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Help me welcome my new baby!

mrssalvo

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It's perfect for you!!! Congrats you look great too btw!
 

OneFifty

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So yesterday I met Dee*Jay's bouncing bundle of joy and boy is he something! Even more beautiful in real life. And she gave me a ride! Not sure the day could have gotten any better.
 

portia

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DeeJay, Great photos! The interior is gorgeous!!! It's such a beautiful car. Now all we need is for you to mount a GoPro in your car. :bigsmile:

OneFifty, you lucky girl!!
 

Dee*Jay

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Portia!!! I just did my first auto cross event! I am hooked!!! The course was .5 mile and my best time was 1.33, but it was a BLAST! I have a ton of pics but when I tried to back them up to icloud it said time remaining was 5 hours (???) so I will do it tonight when I go to bed. WOW!!!

Here is the course, although we actually did it opposite of this, so starting with a quick left turn and ending with a fast straight.

Did I say this already--WOW!!!

coourse.jpg
 

Dee*Jay

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Thank you Mrs. S!

And hlmr, Junior appreciates the birthday wishes!
 

marcy

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Silly me - I thought you were watching today - you drove. How fun. :appl: :appl: :appl:
 

portia

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Dee*Jay|1352058057|3298553 said:
Portia!!! I just did my first auto cross event! I am hooked!!! The course was .5 mile and my best time was 1.33, but it was a BLAST! I have a ton of pics but when I tried to back them up to icloud it said time remaining was 5 hours (???) so I will do it tonight when I go to bed. WOW!!!

Here is the course, although we actually did it opposite of this, so starting with a quick left turn and ending with a fast straight.

Did I say this already--WOW!!!

I knew it!! I knew you would love doing autocross! It's addicting for sure! Such an adrenaline rush, but in a safe environment and very social as well. That's what I love about it... mental , physical and sometimes social challenge (as a woman ;)) )

That looks like a challenging course. So how did it go? It's fun learning, isn't it? Can't wait to hear more about your experience. :appl:
 

monarch64

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Your new baby is beautiful, DeeJay! I'd love to go for a spin, but I think I'm too tall to fit in that thing. Enjoy!!!
 

miraclesrule

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Yayayaya, the auto cross sounds like so much fun. I only did it once, very briefly, in a souped up Corvette. Talk about a thrill! I went with an ex-boyfriend and I beat his time. He was a good sport about it. :bigsmile:
 

iLander

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DeeJay! :wavey:

We went to our first PCA meeting, and it was kinda fun. People were all very polite, husbands and wives, and we signed up for the next autocross! :appl: :appl:

Can't wait!

But I was a bit dismayed to realize that I was the only woman there with her own Porsche. :(sad Honestly! Over 60-70 women, not one had her own, and most had never even driven their DH's. I had hoped to talk car tech, but didn't get any of that either. It was pleasant enough, but being the only woman owner was kind of disconcerting . . . Isn't it 2012?

I think you're the only one that would understand, so that's why I'm mentioning it to you . . .
 

Dee*Jay

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Portia, I have allegedly uploaded the pics to "the cloud" but now I can't find this mysterious cloud... I will work on it this weekend... And I thought of you this morning because my new favorite part of the drive to work is this area where I turn off the long straight street and making a swooping right, left, right… except I was making that swooping right, left, right at 51 MPH in downtown Kansas City at 8:30 in the morning… OOPS!

Monnie, I think you would be surprised at how much room there really is on the inside, especially leg room! BUT I think there’s so much room though because they did always with all the extraneous “stuff”… like places to put your sunglasses… The center console is only about 1-1/2 inches deep, and other than that everything’s got to go in the tiny door pocket. Clearly this car was designed BY men FOR men!

Miracles, I love that you beat his time! If you come to KC on the right weekend I’ll let you test out Junior!

ILander, I had pretty much the same experience last weekend from a demographic perspective. At the breakfast, I was the ONLY woman, and at the autocross there were wives/girlfriends, but they came to watch. There was actually one husband/wife team that each had their own car, but the wife drove a Panamera. It was fast, but talk about an absolute TANK! And yes, 2012 indeed!!! (I wonder if how we felt at the PCA meeting is how Kenny and DF feel on here, LOL.)
 

iLander

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Dee*Jay|1352386711|3301075 said:
ILander, I had pretty much the same experience last weekend from a demographic perspective. At the breakfast, I was the ONLY woman, and at the autocross there were wives/girlfriends, but they came to watch. There was actually one husband/wife team that each had their own car, but the wife drove a Panamera. It was fast, but talk about an absolute TANK! And yes, 2012 indeed!!! (I wonder if how we felt at the PCA meeting is how Kenny and DF feel on here, LOL.)

I'm glad that our club has lots of women! If you keep going to meetings, I'll bet the other wives start showing up.

