Autocrossed the Jelly Bean!!

[legacy92ej22t]

I competed in my first ever AutoX (Solo) SCCA event today in the '96 Outback. EJ22 totally stock with 175k miles, original suspension etc...

It was raining and I placed 4th in my class (Novice Stock) @ 38.3 being beat by a Lotus Elise, my buddies 335XI and a new Outback (by .05 of a second). The Lotus only beat me by less then 2 seconds. and my buddy in the 335XI by 1. At first the people there were kinda snickering at the Jelly Bean......until I started spanking there times! Everybody was in shock that my heap was keeping up, but in Solo, it's 75% driver. I even beat my buddy that was running his slightly modded '05 STI by 2 seconds. It was pretty cool seeing the shock on everyones faces. They gave trophies through 4th in my class so I got an Outstanding Competitor award and the SCCA guys were like "Man, great job out there!" It felt good.

The best time of the day was put down my a newer Celica that was modded to the gills and he only ran a 34.8

It was a lot of fun.

I wonder what I could have done in a real car, like Subarina.......

[n2x4]

Good Job!

I'm actually signed up for my first autocross in my wagon next weekend. I've never gone before but I've got a few friends that want to try it out as well so we're going.

I know I'll be in a stupid class since I've got modifications but oh well, it should be fun.

Any tips for a first time autocrosser? Something you'd have done differently/wish you would have known about?

[legacy92ej22t]

Thanks.

My only advice is stay tight to the cones in the cicanes, and when in doubt, go full out!

It really depends on the course but a big thing I was doing that others weren't is shifting into 2nd in the straights/cicanes and rev matching/down shifting back to 1st in the corners so that I came out hot and high in the revs.

[n2x4]

Good point. I've actually been practicing my rev matching. It's so much easier in the Legacy than in my wagon.

[impreza_GC8]

Good job, sounds like you drove your car very well. I love AutoX'ing my STS prepped RS. My "jellybean" turbo '97 Outback is a RallyX only toy. You should try out RallyX if you haven't already.

[Legacy777]

What speed were you getting into 1st? I almost have to be stopped to get into first..

[ultrasonic]

What speed were you getting into 1st? I almost have to be stopped to get into first..

Try double clutching the downshift, that should make it pretty easy to get into first at a reasonable speed.

[legacy92ej22t]

What speed were you getting into 1st? I almost have to be stopped to get into first..

I was probably still going 20 to 25 mph when downshifting into 1st. The way I do it is go from 2nd to -n- while blipping throttle and apply pressure to 1st while the revs climb, when it pops into 1st on it's own cause the revs are right, dump clutch and apply throttle at same time. No grinding at all.

[evolutionmovement]

I used to do a similar thing as Matt in emergency downshifting (the kind of thing you might need to do when a bunch of shithead Cambridge bikers block the road and an opening in opposing traffic shows up). Other gears I could match exactly, but 1st would take an over-rev, then letting it drop while trying to engage 1st.

[Legacy777]

Mine still is a little cranky getting into first. I'll try those suggestions.


Fucking Cambridge bikers......they deserved to get run over

[beatersubi]

Fucking Cambridge bikers......they deserved to get run over

Critical mass? They're subaru haters: example

[Redlined]

two sided story the truth of with will most likely never be known by John Q Public.

Having been a religous bicycle rider. Riding up to 20 miles a day for 5 years. I well know that there are some SERIOUS dick heads out there. I got fish hooked by a city bus once. (fishhooked: The act of speeding up to pass a bicyclist to jam on the breaks and turn in front of them). A city bus... to damn impatient to wait the ..3 or 4 seconds it would take me to clear the intersection.

On the other end of the spectrum you get asshole bicyclists, run red lights. cut off traffic. etc etc

suffice to say there are a great number of jerk-wads on both sides of the fence.

[evolutionmovement]

I don't ride on the street anymore because I've had bottles thrown at me (even from the other side of the street) and people swerving at me and such. I don't blame the drivers, I blame the homo cyclists out there that deliberately piss people off when they ride with street-blocking tactics, hiding behind an outdated law that allows them to do it (yet they often conveniently ignore them at traffic lights or one-way streets). It's not just for my safety that I avoid the streets, either - it's also that I don't want to be associated with the Lance Armstrong wannabe toolbags out there. They're a big reason I'd never let myself own a truck, although a big panel van could come in handy.

[92ss satinsvoice]

i personally have only had one insident where a biker was riding in the street in on coming traffic. but it was a kid around the age 14-15.

i jumped out of my car and was going to beat the crap out of him cause he was internally trying to get run over or something. i was driving the speed limit and was going home. when i noticed something in the road about 150 or so yards. it was hard to tell what it was because it was dark out side and around 3 in the morning.


as it keep'd getting closer i started slowing down, untill he was about 20 feet from my bumper i would make out it was a kid. so i slammed on my brakes almost hitting him. being enraged about this kids ignorance and lack of IQ in how dangerous it is to pull such a stupid stunt i yelled at him and left before I did something just as dumb. or worse like taking his bike and beating him with it.

when ever i drive i alway give the bikers right of way and if there going too slow i'll just switch lanes. its just that simple.

[smh0101]

i personally have only had one insident where a biker was riding in the street in on coming traffic. but it was a kid around the age 14-15.

i jumped out of my car and was going to beat the crap out of him cause he was internally trying to get run over or something. i was driving the speed limit and was going home. when i noticed something in the road about 150 or so yards. it was hard to tell what it was because it was dark out side and around 3 in the morning.


as it keep'd getting closer i started slowing down, untill he was about 20 feet from my bumper i would make out it was a kid. so i slammed on my brakes almost hitting him. being enraged about this kids ignorance and lack of IQ in how dangerous it is to pull such a stupid stunt i yelled at him and left before I did something just as dumb. or worse like taking his bike and beating him with it.

when ever i drive i alway give the bikers right of way and if there going too slow i'll just switch lanes. its just that simple.

Oh yea, I remember that night...