hrd-hr30

found a vid from the fastest 2WD at the autocross - Craig Newell in his Civic rally car on RE55S: can see why FWD's go alright at the autocross. Alot easier to actually get some drive happening. Doesn't look half as much fun though.

just buy springs locally. King Springs or whatever. All you need is the measurements. Will most likely be 65mm ID, then all you need to know is the free length. Kings work in lb-in though. 6kg = 335lb. Kings will have 325 or 350lb. Kings Prosport Catalogue

Next event for something different is Grafton Hillclimb on March 6. Only $55 entry fee - genuine 1974 prices! But a 4hr drive to get there. I've been there once in '07 with the old 230rwkw CA18DET 1200, so it will be interesting to see how the 180SX goes compared to it. 51.54 seconds to beat... Might be up against it - the 180 is easier to drive and probably makes better use of its power, but 300kg heavier and 50bhp less at the wheels is alot to make up... but the 180SX was faster at the Autocross than my old R32 GTR 180SX 1:44.5548 R32GTR 1:48.3 Reverse Direction 180SX 1:44.7916 R32GTR 1:46.3 GTR was on the crap, hard, nearly bald tyres it came over with on the boat though...

oh, and don't worry about witches hats - even the biggest ones are harmless...

I did a khanacross at Parklands about 10 years ago. It was a little rough in places. I wouldn't recommend that for a road car. The IWMAC Autocross is smoother than that horrible racetrack that's right next door - QR! No problem at all for my car which is really setup for track - reasonably low, not much travel with the Tein coilovers and 7/6kg springs. Only needs a good clean out in the wheelarches! Morgan Park started life as a dirt short circuit before it evolved into what it is now. And Carnell at Stanthorpe used to be a dirt short circuit as well I think, but has been bitumen for the whole time I've known it. The IWMAC Autocross track is the last of the maintained dirt circuit as far as I know. There was talk years ago of sealing it too, but I'm glad they didn't because its pretty unique the way it is. Scooby - congrats on the racing debut! And good work keeping up with Tony's RX7, its obviously far more powerful and he also runs full slicks. Would have been pretty hairy racing against FF's! Would be bloody hard to see them alongside you in a car. CAMS would never run open wheelers against tin-tops.

just on normal street tyres. they don't allow rally tyres (or anything nobby) the fast/serious guys use semi slicks becaus ethe track ends up being really hard packed and rubbered up like a speedway track after a couple of runs. hearing tyres squeal on dirt is strange...

I was only that high up for the first two runs mate. Was much further down the field after the track got grippy and the people taking it seriously started going fast. I got slower thanks to all the penalties I was collecting in the 3rd and 4th runs hehe http://www.natsoft.com.au/cgi-bin/results.cgi?20/02/2011.WP It does seem to suit the fronties pretty well. That's probably how it ended up, with the AWDs then a few fronties. I dare say I was midfield by the end of the day. But I was just there for the skids...

those time attack days up here are just plain old everyday sprints... same as has been happening for decades before someone called it time attack and you heard about it Noel...

all I can say is, "too much fun"! it went pretty much as expected - by the third run the track had rubbered up and the guys driving it straight on semis started going quick. But while the road was still just loose dirt for the first couple of runs I was running 5th and 6th outright. But I just kept sliding it around after the track got grippy so my times weren't very good after that - especially when I started getting penalties for clobbering a few witches hats (5sec each!) and then had a long overdue spin in the 4th run lol I had kinda been asking for that all day... Then we ran the track in reverse direction for 2 runs. It was great fun. I'll probably go back for the next one as well. I somehow managed to win the >3000cc class even with the 15seconds of penalties plus a spin and stall on one run, but I was only up against a bunch of Commodores... Noddy entered his Skyline, but turned up in a friends WRX with the R33 stuck at home with a cracked manifold. Apparently! I reckon he just wanted to get into one of those dirty cheating AWD turbo things, but he'd never admit it... I've put the couple of vids in the in-car thread.

From the autocross yesterday. Its a short, smooth dirt circuit. Awesome fun! 2nd run of the day - messing around with what gear to be in throught he middle of the track. 6th outright on this run, surprisingly! And the first run in the reverse direction

I've decided that I want more variety in my motorsport this year, and its been far too long since I've had a proper fang on dirt so I've entered a dirt autocross event at Ipswich this Sunday. I did a few of them back in the days of my old L18 powered Datto 1200 - probably in 2001 or 2002. And one in my GTR in 2006 just for giggles. So its been 5 years since I've been there. Its a nice smooth dirt course that rubbers up as the day goes on, a bit like a speedway track. Tyres start squealing after a couple of runs! No rally tyres allowed or even anything nobby, so its normal street rubber or semis. The fast guys use semis and as the track rubbers up they keep it straight & smooth on the dark line - boring! I think I'll just use my street tyres and let it all hang out... The results are a bit different in that its the total of every single lap of every run - there's nowhere to hide a bad lap in this form of motorsport! Each run is a standing start + 2 flying laps IIRC. Anyone interested can find entry forms here: http://iwmac.org.au/ You can even enter on the day if they don't have a full field.

