Autocross School - WHOA!

[innochadi]

Yesterday I had the thrill of attending an autocross/performance driving school in Shelton put on by the Boeing Employees Autocross Club (BEAC). My veins are still full of adrenaline! No doubt those of you who have participated in an autocross at a Mini Meet or elsewhere know what I'm talking about! It was a last hurrah for me with the Inno, and WOW, I wish I would've jumped into autocrossing the day my Mini drove out of the garage under its own power 3 years ago. It's unbelievable what these cars can do even when limited by a wet course and an inexperienced autocross driver such as myself.

We had excellent instruction from some of the most enthusiastic and longstanding autocrossers in the area. A wide variety of cars showed up for the school, too, which kept the day interesting: Mazda MX-5 and Miatas, several Subaru Impreza WRX's, STI's, and FR-S/BRZ coupes, Toyota Avalon, Mini Countryman, Porsche Boxster, Acura NSX-R GT, Chevy HHR SS, Camaro, *** Z3, Audi A4 and S5, VW Jetta, Mitsu Lancer, and more.

The following video clip doesn't do the experience much justice, nor does it convey the challenge the course provided me, but without photos (or video, in this case), it didn't happen, right? If you listen closely, my time was only .05 seconds behind the 200-hp black Toyota FR-S/Subaru BRZ that ran immediately before me! What a thrill.

VIDEO CLIP

[James T]

"last hurrah" ????? are you selling your car???? !!

[Cheleker]

No. He's not selling it. He has sold it.

[BIGSHOT]

That looks great, Chad. I'm glad you got a few swings in before you had to hang up the Mini.

BEAC's layout is a typical, stretched-out, horsepower-required, third-and-fourth-gear course. Imagine how you would have performed if you'd been on an autocross course for Minis.

Dan

[Cheleker]

Well, yeah. But then he would have been running against other Minis!

The courses are certainly faster, now. When I "came out of retirement" for a few local autocrosses around 2008 (after a 35 year lay off!) I remember bouncing off of the rev limiter in the supercharged Moke at 7000 rpm in 3rd gear (about 70mph with the gearing I was running)...in a slalom.

[innochadi]

That's right, James, my Mini is sold. To a friend, so I still have visitation privileges! I posted the announcement on April 1, though not an April fool's joke.

No doubt I'll find myself in another Mini somewhere down the line...taking the Inno through the cones on Saturday just begs for more!

[Cheleker]

You should have tried the Land Bruiser.

[James T]

Bummer Chad ....and after I made the pic you posted as my desktop........man.

[innochadi]

You should have tried the Land Bruiser.

Not sure it would've made it through the first turn without tipping over!

Bummer Chad ....and after I made the pic you posted as my desktop........man.

Glad you liked the photo, James! Yeah, selling is a bummer and I'll really miss the Mini, but as Chuck made mention to above, not all is lost. I can't seem to be without an iconic old car, so I used the funds to purchase a more spacious and what I would argue is a slightly more family-friendly classic vehicle: a 1978 FJ40 Land Cruiser. Hardly practical, I know, but neither was my Mini. And practical can be so boring!