Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Autocross and Open Track How to get involved in CO???

IS there anyone here in CO that has some info on auto-x'ing? Looking to get into it but cannot find a link.

skilled,
The easiest way to find a SCCA region in your area is to go to www.scca.org and look for the region near you, then contact that region. The Colorado area (Rocky Mountain region) lists these 2 sites, www.coloradoscca.org and www.rmsolo.org . Have fun at the auto-x.

Respectfully,
Andy Hohl

Skilled,
I'm doing AutoX this year, haven't seen you though, unless you're not in a 'tour.
I'll be at the June 2nd event at Coors Field. I'm running in STS in a T-Red SVT. Hope to see ya there,
Mike

BTW, RMSolo.org is the site where most everyone goes to. We are in the Continental Divide region #109. Where in Co are you?

Mike

Congrats 69 Boss302 on running a Divisional on only your 3rd event ever! I suspect you ran STS because of your lack of autocross tires, correct. I think you would have finished 8th in G Stock if you had run in that class and would have gotten your time to within 5 seconds of the G Stock winner if you had autocross tires. The guys who finished 2nd and 3rd in your Divisional G Stock finished 15th and 9th at last year's Nationals. Don't know about the winner. You can also judge your times against the 94 325is who finished 2nd in your Divisional D Stock. He finished 4th in G Stock at last year's Nationals when his car was still in that class.

I noted that the guy who beat him was in a new 330Ci that was screaming fast! (that guy won the F Stock class at San Diego's National Tour event in a turbo Trans Am...I think he was borrowing a ride in the 330Ci)It may be the future D Stock National's winner this year...and then it will get reclassed because it probably belongs in a faster class.

As you probably have been told, you have one of the best autocrossers in the nation in your Super Stock winner. A multi-time National Champ in multiple classes...to include Mustangs in F Stock and E Street Prepared!

Keep at it. You will improve. http://www.rmsolo.org/results/02/divresults.txt

Cole, actually I'm in STS because I've got the BAT 22mm sway bar. I'm running on Potenza re730's, which is my get-me-there-and-back tire as well. What do you mean by AutoX tire's?

My biggest problem area thus far is understeer, which I think is due to too much air pressure. I took out two pounds in the front between Saturday and Sunday's event's. I also realized that I had uneven pressure in the back tires on Saturday, so I fixed that come Sunday.
Also, I tend to slide the tail end out alot. I don't think I'm jerking the car around when it slides, maybe I'm going to fast.?

I keep telling myself to "stay smooth and keep the line" the entire time I'm on the track, and as soon as I get back to the paddock I get out the map and go over it like I'm driving it still.
The biggest thing that I do is stay relaxed and have fun.
BTW, the divisional was also our summer series events.
Mike

Edit
John Ames is wickedly fast and from what I was told, he lives in the Denver area. If I ever see him at another event, I'll do my best to get him to ride with me or walk the course or something. I plan to be a leech on his knowledge.

69Boss302, If you have the BAT Sway bar already, it is too late to stay stock unless you want to put the old one back one. But that would just increase your understeer....but the sway bar is probably why you are a bit tail happy now. Are you saying you have too much initial understeer, or just in tight turns, or in mid-turn? Can't get away from that in FWD car.

To create oversteer make the front and rear tire pressures as close as possible 45/45 or 45 front/43 rear which is what I run on asphalt. But with the sway bar creating more oversteer you may need to have only 41 in back. If on concrete, I run 48/45.

Autocross tires like Kuhmo Victoracers, and V700, and Hoosiers, and Toyo Proxies, and Yoko something are very soft compound tires that you can't drive on everyday....and can't use in STS anyway. If you want to be competitive in STS you must go all out on the legal mods, lowering the car as much as you can live with, stiffer springs, race shocks, bushings, wide (but as light as possible) 7 or 7.5 inch wheels, but stay 16" or 17" at most, and 225/40 series tires, probably Falken Azenis if in that size. The guy who won the National Tour event in Florida supposedly had a $10,000 suspension and no doubt radical alignment. Ask SVTSYS about legal mods as his car is really set up for STS class...except he went one mod too far and had to settle for a MIATA!

And the Maita needs forced induction bad. Now that the weather has warmed up, my competitor here is getting the power to the ground and running away from me. He has 230 hp at the rear wheels, I have 110 hp at the wheels if they all show up at the same time pulling in the same direction. :rolleyes:
69Boss302,
As SVTCole pointed out, you can use a front/ rear tire pressure differential to effect the handling balance of your car. It is quite common to have upto a 10 lb. difference front to rear, with the fronts at a higher pressure.
My CSVT is very throttle sensitive in corners the way I have it set up. I have Koni/Eibach's, Bridgestone S-03 PP, and "Aussie" rear sway bar. The car now rewards SMOOTH inputs. I'm guessing on the following suggestions without seeing you drive, as these are things I've seen in teaching novice schools:
1) If the understeer is on initial turn-in, you might not be going slow enough on corner entry. If that is the cause, you need to start braking a bit earlier and lose the speed with the brakes not scrubbing tires.
2) If the understeer is mid turn to corner exit, too much throttle or too much steering wheel. This requires seat time to differentiate but they seem to come together. The solution is BREATHE the throttle (SLIGHT lift ) and UNWIND the steering wheel a little. By doing these two things, you give the front tires a bit more grip to turn the car.
3) If the oversteer is in slalom's, either too much speed in this violent manuver, lifting on the throttle or not being smooth with your inputs. The same thing goes for the corners as well as braking too much while trying to turn. Stock suspension CSVT's transfer soo much weight forward under braking that the back end gets real light, and if you turn at that point the back end will rotate.
Guys, point out anything you disagree with.
These are just a few things, seat time and a mentor are the best things to help improve your driving. John Ames is an excellent driver to emulate, he is SMOOTH. To help with car setup, find a fast FWD person to talk to. Since John Ames drives a RWD car, his set up will be different than what you need. Good luck and have fun autocrossing.

Respectfully,
Andy Hohl

I was running 40 lbs in each tire, but for Sunday I went to 32 up front and 30 in the back. The car really hooked up and didn't understeer unless I went in too hot, which is expected. I did roll the tires alot, but not to the rim, about 2in on the front and an inch on the rear.
I'm seriously considering the BAT European suspension kit, which I think should allow me to stay in STS. Right now I still have the original setup with 142,000 on it. Still rides good, but it's probably hurting me here though.
I understeer the most in the initial turn in and sharp turns. Maybe I'm not setting up right for the turn? Carrying too much speed too late into it? Not apexing right?

The top guys in my division are running Azenis and Toyo's, so I'm thinking of getting some Azeni's when I can, but the suspension first.

Thanks for your help,
Mike

69Boss302,
From my experience you are at least 10-15 lbs to low in the front and 5-10 in the rear. The tires rolling over that far is the first indication. The tire being this soft would make the contact patch very hard to control and the car feeling slow to respond. Depending on the tire, some will have little triangles at the edge of the tread to indicate how far the should roll over. You never want it to roll on to the nontreaded sidewall, EVER.
With 142,000 on the original suspension, yes any new parts would be a help.
Ask John Ames or another experienced autocrosser to help you read the course. Unfortunatly, the questions you are asking about driving can't really be answered without seeing you drive. All we on the forum can do is offer possible solutions to problems you desribe based on our experiences.

Respectfully,
Andy Hohl