Great photos, and looks like a beautiful place to be. Are all the AX courses out there that long? That was nuts -- typically our local region sees ~45-50s courses (depending on class/driver, of course) and I've seen some as long as 60, but that was a sight to see.
I'd love to see what harness you choose with the RRX. I keep going back and forth on them, it's either $100 for a 2-door seatbelt receiver OR I spend not much more (in the scheme of things) and get a Schroth, something like a Rallye 3 would even suffice for my needs but I'm not sure if the tail strap would be long enough to reach.
We're fortunate to have a pretty small group. There's a core group of roughly 15 drivers and events typically have 20-25 participants so we have lots of freedom for course design and length. If the first group starts and we realize the course is too long we can opt to remove a loop or segment. Being on an island without a lot of driving roads they try to make them flow as best as possible while being technical. It's very much a club vs competitive atmosphere. Everyone rides along with each other, one Miata almost always wins PAX, there's 4-5 of us in the TOTD battle, but everyone has a blast. I'd say a typical course is 60-90 seconds. The big thing is keeping car speed down to prevent incidents/accidents. The most popular tracks are the ones where everyone is within a few seconds of each other.
I actually prefer my 140hp Mk4 TDI for autocross, but I'm chasing a vaccuum leak that's causing booster and VNT issues which would ruin the fun. I haven't taken to autocross it since the TT front end swap, but it should be a little monster. A DSG swapped Mk4 TDI with a VNT17/22 or DSG Mk7 TDI with a CR190 turbo would likely be the best autocross car in my opinion. Miata is not the answer. This video was with no front sway bar, stock steering rack, a clogged cat, and other gremlins.
I have the old style RRX's with 2 door buckles and the CG lock method has never worked for me. I would like a half cage and fixed backs, but don't want my 4 legged copilot being hurt by scaffolding since it is still my "daily.". Several guys here use a torso strap as a workaround for Miatas to stay in *S or *SP. I tried one but found it super uncomfortable with little gain. I'm in SM with the R DSG swap so full sends are ok for me.
@Blade3562 I must have the memory of a (choose any small animal that doesn't get enough respect) because every time I watch an auto-x video all I can think is how I wouldn't be be able to remember where I should be turning left/right, going around, etc. And that looked like a dang-on long auto-x track! I'm impressed with the driving and your memory. Those pics are great too.
My first track day ever a Z4M hit a raccoon at 85mph directly with his go-pro tow hook camera. Because it hit the camera the car was spared, but I'm always worried about rodents on the mainland at trackdays and autocross. Over here we just have this little mongoose that are like a small squirrel so it's not too bad.
For me the courses are definitely memory. It's been a tough change from road courses. We don't use pointer/directional cones and since it's a go cart track everything happens fast. Typically 1 or 2 guys will DNF in the morning as they learn the course, but by end of day you're good to go.
I'm going to guess this Sunday's course will be roughly 65 seconds. With this course I'll be taking the anti-clockwise on both options to set up for a longer straight on the return run. The lower crossover is also really awkward in the clockwise direction being an over 90 degree right hand turn. Going anti-clockwise puts it to my left at a slower speed. My friend in his S2000 will likely take the clockwise in the upper option and anti-clockwise in the lower with how his car handles through the long sweeper on the left side.
