First Autocross

[Tim Irwin <timi@Interlinq.com>]

Well I did my first autocross yesterday. A beautiful 70 deg., sunny day at
Boeing/Kent. _Lots_ of fun, though I could have gone for a few more runs. My
initial impressions are:

*	The Eagle GA's suck, still, with better driving in a couple of the
corners, I could have dropped the extra two seconds and gotten into a trophy
in the novice class.
*	ABS doesn't help when you don't start breaking until the pivot cone
(gee, I don't think I'll make this next gate... now what do I do?).
*	2nd gear power band is great.
*	ran 43 psi front, 38 rear (hot), was still rolling onto the shoulder
on right front (some hard left corners), all other tires were OK.
*	not enough headroom for the helmet (stick it out the sunroof)

Comments heard:
*	Wow, its great to see someone running a Jetta (A3)
*	Beautiful color
*	That car is so quiet (stock exhaust, running at the same time as the
prepared/modified classes)
*	VW's have certainly gotten fancier over the years (from the novice
chairman who was nice enough to ride with me my first run and help with tire
pressures afterwards)

Awards won:
*	Novice sportsman (bucket of detailing supplies) -- The novice chairs
liked my car 8-)

Interesting cars
*	Several A1 Rabbits & GTI's running CSP
*	Turbo diesel Rabbit (CSP) running very respectable times
*	83 Mercedes turbo diesel (probably quieter than my car)

I didn't see what all was being run in the morning (Stock) session, but mine
was the only A3 there in the afternoon.

High performance driving school tomorrow at SIR 8-)))).

Tim Irwin
'98 Jetta GLX
Porcelain Blue
Slightly scuffed Eagle GA's