I posted this in the autocross thread, but just relaying, since not everyone hangs out in the suspension section.



Click to enlarge

Pos. Class # Rookie Driver Car Model Total Factor Pax Time Diff. From 1st
1 fs 76 Rick B 55.074 *0.821 45.215 0.000 0.000
2 fsp 89 Dave S mini 54.650 *0.833 45.523 0.308 0.308
3 sm 13 Justin H Mustang 53.038 *0.860 45.612 0.089 0.397
4 hs 14 Richard C mazda 3 58.765 *0.792 46.541 0.929 1.326
5 gp 37 John L 56.623 *0.847 47.959 1.418 2.744
6 sts 13 Ryan T 59.213 *0.816 48.317 0.358 3.102
7 dm 77 Nov Jason Y Lotus7 54.705 *0.890 48.687 0.370 3.472
8 stu 11 Nov Chris C Mazada RX8 58.978 *0.830 48.951 0.264 3.736
9 bs 24 Nov Johnathan G BMW M3 59.316 *0.832 49.350 0.399 4.135
10 sm 24 Dominic V Saturn ION 58.257 *0.860 50.101 0.751 4.886
11 xp 71 Brian S Civic 57.742 *0.882 50.928 0.827 5.713
12 fsp 45 Gary M Sprite 66.023 *0.833 54.997 4.069 9.782
13 sm 1 Evan L Impreza RS 64.030 *0.860 55.065 0.068 9.850
14 sm2 7 Nov Chris D Toyota MR2 68.089 *0.867 59.033 3.968 13.818


Friend's car... E36 M3



Another of me, with a stupid look on my face.




If you ever get a chance to autocross... DO IT. More fun than you can shake a stick at

Video to follow

 

want to autocross so bad...need new brakes and tires though...

 

Cool!

Don't worry about the tires - as long as you have tread...
With a TC, you can start in stock (you're allowed an exhaust & air FILTER)

 

Drax would be in SM due to the supercharger and cat delete.

But he should do it anyway... not worry so much about being a "perfect setup" before heading out there.

 

hey, i still have my secondary cat in the mid-pipe!

but yeah, supercharger, and LSD, and ofcourse, the unparalleled weight savings of my carbon fiber fuel door!

yeah, the tires really don't bother me, i actually like sliding around, it is more exciting. when i went autocrossing, it was one of the major things the instructor kept telling me not to do, but i learned all my driving skills from initial d and need for speed. LOL.

but i do have a set of lighter wheels and summer tires lined up to buy very soon.

 

you need to keep your car emissions-legal for anything you'll be competitive in...

at the last autocross, there were a lot of guys who were more concerned with spinning their tires & bouncing off the rev-limiter than being smooth & going fast. needless to say, they were below me on the standings...

 

actually, the first and only time i went, i did better than my two friends who also drive tc's. i competed in novice sts, and my best time was 44.XX, kanundrums best time 45.xx, he is in SM for supercharger and cf hood and a set of tires he uses just for autox, and curtis's best time was 43.xx because he has cf hood, and wider summer tires, while i just had some trd suspension and all season tires.

curtis and kanundrum autox alot, so i think i did pretty good compared to two drivers who have more experience on the track than i do, and have more power and traction than i do.

so i'm not too bad, but this season i'll get a bit more serious with the supercharger, lsd, lightweight flywheel, full exhaust, and summer tires.

my main problem according to the instructor was that i was being to reactionary, and not following a line, i was just gas brake turn and wasn't planning where i want to be for the next corner, which i totally understand, but my car had good response and rotated nicely he commented. so there is alot of improvemnt to be made on my part and not just the cars.

 

before you pour money into your car, work on the nut behind the wheel. Look ahead, plan ahead, drive smoothly.

if you can stay in stock class, stay in stock class. If you are in STS, don't get carried away spending money on going faster. Turn up your camber a bit. That's all. Race as much as possible. $30-$40 a week is cheap compared to sparkly car parts & will make more of a difference!
If you get into prepared classes, you're probably gonna get spanked.

in autocross school, my instructor was able to set the fastest STS time in my 100hp XA. That was with 200lbs of me in the car. My fastest time at my last race was with a passenger riding along. The driver is the MOST important part. Carbon fiber hoods do squat except look fancy.

Emerson Fittipaldi said
Rookie drivers go too slow in the fast parts and too fast in the slow parts.

If you can figure this out, you'll win. Period.

 

well, at the autocross i went to, my instructor had a really awesome mini cooper S (actually, there were alot of them) and i don't know what the fastest sts times, but the cars putting down the best times were evo's, sti's and this salmon pink miata with this funky chick at the wheel. their times were between 35-40 seconds, so it would take alot of improvement from both the car and the driver to catch up to those kinda times.

as far as modifications i have made go, i wasn't doing it to be an autocross superstar, i just wanted my car to be really well balanced with power, grip and handling. the car is a blast to drive on a daily basis, and if it helps me on the autocross circuit (more importantly, it keeps my times lower than kanundrum, then i'l be pleased.