Saturday will be my first run of the JCNA Slalom. While I have raced professionally Rally and GT I never tried Autocrossing and when checking out the results of previous races (Class R is F-Type only) it looks like 45 seconds is the best achieved so far. I was a bit surprised to see older heavy jags with less power do better and a Viper in the 39/40 seconds (yes you can take non Jaguar cars in the Z class).

Any insight, tips to do well? Thank you!

 

Well if you are a professional racer I will not discuss tire pressures and such (take a pump). If you have not done so suggest you read here Slalom | Jaguar Clubs of North America
The F type record seems to be 43.042 which you will find is QUICK. The record for all JCNA slaloms is a touch under 38 but that was a prepared E type with a seasoned slalom driver. Your biggest challenge will be keeping the lap schedule straight while you have your foot on the pedal! There is a layout you can study but my mantra is Hour--Eight--Oval as the first lap is hour glass shaped--second is figure 8 and 3 is an oval; http://www.jcna.com/sites/default/fi....gif..Remember to have fun and the smooth driver does better than the drifter. If you get under 45 consider yourself accomplished. Not sure what class you will be in as you have done some mods but you can discuss those with the steward on site. Looks like you have at least 4 mods that would put you in prepared and you are not allowed more than that. You may reach the chairman via e mail from the contact list or call 888-258-2524 "other inquiries" Have fun!

 

Just general advice with a background in Rally, GT and AutoX, with heavy cars, slower is faster as George said above. With runs you get the ability to go faster and faster, so use that opportunity to figure out where you can add speed. If you go in hot, it makes it 10 X harder to learn where you can make the time. Seasoned AutoX pro's know the limits of their car, and spend the time in the runs tweaking very small details like approach angle, braking zones, and lines that provide better holding of speed. As someone new to this type of motorsport, spend your time getting familiar with your car's dynamics, and don't expect to "win". If you are good, you will get there when you figure it out! Have fun and stay safe!

 

Thank you for your feedback, duly noted and I did read that. As far as I know, the fastest lap was 37.XX held by Dean Cusano with an XJS (also a member of both JCNA clubs I am in). Suffice to say, we are not friends and this is something that I was pretty much challenged to.

My car is rather heavily modified for track use, aside from the diet, the suspensions have been modified in order to meet my setup needs for the Limerock, CT track. Much to my surprise the Falken FK510 outshined every other tire on my car I tested on that track (Pirelli, Michelin and Conti). This is a one off for me and would rather not change my alignment parameters.I was able to mock up the outer turns of the JCNA in my parking lot to check see how hard I can take them before sending the cones to another ZIP code. It pulls 1.22g.
Coming from the race experience where drifting is how you turn and then from GT where speed preservation and clean lines are key, I found that pushing power and torque as well as braking to the limit while taking the outer turns more mildly resulted in better timing. Please note that I have an AWD. It was an immense amount of work doing it that way and probably the first and only time I saw 1.05 in braking. I don't think that this is the right way. I watched many youtube videos and I can't really see well the lines used by the fastest cars nor do I see them abusing braking. My assumption is that I was simply able to do better based on the fact that my lack of skills/knowledge were made up by the car's power and braking... again reminding me that I have no clue about what I am doing (no ego there).

Does anyone have a suggestion about the lines to keep? I know that I want to keep the first lap (hourglass) as straight as I possibly can and that I can go as hot as possible on the oval but what is best on the 8?

 

And indeed you are correct, I totaled 6 listed modifications so I am putting the stock brakes on for the event ad the stock intake to get down to 4 in street prepared

 

JCNA has been fantastic at helping me determine what I will likely fall under, so all mods stay on ;-) Thank you George

 

No problem--Dean ran a 37.90 which is damn fast. Richard Maury in an E type (modified) did a 37.22 which is almost a Bob Beamon situation! Perfectly set up car+perfect driving+super surface gets you there--please remember the most important part HAVE FUN!

Dean is a good guy-like you! His XJ-S is sort of a sleeper as it is one of the 25 prototypes shipped in to the US in 83 (I think) light (no V 12) and all had different cams and setups. They were all US Legal (someone was sleeping at DOT) but Dean has prepared it well and is a good driver!

Like I said --turn a quick time and no one will care even if it is a bread truck!

 

Ah Breaker--we do invite other fauna and flora to the slaloms--the "drifters" are often shocked that an old fart in a 50 year old car cut their time by 5 or more seconds! But they do make a lot of smoke!

