Re: VTRacing's Rallying thread
Posted: Tue Sep 16, 2014 12:05 pm
well done mate, great result!
I noticed that the winner of this year's Border Ranges Rally set a very similar time on a stage that we'd run back in 2014, so I thought I would compare how our stages went. The winner this year was Peter Roberts, who is a well-respected state competitor. He mostly runs in NSW, but runs the odd Qld-based round.
I wanted to see whether his car had any advantages to mine. I suspected it would be faster in a straight line, since he runs an Evo 6 which is roughly 200kg lighter, running E85 fuel for more power, and with a sequential gearbox having an extra gear. His car also runs a larger restrictor, and Mitsubishis generally make more power than Subarus.
My car should handle better, with more sophisticated diffs, and I probably had better tyres.
Road conditions are obviously different, my run was a bit damp (not a bad thing on gravel), and his road looks a bit better swept.
Anyway, here's the video:
Unfortunately my incar audio wasn't working for this event, so we only have Roberts's notes. You can hear a whine from my car when it's on throttle (that'd be me lamenting Group N).
A few things of interest that I picked up:
I lost a few seconds in the opening section, mainly due to a few scruffy corners from me, but also with the power difference in the cars.
At 2:30 as we pass a big tree and I'm about 2 seconds down, but in the next corner I make up all that time, so that by the next big tree at 2:45 we're dead even again.
So from that I reckon my notes are much better than his, in that I stay in top gear while Peter drops back two gears and carries less speed onto the next straight.
We're even until about 3:50, where again I'm more committed to the mid-grade corners, especially before tight corners.
I pull out a few seconds in the twisty bits, but then lose it heading up the hill at around 4:45. I was a bit scruffy through there and didn't keep the speed up.
We're even until 5:30, but I went down to 2nd gear when I really should have been in 3rd through a junction left, and didn't get a good exit.
Through the next open section I lose a second or so, but by 6:30 at the bridge we're even again. I must have been a bit quicker through the preceding fast corners.
At 6:50 I miss the shift to 5th, and it instantly costs me about a second.
At 7:25, I'm a bit cautious on the tarmac because it's wet. Another second.
I cross the finish about 1.5 seconds down.
Anyway, I did this for my own amusement, but I felt like telling someone.
