This will be my first season of autocross. I'm really looking forward to it and I'm taking a novice class in the beginning of next month! Just a few questions before I start.

I got my RRM strut bar, Progress anti-sway bar with RRM perches, TEIN Basic Coilovers, and 15x6.5 Konig Heliums wrapped in Falken Azenis RT-615.

For autox guys and whomever can provide info I need to know the following...

--Tire Pressure?
--Ride Height (front/back)?
--Tire care (something I read about hosing down )?
--Anything else that may be of help

 

good ? I'd also be interested to hear some one answer your question.....

 

plenty of guys around that do it. so we will get some answers for sure. This will be my first year autox'ing my lancer as well. I am curious about this hoseing down of tires and tire pressure.

 

Good Luck!! you are sure to have a good time. I won STS class and overall PAX last year in my area so I will seed if I can lend a few suggestions.

Tire pressure is something you will have to play with for your alignment setup. I had 38 in the front usually and 41 in the rear but yours may vary. I usually find something that doesnt scrub the the sides of the fronts and then I use the rears to dial in handling for the course. If i want more oversteer I bump up the pressures.. for less I will drop them.

For ride height.. most importantly you need to be balanced after you adjust it. You will need scales for this. I ran about 1 in. lower than stock height personally as too much lowering can hurt you. I never really tested it much either. There could of been a better setting but I live in Maine and the roads arent so great and I wanted a higher ride height than the Progress Springs for the ES (they lower between 1.5 to 2 in). 1- 1.5 in lower would be good but you test and decide what you want. A good article for you to read would be the 'Making it stick' articles in sport compact car. PM me if you want some more information about those.

As for Tire Care.. some people will spray down the tires to cool them. The Falken Azenis do not like to run hot (the 615s are better than the 215s) and tend to get greasy if they are too hot. Its not a bad idea to cool them. At a warm summer event I did that last year and people thought I crazy.. until I won STS class by almost 2 full seconds on a 45 second course. Needless to say, everyone was doing it the rest of the year. A lot of this depends on how much time you have between runs, how hot it is out, and also remember that if the sun is directly hitting one side and not the others you may want to cool those tires more as the black tires will absorb some heat from the hot sun.

Any other tips.. couple things that I think will help you as a beginner.. first off.. dont go out and try to be a hero. Take it slow and add speed as you get a feel for the course and learn it. You are probably going to mess up at first and dont get frustrated. Make sure you are in it to have fun and learn something.. not just to win. Also, always always look ahead! It will be hard at first but that is ok.. as you gain skill try to look further and further ahead. On certain courses I try to set myself for a corner that is 3 corners ahead.

and like i said... Good luck and have fun. Let us know how it goes.

 

you are the only person that i have ever heard say that

I run 36-38 psi on the front and then i start the rears at 40 and just let them heat up... this gives me more oversteer as i get to know the course better through the runs


andy just one question do guys suck up in maine? not trying to be mean but i dont know ANYONE able to win PAX on street tires... im sure other autox guys will say the same thing

 

so at these events do they have an air pump? Do you guys have like some sort of portable air pump or do you just set it at a gas station before the event?

 

I suppose its all opinion... i base my 615s are better than 215s based on wet performance, and the fact the deal with heat a lot better than the 215s. Both are at the top of the Street Tire class.

I do understand what you are saying.. it seems very unlikely, but with PAX, it is based off an average.. and that is more so on larger lots than we see, therefore the smaller more nimble cars have an advantage. Also, we had 4 events in which it was raining, and my street tires had much more control than the people running r-compounds (gives a new meaning to slicks haha). Lastly I was much more consistent than anyone else. While some finished at the top at some events, and others finished on top at others... I was always in the top 10, usually the top 5 making it pretty easy to win PAX for the year.

I will be running in some national tour events and possibly nationals this year (in my Sentra) so we will see how i actually match up against some very skilled drivers. As you would know, autox is a mostly driver skill, and in the Northeast most of those top drivers tend to be running street tires also.

To sum all this nonsense up.. I'll go with no they really dont suck.. but there is some factors that play a part in it. Also, the skill certainly isn't at a level at some bigger events (such as divisional SCCA events etc.)




Pick a fro.. to answer your question, some clubs will have a pump there for you to use. I usually always have one of those plug into your cigarette lighter air pumps that I bring myself. I usually lend it out to anyone that wants to use it too.. I think they are like $10 at walmart.

 

right after i wrote it i figured rain had something to do with it in the NE... just to lazy to go back and change it... and i know exactly what you mean by driver skill... it is so much fun beating cars with 40 more hp stock then me(in sts)

as far as the tires go... you can bring a small can with you, do the cig air pumps... or just put xtra air in your tires and bleed it out where you want it, however in the last method if you take out too much you have to wait for your tires to heat up to get it back where you want it. Definatly invest in a good tire pressure gauge if you dont have one.

 

Yeh my girlfriend got me an electronic tire gauge...really nice. Keep the info coming!

 

Good luck with everyone's season this year.

I'm interested in knowing what everyone's budget is for the autocross season. I would think at the least include cost for friction components (pads, rotors, tires)?

Also, what are some of the long term things that needs to be replaced down the road. I've heard wheel bearings is a big one, along with suspension and struts.

~Gus

 

Hey Ralph, this sunday, lake Geneva raceway.

 

To be honest.. not including entry fees or travel or gas (only modifications to the car including pads, rotors and tires and such for the year) my budget is about $3500.00 I've actually cut some cost of that out, such as building my owe mandrel bent exhaust as oppsoed to buying one for $600-$700. Also, I have a part program/ contingency sponsor ship with Nissan Motorsports, so that certainly helps cut cost too. Now mind you, i've spent maybe a portion that much on my lancer over the last three years, but i'm starting from scratch on a car that I'm preparing for Nationals. The sad part is that isnt even everything that I need to get to complete the car. I've probably already cut out close to $1000 off that this year. Good thing because i dont have any money left.

I'll be glad once the car is completed...

 

turely i have no set budget... when things wear out (pads, tires, etc) i put it on my cc and pay it off as i can... when i get some xtra cash in i put it toward some new parts staying legal in my class... then once i get everything my class will allow i just move up... as i only have 2 parts that i can add that will give performance in STS... i have to decide if i want to stop moding the car(probably not) or move up to STX or FSP

 

Wow, it isn't easy on the wallet doing autox and rallyx. $3500 is really a big chunk of change for anyone.

Anybody else with inputs on how much they budget for a year and/or how much have they spent so far?

I would think some of the budget will need to be contingency in the event that the engine lets go or the tranny blows?

~Gus

 

IMO
Tire pressure: just keep pressure equal and to specifcations

hieght: ive found that having the front about 2 noches farther down in the front works great for handling, but i took my progress bar off because it gave me too much oversteer, you want some play in your sway, too stiff wont help

tire care: warm em up before hand

Anything else, just keep your arms and body loose, dont grip the wheel, just flow