I'm surprised that you could run those with only 13mm spacers. I'm running +35 18x9.5s with a 15mm spacer and the inner clearance is close with 285s. Wheel calculator says that 18x10s with +25 offset (38-13) have 11mm less clearance on the inside and 1 more mm on the outside. Are you running short springs to be able to get that extra inner clearance? No way could I give up 11 mm. I switched from 12mm to 15mm spacers this year to get extra inner clearance for my track tires (R888s), which run wide for their size (285 30 18s). Also, running those 10s on the rear without a spacer would put the inside of the wheel 9mm closer to the control arm than my current 18x9.5 +35 wheels. I'm sure I don't have 9mm clearance there now.

 

alright so i just wanted to discuss a little problem ive been having. I run in SM because of my mods but i am a newb for autox. I just competed in my 3rd event today and i really feel like im not getting any better. i have ridden with an instructor and have been in a car with a fast driver. I feel like its mostly my driving thats my problem but i also think my setup could be causing some of the problem. My setup is full boltons minus cams, and then coilovers with stock tires. My alignment is setup as the stock alignment settings and i feel that might be hurting me, i have read the entire 2007 sm discussion so i wasn't to much of a noob posting for help because i wanted to learn as much as i can. So let me tell you what im thinking, more negative camber up front, maybe -2 or a little more but not more than -3, rear sway bar, and also the whiteline geometry bushings. Im really getting discouraged with my driving because i just cant get my times with the rest of the pack, especially when i see stock sentras destroying me, hell i even bought the secrets to solo racing book to help me out haha and im still no good. I have no problem admitting that im not that great of a driver and that i could use a lot of help so i figured i would ask you guys (the evo autox masters ) what the deal is and pointers you could give me, also what kind of tire pressures would be sufficient because i think i need to mess with that as well, this is on stock advans by the way. thanks in advance it has been awesome learning so much from you guys.

 

don't touch your suspension until you can run consistent times. since you've only done 3 events, go to as many as you can. find someone to co drive with you so you can get an idea of how someone more experienced can do in your own car, and you can target that time instead of people in a different setup/class.

learn the limits of the car, if your times are way slow, either your not coming very close to the cones, your over driving the car, or your just not driving it hard enough. an instructor can tell you all of this.

to practice with the distance to the cones, when you are driving on the streets you can practice coming close to the white stripes (or if philly has the city ******* on the road, try just touching the outside of the tire to the bump as you drive along. make sure your looking forward and not in front of the bumper (as you should be looking ahead as you drive on the street and in autocross as well). the better you know how far away the sides and front of your car are, the closer you'll come to the cones in the slalom. you should be touching the base of the cones in the slalom.... my guess is you have a few feet between the car and cone right now

 

i completely agree with you, when i came home i was like **** i need to get this and this and this and this. and then i thought to myself, maybe i just need to work on my driving haha. Yes i think its a combination of a lot of things. At first the instructor said i was to on-off, like WOT and then completely off the pedal, he said i needed to be much smoother. I attempted to be smooth today and it was working for the first half of the lap, but then on the second half i was going way to deep into turns and then understeering like crazy, making me think i was over driving. Im having trouble finding people to co-drive or hop in another evo and see how people drive it ya know. I know its a huge learning curve but i really want to be a consistent driver, thanks for the advice, anybody have any other ideas???

 

Come to NNJR SCCA events at Englishtown, NJ.

www.autox4u.com has the whole listing of events, times, etc.

You'll find lots of Evos and helpful people there, and the drive isn't bad from PA. Philly SCCA (which I'm assuming is where you've been going) is also full of very nice people... you just have to talk to the right ones

 

yeah i have been to 1 event there and people seemed nice, i need to get to know some people there so i can learn from them.

 

shuttlegoose: If you're not on R compound tires, you will not be competitive against a car on R compounds.

Seriously, until you've driven on them, you cannot fathom how huge the difference is between the stock tires and a dedicated autocross tire. When I first started autocrossing, I tried to explain to people that the Evo's OEM rubber was nearly an R compound anyway, so I didn't really need a tire upgrade. Then I bought a set of Hoosiers and won my class at the next event, and realized what an idiot I had been...

That's not to say that you need to go out and buy a set of Hoosier A6s, but if you are on street rubber, nothing good can come out of comparing your times to somebody who is running dedicated autocross tires like A6s or V710s.


