another fun hobby (car guys check this out)

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evanc

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Joined 2009
Looks like fun. I do see a roll cage in the Caterham but no arm restraints...roll it your arms fly over your head and get between the cage and the ground...ouch.

The Subaru I was driving does not have a cage but went fast enough that it is required to have one for the next event.

We saw a few crashes over the weekend and one rollover. No serious injuries. When I staged for each run I told myself "be conservative.. There is no room for mistakes here." That went out the window when the light went green.
 
billshurv

billshurv

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Joined 2014
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Arm restraints are there for certain classes of racing can't remember where they connect to tho.

Now imagine hitting a stag in one! They are very silly, but almost nothing else comes close in terms of raw appeal. Many 7 owners have a scooby as well with some mumbled justification about good tow car :)
 
gpauk

gpauk

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Hill climbs are real fun... Shelsley Walsh in a remapped Scooby WRX, and in a standard Alfa kamm tail spider (1978). Can't claim to be good at it, but I passengered once with a friend who was a seriously fast formula 2 driver, in a somewhat modified Caterham - amazing fun cars... Unhealthy for the underwear!! :D
 
martin clark

martin clark

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Joined 2003
acoustica.org.uk
sreten said:
They let
you use powerful cars but keep the maximum speed down.
...Same course on the flat would be far more dangerous.
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Hardly, those are called sprints ;)

UK hillclimb courses - Shelsely Walsh esp. - are some of the oldest worldwide, and generally in the UK it has remained a short-course (1000yd average) but highly- 'technical' sport requiring absolute balls-out commitment from the start; yet as a sport, it remains also wonderfully accessible, at any level.

As for 'keeping speeds down' - haha, top competitors are entering the lower S at Shelsley braking down from 150mph+ in about 75 yards. Example - the only braking here, at Shelsley, is in secs 20-21: a stupendous run , and not the most powerful car by any means - still one of the quickest though! Enjoy:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYbocg-u-Xs

(My Fury R1 is sulking in the garage awaiting more free time..)
 
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evanc

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Joined 2009
Most of the events in my area are 3 to 4 miles with 2000 plus feet elevation gain. The only thing limiting my speed was my nerve. I found myself feathering the throttle in many sections where braver drivers would go all out.

Looking at the videos of the British hillclimbs it seems you guys get more professional looking cars.
 
martin clark

martin clark

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Joined 2003
acoustica.org.uk
Well, they tend to be the ones with onboard cameras that post vids yes, but I've also seen a 18yr old girl tackle Shelsley in a 1954 Morris Minor lent for the occaision :) There are many road-doing classes, usu. arranged by capacity, and enthusiastically filled by people in a wide range of modest-to-rather fast cars.

ETA: here's an example, a hillclimb about 30miles from me I'll probably pop down to watch this Sunday: http://www.gurstondown.org/2016/05/16/the-british-are-coming/
 
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gpauk

gpauk

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Ron E said:
I just cringe at all the spectators on the apexes and outside corner exits on that paved pikes peak hill climb record run. Ought to have safety people driving the route and kicking those people out of those places.
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Go look at footage of Group B rallying in the 80s if you want to see craziness with crowds. Fans wanted to touch the cars as they passed...

eg
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eYIH7ApCxoM

look at about 1:50 in!
 
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evanc

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Joined 2009
idiots.
First time I got off my motorcycle at the track was during a practice session and there was my wife standing on the outside of the turn...she had been getting some shots of me sliding around the turn on previous laps. Luckily the bike and I missed her.
 
Ron E

Ron E

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Joined 2002
I've seen footage of cars plowing through crowds and such, no need to watch more. It's one thing if those people signed a release etc... In america, where the "victim" (no matter how incautious or idiotic) almost always wins a lawsuit, the sight of that sickens me.
 
E

evanc

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Joined 2009
New this morning. Two of us taking turns on the track. It's good to have generous friends with cool toys.
 

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evanc

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Joined 2009
warm weather distraction. The silly honda was the fastest in it's run group again last weekend. Bested cars with literally 3 times the horsepower.
 

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phase

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Joined 2004
I was lucky to have been a spectator at the last group B race, was pretty cool, won't forget that for sure.

A coworker's son had teamed for a rally team more recently and was telling about how a car had come in with a finger in the rear spoiler from a spectator; that's too close! Not entirely surprising after watching those races in Spain and Portugal.

Sounds like a fun time there with some cool cars, awesome...
 
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