^^ yeah you are right. I usually run on either an airport, or my other option is Gulf greyhound park in houston which is old crusty, peppled asphault. either one kills tires.

Josh

 

The power steering pumps are known to have probelms on our cars. Flush the fluid frequently with good fluid and you should be fine. Many people end up underdriving their pumps or getting a turn one re-geared pump to stop that problem. I guess the issue is that the stock pump has too much fluid output which doesn't allow time for the fluid to cool down before being recurculated through the system .

 

If you are starting out new, stick with street tire classes, as you may not be sure if autocrossing is for you or not. I've been using Nitto 555 street tires since I started. They seem to have a lot of rollover on the sidewalls, so I usually have to run my tires with high pressure ~40psi front and ~35psi rear. I've been suprised how long these tires have been lasting. I've done 1.5 years of autocrossing in them and they still have a ton of tread left. My plan is to flip them over after the next autocross because the inside tread is almost perfect. I am going to use them for another year after this season too. Though I think that a better tire like kumhos or falkens may shave off a second or two compared to Nitto street tires. I may not be as competitive as I should be, but I'll be about 700 dollars richer next year

 

you will find that street tires like that will take forever to wear down, mostly because the get incredibly hard (and slower). He is right though, I would not run out and buy tires until you are sure you like it (which you will), but are also sure you want to make that jump. The nice thing about race tires is that they make so much of a difference its like driving a different car.

 

Yes one theory on tires, is you might as well be on street tires until you get the hang of it because you will be slow anyway, plus making mistakes takes it's toll on race tires more than street tires.

A lot of people say race tires are worth two seconds, but I've heard rumor that it's much more than that with an fbody. I seemed to pick up about four seconds when I switched from Pilot Sport street tires to Hoosier autoX tires, but I also went to wider wheels of a smaller diameter at the same time, both of which help also. A 16 inch rim that is as wide as possible works best on an fbody for autoX, especially on the rear. I just ordered a set of four 16x12 Real wheels to race on.

 

My theory is a mix. go on streets till you are sure you like it, then if you can afford it get some race tires. No need to work the kinks out on street tires, the race tires can take some good abuse. As for wheel sizes, I think the smaller diameter is good for the rear, but the low profile in the front helps up there. For me at least, my problem is push and I'd rather run a lower profile front than get some rear end grip back (just my opinion though, there are plenty of ways to be fast)

 

Yes, the ultimate would probably be 16's in the back with 18's on the front, but so much for rotating tires. It also get's tricky matching the diameter of the tires with wheels that are a different size, especially if you want to maximize tire width.

My car is neutral in steady state cornering, but will plow on entry if I go too fast and hang the tail on corner exit with too much throttle. But that's basically any fbody. I got rid of the push when I aligned the front end for -2.5* camber.

 

Top Ten Autocross Tips

1) Position first, then speed. Positioning the car perfectly is more important than trying to attain the highest potential speed. For example, you will drop more time by correctly positioning the car nearer to slalom cones than you will by adding 1 or 2 MPH in speed. Same with sweepers (tight line). Same with 90-degree turns (use all of the track). Also, position is a prerequisite for speed. If you are not in the correct place, you will not be able go faster. Or at least not for very long!

2) Turn earlier...and less. To go faster, the arc you are running must be bigger. A bigger arc requires less steering. To make a bigger arc that is centered in the same place, the arc must start sooner (turn earlier).

3) Brake earlier...and less. Waiting until the last possible second approaching a turn and then dropping anchor at precisely the correct place so that the desired entry speed is reached exactly as you come to the turn-in point is quite difficult to execute consistently. Especially when you consider that you get no practice runs on the course, and the surface changes on every run, and you aren't likely to be in exactly the same position with the same approach speed on every run, etc. Better to start braking a little earlier to give some margin of error. And by braking less you can either add or subtract braking effort as you close in on the turn-in point. This will make you consistent and smooth.

4) Lift early instead of braking later. Continuing with the philosophy of #3, when you need to reduce speed only a moderate amount, try an early lift of the throttle instead of a later push of the brake. This is less upsetting to the car, is easier to do and thus more consistent, and allows for more precise placement entering the maneuver (remember #1 above).

5) Easier to add speed in a turn than to get rid of it. If you are under the limit, a slight push of the right foot will get you more speed with no additional side effects. On the other hand, if you are too fast and the tires have begun slipping, you can only reduce throttle and wait until the tires turn enough of that excess energy into smoke and heat. Don't use your tires as brakes!

6) Use your right foot to modulate car position in constant radius turns, not the steering wheel. In a steady state turn, once you have established the correct steering input to maintain that arc, lifting the throttle slightly will let the car tuck in closer to the inside cones. Conversely, slightly increasing the throttle will push the car out a bit farther to avoid inside cones. It is much easier to make small corrections in position with slight variations in the tires' slip angle (that's what you are doing with the throttle) than with the steering wheel.

7) Unwind the wheel, then add power. If the car is using all of the tire's tractive capacity to corner, there is none left for additional acceleration. At corner exit, as you unwind the wheel, you make some available. If you do not unwind the wheel, the tire will start to slide and the car will push out (see #6 above).

8) Attack the back. For slaloms (also applicable to most offsets), getting close to the cones is critical for quick times (see #1). To get close, we must move the car less, which means bigger arcs. Bigger arcs come from less steering and require earlier turning (see #2). Now for the fun part... When you go by a slalom cone and start turning the steering wheel back the other way, when does the car start to actually change direction? Answer: When the wheel crosses the center point (Not when you first start turning back!) How long does that take? If you are smooth, it takes .25 - .5 seconds. Now, how long is a typical person's reaction time? Answer: about .5 seconds. Finally, how long does it take to go between slalom cones? Answer: Typically on the order of 1 second. Given all of that, your brain must make the decision to begin turning the steering wheel back the other way just *before* you go by the previous cone!!

Since this is a mental issue, a good visualization technique to get used to this is to think about trying to run over the back side of each slalom cone with the inside rear tire of the car. To hit it with the rear tire (and not the front), the car must be arcing well before the cone and the arc must be shallow. Attack the back!

9) Hands follow the eyes, car follows the hands. 'Nuf said.

10) Scan ahead, don't stare. Keep the eyes moving. Looking ahead does not mean staring ahead. Your eyes must be constantly moving forward and back, and sometimes left and right. Glance forward, glance back. Your brain can only operate on the information you give it.

Bonus Tip: Don't forget the stuff in between the marked maneuvers! Too often we think of a course as series of discrete maneuvers. There is typically more to be gained or lost in the areas that are in between. Pay special attention to the places where there are no cones.

 

Andy Hollis from last month's SCM or is that from an EVO school ;-)

 

Haha yep!! I thought it was a really good write-up so I put it in.

 

That is an awesome write up! The only thing I would add is, you don't have to wait until the wheel is unwound to add power. You actually want to progressively "feather" in the gas at the same time you unwind the wheel.