For me it's the non-turbo versions of the B segment and slightly larger cars. I can buy a Focus or a Civic or an Accord or a bunch of Hyundais with a manual that aren't the "sport" versions and they are hopelessly out classed even in HS.
If the Audi does well at Nationals I expect someone will petition to boot it for next year.
Was there ever really a place for slow commuter cars? The bar has moved, sure, but slow cars in the 80s were still slow compared to the cars that were doing well, then. 
I started in a first gen Focus ZX3 in 2001. It was locally competetive for a bit. I got back into things with a Mazda2 in 2012 and Andy Hollis won (I think) a national championship in one in STF. Locally I won a bunch of magnets against an older Focus SVT and a 2.5 VW Rabbit and a bunch of other cars that are way way way to slow to compete even locally now.
I 100% understand that we can't have a class for every car and we're sort of saturated with classes as it is, I just always enjoyed the cars and people at that end of the field that was low prep compact grocery getters.
Anyway, the TT is a great car. I've been for a ride in it. It's a rocket ship.
I did an instructor ride-and-drive in a novice's RS3 and was equally impressed with the acceleration. I actually experienced a bit of vertigo as a passenger, something that never happens to me. However, his brakes weren't quite up to the task of reigning in all that speed.
ProDarwin said:mazdeuce - Seth said:There is no place for slow commuter type cars any more in SCCA autocross.
What about the Fiesta ST, Civic Sport/Si, Focus ST, Veloster, Speed 3, Cobalt, SRT-4,Eclipse, etc? <-All that is what I think of when I think Hot (or Warm) hatch. 11 second Audi TT is not what comes to mind. Whats the bar for 'slow commuter type cars'?
All the cars you listed are in STH..... and can be competitive in STH.... but this is national Autox. until you go full prep and spend the $$$ you will be outgunned by someone else. this was also prevalent when ST classes started in the Early 2000's
We're one of 3(soon to be 4) full prep cars i'm aware of in the Country... our Audi TT, VW GTi in TN, the Eagle Talon that won last year and there is a civic Sport being built in Ohio by a national champion friend of mine. The Audi may be an overdog, but i'm not fully convinced it is...
these are also not slow commuter cars...
There's a black one I saw run at the last SCCA autocross here that was darn quick. I hadn't paid much attention to the TT until I saw that car run. That I5 sounds so cool and man does it scoot!
One of my favorite things that weekend was hearing a Miata driver saying that he always thought of TTs as hair dresser cars, without a hint of irony
In reply to thatsnowinnebago :
the I5 is cool sounding, the one i'm running is is just the I4 2.0.... this is literally the base TT model with bolt on upgrades and a flash. and some cool shocks...
In reply to spacecadet :
Oh no way, I totally missed that and thought you were in a TT-RS! That's even more impressive.
OK National Event recap #2.
Lots happened this weekend in Grenada.
What many expected to be a sold out event at 250 people, but when the forecast started showing lots of rain and thunderstorms many people started bailing.
Thomas and I went in with hopes to put AWD to our advantage in S4. But competition in S4 was no joke. Reigning HS national Champ Mike king made the move to a Focus RS in DS and reigning GS national Champ Lance Keeley was there as well. Lots of other great drivers rounded out a 24 car field.
Grenada is an awesome site with a concrete surface. The only problem is that algae grows on the surface and it gets slick in the wet. The right course was plagued by this and the grip changed all weekend depending on how wet the surface was, how much water was standing and how much the wind was blowing...
Edit#2
Both courses were fast with finishes that ended with a high speed offset. Lots of spins through the lights or right after the lights.
Day 1 was wet for groups 1-5 with drying conditions as group 6 was on course. Group 7 got going in good conditons and partway through their heat, lightning struck nearby as a new cell blew through.
This was at 1:30pm and having yet to complete the morning runs a decision was made to finish the morning runs and cut the afternoon session with more rain and thunderstorms on the way.
Edit #3
We cut for the day and this is where I sat in PAX.
I was sitting 4th in class and 14th in pax after Day 1 runs.
Last night the decision was made by Howard to cut the challenges and give all competitors 6 runs Sunday morning.
Sunday morning we were met with a merely damp course and times started falling quickly...
