BSCC Autocross School - March 16th, 2003

A big thanks to Bob Koch and James Mutton, who did all of the filming that was taken outside my car. Thanks again, guys!

Note: There have been some reports of people having dificulties downloading the MPEG files below - specifically that Windows Media Player shows the clip as being completely loaded and shorter than the actual file. If the video clip you download seems truncated (short), then try right-clicking on the link (or the picture) and selecting "Save Target As..." from the menu and saving the file to your hard drive. I haven't had any problems with this, and you can verify that you have the complete file by checking the size of the file on your hard drive with the file size listed on this page.

Update (May 8th, 2003): All videos have been converted to use the Windows Media v9 codec rather than the MPEG-1 codec that was originally used. This yields a 90+% reduction in file size, with very little quality reduction. Thus the videos on this page have gone from a total of 290MB down to 17.5MB. If you don't have Windows Media Player v9 or later, then please visit Microsoft and download Media Player 9 Series. Enjoy!

Drill Station 1: Constant Slalom

s1.gif (18KB)
Drill Station Map (details)

ErikSlalom1-InCar.jpg
ErikSlalom1-InCar.wmv (1.2MB: 26sec)

Erik running the slalom - video from inside the car. This was a pretty good run, IMHO - there was still room for improvement on the turnaround, but I think I did the rest of it pretty well.

BrianSlalom1.jpg
BrianSlalom1.wmv (0.6MB: 14sec)

Brian running the slalom and smearing a cone... part of the sequence that earned him (temporarily) the title of "Coninator". You can see the effects of Brian's RSR springs as there is much less body roll in the turnaround than with others' cars.

DanSlalom1.jpg
DanSlalom1.wmv (1.1MB: 26sec)

Dan running the slalom really well. He's got a bit of body roll from the stock suspension, and you can hear him lose traction after the turnaround due to his car being FWD and there being lots of water on the track.

ErikSlalom1.jpg
ErikSlalom1.wmv (0.9MB: 24sec)

Erik running the slalom - a decent run, but there was room for improvement in the initial entry and the turnaround. Also check out the difference between the thumbnail pictures of my car and Dan's car - we're going about the same speed at that part of the course. That's swaybars, baby! And he has a lighter car, too!

Drill Station 2: Variable Slalom

s2.gif (19KB)
Drill Station Map (details)

ErikSlalom2-InCar.jpg
ErikSlalom2-InCar.wmv (1.3MB: 34sec)

Erik running the slalom with Alfred riding shotgun - in-car footage. This was one of my good runs before I handed the camera to James for some external filming.

BrianDriftismo.jpg
BrianDriftismo.wmv (1.4MB: 33sec)

Brian doing a little cone-farming and then "forgetting" about the rest of the slalom and getting in on a little gran-driftismo action. Kids, don't try this at home. Oh, and Brian's got mud spots on his headliner from this one :-)

ErikSlalom2.jpg
ErikSlalom2.wmv (1.3MB: 33sec)

My last run of the day, ending on a good note. I almost overcooked cone 6 on the way out, but I caught it in time and corrected it. I was really happy with this run.

ErikSlalom2Cone.jpg
ErikSlalom2Cone.wmv (0.4MB: 9sec)

That left a mark... and no love from the videographer :-)

ErikSlalom2Cones.jpg
ErikSlalom2Cones.wmv (1.4MB: 32sec)

After 5 great runs in a row, I took the camera out of the car and handed it to James to get some external footage. This was the result. And that's Bob who's betting on me :-) Apparently, this is where Brian lost his title...

MikeSlalom2.jpg
MikeSlalom2.wmv (1.3MB: 29sec)

Mike getting a little more aggressive with the car and going much faster through the slalom. He almost overcooks cone 8 on the way out, but does a nice job of saving it. Then on the re-entry into the slalom (7-8) on the way back, he overcooks it and corrects the oversteer once, but loses the tail as it comes back the other way.

Drill Station 3: Handling Oval

s3.gif (21KB)
Drill Station Map (details)

ErikOval-InCar.jpg
ErikOval-InCar.wmv (1.4MB: 37sec)

It was raining, so this was the only footage of the slalom station. This was one of my better runs, and I was refining my braking zones the portion of the line associated with braking.

Drill Station 4: High[er] Speed Sweeping Turns

s4.gif (26KB)
Drill Station Map (details)

ErikSweepers-InCar.jpg
ErikSweepers-InCar.wmv (0.9MB: 24sec)

In car footage from my car for the sweepers station - Kris (instructor) is riding shotgun. At this point, I had the line pretty much figured out, but I was still being pretty conservative with my speed.

AlfredSweepers.jpg AlfredSweepers.wmv (1.0MB: 22sec)
You can really hear Alfred's TurboXS RFL blow-off valve in this clip. It and the exhaust sounds show he was a little too "binary" with the throttle - the instructors must have worked with him a on this issue, because he got much smoother as the day went on.

BrianSweepers.jpg
BrianSweepers.wmv (0.9MB: 23sec)

Here's Brian really cruising through this station. I think he was drifting slightly as he rounded gates 9 and 10, or at least he had some decent slip angle working there. You can hear from the exhaust noise that he does a good job of only making small throttle adjustments in the middle of the corners.

ErikSweepers.jpg
ErikSweepers.wmv (1.0MB: 24sec)

Here's me going through this station. I could have taken the first big corner (gates 4-10) a little faster, but I didn't get setup correctly on the transition between 4 and 5. After 10, though, I went through pretty well.

