meGrimlock

went to zoom zoom live DC on sunday. if any of you were there on sunday afternoon, i was one of those guys that spun the miata around in the performance challenge. i did a 180' turn on the 1st corner. i was too scared of the throttle (my first rear-wheel drive experience) and before i knew it i had hit too much gas, and over compensated the steering right after i got my picture taken. the worst part is i had just gotten some sparco gloves for the winter, the farthest reason from "actual performance driving" just to keep the hands warm and added grip. i guess it gives the wrong impression but the announcer guy spoke over the radio as the staff came to assist me and said with a sarcastic tone, "ask him if the gloves helped." my face was the bright red one at the end for anyone who didnt recognize me. but from what i remember before and after the loss of control, the car is very tight and driver oriented. my friend swapped driver position with me and when his badge got punched for his time i said to the staff guy "it was better than my time." pretty sure he was laughing at me, not with me.

the event was fun, lots more people than the Civic Live event. but it taught me an important lesson, dont drive a rwd car around a track before learning how to tame the power. i started out at the school of zoom on a manual trans rx-8, but i rolled off in 2nd gear, started in 2nd, and ended in 2nd gear. same with the golf ball challenge. in the autocross, i should have started in 2nd too, but i put it in 1st as i waited for the staff member to wave me thru and then i choked. oh well i guess i shouldnt have treated it as a time attack and just a learning experience. i should've felt a disturbance in the force because the announcer was saying everytime someone knocks down a cone, it adds 10-20 seconds to the people waiting in line. and i thought to myself, "i hope its not me..." at least they encouraged me to finish the course and they encouraged everyone to drive fast (but safer than i did) unlike Civic Live.

take it from me. its fun to look like an ******* in front of 200 people!
-meGrimlock

Roddimus Prime

oh man, thats some humiliation. At the ATL event there were only 100 people or so divided up between 3 sections so the wait time for us was only a few minutes.

I ALWAYS choose the automatics for something like this. The manual involves too much thought and I'd rather spend my time looking at the next turn than checking my rpms and worrying about my shift effort.

meGrimlock

hmm...good point. i wanted to feel the shifter for myself, i had heard the miata has one of the most precise short throws of all. but its not like it helped any -_-. plus the line for manual was shorter than automatic. i woulda thought it'd be the opposite.
-meGrimlock

macdaddyslomo

I pulled like a 27.4 on mine ....You wanna look like a REAL jackass ????

Spin it twice and get walked off the property

There was a guy at orlando that did that......

macdaddyslomo

Wuss ...listen to the engine....I guess that's a skill I learned having a DX with no tach,lol

Roddimus Prime

listening to the engine in an rx8 is kinda difficult. Also, it revs so fast by the time I hear the noise and recognize and make the move I'm above 10K rpms.

macdaddyslomo

Werent we talking about Miata's ??? Sorry I didnt catch the RX-8 part...I guess that would be a little tougher

meGrimlock

the rx-8 was surprizingly smooth & the engine felt refined. it was like driving a classy bmw and the sound the engine makes, is unmistakably rx-8. the miata was very smooth too & loves torque, i thought i could put down power like i do on my protege but i soon learned pedal-to-the-metal on a miata is very different than my car. both cars were nicely balanced too and are awesome cars to learn on. zoom zoom live was definitely a great blast, just wish i had time to spend all day at it.

Phantom Cruiser

BS without pics!!!!!


No really, I love pics

meGrimlock

i didnt get to take many pics, the position of the sun in the late afternoon was bad for exposure, sorry! but i'm sure many other members got pics ^_^ and as soon as my dumb *** gets posted on zoomzoomlive.com i'll show you my pre-accident mugshot -_-;

meGrimlock

well i checked it out, they didnt upload my pic yet, but my lap time is posted and i can hear it laughing at me....over 121 seconds. <<insert comic book store guy quote here>>

Anarchistchiken

How in the hell do oyu spin out a Miata. Do the new ones really have that much more power? Cause I know in the 2nd gens you have to try to kick it out.

I sure do wish I had a chance to go to one of those events though.

meGrimlock

after replaying the events in my mind, i think that a cone got stuck under a front wheel and then i tried to over compensate the steering (another bad idea). no, it really wasnt that much power, i just underestimated and paid for it. on the other courses, i rolled from 2nd into the track and kept it in 2nd and i didnt have a clue about what the power was like. so yes, it was driver error.
-meGrimlock