so I auto-x'd for the first time today
 

We did timed runs in the morning and then in the afternoon we did a bracket race where in the 1st round whoever improved on their run the most in the morning went to the 2nd, then the 3rd had to improve on the 2nd run, etc. In the morning i was doing 34-35sec...usually in the mid 34's, which was with the GTP's and other big heavy cars running.

In the bracket competition I moved down to 33, then 32.5 in the successive rounds. I went to the final against a 2002 civic Si that I had been running faster than all day...my car is bone stock and he had rims, summer tires, coilovers, and other stuff in it. So I have no idea how I was running faster. I ran a fucking 32.001 in the final and woulda won but i hit the very last cone in the course (on a slalom at the end) because my power steering gave out so it was a 2 sec penalty and i lost. He ran a 33.5 so he only lost like .5 seconds on his previous round's time but I woulda gained .5 if I hadn't hit that damn cone.

I really need a new car :( Understeer is a bitch in this pig, and my power steering sort of uh gives up when stressed, which was about 5-6 times per run. Oh well :happysad: it's fun as hell though, I'll be doing it more until I need new tires for the winter.

pity post :fawk:

Nice job, how fast were the S2ks?

We need to have some events here in CT. I never hear about any of them.

S2Ks? This is Michigan :p I think I've seen like 2 here total in all the miles I've driven here. I'll post times like Monday when they get emailed to me.

Understeer can be fixed with changing tire pressures. You usually want the fronts (street tires) to be around 45psi and the back around 40psi. Drop more to get more rotation or increase rears to keep the tail planted.

Welcome to the world of autocross :)

Looks like you had fun. How much does it cost in your area?

My buddy told me about an auto-x event here in Indy in about 2 weeks but my radiator is fawked up so I can't run my car for fear of overheating. Unless I somehow find motivation to replace it within the next two weeks. :hsdunno: This would be my first autocross event too...if I were to participate.

I should go and walk all over you.

Thanks :) I had the fronts at 43 and the rears at 40. Once I got the trick to FWD and heavy understeer (dealing with it and rotating the car instead of constantly fighting it) I was able to get by pretty well. In a couple tight corners I learned to hit a good line at a good speed and rotated well, but on one sweeping corner before the slalom I never got the hang of it and just plowed like crazy because I was always too fast into it and too tight into the apex :happysad:

It was free :) Put on by my college's car club.

llama: You would :rofl: I never said my car was fast. It's bone stock, the power steering gives up when stressed, has 230k miles and is best in a straight line at 75MPH :)