JamesSweepers.jpg
JamesSweepers.wmv (0.9MB: 21sec)

James with a good run through the station - I think at the very end he lifted off the throttle a little too much between gates 14 and 15, which made the rear get a little loose.

RichardSweepers.jpg
RichardSweepers.wmv (0.5MB: 12sec)

Here's one of the instructors, Richard, driving his Grand Am through the sweepers - he spun twice on his last run, and here we go again. That's "ruthless Bob" on the camera...

ShawnSweepers.jpg
ShawnSweepers.wmv (0.7MB: 16sec)

Here's Shawn with arguably the most entertaining run of the day. He almost saved it, but much to the spectators' joy, he didn't :-)

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Last Modified Fri May 23 2003 19:46:42 PDT

s1.gif (18KB) Drill Station Map (details)	ErikSlalom1-InCar.jpg ErikSlalom1-InCar.wmv (1.2MB: 26sec) Erik running the slalom - video from inside the car. This was a pretty good run, IMHO - there was still room for improvement on the turnaround, but I think I did the rest of it pretty well.
BrianSlalom1.jpg BrianSlalom1.wmv (0.6MB: 14sec) Brian running the slalom and smearing a cone... part of the sequence that earned him (temporarily) the title of "Coninator". You can see the effects of Brian's RSR springs as there is much less body roll in the turnaround than with others' cars.	DanSlalom1.jpg DanSlalom1.wmv (1.1MB: 26sec) Dan running the slalom really well. He's got a bit of body roll from the stock suspension, and you can hear him lose traction after the turnaround due to his car being FWD and there being lots of water on the track.
ErikSlalom1.jpg ErikSlalom1.wmv (0.9MB: 24sec) Erik running the slalom - a decent run, but there was room for improvement in the initial entry and the turnaround. Also check out the difference between the thumbnail pictures of my car and Dan's car - we're going about the same speed at that part of the course. That's swaybars, baby! And he has a lighter car, too!

s2.gif (19KB) Drill Station Map (details)	ErikSlalom2-InCar.jpg ErikSlalom2-InCar.wmv (1.3MB: 34sec) Erik running the slalom with Alfred riding shotgun - in-car footage. This was one of my good runs before I handed the camera to James for some external filming.
BrianDriftismo.jpg BrianDriftismo.wmv (1.4MB: 33sec) Brian doing a little cone-farming and then "forgetting" about the rest of the slalom and getting in on a little gran-driftismo action. Kids, don't try this at home. Oh, and Brian's got mud spots on his headliner from this one :-)	ErikSlalom2.jpg ErikSlalom2.wmv (1.3MB: 33sec) My last run of the day, ending on a good note. I almost overcooked cone 6 on the way out, but I caught it in time and corrected it. I was really happy with this run.
ErikSlalom2Cone.jpg ErikSlalom2Cone.wmv (0.4MB: 9sec) That left a mark... and no love from the videographer :-)	ErikSlalom2Cones.jpg ErikSlalom2Cones.wmv (1.4MB: 32sec) After 5 great runs in a row, I took the camera out of the car and handed it to James to get some external footage. This was the result. And that's Bob who's betting on me :-) Apparently, this is where Brian lost his title...
MikeSlalom2.jpg MikeSlalom2.wmv (1.3MB: 29sec) Mike getting a little more aggressive with the car and going much faster through the slalom. He almost overcooks cone 8 on the way out, but does a nice job of saving it. Then on the re-entry into the slalom (7-8) on the way back, he overcooks it and corrects the oversteer once, but loses the tail as it comes back the other way.

s4.gif (26KB) Drill Station Map (details)	ErikSweepers-InCar.jpg ErikSweepers-InCar.wmv (0.9MB: 24sec) In car footage from my car for the sweepers station - Kris (instructor) is riding shotgun. At this point, I had the line pretty much figured out, but I was still being pretty conservative with my speed.
AlfredSweepers.jpg AlfredSweepers.wmv (1.0MB: 22sec) You can really hear Alfred's TurboXS RFL blow-off valve in this clip. It and the exhaust sounds show he was a little too "binary" with the throttle - the instructors must have worked with him a on this issue, because he got much smoother as the day went on.	BrianSweepers.jpg BrianSweepers.wmv (0.9MB: 23sec) Here's Brian really cruising through this station. I think he was drifting slightly as he rounded gates 9 and 10, or at least he had some decent slip angle working there. You can hear from the exhaust noise that he does a good job of only making small throttle adjustments in the middle of the corners.
ErikSweepers.jpg ErikSweepers.wmv (1.0MB: 24sec) Here's me going through this station. I could have taken the first big corner (gates 4-10) a little faster, but I didn't get setup correctly on the transition between 4 and 5. After 10, though, I went through pretty well.	JamesSweepers.jpg JamesSweepers.wmv (0.9MB: 21sec) James with a good run through the station - I think at the very end he lifted off the throttle a little too much between gates 14 and 15, which made the rear get a little loose.
RichardSweepers.jpg RichardSweepers.wmv (0.5MB: 12sec) Here's one of the instructors, Richard, driving his Grand Am through the sweepers - he spun twice on his last run, and here we go again. That's "ruthless Bob" on the camera...	ShawnSweepers.jpg ShawnSweepers.wmv (0.7MB: 16sec) Here's Shawn with arguably the most entertaining run of the day. He almost saved it, but much to the spectators' joy, he didn't :-)