NASA has accepted the CFOGi Performance Division into their organizational structure. The details are being ironed out, but last night I hammered out a verbal agreement with officers from NASA, and will be flying out to California next week to sign the "official" agreement.

A story announcing the affiliation will be in an upcoming issue of Grassroots Motorsports magazine.

Just for info, Waterford and Milan will be run under the NASA sanction, insurance, and rules. Details will be mailed out this week to the Waterford entrants mailing list.

As a side note, you can still register for Waterford. An introduction to NASA HPDE will follow.

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George Ryan
Performance Director
CFOG-I

[This message has been edited by cadero2dmax (edited 06-20-2003).]

CFOGi/NASA HIGH PERFORMANCE DRIVING EVENT

Ok, so you've got a really neat performance Fiero. And maybe you frequently experience frustrations because you can never really open-up your car to the spirited driving for which you think you and your car are capable. Fear of traffic citations, your reputation, your wife/parents, and etc. keep your urge to drive at speed in check.

Do you really want to be an on-track driver (and not just a spectator) but maybe not quite ready for real wheel-to-wheel racing? Then YOU NEED a CFOGi/NASA High Performance Driving Event ...and you need it NOW! It's great fun for all motor heads AND you can afford it...read-on - - PLEASE!

High Performance Driving Events (HPDE) allows YOU, at a modest cost, to get a lot of seat-time on a road course. You will be lapping - in your own Fiero - AT SPEED! PLUS you can take 1 passenger with you (after being qualified by an instructor)

It's easy to qualify you and your Fiero for HPDE lapping at various famous road courses throughout the U.S. and Canada. Here's the deal: You must become a member of the Classic Fiero Owners Group International (CFOGi) performance Division (it's a good deal, trust us). ANY street-legal Fiero can be used WITHOUT normal race prep... there is no roll cage, restraint harness, window net, driving suit, or fire extinguisher required. Nor is prior competition driving experience required for this non-race series.

Of course, if you have a competition license, or your Fiero is race driven and it does have safety equipment, you can also come out to play with us (as long as you obey the same rules as the other cars) - we will group you with other race driven Fieros.

You must wear a Snell approved safety helmet, a long sleeve shirt, long pants, and shoes (no open toe footwear is allowed) while you drive on track. Then all you have to do is show up on the morning of the HPDE event and this is what will happen:

a) You will be required to attend a driving school and short driver orientation.
b) Your Fiero will be given a safety inspection for such things as adequate brakes, battery securely mounted, wheel bearings tight, safe tread on the tires, etc.
c) You will be assigned to a run group (dependant on experience). If you are a novice, an instructor will take the first few laps with you until he is comfortable that you understand the rules and can safely control your car at speed.
d) You will be allowed to drive your car at full speed for a minimum of three (3) twenty minute sessions.

Let me be the first to "thank you" and congrat you for all the hard work. Getting the Fiero recognized as a competitive car with NASA and racetracks in general will help the Fiero to once again bring in excitement.

Loyde
CFOGi South Central Director
CFOGi WebMaster http://www.CFOGi.org

Cool!

Good work George!

On a side note, any chance that NASA could incorporate a small skid pad (say 50 ft. diameter) as a side test area that Fiero owners could test their car's cornering power?

Ric and I would volunteer to help work/run it, if that makes a difference. All we would need to use is a stopwatch to time cars around it, and a calculator to figure out the G-force generated.

Or, even better, is there any chance there might still be an Autocross? I still think more Fieros would get entered in that than the drag race or the road race event.

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Gerald Storvik

http://www.8shark.com

G .... You Da Man !!!

(Still waitin' on the Canadians though ! )

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www.cfogi.org

This is fantastic news!!! My hat is off to you George, you've really made a difference for the Fiero performance community. We can't thank you enough for all of your hard work.

Gerald, in reference to a skidpad test, I have a G-Tech that I'd loan out if you wanted to perhaps compare measured with calculated G's. It'd be interesting to see how comparable the values are.

Bryce
88 GT

quote Originally posted by shark93726: On a side note, any chance that NASA could incorporate a small skid pad (say 50 ft. diameter) as a side test area that Fiero owners could test their car's cornering power? Ric and I would volunteer to help work/run it, if that makes a difference. All we would need to use is a stopwatch to time cars around it, and a calculator to figure out the G-force generated. Or, even better, is there any chance there might still be an Autocross? I still think more Fieros would get entered in that than the drag race or the road race event.

First, about a skidpad. I think that would fit right in with our seminar on Friday morning, since we will have our panel talking about handling.

The problem would be finding a clear 400' radius area in the hotel's parking lot. You need a 200' radius for the actual skidpad, and 200' for run-off for all the spinning Fiero's. I know you said 50'diameter (100' radius), but in all the autocross schools I have held I have found a smaller skidpad doesn't really work. You can't get enough speed to really test the suspension.

I will ask Robert to check with the event Hotel to see if that is possible, but right now I would say that we have a pretty full schedule (and a lot of Fieros to park somewhere) and might not be wanting to tackle that. Maybe at next years event?

I have written to PRo Racing - which is headquartered in Michigan - and asked them if they would host an autocross for us on Sunday, the 20th. They, too, are an affiliate of NASA. To date I haven't received a reply (but I didn't write them until a couple weeks ago). It is getting rather late to make all the necessary arrangements, but I will continue to pursue it. For more info, check out http://www.precisionracingorg.com/index1.htm
for details.

The Detroit SCCA is tenatively holding an autocross in Ypsilanti on Sunday, the 20th of July. They limit their events to 200 entrants, and have not yet started taking registrations (as best I can determine). You should watch http://www.detroit-scca.org/schedule.asp?pg=1
for developments.

Now, these are the only two possibilities for an autocross at the 20th (I'm sorry). I will make a committment to have an autocross (at all costs) - either a PRo event or a NASA-X - on CFOGi's 2004 event calendar.

We are a young club, and have come a long ways in just a few months (especially the Performance Division). But quite frankly, I don't think we could have taken on much more for the 20th anniversary celebration without compromising somewhere else. However, as we grow, we expect to be able to do more and more. Especially with the NASA affiliation, we will be able to put our name on more and more activities around the country.

Stay tuned!!

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George Ryan
Performance Director
CFOG-I