Despite my car being wrecked, sitting immobile in some rural setting far away from my home while rain pours down… I am still beaming from the auto-x experience, and considering with great weight the application of my car towards this discipline and what that means for it’s reassembly.
What exactly is it, about auto-x, that has put me once again in an excited state about driving? My past complaints about auto-x have been primarily: not enough seat time for the $$. It’s like this… show up for a four hour evening, drive for four MINUTES, if your lucky.
AF Drift practices have been great for me in the past few years in that they have given an ENORMOUS amount of driving time. In fact, I would guess that in the past year of drifting, I have more track time than I did before in 4 years of auto-x.
However… I have recently found drift practice very boring. I ranted about it two entries ago, so I won’t explain, but the setting of auto-x has recently overwhelmed me. I’m in love again. Actually… maybe it’s just Ambrose Fung.
Really… a familiar crowd makes a big difference. The guys and girls (yes) are long term friends and acquaintances. There are many people who were present on my very first day running through cones, and there are people with whom I rode shotgun at a solo school numerous years ago. We’ve all watched each other develop and struggle. We kick each others asses on regular occasion, and in the end, we all appreciate the purpose of our night and realize that good competition makes things fun. Everyone is willing to help others.
I mentioned four minutes of driving in only four hours, and to some that seems like a waste of time. But I have now begun to appreciate this setting. Auto-x is largely about preparation. It’s about getting the job done without practice. It’s understanding what is fast and what is not, without trial and error. A forty second run, when you know you need to drop 2 tenths to make a win, or to beat your target, becomes more intense than a whole night of lapping. When one small mistake can break your night, the learning curve is steep, yet very rewarding to climb. I think this is why those with success become life addicts, and some often try a few times and never return. Disappointment is something that must be dealt with. There aren’t hero’s every night… but sometimes yes. Well done last night Rod.
Finally… the cars are great. A nicely build auto-x car is what I dream about all night. Come and see what I mean. The drift style seems so non-sensical in comparison.
So all these things in mind, my blown tranny and engine ( ) in mind… I have new auto fantasies. The first is an FD3S or EG6. The second is a GZE and some 13×7’s for the AE86. The appeal of a real light tune increases in comparison to drifting, where power upgrades are required, as is major drivetrain work. The AE86 in auto-x however, is not a car that can really get by with a light state of tune. It is after all 20 years old now, and suffers from major inadequacies in comparison to newer machinery, even after major work is done. Let’s see what happens.