Cadillac CTS-V - Jacksonville AutoX with pics

Took the V to another autox event, this is the first time I took the stability and traction control off. It was so much better and smoother with it off. One of my friends co-drove it and beat my time by 1.3 seconds, it was his first time driving it and he got second in class, i got 5th out of 11:(. Needless to say he is a better driver lol. O well, he normally drives his S2000, but he needed new tires so I let him drive the V. He was surprised at how well it handled. The KDW's did good. We were as fast or faster then alot of cars I thought would smoke us, miata's, hatchback civics,... But I'm not out there to beat anyone, just to have a good time. But I was kinda pissed when my friend beat me in my own car with Zero experience driving it. Here is the link to all the pics
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mdkphotos/7333121874/in/photostream/

Here some of the V

http://ls1tech.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=16047&pictureid=88950

http://ls1tech.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=16047&pictureid=88951

This next 2 are of my friend driving it

http://ls1tech.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=16047&pictureid=88949

Just a little body roll.... lol

http://ls1tech.com/forums/picture.php?albumid=16047&pictureid=88953

I am thinking of getting the Ground Control conversion kit, to help me out a little bit, what do yall think?

Looks like you had a lot of fun out there!

Just keep at it, and you'll be able to knock down that 1.3 seconds to being faster than your friend :)

A friend of mine was allowed to drive someone's Lotus Exige one time at our local autocross. He beat the owners time in it, and also got fastest time of the day in a car he drove for the first time ever lol

Just remember to shuffle those hands, and keep looking ahead of where you are, and you'll do good!

-meaty

Hey man I live in jax to never seen you around I am also thinking about getting into autox where did u do this one?

you're supposed to MISS the cones XD

Thanks meaty. Yeah hopefully I will get better at it. I was also starting off in second gear, next time i will start off in 1st like everyone else and should better my time a little more.

06killerv I just moved here a couple months ago, but I stay in yulee. The events are by Buccaneer Region SCCA. the website http://www.buccaneerregion.org/
I think this was the last one for the next two months, the course is on a Navy base runway (Whitehouse). It is on the westside of jax off of highway 10. Let me know if you wanna meet up sometime, it would be nice to have another V out there.

Radeon, yeah I hit a cone in 4 out of 6 runs lol, the car kept getting sideways for some reason... lol :cool:

Sway bars will also help with the body roll.

Hotchkis sway bars and the Ground Control kit are both relatively cheap: $450 each. I'd start with the sway bars first--the installation is easier and it'll help a lot with that extreme body lean. The Ground Control will help as well, but not as much as you'd like to think.

By lowering the center of gravity on my car, I was able to increase my minimum speed through my benchmark turn (a moderately sharp offramp on my way to work) from 46 mph to 54 mph. Adding the Hotchkis sway bars helped me increase that to 58 mph. At this point, I need wider/stickier tires than my current 245/45-18 BFG KDW 2's to beat that speed.

Do you have a CG lock?

The last auto-X I finally took it off of competition mode and it made the car much more predictable. Even though the competition mode only comes in a little it was enough to make it get unstable. I by accident left the stability on once and the car became out of control instantly. If your friend drives at the auto x regularly and you don’t that is one reason why he beat you. Remember drive slower to go faster.

"Drive slower to go faster?"

What does that actually mean?

He has done about 10 or 11 events, this was my 5th so he does have more experience, but the big difference I noticed while riding with him, he got on the gas faster at the beginning of the course. So he was faster through the first part, but once we got past the first couple of turns it was pretty much the same. My first lap was 54 seconds trying to be cautious,
then he ran a 49. My second time was 49, needless to say I
had to step my game up. I ended up with a 47.3 and he got a 46.0. Alot of the autocross people say u have to go slower to go faster. It makes since when your out there and see that the cars that look smooth are the ones with the best time, and the ones that sound fast actually get the slower times. So choosing the right line and being smooth will result in you having a better time than just going balls out and try to go as fast as you can all the time.

Hotchkis sway bars and the Ground Control kit are both relatively cheap: $450 each. I'd start with the sway bars first--the installation is easier and it'll help a lot with that extreme body lean. The Ground Control will help as well, but not as much as you'd like to think.

By lowering the center of gravity on my car, I was able to increase my minimum speed through my benchmark turn (a moderately sharp offramp on my way to work) from 46 mph to 54 mph. Adding the Hotchkis sway bars helped me increase that to 58 mph. At this point, I need wider/stickier tires than my current 245/45-18 BFG KDW 2's to beat that speed.

Do you have a CG lock?

Yea I was looking at sway bars too. Will probably go with the ground control kit first, because I want that lowered look. What us a CG lock?

Yup being smooth is the key. I have been auto-Xing for years but I only make it to 2-4 events a year and my friend that does it every chance he gets is such a better driver because it is natural for him now. It was very intresting going from my front driver Contour SVT to the V. No more stomping on the gas. And tires do make a difference that is what I learned when I got some RE-01R for the Contour. Your KDWs sould be pretty good. The Invos on the V are not the best at the autoX but not terrible either.

"Drive slower to go faster?"

What does that actually mean?

It means, if you're not doing what you're supposed to be doing, and doing it right, then you're going to be slow every single time.

It means taking your time and shuffling your hands, keeping your eyes ahead of where you're going, and making sure you're shifting properly.

If you're jerking the car around, and unsettling the suspension, you're going to lose time because you're always going to be wrestling to get the car on the proper line. Erratic acceleration and deceleration, and correcting yourself and then subsequently over-correcting is going to cost you time.

Driving erratically also leads to hitting cones, which costs you time with penalties, and occasionally going off course.

The smoother YOU are behind the wheel, the smoother the car will be, and you won't be wasting time wrestling it. You'll be able to focus on hitting the apex's and lining up your car for the next obstacle.


I once saw a guy trying to drive by hanging his arm off the top center of the steering wheel, with his palm facing him.

-meaty

If you're jerking the car around, and unsettling the suspension, you're going to lose time because you're always going to be wrestling to get the car on the proper line. Erratic acceleration and deceleration, and correcting yourself and then subsequently over-correcting is going to cost you time.

My question was a comment on how dumb that statement sounds taken literally, and not actually a question of what it meant. I suppose I use my share of stupid statements too.