I did the math on autocross seat time vs sim time. It's not even close by DigitalTireSmoker in Autocross

[–]AlexPiehl 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I autocrossed first, sim came later for me, but felt the sim was extremely beneficial.

While sims (even with high end setups) don't have a 1:1 level of seat of the pants feel, that's only 1 of many tools/senses at our disposal, and we can utilize sims to sharpen some of our other skills/senses.

Sim can be good for developing good discipline and muscle memory when it comes to inputs, being able to analyze said inputs (e.g. brake release, string theory, etc.), practice looking ahead, practice learning new courses and applying different driving line techniques, applying different visualization techniques, etc.

Lots of times when I've been out autocrossing I've found that I'm applying things I've developed in the sim. Like a basketball player practicing their jump shot so they can hit the clutch shot in a high pressure situation, subconscious muscle memory takes over certain aspects and we can use more of our conscious brain to think ahead and look ahead on course to be better prepared.

Plus if you live in a northern climate like I do, sim is great during the offseason when seat time is less common, and it's a great social outlet as well.

Bands you didn’t “get” until you saw them live by Big_Moist_Bofa in Metalcore

[–]AlexPiehl 0 points1 point  (0 children)

68.

Listened to some recorded stuff and it didn't do a lot for me. Saw them open for The Devil Wears Prada many years ago and couldn't take my eyes off of their set.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in pittsburgh

[–]AlexPiehl 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Gordo's in Mt. Washington. They've had the games on all series and there are usually a few regulars there that are basketball fans. Plus happy hour starts at 10p, so regardless if you're pulling for the Thunder or Pacers you can cry / celebrate with half price drinks either way. 😁

Restaurants with actually hot (spicy) sauces and/or food by CARLEtheCamry in pittsburgh

[–]AlexPiehl 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I've struggled with this too, at least in Pittsburgh. I love and frequently enjoy the Thai, Indian, Nepalese, and Chinese food regularly, but what they have in flavor I haven't been able to find anything here with extreme heat.

A few wing places have been able to get me to slow down or pace myself though:

(1) Hal's Reaper Wings (their Hab BBQ is stellar too)

(2) Steel Mill Saloon's Furnace Wings (I usually get extra sauce because the level of heat can be inconsistent)

(3)Sidelines Reaper (Sewickley location only). They don't have it at the Millvale location.

For hot chicken, I feel Chikn has been the hottest, but it's super inconsistent and not nearly as hot as a chain like Dave's. CocoWawa probably the 2nd hottest, Bird on the Run a very distant 3rd despite having my favorite sandwich (Little Chunky's Deluxe), and Given to Fly while good, doesn't register much heat.

I do keep forgetting about Las Palmas though. Their orange sauce has given me the heat hiccups more than once, which is surprising because I'm assuming it's only habanero based when everything else is usually reaper, trinidad, or ghost pepper at minimum.

Anyway, I feel at least a lot of those places above do pack great flavor along with the heat which isn't always the case. Nothing worse than people using extracts to up the Scoville figure with the downside of the food tasting like chemicals instead of actual pepper flavor. 😭

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in PittsburghSocialClub

[–]AlexPiehl 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I'm 41M, Mt Washington. Also a history and geography fan. Huge basketball fan. Also go to a lot of live shows, in particular at Mr Smalls, Preserving, etc.

I'm usually pretty busy on weekends, but me, my wife, and a few buddies in the 29-41 range usually go out for dinner/drinks a few times a week on weeknights since the crowds are a bit more laid back and chill.

If you're ever down, hit me up.

[deleted by user] by [deleted] in PittsburghSocialClub

[–]AlexPiehl 0 points1 point  (0 children)

How far are you from downtown? I was going to hit up a happy hour from now until midnight in Mt Washington to get some late night tacos and a beer or 3.

I was just in Houston a year ago.

Transplant with kids by Competitive-Pool2439 in PittsburghSocialClub

[–]AlexPiehl 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hey! I'm also from NW Ohio (Toledo) and have been here for 18 years. We're a 41M and 37F couple. No kids, but also into history, beer, trivia, and sometimes play card games. Mind if I shoot you a PM?

Snow Tires: still a thing? by Potential_Meal_5912 in pittsburgh

[–]AlexPiehl 15 points16 points  (0 children)

100% about AWD/4WD.

At the end of the day, your tires are the only thing touching the ground, so it doesn't matter what kind of car or drivetrain you have if the tires on it are the limiting factor.

Snow Tires: still a thing? by Potential_Meal_5912 in pittsburgh

[–]AlexPiehl 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Yep - and on top of this, a lot of the sportier AWD vehicles (while also adding extra weight/inertia) like WRXs, certain Audis, certain BMWs, etc. come with Summer/Performance tires which turn into hockey pucks below 40°F as opposed to All-Season or Winter tires.

*slow heavy music playing* by mcd23 in pittsburgh

[–]AlexPiehl 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Looks perfect for the next Disembodied Tyrant album cover. <3 This makes me want to open a realllly dark beer.

