I attending the last Solo 2 event for the Calgary Sports Car Club this past weekend. Our friend Ambrose, the Solo Director this year, was away competing at the SCCA Solo 2 Nationals in Topeka Kansas and he had asked for my help to design and setup this final course in his absence. This was the main reason I attended but I am glad I did.
I had originally planned to whore a ride (as usual) but a last minute decision put me driving the coupe for the last time this season. Our friend Warren co-drive with me as he too was without ride for this last
event. Always more fun to drive with someone imho…hope he enjoyed it too 🙂
The main reason for this post is simply my amazement with the car. Last year I had wanted to get out of the 2000lbs / 100hp game and the reason I got back in was the promise of 150hp+. However, one day back in the 86 and I am in love again. The coupe was running on our drift rubber which is 185/55R14 Kumho street rubber. The temperature all day was below 15C and the morning was damp which means the track was relatively slick for everyone. The course I had designed had five corners that were over 90deg and three of those were 180deg. There were short straights in between and hard accel zones at the start and finish. A few people had mentioned that it really looked like a turn and squirt course…not the typical way to describe friendly course for a powerless car on street tires.
Nevertheless, I had so much fun. How the AE86 can continue to impress me is baffling. The car was sliding everywhere and it became a game of how early I could step on the gas and how long I was willing to hold it down while the cars tires were almost never planted. I wasn’t really thinking about speed, I was just enjoying driving and the the runs didn’t ‘feel’ fast. Balancing the car though the different types of corners and trying to keep my foot down culminated in a 50.0sec run (with one cone not important to this comparison).
I had an opportunity to drive three other cars during fun runs at the end of the day, all of which should have prompty destroyed the Corolla. During the event, I had been making fun of the SC Miata drivers for not beating me by enough. When I drove the 200hp blown Miata later it was indeed FAST. The acceleration was scary, the level of grip from the race tires far far superior, and the balance…well…it’s a Miata. This the has definitely been one of my favorite cars to drive in Solo 2 (thanks Rod). The time when I get back was still only a couple secs quicker then the 86 at 48.2. The ESP TransAm was a different beast. Stupid wide tires and gobs of torque this car still managed to turn in as crisp as any car out there which amazed me (thanks Bill). Point and squirt…and boy did it squirt. Perfect for this course. Time? A half a sec faster then the 86, 49.6. Another car I drove was the JCW Mini S (thanks Jay). This is a damn fast car as well. It stuck with race tires, it had lots of torque, an LSD to get it down and was well balanced. Definitely could have been a contender for FTD at this event. Time was 1.5 secs faster then 86 at 48.6.
While I never really thought about it at the event, in retrospect I struggle to understand how a ~100hp, 185 street tire shod AE86 is only that far behind these other cars. On paper, they are way faster. In the drivers seat, they feel much faster. On the timesheet, the coupe was not as far behind as it should be. Why? Magic. This car is not the sum of it’s parts…I love driving it.
Next years Solo 2 season will be telling. The 86 will be a no excuses car with more then enough power and real tires. Will it live up to expectations or will we ruin the cars spirit?
-R