Phil took me in his lovely Nissan 180x (I think), its the initial D car that Kenji was driving in the anime/manga series. I went and got a loaner helmet and then waited for Phil to drive up and when I saw him, I hopped into his car. From watching the autocross, it didnt look like they were going that fast but once in the car, I felt like I was going faster than a roller coaster! The first time, Phil wasnt used to driving with a passenger so we spun out the first time. Spinning out wasnt that fun actually, the tires squealed a lot, I knocked my head against the window TWICE before I grabbed onto the sidebar and was glad that I had a helmet on. He was going really fast, I shifted a lot in the car and after the first run, I KNEW I had to go autocrossing.
When the green flag was waved, the force was so much that I was pushed back into my seat and then without warning, the car jerked left and I hit my head against the window, then it quickly jerked right and then left again and then I hit my head again so after that I grabbed onto that bar with my life. I hated hitting my head. The shock was annoying. Then eventually, I got the feel for it and didnt get thrown around as much. By the end of the first run (a total of 40 seconds), I was ready to go again. The thrill was amazing, the car squeals, the cornering, the steering so fast into the other direction, the accerleration was amazing, and just everything about it was awesome. Never felt like that in my life. It's better than a roller coaster ride, esp for the driver.
The second time, Phil did a lot better, 37 seconds for the run. I didnt go onto the last run becuase Phil wanted to do the last run by himself. After that, we waited for about another hour and then it was time for fun runs. I asked Phil to take paul in the car for a run because Paul will NEVER EVER understand what's so great about autocrossing if he has never been in a car during it. After paul came back, he admited that it was COOL and that there's no way u can tell how fast the car was going by just watching it. It just feels so different in the car. After that I got 2 more runs and Phil did a drift for me. He was DRIFTING! It felt like the car was floating on air! You actually lose complete control of the car during a drift but if u know how the car is gonna drift, u can make it drift the same way you want it to and it will be faster than staying on the ground. AWESOME! simply AWESOME!
So. I guess I dont have a choice, I gotta get a manual car. I wont be able to autocross with an auto. manuals are cheaper anyways.
That was one of the best days of my life!
I went to my first autocross event in stockton on last sunday, sept. 21. Paul stopped by, handed over his car, Phil and I met and I followed Phil back to his friend's place to pick him up in Sac and then we drove off to Stockton. It was amazing. Phil was taking a corner hella fast on a freeway entrance and I just followed him. I thought he might slow down but he did the turn without any breaks and I did the same thing. It was funny because his friend Steve was driving first, then Phil followed him and I was following Phil. At one point, Phil pulled a 90 to pass a car and I had to follow him because well, we were late and I didnt want to lose him and get lost and miss the registration. He was using a manual of course so I had to floor my damn car for about many seconds until I reached over 100mph before I caught up and was able to stay behind him. It was crazy. Paul stopped looking at the speedodmeter after 90mph cuz he knew I had to catch up or I'd be lost and then it'd take forever for me to find him and registration closes soon and we're already quite late.
I made it there and Phil took me in his lovely Nissan 180x (I think), its the initial D car that Kenji was driving in the anime/manga series. I went and got a loaner helmet and then waited for Phil to drive up and when I saw him, I hopped into his car. From watching the autocross, it didnt look like they were going that fast but once in the car, I felt like I was going faster than a roller coaster! The first time, Phil wasnt used to driving with a passenger so we spun out the first time. Spinning out wasnt that fun actually, the tires squealed a lot, I knocked my head against the window TWICE before I grabbed onto the sidebar and was glad that I had a helmet on. He was going really fast, I shifted a lot in the car and after the first run, I KNEW I had to go autocrossing.
When the green flag was waved, the force was so much that I was pushed back into my seat and then without warning, the car jerked left and I hit my head against the window, then it quickly jerked right and then left again and then I hit my head again so after that I grabbed onto that bar with my life. I hated hitting my head. The shock was annoying. Then eventually, I got the feel for it and didnt get thrown around as much. By the end of the first run (a total of 40 seconds), I was ready to go again. The thrill was amazing, the car squeals, the cornering, the steering so fast into the other direction, the accerleration was amazing, and just everything about it was awesome. Never felt like that in my life. It's better than a roller coaster ride, esp for the driver.
The second time, Phil did a lot better, 37 seconds for the run. I didnt go onto the last run becuase Phil wanted to do the last run by himself. After that, we waited for about another hour and then it was time for fun runs. I asked Phil to take paul in the car for a run because Paul will NEVER EVER understand what's so great about autocrossing if he has never been in a car during it. After paul came back, he admited that it was COOL and that there's no way u can tell how fast the car was going by just watching it. It just feels so different in the car. After that I got 2 more runs and Phil did a drift for me. He was DRIFTING! It felt like the car was floating on air! You actually lose complete control of the car during a drift but if u know how the car is gonna drift, u can make it drift the same way you want it to and it will be faster than staying on the ground. AWESOME! simply AWESOME!
So. I guess I dont have a choice, I gotta get a manual car. I wont be able to autocross with an auto. manuals are cheaper anyways.
That was one of the best days of my life!