Advice for AutoX

[architechnik]

I just went to my first autocross session this past weekend and I'm looking for advice on a couple little things for a 1g gsx.

I had a good deal of trouble keeping the tail end hooked and I was sliding sideways a fair amount while accelerating out of and through turns. I was able to keep it fairly straight and moving forward as I scooted, but it really kills the acceleration when it suddenly grabs after a 5-10 foot slide.

I had not thought that that would be a problem until I got out there. I had just over half of a tank of gas, as I thought I would burn up a lot while I was out there. I also removed everything from inside the car that was not needed (even the glass sunroof). I have the battery relocated to the trunk.

To some experienced 1g guys, how many gallons of fuel do you shoot for if you're not going to refuel on at the track?

Should I put the spare tire back in the car or will this just cause more tail swing than before?

Any suggestions from experienced autocrossers would be appreciated!

PS I know I need tires and suspension!

 

[Red97Eclipseboy]

Sounds like you need to be more concerned about your driving technique/skill rather than the amount of fuel in your tank.

 

[architechnik]

Yeah, I know; I have a really long way to go. I'm just trying to figure out how to make it more stable so I can get a constant response without the tail whip. I'm not talking about taking the corners too fast, my braking was way early (too early for a lot of the turns). It's mostly coming out of the sharp turns and through the chicane and rhythmic sections during acceleration.

 

[talonTSIDriver]

So your car was really tail happy?? Have you had an alignment recently???

 

[architechnik]

I had an alignment about three months ago when I got new tires. I did have the front end up for about a month and removed all the front cross members for a good while. I suppose that could have thrown everything off just a bit, but I figure the rear should be good. I'll keep that in mind and take it to les schwab when I get a chance.

 

[talonTSIDriver]

my last talon was very tail happy (until i got an alignment), ended up having lots of rear toe-out and it would throw the back end around like a drift car. it was fun (and only fun) to drive around a track, but scary as shxt at high speeds!!!

 

[eclipsh]

I'm amazed you were having problems with oversteer. What tire pressures were you running? I typically run 5psi less in the rear, 40f 35r works pretty well. Also check out what they set your rear camber to. To get my car to rotate with my setup I have it set at -1, stock is about -1.5.

Have you looked into any specific setups for your suspension?

 

[Red97Eclipseboy]

You also may want to try to discipline your throttle input out of the corners, too.

 

[architechnik]

The tire pressure was toned down during the third run to just about right but I still had a good bit of kick out coming out of the sweeping turns. I don't know what the actual pressure was, I was just going off of tire marks from the first two and adjusting by eye. The rear did seem to get a lot less sidewall travel than the front on the earlier runs.

I'm still running stock suspension with the tiny bit of tweaking that you can actually do with camber and toe. I'll check the alignment slip later today but I doubt they even touched it much.

I've been doing research on suspension setups but my funds are running low for what I would like to get. It won't be until after I get a summer job and bring in a couple of bucks before I can put down some money. I'm not going to skimp on this one and have to replace it only a few months down the road. I wish I didn't miss out on that K-sport coilovers group buy.

I was talking with a guy in our club that had a '93 talon Tsi AWD that he used to race when they first came out (he had his completely trailered and race tuned). He gave me a lot of advice on taking corners and really told me to stay on the throttle or else the under-steer will put you right into the grass. After a couple corners going really wide when I hesitated I took it to heart and stayed in there even when I was losing grip on the tail. It really was a balls-to-the-wall hanging in and staying on the throttle.

 

[architechnik]

Side note: I just downloaded Kterry's modified fuel maps that are much smoother than stock. Hopefully that will let me reduce the throttle punch and not get that low end cut-off that keeps causing knock. When I drop to anywhere near 2.5-3k rpm's I get knock when I get back on, as verified by the logs I took during the runs. With that, it gives me a good three secs before the timing advance kicks back in and I can get power back.

 

[mavisky]

Surprised to hear you're getting tail happy, but getting these cars rotated is the hard thing for most people. Having it rotate a little on corner entry and mid-corner though is usually better than it sliding as you're trying to put the power down and exit.

What tires are you running (size and brand)? I've been autox'ing a 2.5rs locally right now and we've got the tire pressures and suspension dialed in that I can actually initiate 4 wheel drifts through drop throttle in it on RE-01r's

 

[123abc]

I like to have at least 3/4 tank. The autocross I did this last weekend had a decent sized skidpad right at the start. My car would get fuel starved cause I didn't have enough in at first.


Sounds like you need an alignment and to be smoother on the gas. I'm Fwd though, and can get my car to rotate pretty good just running 38 psi in the rear and 34 psi in the front.