Quote:
Originally Posted by TBone
Gentlemen,
SoCalCamaro won't mention this but if you were to look at the AutoX standings for the events he mentioned you would probably find his name near the top, if not at the top, for all of the events he entered. I won't share his real name, ask him, because I do not know if he wants it publicly known. I will say that he has been tracking his car for that last few years in many variations and knows his stuff. Don't doubt, just bask in his knowledge and take it for free because it is worth a whole lot more.
Rant....
Folks, when you are looking for advice on these forums, either from vendors or posters, please use your head. I would sooner take the advice from a vendor who is out there doing it on the track and has a car using the parts they are selling than from one who just talks about it. Same goes for the folks giving advice about tracking or autoX their car. If they haven't been on the track then they have no business giving advice. Okay /rant.
OP, You might also want to ask this question in the Road Course/AutoX section of the boards so you can get some more exposure to the folks into AutoX.
Edit: I see you did, nevermind.
T.
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I'd like to add a couple pennies here...
SoCal may be a great engineer as well as a very talented driver, but that's not alway the case. Someone being fast, doesn't mean they are good, or even knowledgable about setting up a car.
Do you think on his own Sebastian Vettel could dial in his car as well as his engineer? Do you think his engineer can drive the car as fast as Vettel?
I only mention this because I went to a local auto-x event and talked to a guy in a Camaro that was posting some very fast and impressive times. I asked him a couple basic questions on his setup, and he told me he didn't have a clue, that someone else set the car up and he trusted what they were doing.
Some people will just be fast in whatever you give them.
A perfect example is Danny Popp driving the Lingenfelter Camaro. He won on Pedders, and he won on RideTech and he'd probably win on Eibach's or KW's or Bilsteins. Is one component better than the other? Or is it more important to have a proper balance of the components you have? Another good question might be: how strong was the competition in the class? Are there only 3 REALLY strong drivers that are always fighting it out? Or are there 10 REALLY strong drivers in the class? In other-words, are your odds of winning really 1 in 3, or 1 in 10?
I couldn't agree more with blindly trusting advice on the internet (Google my sig). My advice is to learn the stuff yourself. There are tons of great books by very talented engineers on suspension theory and setup. There are also great books on driving technique as well as driving schools.
Sadly, most people just want the fast answer, and don't want to take the time to understand what the parts do that they blindly throw at their cars, and more importantly, how those parts work together to make a balanced car, or how to get their car to work with their driving style.
Just because someone is fast with X,Y & Z, doesn't mean that combination will work for 'everyone', or another combination won't be just as fast, or faster…