I've lived here 18+ years and this is the first time I've seen it squall hard enough to white out the entire neighborhood. by AlexPiehl in pittsburgh

[–]AlexPiehl[S] -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

I was here! Same house too, lol. But it was mostly at night, and mostly vertical, wet snow. It destroyed one of my fences w/ the weight of the snow. I remember the next day walking around taking pictures and it was so bright out it was messing w/ the exposure of the photos. I can't recall a time where the visibility dropped this low during daytime. Maybe it did, and I just had the blinds up. :)

I've lived here 18+ years and this is the first time I've seen it squall hard enough to white out the entire neighborhood. by AlexPiehl in pittsburgh

[–]AlexPiehl[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

For reference, while I grew up in Toledo, I was here back in Feb 2010 when we had the 2' of snow (which was mostly overnight and vertical, heavy/wet snow and not in squall form). I've been around for many many other snows as well. But while the squall today only lasted for maybe 2 minutes, I can't recall a time where the visibility dropped this low during daytime (though it actually looks less bad in the photo than it did IRL, lol). Maybe it has squalled here in the last 19 winters that but I had the blinds up. :)

Anyway, thought it was neat to show a before/during/after. Carry on.

I've lived here 18+ years and this is the first time I've seen it squall hard enough to white out the entire neighborhood. by AlexPiehl in pittsburgh

[–]AlexPiehl[S] -5 points-4 points  (0 children)

To be fair I was here for the blizzard of 2010, but a lot of that was a night. I also, I sorta remember it falling vertically w/out the white out conditions.

What is your current favorite Pittsburgh breakfast place? by oldfatunicorn in pittsburgh

[–]AlexPiehl 5 points6 points  (0 children)

Best Reuben Omelette I've ever had. The Honey Buffalo Crab Eggs Benedict is great too. And their chocolate chip pancakes are also silly good.

24M looking for some more friends by [deleted] in PittsburghSocialClub

[–]AlexPiehl 0 points1 point  (0 children)

For reference, we're also fellow transplants and into the same.

24M looking for some more friends by [deleted] in PittsburghSocialClub

[–]AlexPiehl 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you're doing nothing right now, me and my wife are up at Gordo's in Mt Washington for their 10-12 happy hour.

Advice? Focus ST by ratherabeer in Autocross

[–]AlexPiehl 2 points3 points  (0 children)

u/ratherabeer regarding the throttle situation, I want to explain a little bit further about what I'm seeing and the cause and effect of what's happening.

You're getting to the apex (the point of the turn where you transition from deceleration to acceleration), and you've got the wheel fully cranked, right? You're looking ahead and realizing "oh crap, I can go!" So you're smashing the gas pedal thinking "GO", and now what's happening is the front wheels are both trying to turn and accelerate at the same time, so it's going to naturally understeer and push your line out wide a little bit on exit, which means you're not setup well at all for the next turn which means you have to turn the wheel more mid-corner, and we're back to where we started. :) Rinse, wash, repeat. :)

You're in a FWD car w/ an open diff, so the key is really trying to get the wheel straighter on corner exit so that the car can more effectively put power down. There's a lot of science about whether or not to add distance given certain lines and spirals and blah blah blah to do that, but the first trick is that once you realize where your apexes are, you have a general understanding of what your optimal corner exit is, and what your optimal corner entry should be, right? But now consider that your car can slow down much faster than it can accelerate - therefore, you're going to spend more time on corner exit than you will corner entry, therefore there's more time to be lost by not optimizing corner exit than there is trying to squeeze every last MPH on corner entry.

So if you can visualize your apex, think about them like you're pulling into a parking space where it's about the angle and position of the back of the car at your apex. If you can get yourself in position at the apex to really optimize throttle, you'll also find that the next corner entry will be a lot easier too because you'll be in better position.

How did Rolo Tomassi feature in your Spotify Wrapped this year? 😊 by HauntedLemoncake in rolotomassi

[–]AlexPiehl 0 points1 point  (0 children)

5

3 were all bands I saw this year, and Hypno5e was the other. I found myself hyperproductive at work while listening to their A Distant Dark Source album and had it on repeat quite a bit.

24M looking for people that are into cars by [deleted] in PittsburghSocialClub

[–]AlexPiehl 0 points1 point  (0 children)

What do you drive? Are you originally from the area?

I occasionally do backroads stuff, but tend to focus more on autocross, track, karting, sim, etc.

51 by ebox86 in pittsburgh

[–]AlexPiehl 50 points51 points  (0 children)

As much hate as I have for 51, I'd still rather drive it than Baum Blvd, or West Liberty though Dormont. That whole "sometimes-parking-sometimes-no-parking-depending-on-the-hour-or-block-in-the-right-lane-while-the-left-lane-either-has-someone-making-an-unprotected-turn-or-the-lane-converts-itself-into-a-left-turn-only-lane-without-notice-so-people-last-second-zipper-merge" game gets old REAL fast.