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Great driving Brent! Less than 4 tenths out of the top slot, awesome stuff.
Is it possible that STU is like, balanced now? Did the courses favor any particular style (ex 2012 Slalomfest course)? The course dependency issues with such a wide variety of cars are meh but it seems like there was a healthy mix at the top especially if you count the pace of the Fiata.
Great driving Brent! Less than 4 tenths out of the top slot, awesome stuff.
Is it possible that STU is like, balanced now? Did the courses favor any particular style (ex 2012 Slalomfest course)? The course dependency issues with such a wide variety of cars are meh but it seems like there was a healthy mix at the top especially if you count the pace of the Fiata.
Thank you very much! It was an absolute BATTLE and I loved every moment of it. I'll try and recap my thoughts over the course of the time I was down there.
I think STU is quite balanced now. Truly there was pace in a handful of platforms: Evo, STI, Fiata, E92 M3, Cayman, 370/350z I truly feel as though the Type R could be a contender as well as I've heard of one running 315's all the way around, however that car wasn't at nationals. I mean even the MSM (04 Miata) had pace on day one, which is fitting since it was such sea of slaloms.
The west course was a slalom heavy course. The East course was more of a road course feel in ways - lots of sweeper type turns.
I arrived Monday afternoon - got set up and wanted to get on the TNT course just to dust off the rust and get rid of the butterflies. This is normally just a tight course that is quite similar each and every year I've been there. I ended up running a 35.7 with a cone and a 36.0 clean time. The car felt like absolute crap - mainly in the slalom. I was concerned after running my 4 runs there as my first course was going to be on the West course - slaloms galore.
Tuesday rolls around. We work 3rd heat and run in the final heat. Not ideal, but these are the cards that are dealt!
First run out was conservative - I really didn't want to end up coning away my first runs this week - as 3 weeks ago at our MID DIV event, I had struggles with coning a lot of runs. I really had issues overshooting the entries to a handful of corners. Cleaned those up by my 3rd run and was sitting in 3rd place after day 1. Approximately 6 tenths off of Carpenters time. I believe at a time, the top 9 drivers were all within 6 tenths of a second....however.....
For those that are unaware, the Fiats were protested. 2 fiats - 3 drivers. Supposedly they were running heat blankets for the hotside of their turbos. I guess 1 of these drivers was notified at Spring Nationals that if he didn't remove that blanket for Nationals, he was going to get protested. They ended up adding 5 seconds to their raw times because of the illegal part. I believe they are trying to appeal the decision so we'll see what happens there.
Wednesday rolls around and I'm feeling comfy. Walked the course and had it memorized quite well. However I felt off after my 1st two runs. Mark H. had a good second on me after 2 runs and normally we've been within tenths of each other ALL YEAR. With Matt Ales' co-driver right behind me in 5 place, I knew I had to put down a good time. Glad I did because for a short time, he was in 4th after his 3rd run. But I threw down a 60.5 - 2nd fastest raw behind Mark H.'s 60.2. Felt good to finally out raw Carpenter cleanly!
On a side note: I'm not trying to speak for Mark H. but we each made a small mistake on day one that cost us the 1st and 2nd spots - EVEN if those Fiats didn't get penalized from my math. Mark coned away a run that would have left him about a tenth off of Carpenter after day 1. I was having wheel hop issues on launch (Yes, we could actually launch the car on day 1). So my thought process was to slow up the release of my clutch on my final run to see if I was shocking the drivetrain. Well needless to say, I let the clutch out too slow, slipped like crazy, let off and bogged. According to Solostorm, that launch alone cost me just over 4 tenths. One can do the math....
Either way, I'm content with where I finished and to only be tenths away from 1st feels good. This is only my 3rd nationals and I've driven a different car in each of the 3 I've attended. I plan to be back and address my rear differential. Other than that, I feel like the car is close to where it needs to be. I feel like I've made changes prior to every event this year - now I feel like it's close enough that I'll be able to just get in and drive the thing and finally get comfortable with how it feels at the limit.
I appreciate the insight from many people on this forum as well. You guys know who you are!
Thank you, good sir! Assuming rules don't change too much for next year, I do have a few things I'd like to take care of on the evo for next year. Mostly the rear differential. I tried getting that done ahead of time, but it just didn't work out!
Originally Posted by Dallas J
Nice job Brent! Nats is pretty much the only place I still get nerves driving, keeping it together under the pressure is no joke.
Whats different in Marks car from yours?
Thanks Dallas and thanks again for all the insight you've provided over the years!
Agreed. The pressure is real - no doubt! It's an absolute combination of a mental battle and (for me at least) trying to conserve energy throughout the course of the 3 (+) days. I had some butterflies, but for the most part I tried to treat it like a normal points event at Lincoln. That alone helped immensely for me as I tried to downplay it and keep calm. Easier said than done, I know.
Honestly, I don't know. I haven't really looked Mark's car over up close nor pried. We're running a similar staggered wheel setup for sure. I think the two evos are pretty close to being quite equal to be honest. Maybe a slight difference in weight if I had to guess with mine being lighter since it's an RS.
