July 2000 Speedtrial

mvc-760s.jpg (19906 bytes) July 2000 Equipe Rapide Speedtrial

These Speedtrials sessions are organized by Equipe Rapide, one of the local SCCA club. The monthly week end events normally include a traditional autocross on saturday and a the Speedtrial on sunday. The speedtrial is as close as you will get to a road course without going on a real racetrack. The 3/4 mile course is setup as a road course with various type of corners a straight where you can reach speeds of to 50 or 60 mph. It's all safe as there is nothing to hit and cars are spaced out to make sure they don't come in contact.

While these events are not organized by SFJC, some of our members have started going to the sunday Speedtrial on a regular basis, check out the calendar or the E.R. web site for details. If it's your first time, you must attend a short school session, usually held on the saturday afternoon, sometimes on sunday morning. Check the E.R. site for details.

No special equipment is required, loaners helmets are available if you don't have one and stress on the cars is minimum. Actually, we all know that excercise is good for our cats... I really think I heard Rick's OTS thanking him for the excercise when he left....

Video Clips :
Note : you need Media Player or similar to play these MPG format clips, each is 15 seconds and 1.3 Mb but worth the wait. It should take less than a minute on DSL connection, up to 5 minutes on a modem. If you browser starts playing them as they download they will not play smoothly, just wait for the clip to download completely and replay it again for best result.

Rick Hill, 69 E-type Roadster Clip 1 Clip 2
Pascal Gademer, XKR Coupe Clip 1 Clip 2

SPEEDTRIALS & AUTOCROSS: THE SPORT YOUR SPORTSCAR PLAYS!

By Rick Hill

Speedtrials and Autocross are events designed to challenge car and driver with a series of acceleration, braking and handling maneuvers on a (relatively) low-speed, short courses marked with cones. Cars and their drivers run alone on these courses against the clock, or in my most recent outing, against a calendar.

mvc-757s.jpg (29125 bytes) A former SCCA Autocross Rookie of the Year, two-time SCCA ITC Regional Champion and avid Jaguar enthusiast, I thought I’d join Pascal for a romp at the Metro Zoo with my 1969 E-Type OTS. I thought it would be fun to test the limits of my essentially bone stock roadster in a way not available elsewhere. It was fun. It was a challenge. I was slow.

The car itself is a blast to drive at speed. My recent addition of triple SU carbs and a freer-flowing exhaust has awakened the 4.2L to a new and significantly improved level of performance. Acceleration is phenomenal and braking is much improved by the addition of stainless steel brake lines. E-Type rack and pinion steering is responsive and provides excellent road feel and turn-in. Delrin bushings in my suspension remove slop and enable the suspension bits to stay true. Starting, stopping and turning are are no problem. The problem is tires.

Michelin Redlines (185X15) are outstanding tires for show purposes. All trailer queens should use them. An original fitment, they are of the correct profile, ride well and look great. They do not, however, offer any grip and they’re nearly as skinny as the stuff you’d find on a Schwinn. They protested and protested loudly at any change in direction, however slight. Driving these tires was like driving on ice, rewarding technical proficiency and patient, smooth moves vs. hard driving. mvc-756s.jpg (32921 bytes) But, that’s part of the fun. Anyone can drive modern, sticky, wide, low profile tires. It takes chutzpah to drive a car on these bicycle tires. So hard are these tires that they showed absolutely no signs of wear or abrasion at the end of the Speedtrial. None.

But this is how it was when the car was in its prime, and how it should be driven today. Modern technology applied to automobiles is sensational. An everyday Honda Civic or Toyota Camry can out-handle an ancient Jaguar equipped as original. Improvements in suspension design & geometry, tires and stuff like roll center and spring rates make the daily grocery-getter a tough competitor by 1969 (1961) standards. But, they’re not Jaguar E-Types and no one will care any more about their sensual appeal 31 years from now than they do now. There will be no Toyota Camry Clubs, magazines or concours events. There will be no oohs and aahs when one shows up at a Speedtrial in 30 years. They will be part of transportation history, but nothing more. Damn few will be preserved to see an autocross or SpeedTrial in the year 2031.

We Jaguar owners should exercise our cars and see what they can do in events like these. I am constantly astonished at those who will own a Jaguar only to look at it and show it so others can look at it. I think if you want to look at a nice Jaguar, look at someone else’s car. Drive your car. Challenge your car. Give it a workout, make it stronger and more fun. The longer they sit, the more they leak, the more dry rot takes over the tires, hoses and interior, the less dependable they become. They’re no fun when they don’t run. But they’re a helluva lot of fun when they do.

Pascal & I encourage more of our members to run their Jaguars with us at rallies, roadtrips and Speedtrials. We dream of the day when we can get as many cars on the road as we do on a concours field. Get out on the road and judge your own car and abilities to drive it. Take the tiara off of the queen and look forward to more than an annual concours. The smell of hot brakes, tire dust and a well run engine beat that of Brie and Merlot any day. Jaguars have sporting heritage. It’s up to you to find out why.

Rick Hill

Other Speedtrial articles and pictures in the Past Events section

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