WDCR Autocross

[Josh R.]

Well I just signed up to autocross a 2013 GT-R with the DC region tomorrow. Should be interesting. And words of advice or encouragement? I signed up for ASP, is that right for a completely stock GT-R?

[marka]

Howdy,

Should be similar to your HS Civic.  No worries.

Mark

[Josh R.]

Ha!
I would probably be faster in a Civic...

[roundel]

And words of advice or encouragement?

Cool.  It's an amazing car with a lot of electronic wizardry.  Don't be afraid to ask it to so some pretty ridiculous stuff, once you confirm the owner has already put a cone mark on it. 

Importantly - HAVE FUN!

[DarkHelmet]

soooooooooooo....

details?

I've seen them run nationally in ASP and modded for it, so a stock one should be plenty fun

at least it would be a neat story 

[Josh R.]

Yeah when I get a chance I'll tell yinz about it.

But for now, let me just say that I can't remember the last time I had that much fun in a car...

[Mark Aubele]

I just hope it didn't turn you gay, or make you a DMB fan (not that there is anything wrong with being gay).  These cars seem to have this effect on people. 

[rrobb]

I just hope it didn't turn you gay, or make you a DMB fan

What's the difference?

[Mark Aubele]

I just hope it didn't turn you gay, or make you a DMB fan

What's the difference?

Being a DMB fan is a conscious choice.  There is also nothing wrong with being gay, but plenty wrong with being a DMB fan. I can't imagine how many accidents have happened on the road from people frantically trying to change the station when any one of their abortions of music comes over the radio. 

[rrobb]

Wow. I learn something new every day.

I had no idea that people listened to that stuff by choice.

[Josh R.]

I just hope it didn't turn you gay, or make you a DMB fan (not that there is anything wrong with being gay).  These cars seem to have this effect on people. 

It DID turn me gay!

But I still don't like DMB. Dubstep, on the other hand...

[Josh R.]

I’ll apologize in advance…I’m probably going to end up rambling here.
I was in DC visiting my good friend from way back.  This is the same guy that had a 2010 GT-R and a 2011 R8 V10 at the same time.  He now just has the ’13 GT-R and a more “regular” SUV.  Anyway, he ended up having to take one of his workers to the airport on Sunday morning, so he just tossed me the keys and said, “Go have fun, I’ll see ya there.”  Nice.  So I got on the Beltway and headed east.  I took it very easy on my way over to the site, which is FedEx Field.  There were hardly any cars on the road, which made it pretty difficult to behave. The trip was pretty uneventful save from a thumbs-up and some stares, and I never really opened it up.

Running with the WDCR is pretty cool.  I can definitely recommend trying out their events sometime.  Their solo committee was super nice.  First of all, they let me register late the night before (since I didn’t realize they don’t do walk up registration).  Also, when I got there I just asked for someone to tell me how their day works and where tech, grid, etc. was, and I got plenty of help.  Their lot is pretty damn big, easily 2, maybe 3 times as big as PIRC's VDA.  The grip levels are pretty low, as most of it looks like it’s been sealed fairly recently. They divided their event into a morning session and an afternoon session, and you don't have to be there for the session you’re not in.  I got 4 runs and was outta there by 12:30 which is pretty awesome.  About half way through my first course walk I realized that it was pretty much useless.  I had no idea what the car would do.  I’ve driven fast cars fast, but never tried to autocross one.  I have no idea how to walk a course with a big, heavy, high hp, AWD car in mind.  I walked it a few times anyway and took my best guess as to what it would really do.  The course was good, but I wouldn’t call it great.  It basically alternated between fairly tight turns and longer fast sections. 

The car is just a TON of fun.  I turned all the nannies off (R mode, stiffened shocks, ESC off) and just let'er rip.  Lifting or coasting on turn in produces some moderate understeer, but you can just use the throttle to rotate the car nicely and once you were pointed in the right direction you can just mash the throttle and hang on.  The car stops like you've thrown 5 or 6 anchors out the trunk.  I stabbed the brakes HARD after the fastest section (which, in the GT-R was about 80!) and there was no ABS or wheel lock up.  Just slowing down f**king fast.  Obviously this is the fastest car I’ve ever tried to autocross.  And it’s a handful.  It was difficult for me to look and plan ahead.  My arms hurt after my second run.  But every single one of my runs was 53.XXX seconds. The fastest stock (SS) time was 47.5 and my best was a 53 flat.  I'm not sure how much more the car actually has in it.  Aside from me having more time in it to figure it out, I think all I could really improve are the tires (and being able to adjust air pressure would have been really nice).  I'm certain I was overdriving it, but I was just out there to have fun and thrash a GT-R.  In my opinion a GT-R is just not at home on an autocross course...a big one at that.  On a course like the ones we're used to here, forget about it.  It felt really hard to carry any speed through the tight sections, but goddamn the longer fast sections were FUN! As a side note, by the time my friend showed up I had just got done with my runs. It's really weird to explain to people that you don't own the car, and your friend, who isn't even THERE, is letting you autocross his very expensive brand new car. But people are interested in it, and its fun to talk about it.  I think people are more willing to talk to you when they find out you DON'T own the car!  Plus, I'm sure I know more about it than my buddy does...

On the way back to my buddy’s house I was feeling a little a little more confident and there were many more cars on the road.  I had some fun with an E63 AMG and a Cayenne Turbo S.  EVERY. SINGLE. Mustang GT and one Camaro SS wanted to test the GT-R.  Two taps of the paddle down into 4th gear and they were GONE.  I’ve NEVER been in a car that will go from 60 to I-don’t-know-because-I-wasn’t-looking so fast.  That includes the old GT-R, the R8, and the CTS-V coupe I drove (and also LOVE).  That made me feel better about getting raw timed by Miatas.

All in all I had a blast.  Big props and thanks to the WDCR SCCA.
I love the GT-R.  I can't get the sound it makes out of my head. I would gladly own one.  Gay or not.

Here's a decent RANDOM (i.e. not me) video of what the course looked like:

Daniel Run 3 WDCR 8 5 12 real

[DarkHelmet]

I'm shocked to hear that you didn't think there was allot of grip there. That's a popular site for Pros and I've never heard of any locals griping about grip there.

The site is kinda unique, that's for sure. Where was the camera mounted? on the Hood ? Very cool story and glad you enjoyed it. I like just about  most cars and I'm glad that there are some of those cars out there being used and abused 

Now, if you were playing "Yanni, live @ the Acropolis" while out on runs, then we'd all start worrying about you.

[Josh R.]

Sorry I wasn't very clear on that video. It's not my video. Just a random one I found on YouTube for the event. I fixed the OP.

 Regarding the surface, not all of it was slick. But a large portion of it was. And again, the sealant looks fairly new. They mentioned the surface changes several times that morning, it looked slick, how the car understeered and the sound it made when it did, lead me to think that it was slick. Okay, with all that said, I could just be wrong. New (very fast) car, new place, etc...

[DarkHelmet]

my bad,Josh I missed that it wasn't your video

Regardless... awesome to hear you enjoyed it.

[Josh R.]

No, my fault Brian.

Also, the more I think about it, the start of the course was just AWFUL.  I think they must have designed it to take away any advantage the AWD cars would have on the slick surface headed uphill.