Thomas got to run first and put himself up into 3rd... with Lace Keeley and I still waiting to run... as Lance and I were sitting in grid waiting to go it started raining lightly.. I got clean right and left side runs in and got myself up into the fight. I got a faster right side on my 2nd runs and my second left side run turned into a drift session as I went for broke and with a spin into the cones as the finish lights I still managed my cleanest scratch time at 31.2xx. on my 3rd right side run I decided to get aggressive with the start lights after 7-800 lights and managed a .557 light(.500 is perfect for those who don't know). Run didn't go great but I wasnt mad... I was up into 6th place and I knew I had time sitting on the left side...
Pulled up... set up... went for launch control at the buzzer like normal.... Launched right as the 3rd light lit and....... RED LIGHT..... 0.496...... 4 thousandths on the wrong side of the timer...
So I would have to settle for 6th and bring home my first ProSolo Trophy and 11th overall in pax... the pax is semi hollow but it's still fun to be able to say.
Car is awesome and I'm ready for One Lap in 2 weeks and the Mineral Wells ProSolo in 7 weeks...
This weekend was also cool cause I did a Fly and Drive to maintain my sanity and cause I could for minimal extra expense over driving.
I flew out of DFW corporate airport on Friday in a Pilatus PC-12 to Greenville, MS where my Buddy picked my up in his BS Lotus Evora and brought me to Grenada about 80 miles from the airport..
Im currently in Memphis waiting on my flight home.. Cause this was supposed to be faster than driving.. When the event was still going to have challenges...
Pro Solo still seems confusing and weird, but it also seems super cool. I might have to try one some time. Congratulations on the trophy, you're having a good year.
In reply to spacecadet :
Your post is full of BS
Mineral wells Prosolo was this weekend...
I wish i had lots of good things to report..
Unfortunately....... during my co driver's afternoon runs we ended up with boost in the crankcase of the motor and KABOOM
The Audi TT thin plastic oil pan was not up the pressure and let go violently and quickly in the middle of my co driver's 2nd run.. dumping all 6 quarts of oil on the course... and because it was a DSG(have to be in park to turn off) and he didn't know what was going on.. it did not get turned off immediately..
So the car went back to Houston last night along with my co drivers and I threw out my saturday runs because i was dirty in my morning runs. So I just opted to drop them to keep driving today, instead of taking a higher, but still non trophy position.
I hopped into a competitors 2017 Civic Si G street sedan this morning and fell in love. The OEM Honda Helical LSD is pretty phenomenal.
In reply to spacecadet :
You literally own a car that has one.
mazdeuce - Seth said:In reply to spacecadet :
You literally own a car that has one
I knew it was solid in th 8th gen. but jesus.. the whole 10th gen Si package is amazing.. i am seriously pissed at myself for not buying one last year.
the car works amazingly well with a sway bar and tires. makes the ST look like the rowdy child it is.
Yikes, I had read on the solomatters fb page about the tt's oil pan exploding. I thought it was from hitting something, but for some reason I've always wondered about how the oil pan would hold up to overboost or crankcase pressures.
Is this considered a problem on the mqb cars that are tuned?
In reply to aw614 :
we just installed a catch can because we've been pulling oil through the pcv.. we don't know what the failure mode was that caused this. the oil pan is extremely thin. so I'll report back when we know more.
The oil pan being thin isn't confidence inspiring when VW claimed it would be just as strong as a metal one :(
Have you experienced a huge smoke stream under high g's? I recall a local mk7 golf r smoking a ton on specific high-g turns even with a catchcan. I believe it was an APR unit that retained the factory pcv.
In reply to aw614 :
That was happening to us, and why we installed the catch can.
time to talk to the OneLap TT guys, and see what they did?
Got these photos from the car owner yesterday... motor is done... we have now confirmed
Dang. That sucks. Shouldn't a functioning pcv system prevent that kind of thing?
Just chiming in to say how much I enjoy the looks of that TT. Not sure when they went from hairdresser to gorgeous, but I like the change.
So car went to Topeka this weekend for the prosolo and heartland park had drag races tonight.
The STH car runs a 12.8xx 1/4 mile with the BFG's on it.
So it's properly quick..
That's quick.
Out of curiosity, what are other top dog STH cars running? I feel like there are a few out there that should be in the 12s no?
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