[Shotimes] OT: Ebay discount coupons ...now SOLO

[Leigh Smith]

Ron;
I agree with Mark on Solo I events,
I have done both Solo 1 & 2 & Pro Solo events for 18+ years. They are all a
hoot but in different ways.
I leaned toward Solo II, because of the expense. I never spent over $1500 a
year and some years I hit 27 events. I was very competitive locally,
regionally and even against several national champions. I could have been
close nationally, but never wanted to up the $ commitment (on the car). Yet
every high-speed event I ran cost me $400-500 a weekend, (vs $50 for Solo
II). That was a  blast also, but since I stayed on such a tight budget, I
didn't feel it was worth the extra $money.   3 weekends chewed up a years
worth of solo money!  Several guys I know who "tracked" regularly, spent $5k
a year or up. Many spent $10k or more. Even with a 100hp 2002ti. And for
only 8-10 events.
Just pick the addiction that fits your wallet....
In either case, with any car, It could easily take 3-5 years worth of
regular driving skill practice before it gets really hard to make the car go
any faster.
Good drivers will always recommend you spend the money on you before you
spend money on the car. (given a somewhat respectable car) I tracked my
times versus the fastest available driver, or the PAX index, and practice
made my times drop, almost every event, for years and years, with almost the
same car...Weekly practice was the best...Took 2-3-4 weekly events to brush
off the winter cobwebs and get my times back down...
Knowing Solo, the SHO is not going to be the fastest car in the class, given
equal preparation and equal driving skill. There are too many other very
good cars in G stock, and street prepared as well. But it would be a very
good car to improve ones driving skills in, in either venue, for many years,
and be respectable. A good driver could whip 90% of G-stock cars in a decent
SHO, mostly due to driving ability, maybe more. I have seen that done with
cars that had much less capability than a SHO, (remember the LeCar?or the
Yugo? I've seen them kick butt!) A SHO is an above average car for that sort
of thing, but not the best. It's issues are mostly due to length, weight,
nose wt. bias, and tire limitations. I ran an equal weight car, with tires
twice as wide as a SHO, and ran well, but still got my butt kicked by the
ocassional well driven Porsche, cause they had 1000lbs less weight on the
exact same size tire..... You can only fight Physics for so long....Weight
eventually becomes much more of a limitation than power.....And money is the
other limitation...Sorry for the rambling...I just love SOLO...and
driving...anything that's fun...like a SHO
Lee
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Ron Porter" <ronporter@prodigy.net>
To: "'Mark Nunnally'" <marknunnally@JoiMail.com>; <SHOtimes@autox.team.net>
Sent: Wednesday, December 14, 2005 4:32 PM
Subject: RE: [Shotimes] OT: Ebay discount coupons


> Thanks for the info!!
>
> Ron Porter
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: shotimes-admin@autox.team.net [mailto:shotimes-admin@autox.team.net]
> On Behalf Of Mark Nunnally
> Sent: Wednesday, December 14, 2005 4:17 PM
> To: Ron Porter; SHOtimes@autox.team.net
> Subject: Re: [Shotimes] OT: Ebay discount coupons
>
> > I wish that there was a venue similar to auto-x, but on a road course.
> > Meaning not wheel-to-wheel, but single-car times runs around a track,
and
> > times tracked like an auto-x. Maybe I haven't been following things
> closely
> > enough and there is such a series, but that would be something that
would
> > interest me a lot.
>
> Ron, that's what I did with the black 89 with EMRA when I was in NY.
> Basically Solo 1.  Where it's you against the clock on a track.  We'd run
> practice and hot laps (just like a track event) although they'd let you
pass
> just about anywhere (which is a hoot!).  Do this all day, start getting a
> rough idea of where your lap times are falling, fiddle with the car, keep
> trying stuff through the day till you find the fastest line/set-up.  Then
at
> the end of the day it's just you running a balls to the wall, hanging it
on
> the line "qualifying" lap, or laps, on the track by yourself, just you and
> the track and the clock.  It's a blast!  Then they've give out awards and
> trophies and points and crap for the first few positions of each class.
> They have a season long points series.
>
> With EMRA, the SHO was a great car to run, since they classed it in like
ST2
> (like it was a slow turd or something). A 5.0L mustang, E36 M3, were ST1
or
> STGT, etc Things like the quaife were "free" and the 3.2L backdate was
> "free", etc.  pick your mods and stuff carefully to get the most speed,
but
> stay out of the next class.  I ended up running in ST1 due to the 12.2"
> wilwoods (brake upgrade class bump) but I cleaned house.  They had the SHO
> classed wrong IMHO, but due to no real knowledge of how capable they are
> (who really races them?).  I had guys pissing and moaning all season about
> my car, and how it should be bumped up.  Seems whatever class they put me
> in, those guys were complaining about it to.
>
> Www.emraracing.org
>
> Run anything, probably find a class for your wagon.  Some of the western
> events (watkins glen, etc) would be worth the drive, it's a hoot!  Just
> throw on some high temp pads and fluid, and race rubber, and hammer down.
>
> mark
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