The other thing that I try to tell novices who ask me for advice -- think of autocross as a precision driving exercise, not a time trial. The champions aren't champions because they take the corners 1, 2, or 3 MPH faster than you. They're champions because they put the car right where they want it, time and time again. To go back to that first race I did on Hoosiers... I had 4 runs that day. By the end of my 3rd run, I had a time good enough to win, but I'd been sloppy and didn't feel happy with my driving; for my 4th run, I decided to forget about trying to push the car harder, and just to concentrate on trying to drive the perfect line. I improved by about 1.2 seconds on that last run -- because I was thinking of the course as a precision driving exercise rather than a "race"...

 

Excellent way to look at it - a "precision driving exercise". When you feel like you have to go faster, you will inevitably carry too much speed into corner and push wide, you will get on the gas too early and push wide, etc. . .

So what tires are you using? As others have said, comparing your times to those of other cars is not the best way. The best way is to have a good driver walk the course with you and teach you about theory - why you want to enter and exit certain corners a certain way. To see that if you go what feels like REALLY slow through a certain corner it sets you up to be able to make up even more time on the next section . . .

Lots of folks say you just need seat time to get faster, but just time alone won't make you fast - just like going out and hitting 10000 golf ***** will not make you a PGA pro.

Time doing things PROPERLY will make you fast . . . then you can focus on your car . . .

 

R-compounds. Negative camber - more in the front than in the rear. Rear sway.

Seat time.
Seat time.
Seat time.
Seat time.
Seat time.
Sit in the passenger seat while someone else drives your car.
Seat time.
Seat time.
Seat time.

Rinse and repeat.

You'll get there!

 

alright thanks so much guys. im gonna try the precision driving exercise next time. hopefully i can work on my skills and go to more events.

 

Remember: Slow in, fast out!

 

I run with Philly region, silver Evo 8 MR 711 SM.

My car was 1st this weekend in SM (it really is a BSP car, I run SM for the amount of people in class), I have R compunds on the car. BTW, STU 1st ran 1.5 seconds better than me, STU class is on street tires . Normally I would be really upset by that, but it is Corey who is quite good on a National level! In fact he's on another level.

Autox to me is like golf, something you continually work at. It is an addiction really. My addiction has been going on for 8 years now. Do not be discouraged by where you place now. Everyone who finished in the top 4 spots in SM has Autox for years. On the other hand, there is no way a Newb is going to come in and WIN his first time out, not gonna happen for many reasons. Leave your car alone for now, learn to drive it to it's potential and then start to change the car. It will be less expensive if you go that route (trust me on that) and you will get good faster than continually changing your car.

Why don't you come up to me next event (my name is Mike) and we will talk.The next event is the Holbert Memorial, it is an annual event Philly region run for charity. It is a 2 day event and it is not an event that I want to do ride alongs (because I want that damn Trophy for a year, like the Stanley Cup baby), I am pretty sure there will be instructors though. The event after maybe you could ride along with me my first run and me along with you your 1st run. I also can tell you who to get to instruct you. I recommend you have an instructor on each time out, except for your last run, I did that for my first year. Also there is Evolution school, best money I ever spent on my car. The reason is how much it helped me Autox, it took it to another level for me. Please don't go find the twistie's (public roads) and practice in your car, it will probably end bad.

Look forward to meeting you at the next Philly event, in mean time goto South Jersey or wherever. Check Autox4u.com for schedules, site has all the local regions listed.

 

I know what your feeling man as I have the same issue. Matt co-drove my car and was running 4 seconds faster. He's helped me a lot. One of the nice things about autocross is everyone will help you whereas in many other motorsports they are much less open. Next event in E-town is Aug 9th.

The state police have recently visited us and getting rides with anyone who is not an official instructor is harder than in the past but you'll still get lots of advice.

Ditto on the Evo Autocross school. Corey (mentioned above) was one of my instructor and riding with him was a seriously educational experience.

 

oh awesome, i was at the event at as well, i guess i didn't get to see you run. I will deff come up and chat with you next event, i want to get as much knowledge as possible, ill also look into the evolution school. thanks so much guys you have no idea how much this means to me haha.

 

jarrod did you sell your wing? i swear i saw it on a car that was running during gt live out at miller a few weeks ago.

anyone get a cf trunk yet and want to add input ont he quality etc?