I don't know, being the only girl owner there made me question myself. I know it's silly, and I'm the first to say (loudly)"Don't worry what people think of you", but . . . :sick:
 

Dee*Jay

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iLander|1352395291|3301209 said:
Dee*Jay|1352386711|3301075 said:
ILander, I had pretty much the same experience last weekend from a demographic perspective. At the breakfast, I was the ONLY woman, and at the autocross there were wives/girlfriends, but they came to watch. There was actually one husband/wife team that each had their own car, but the wife drove a Panamera. It was fast, but talk about an absolute TANK! And yes, 2012 indeed!!! (I wonder if how we felt at the PCA meeting is how Kenny and DF feel on here, LOL.)

I'm glad that our club has lots of women! If you keep going to meetings, I'll bet the other wives start showing up.

I don't know, being the only girl owner there made me question myself. I know it's silly, and I'm the first to say (loudly)"Don't worry what people think of you", but . . . :sick:


WHAT?!? iLander, don't you for one second question yourself!!! What is the issue here? That we are women who like quality automative machinery with superior performance? That's not WRONG honey, that's RIGHT! What's wrong with the rest of the (women* of) world that they aren't in the same boat with us?

*I say "women" here, but I really mean "people" (and I frequently allow my definition of "people" to include *men* on days when I'm being generous :cheeky: ). And of course I'm being funny here (or trying to anyway), but let's face it, some men/women/people just don't have an appreciation for fine cars... just like they don't have an appreciation for fine jewelry.

So, iLander, my dear friend, do not for one second question yourself! You are in good--albeit gender-skewed--comany here.

We are WOMEN/PEOPLE and we love CARS!!!
 

iLander

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Dee*Jay|1352396543|3301229 said:
WHAT?!? iLander, don't you for one second question yourself!!! What is the issue here? That we are women who like quality automative machinery with superior performance? That's not WRONG honey, that's RIGHT! What's wrong with the rest of the (women* of) world that they aren't in the same boat with us?

*I say "women" here, but I really mean "people" (and I frequently allow my definition of "people" to include *men* on days when I'm being generous :cheeky: ). And of course I'm being funny here (or trying to anyway), but let's face it, some men/women/people just don't have an appreciation for fine cars... just like they don't have an appreciation for fine jewelry.

So, iLander, my dear friend, do not for one second question yourself! You are in good--albeit gender-skewed--comany here.

We are WOMEN/PEOPLE and we love CARS!!!

Thank you, DeeJay!

I feel Sooooo much better! You're right! People have different things that they like, and even if car love isn't something I can share with the other women, maybe we'll find something else to talk about.

And if those chicks haven't figured out that cars are cool (for both sexes) the heck with them! If they don't understand how much fun a curvy road can be, then it's their loss! They are missing out!

You made me feel much better, DeeJay, I'm going to return to your post whenever a niggling doubt pops up. :D

curves.jpeg
 

Dee*Jay

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I'm here for you girlfriend!

And my favorite road sign -- I've never been overly fond of the idea of driving across Texas before!
 

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iLander

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Dee*Jay|1352058057|3298553 said:
Portia!!! I just did my first auto cross event! I am hooked!!! The course was .5 mile and my best time was 1.33, but it was a BLAST! I have a ton of pics but when I tried to back them up to icloud it said time remaining was 5 hours (???) so I will do it tonight when I go to bed. WOW!!!

Here is the course, although we actually did it opposite of this, so starting with a quick left turn and ending with a fast straight.

Did I say this already--WOW!!!

DeeJay,

Where are the pics? We must see more! :bigsmile:

I've signed up for one of these! :shock: How was it? Any tips?

I'm so glad I have the PDK, that looks like a tough course to shift through.
 

Dee*Jay

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iLander, Ok I just went to the apple store and got them to show me where my photos are that I uploaded into "the cloud" to I could post some!

Here is the first car getting ready on the line.

acr_-_1st_car.jpg
 

Dee*Jay

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Some people have their own numbers.

acr_-_numbers.jpg
 

Dee*Jay

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I was lucky number 13! (I rode around with that number on my windshield for a week because I kept forgetting to wash it off, LOL.)

acr_-_13.jpg
 

Dee*Jay

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Lined up in front of me.

acr_-_lined_up_2.jpg
 

Dee*Jay

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Lined up behind.

acr_-_lined_up_6.jpg
 

Dee*Jay

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One more car, then my turn!

acr_-_course.jpg
 

Dee*Jay

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A couple of tips: Figure out where the damn course is! I'm sure that sounds simple enough (it certainly did to me!) but there are A LOT of cones out there. A LOT. Next time I will pay a lot more attention to the course on paper and map it out better visually in person. Also, when you do the initial drive through, don't worry about how fast or slow the other cars in the line are going, just pay close attention to the course because when you come shotting over that line as fast as you can go you want to have a good sense of WHERE to go.

Also, GO FAST. As Portia mentioned in an earlier post, this is a controlled environment, so push it. I admit to being a little timid on the first run, not to mention I'd only had the car for a week at that point, so had driven it approximately 150 miles, but as I got more comfortable and confident in the performance of Billy Ray it was a lot more fun.

