DS competition gets easier, then tougher - SRT Forums

rallyfreak · 02-25-2008, 10:03 PM

Sounds like a couple of the national level DS ITR drivers are moving on to bigger and better things, but at the same time, DS is picking up a couple of very fast driver who just bought an ITR. Chang Ho Kim and Matt Murray are reported to be running in DS in Alan Pozner's old ITR. From what I hear, Kim bought the car, and Matt is driving it.

They finished 3rd and 4th at nationals last year. Should add some good competition for this season.

NeonDan · 02-25-2008, 10:08 PM

ITRs can be very hard to beat in the right hands

V-Kidd · 02-26-2008, 01:53 PM

Wow, I looked at the 2007 results and there was a WRX who took first place nearly .2 seconds faster than second place. I didn't know that they were that competitive because I always hear about ITR's dominating D-Stock. That threw me off. lol

Rallyfreak, are you planning to compete in the 2008 Finale in March?

rallyfreak · 02-26-2008, 09:33 PM

The who in the what now?

A WRX won the ProSolo championship last year in DS. My car was second and third. ITRs are fast, but not as good at ProSolo as they are at normal autocross. The WRX gets a huge advantage off the line in ProSolo, as they turn 1.7-1.8 second 60 ft times, while we FWD guys (ITR and SRT-4) turn 2.2-2.3 second times.

ITRs dominate the Solo Nationals. Though last year there was some spread of cars, but if you look back to 2006, it's pretty much all ITRs, with the occasional SRT-4, Crossfire, or JT in his TT.

If I still have my car next season, yes, I'll be at the ProSolo finale (which is in September, BTW). I love the ProSolo format. If you get a chance, go run a dual course ProSolo. It's the most fun I've had autocrossing. I'm planning to run at Washington DC and Toledo, as well as the Finale. If needed, I might try to attend a third event to score the most points heading into the finale.

I'm not sure if I'll stick around for Solo Nationals. I'm not sure I'll have enough vacation.

V-Kidd · 02-28-2008, 08:41 AM

I almost forgot about the fact that they launch way faster than other cars and that it actually comes to an advantage in ProSolo because there isn't a 1/4 mile stretch in the beginning that could be used for "catch-up". I was wondering though... Do you think you could have still beaten the driver in the WRX if you could have changed something in the driving or setup of your car?

Thanks for clearing up the date. I want to run a ProSolo course really bad, but it's so expensive and I know for a fact that my SRT-4's not competitive enough for that level. I also don't have R-Comps or the money to get them; all I have right now are Kumho Ecsta ASX all-season tires. lol So if I ran a ProSolo event, I would get smoked by over 4 seconds for sure just because of tires.

I wish I had the money to set my car up because I've had my entire setup for D-Stock figured out for so long. But I think it's okay... I can just keep using the local events to try to become a better driver for when I do get the money. I still have a lot to learn anyway.

But hey, I was wondering if you could take footage of all your runs. Like use a bullet cam on the side of your car. I always see videos of my cousin's 89' Civic Si and learn what lines he takes, entry, exit, etc. But it would also be very helpful to see footage of the way National level SRT-4's drive.

rallyfreak · 02-29-2008, 09:46 AM

I don't have a cam. It's on the wishilist, just haven't done it yet, and probably won't for a while, due to the economy and the volatile job market.

ProSolo is a lot of fun. You might want to come up to Toledo and if not run, at least watch for a bit. Though if you just watch, you'll wish you ran. Maybe try entering in a different class, like STU or SM something. Some of those classes have more variation in car prep.

I know I could have beaten the WRX if I didn't red light 3 times and hit cones on another run on the left side. Otu of 6 runs, I had only two clean ones. But, that's no good excuse. I had 6 tries, and I flubbed 4 of them. Justin drove really well too, and he deserved the win in the WRX. Note that I had the fastest right side run, if that helps you understand that yes, the SRT-4 can win.

Well, gotta run, my flight is boarding. Back to the snowy tundra of Michigan

SteveW · 03-01-2008, 12:13 AM

Prosolo is like a crash course in national level autocross competition for a newbie. When I was new on the scene back in '99/'00 I think Prosolo helped me a ton to become a decent autocrosser.

What's great about these events is, barring weather issues, they are 3 autocrosses in one but the best time from any one on each side are the only ones that count. You get to do a couple runs then watch national level competitors run the same course. Then you get to do a few more runs, watch again and sleep on it. Finally on Sunday morning after thinking about the courses and your driving all night, you get another crack at it. In my mind, it is a great way to learn fast how to compete at a national level.

You just have to keep in mind that the grand daddy events (NTs and the National Championships) are in the traditional format of just 3 runs each day. In these events it is balls to the wall with little chance for error or catchup.

Rallyfreak, I wish I could say I could try to take advantage of some ITRs moving on but I have no clue what this year has in store for me. I had been refocusing myself on my ANG weekend warrior career but now that seems all up in the air and like you're seeing, the economy and work seem to be slowing. The only consistent thing is change

V-Kidd · 03-03-2008, 04:54 PM

Ah, that sucks. I was really hoping that competitive SRT-4 drivers like you and Steve could post some autocross footage up. But I guess I'll be one of the first to do it because I just bought a minidv cam a couple months ago. I invested in one because I knew that I won't have the money for my car until I finish school. So I'm going to work years upon years to fine tune my driving abilities until then.

The BIG downside is that I only run local events and that the only modification I have is a stiffer front sway bar. So it won't help you guys much to watch my footage. But anyway, the first event I'll be going to is on March 30th (local), so you can expect a video sometime then.

Haha Yeah, I wouldn't want to go to ProSolo because all I'll do is want to run and then dwell on that for the entire time that I'm there. But I still might come to Toledo if my cousin goes there to run his STS prepped car.

Anyway, from how the results look, it looked like you could have beaten him. Were any of your coned runs faster than his fastest run?

rallyfreak · 03-03-2008, 06:57 PM

No, I only had one coned run, and I don't think it was faster. Saturday morning runs (the last ones of the event) were the fastest, as the course had the most rubber laid down on it by then.

I'm sure I could have beaten him if I had a good clean run on the left side, but by the same token if he had one more run, he probably could have improved his time to. No sense in debating it, I just didn't get it done. If I still have the car in fall, I'll be giving it another shot.

V-Kidd · 03-03-2008, 09:20 PM

Nice, well good luck! There's still a lot of time for preparation.

Hey, if you're big on saving money, there's some people who use security camera's to take out-of-car footage. It's only about $120. That could be a good alternative than buying a $500 minidv and a $100 camera mount to improve your driving.