I really should try replacing the motor mounts to see if that'll help with the launch issues. I need to get a proper rear diff and still replace a few bushings here and there. I still have some weight to remove but it's diminishing returns at this point.
Most importantly is just finally being able to drive the car without constant changes next year. I felt like I was chasing my tail with this setup all year. It didn't help that my self-alignments were never spot on throughout the year. I'm only getting it done by the pros going forward. I also just need to minimize stupid mistakes. The botched launch and one turn that I went wide on my final run on day two cost me a combined amount of time of 8 tenths after reviewing the data even closer. As much as I'd like to blame the car/setup, I can only blame myself for not placing even higher. The evo has the potential, there's no doubt in my mind. How much time did these other guys leave out there, though?
The biggest question is how much potential is left in these Fiats? You look at what STR did as far as times Thurs/Fri, can the Fiat match that performance in the future with the right driver (no offense to the 3 fiat drivers in STU - as I don't know their abilities). If so, it'll probably turn in to a Fiata class? Who knows. However, STR is running in the coolest heat both days (heat 1). STU ran in the hottest heats both days (heat 5). Just throwing that out there for discussion!
You def have some time to find with a better rear diff. The ability to get on throttle earlier and put the power down instead of back sliding out both preloads the turbo to hit sooner and puts a couple mph into ever corner exit. Its not insignificant.
Thank you, good sir! Assuming rules don't change too much for next year, I do have a few things I'd like to take care of on the evo for next year. Mostly the rear differential. I tried getting that done ahead of time, but it just didn't work out!
Thanks Dallas and thanks again for all the insight you've provided over the years!
Agreed. The pressure is real - no doubt! It's an absolute combination of a mental battle and (for me at least) trying to conserve energy throughout the course of the 3 (+) days. I had some butterflies, but for the most part I tried to treat it like a normal points event at Lincoln. That alone helped immensely for me as I tried to downplay it and keep calm. Easier said than done, I know.
Honestly, I don't know. I haven't really looked Mark's car over up close nor pried. We're running a similar staggered wheel setup for sure. I think the two evos are pretty close to being quite equal to be honest. Maybe a slight difference in weight if I had to guess with mine being lighter since it's an RS.
I really should try replacing the motor mounts to see if that'll help with the launch issues. I need to get a proper rear diff and still replace a few bushings here and there. I still have some weight to remove but it's diminishing returns at this point.
Most importantly is just finally being able to drive the car without constant changes next year. I felt like I was chasing my tail with this setup all year. It didn't help that my self-alignments were never spot on throughout the year. I'm only getting it done by the pros going forward. I also just need to minimize stupid mistakes. The botched launch and one turn that I went wide on my final run on day two cost me a combined amount of time of 8 tenths after reviewing the data even closer. As much as I'd like to blame the car/setup, I can only blame myself for not placing even higher. The evo has the potential, there's no doubt in my mind. How much time did these other guys leave out there, though?
The biggest question is how much potential is left in these Fiats? You look at what STR did as far as times Thurs/Fri, can the Fiat match that performance in the future with the right driver (no offense to the 3 fiat drivers in STU - as I don't know their abilities). If so, it'll probably turn in to a Fiata class? Who knows. However, STR is running in the coolest heat both days (heat 1). STU ran in the hottest heats both days (heat 5). Just throwing that out there for discussion!
Great driving Brent, well deserved for sure! Overcoming the pressure of Nationals is a feat itself!
You def have some time to find with a better rear diff. The ability to get on throttle earlier and put the power down instead of back sliding out both preloads the turbo to hit sooner and puts a couple mph into ever corner exit. Its not insignificant.
This statement helps me justify blowing another $2k. Haha
Originally Posted by Hoojan
Great driving Brent, well deserved for sure! Overcoming the pressure of Nationals is a feat itself!
Thanks bud! I appreciate your help throughout the year and we'll get things done next year!
Interesting comments from one of the Fiata drivers. The other Fiata owner has put his up for sale. Thoughts? Also to clarify, he's stating he thinks he'll be running the times of STR, not running with them.
I guess my first thought is, why isn't the fiata simply in STR? Same chassis yet there are some differences obviously. Makes no sense to me why it's in STU and not STR knowing the capabilities of that chassis. Time to write letters?
Interesting comments from one of the Fiata drivers. The other Fiata owner has put his up for sale. Thoughts? Also to clarify, he's stating he thinks he'll be running the times of STR, not running with them.
I guess my first thought is, why isn't the fiata simply in STR? Same chassis yet there are some differences obviously. Makes no sense to me why it's in STU and not STR knowing the capabilities of that chassis. Time to write letters?
Congrats Brent, and yeah, I think the STAC would be interested in hearing people's thoughts on the Fiata... that said, I also don't think many more folks would be interested in running them beyond those that already have, and I'm not surprised one of the two is already for sale :-)
Also, tell us more about your wheel-hop-on-launch issue? usually that can be tuned out with more practice, and it can also be significantly mechanically "unforgiving", obviously. The more you stiffen up the things that are allowed to be upgraded in STU the more likely you are to break those that you can't. Slipping the clutch ain't great either, but imho it's better than wheel hop.
Sep 8, 2021, 09:14 PM