If the NT-01's perform anything like the R888, you're probably better off with the Federal RSR IMO. I had a set or R888s on the 180SX. They were the worst performing semi I've ever used. By a country mile.

have you only owned Rovers before?

Sparco Sprint V carries the tag FIA CS.180.06 Homologated under the FIA standard 8855-1999. Its a tubular steel frame, not really rair to call it wire. The new FIA standard is 8862-2009, but as of 16/12/2010 there are 13 seats in the world that comply to the new standard, almost half of which are made in NZ by Racetech - good on them! FIA STANDARD 8862-2009:ADVANCED RACING SEAT From the looks of it, no seat without the wings around the head has any chance of passing. you'll find both the approved seat lists here: http://argent.fia.com/web/fia-public.nsf/wtech?OpenForm〈=a

here's one someone prepared earlier. you may recognise it... http://www.my105.com/ListingDetails/tabid/65/p/17/cid/518/id/3723/Default.aspx a bit pricey though!

strange - I found them the most comfortable competition seat around. Mainly thanks to the sprung base. No shell seat can compete with that kind of comfort. I'd put my money on a steel framed Sparco offering far greater protection in a crash than any factory seats found in Skylines or similar. They met the 1999 FIA standard, so its not like they're rubbish. The newer FIA standard isn't enforced for circuit racing in Australia, possibly due to there being just 13 seats on the approved list (maybe that's out of date!). But the Sprint can still be used in sprints and even circuit racing in Aus. I bent mine in a crash* in a rally. At least that makes you replace it rather than think its fine to keep using as would probably be the case if you had a similar crash in a fibreglass shell seat... * actually, I'd call it an "off". we hit a kerb sideways with enough force to send us airborne and spinning in mid air. but we managed to finish the event. Albeit with with minor chassis and suspension damage, a very noisey rear wheel bearing, and a cracked rim.

I'd swear my old steel framed Sparco Sprint had FIA approval on the side of it...

leaving them to "cure" for 24hrs after the initial use is simply not practical. Just follow their 1st session recomendations, then drive as you normally would after that.

got another one for you: NSW – WAKEFIELD PARK – 24th Apr – Nissan-Datsun Nationals - http://www.datnats.com/

yep, I loved the KU36. Great bang for buck, and awesome fun. You had to slide them around a bit to get the times out of them. 60 seconds on my old Supra with Tein Flex, pod, and catback.

THEY'RE NOT BANNING BULLBARS ON 4WDs!!! maybe people will see it now?

sounds like that 50mm is not only suspension lift, but total lift including tyres and bodylifts as well. ie it says 50mm lift to trim height, which is the edge of the gaurd/flare. That would suck for 4WDs. Any links to actual info about the proposed change?

Summary of proposed requirements for vehicles and VFPS (bull bars) The Australian Automotive Aftermarket Assoc called for Adoption of AS 4876.1 (2002) in the Industry Position Paper for Vehicle Front Protection Systems (VFPS) Bull Bars, June 2009. http://www.aaaa.com.au/files/issues/PositionPaperBullbars.pdf These 4WD Action dickheads need to learn to read FFS. The Industry got what they wanted and there is no proposed ban on bullbars for 4WDs.

just got an email from the Short Circuit Motor Sport Assn announcing dates for the Preston Peak Wines Sprint Challenge and Short Circuit Touring Car Series at Carnell Raceway Stanthorpe)this year: May 28-19 Oct 29-30 Carnell is a short circuit track, 1.1km of tight twisty technical stuff. Very good fun. Suits AWD cars very well as they can put power down out of the tight corners. Also gives the cars that handle well a good chance. There's 2 events running in conjunction with each other - 1)The Sprints are run to proper (ie QLD ) Supersprint rules. 4 cars on the track (because its such a short track), starting in pairs from a standing start. Run 4 laps. Results are based on the total time for the 4lap session. Timing starts when you leave the start line. You can either race head to head with the other car, or wait a few seconds then go. Categories are as per CAMS Manual, but sensibly they don't enforce restrictors for turbo cars in Improved Production - at least they didn't when I ran there in 2008 & 2009. Its very laid back. 2)The Short Circuit Touring Cars is proper racing. Short Circuit rules & regs here: http://www.scmsa.com.au/main_pages/sc_rule_book/scmsa_rule_book_info.htm this will give you a bit of an idea what the sprints are like in a very fast WRX: http://www.youtube.com/user/nickcwrxsti

whatever. just don't recommend it as "fantastic" to others. The speed wobbles weren't caused by the 4WD tyres if that's what you're getting at. lol sounds like the load was poorly setup on the trailer. Drawbar weight is important to the towing dynamics.