 

Well, if you have not tried the JCNA Slalom with the F-Type you are missing a world of fun! Today was mu first and I had a BLAST. We started the day in rain and my first run in terrible rain was 45.7 seconds. I was a bit disappointed but I quickly learned that I was just 0,5 seconds away from the above extremely experienced and former national champion, and about 5 seconds faster than the other F-Type with yet another very experienced driver whom showed up with his Jaguar R Driving Academy jacket and told me he has the highest level of training possible... here's my first run from dashcam (first time ever autocrossing)


Then I was consistently at around 45.4 on a very wet and slippery track. I was around 1 second behind the former national champion with a 2300lbs, fully race spec, on Rain track tires... I think it was quite amazing for my first outing, my impressions and take home is below the video


In case you wonder how challenging it was... It was like trying to keep an angry beast on track and power out as quickly as possible, you can see on the Video below how hard it was, this too was a 45.4 run and I made one big mistake on the 3rd round, the oval by getting in a tad too fast after the first straight, I had to almost stop to not hit a cone... it probably cost me the 1 second I could've used...


I was happy that the F-Type shined... for a 3600+lbs beast on STREET tires it did very well I think. After the official races the track was getting much dryer and they had what they call the $1.00 runs... My time dropped almost a full 5 seconds, I allowed my 20 year old son to do a lap too and he did 49 seconds... not bad and very proud of him.

George Camp, thank you for all of the tips and suggestions. Anyone that doesn't try the JCNA slalom at least once is missing out an incredible opportunity to check out how agile our cats really are. While I did not have the very best overall time, I am incredibly happy. Will continue trying the JCNA slalom, hopefully on dry and good pavement next! 43 seconds on dry is no issue at all.

TIPS from my experience (on wet)

Do not use the rain/snow program, it sucks! Kills your throttle too easily
Use Dynamic, S, and TracDSC. It was the best for me
Don't be afraid to throw the F-Type around, you can easily snap it back
Don't bother with lines, the turns come upon you incredibly fast, you don't have time to pick lines
After the first straight on lap3 (oval) you will probably get in hot as I did, DON'T
Have fun, winning is important but secondary to fun

 

So I am glad you remembered to have fun. IF you did a 45.4 I only missed it by .4. Looks like you did not DNF or hit a cone so with more seat time and a dry clean surface a 43 should be easily in your grasp. Glad you took your son and he drove--good stuff.

 

After the 5 official runs, when it was mostly dry and we did the $1.00 beer runs, I was at 40.7 Dean was 39.X. It was fun and thank you for putting me at ease. Never hit any cones but boy it was a lot of work. I can't wait for the next slalom on dry surface. Got slicks ready!

 

If you can get any front camber out of the suspension, it should help considerably in autox.... That course is crazy to understand lol! Great way to make use of a small track to get the most out of it though! Street tires > slicks on a wet course. That helped you out BIG time!

 

Breaker it is 'crazy' but it was designed so that all 65 clubs might find a place to run it--same course in all North American clubs. The size was determined so that a roof top parking lot could be used--and they have been.

 

I learned something new today! Didn't know something like that exists, but it is very cool! Does it ever get kind of boring doing the same course over and over?

 

The other cars had RAIN TRACK TIRES, much stickier compound. Not only was it wet but it was also cold. Ultra High Performance street tires have a major loss of gripp at those temperature. No, street tires did not help me at all. A good set of TRACK RAIN tires would have... and a set is with UPS as I write.

Example... https://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...Radial+Wet+H2O
Just one of the tires used by others

 

Not boring at all. It gets very engaging instead. You try harder each and every time. You have 5 tries. The camera doesn't quite show how fast you actually go but you face turn after turn at amazing speed. Enough that your arms get a terrific workout that you feel for days. The other takeaway is the fact that you get to learn your car's true cornering abilities and you can take that back to your regular street driving. You should try it, you will not regret it nor will you be bored.

 

I also found on my dash cam the after the 39 seconds run I did on mostly dry track after my 5 official runs. I need the slicks for the next event...

 

Breaker we are a club after all and over the years at the Annual General meeting changed courses have been proposed but always failed. One year the motion was to run the same course but in a reverse manner--FAILED! So as in all things it is the will of the clubs as to pass fail--so far they seem happy with the status quo. A positive aspect is it is constant across the board (surface condition aside) so you may track your progress--or decline--and you see where you are against all others in North America. Some folks run with the SCCA for a change of pace.

 

That makes sense. As long as people are happy, that is all that matters! I did local autoX for many years here in Canada. I wouldn't jump in with the F-Type at our events, as the car is really ill-suited to our specific kinds of tracks (We use an airstrip, so the courses are very narrow and full of slaloms, no sweepers really and 2 hairpins every time). Our club has very competitive drivers with cars well classed for nationals, so the weight of the F-Type really will slow it down. Maybe I'll go one day for fun and try to avoid cone marks lol...

 

Yes, 43 was no issue Saturday at JANE in spite of a sand and gravel covered track. Too bad I had to drive 140mi to get there and I could not have my R tires on (not DOT). Will take it down a few notches next year hopefully on a CLEAN track. I had to tune down the car wice at this event...