And that breaking during corners things... yah... no more of that for me either any more! As a matter of fact, I've become fond of accelerating in corners. Surprised the hell out of the instructor that rode with me on one of the runs, but once you figure out how/when to do that, it's awesome!

As for the PDK, I still have mixed emotions about not getting a stick, but I after the pain in was in from just the test drive I know it wans't an option. In this environment though, you're right, having to worry about everything else along with shifting would have pretty much overwhelmed me, so I was happy to have the PDK.

When are you going out to do this?
 

iLander

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Awesome pics DeeJay! I've got a couple of weeks to go, so I've been watching videos on youtube. Also, I emailed my dad, who it turns out, is a temporary driving instructor at a race school (this week, anyway). We rarely communicate (long story there) but he actually responded with some little tips. Maybe I'll see him in the next year or so, maybe he'll want to come see my car and we'll have something in common to talk about. Maybe not, I've learned not to hope for stuff like that. This car is turning into a whole weird fate line thing for me . . .

It looks like they take it really seriously where you were, DeeJay. I'm hoping it'll be a little less intense where I am. I don't relish wearing a helmet, I have to say. :rolleyes: I wish our club would post the course ahead of time, I really need that kind of visual reinforcement. I'm just hoping to be second from last, that's my goal. I don't want to be last, but I'm ready for it.

If you check out youtube, there are a lot of videos of corvettes losing it in autocrosses. That's the thing about most american muscle cars, they can go real fast in a straightaway, but don't expect them to turn!
 

innerkitten

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Nice. Congrats!
 

iLander

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Oh lordy! You sure were right, DeeJay!

I never saw so many cones in my damn life! And there really was nothing connecting them, so unless you had that freakin' map in your head, you had no idea where to go! I went off course on the first 2 runs, then the track people sent out an instructor drive me through, and his "take it easy, just to show you where to go" lap scare the heck out of me! :shock: I was too busy fearing for my life to figure out where the stinking cones were! Then he realized that I got nothing out of the lap when we got back around and I still had this look on my face :-o I didn't know my car could do that! He took 40 seconds off my time, that's how fast he was going :D While talking, pointing at things, and driving my baby with one hand! I drove him the second time, and he had to keep pointing and saying "LEFT! LEFT NOW!" so I went left into the sea of cones, and hoped for the best.

For anyone reading this, and wondering what it's like to drive an autocross; http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rOG-8gcux1U

It was a mile long course, and my best time (when I wasn't off course :rolleyes: ) was 1:13 plus one freakin' cone. :nono: There were hard core racers there, they brought trailers and changed all 4 of their tires before the start. We walked the course at the beginning (a mile at 8 a.m.! after driving an hour to get there! I was up at 6 a.m :sick: .) but that didn't help much, everyone was in front of me, and some of the cones were so confusing! They really need to color code those cones, or something. All orange cones just doesn't cut it. Some of the guys had super-prepped cars with all kinds of special parts, they were finishing around 78. They were in a run group all by themselves. All of us stock people were in a separate group, finishing around 80-90. Except for me and a couple of other people. :rolleyes:

I was in line after a few runs, and I just pulled off. I couldn't explain it, but I had an overwhelming feeling that I shouldn't run again. It took me all evening to identify the feeling, and I finally figured it out; it was fear! I was scared the whole time, apparently. I guess I'd forgotten that feeling, so I couldn't identify it. There was another woman driving, sharing a boxster with her DH, and she got kind of mad at me for quitting. But she was hard core, from a club that runs every month and she's in her 60's, so lots of practice. She got an 80!

Everyone was pretty nice, the instructor was very complimentary about my car, saying it could do a lot, and handled better than a lot of the other cars on the track (mid-engine is good, I guess). He said he could take it around in the low 70's, beating the prep cars. I declined that offer!

I'm not sure if Scarlett actually enjoyed that or not. I think she was very relieved when I stopped on the way home and had her washed. :bigsmile: DH won most improved time, with a 93 and got a free shirt. He wants to do it again sometime, even though he almost spun out 3 times. I guess I'll do it, but my first lap will be super slow to try and find the stupid course. :rolleyes:
 

Mayk

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Dee Jay!!! Omg how fun!!!!
 

Dee*Jay

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iLander - Sounds like you have quite the experience! I'm glad you did it--what a rush, yes?!--but if you were/are uncomfortable or afraid, just remember, you don't ever have to do it again. As for all those cones... there has to be a better way. Maybe there is a place with a permanent course that is easier to figure out.

Mayk, let us know if you're DH decides to do this and if he has any good tips for us. I think the information we glean from "normal" people might be more (or at least AS) useful than what the hard core instructors tell us.
 

iLander

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My dad had some tips; look far ahead (all I see are more cones), if you're very busy turning the wheel you're not looking far enough, walk the course.

Big deal. Did all that, it didn't help much. :rolleyes:
 
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