Quote: Originally Posted by jwardell (original)
So what did you think of the cca autoX? I'm not sure how many others you've done with other clubs. I like them because they really use the whole airfield and therefore you see speeds of 60+, 3rd gear territory. Sadly that puts the mini at a disadvantage that it usually has in parking lot autocrosses. And yes, they are regularly disorganized or some other problem holds things up. Despite that you almost always get in 6-8 runs and at 25 bucks that's unbeatable. Also the regulars are a great group of people that I never sensed at other events. I was sorry to miss the entire last season thanks to buying a house. I didn't even realize this season had started! I'm not sure if I will attend some or not for the same cost and time reasons, but I do miss it.
My only past auto-x experience was with the Hoosier BMWCCA chapter and MoP's Octoberfast this past year (and I'm pretty sure we christened it with that name for them...). Hoosier's was completely different, run in a large-ish parking lot. The grid area we occupied at Devens on Sunday was larger than the entire course we ran in Indy. The Indy event was structured much more towards the enjoyment of the club members and wasn't targeted at all towards people who were truly competitive, and the free food provided by the club was a definite improvement over the box of granola bars I ate while at Devens.
Boston's is completely different. Course-wise I *hugely* prefer Devens, but there was even more sitting around than I typically associate with autocrosses. Some of it was just disorganization, but some of it was having to deal with the 105 entrants! I'll definitely go back; I met some cool people I'd like to hook up with again, and the price (now $35) can't be beat, but it's still no substitute for driving on the track. I will admit that I'm starting to realize just how mental a sport auto-x is (and, yes, I'm a little slow on the uptake). I only got a chance to walk the course once, and that wasn't nearly enough. Since the course is different every day you need to be able to pick up the layout and plan your line very quickly, and you only get a run or two to put it all together if you want to be competitive.
I'm working on the video now. If anyone can recommend good settings for 16:9 video export for web at around 640x360 from iMovie, I'd appreciate it, because it's taking 30 minutes or so to export highish quality movies from iMovie and I'm not feeling terribly experimental right now...
