My First AutoX Event

[DeathTrap]

Well, I finally pulled the trigger on doing some Solo action this year. The event is tomorrow (02/16/2019) and I am nervous because I know my rear end still needs work, I have CELs and top end misfire problems, and performance anxiety because it's going to rain lol. No matter, I'm out here to learn a bit about the sport and have some fun. That way I know what direction to take the actual race car (1st gen RX-7) for next year.

I'll update this post after the event!

[johnrando]

Good luck!

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[DeathTrap]

I guess I should post my thoughts of the past event.
Excuses: Novices ran last, there was lots of fog, a bit of rain and nightfall approaching. We were only able to do 3 out of the 5 runs.
My best time was a 75.xxx which was about the middle of the range of times. I'll get the exact time when they post it.

Now with that out of the way, this was my first performance driving event with this car and my second performance driving event, ever. The first was the Porsche Experience, which was nice, but a little overpriced IMO. The Cayman is/was wonderful tho :). I learned a lot of things about the car and myself out there:

1) The car's limits are higher than my own. I would tend to second-guess what the car could do, almost doubting some of its abilities, which resulted in me being overly cautious and reserved on my first two runs. My instructor suggested that I let the car loose a bit on the third run, which I did...

2) The car is very composed, even with sloppy inputs. Not once did I feel like the car was going to get away from me. There was quite a bit more understeer than I would have imagined, so I probably can use a bit more throttle to bring everything back into balance, which should drop my times a bit. Overall, it feels like a perfect beginner's car as is.

3) My vision is poor. Besides the fact that I wear glasses, I need to be able to look ahead a little more, predict and visualize the course to make my lines tighter.

4) My coordination needs improvement. This one will come with more seat time. I need to develop more awarness about the car and how my inputs will affect it. Muscle memory and repetition here.

5) Modifications are useless until I can master the above skills...still need to replace those damned bushings ugh....

6) I think my racing style is going to be the smooth, deliberate type. I don't think this car will like the sharp, jerky style that I've seen others drive with.


Next event is on 03/03, I will do rookie class as it gives me a bit more freedom as I can ride alone and experiment.

[DeathTrap]

Also, car goals after my skills get better...

To match or beat this one RX-8 that just has tires and suspension work done.

[PetesZ]

You got it with number 5.

Biggest improvement is the monkey in the loop. Fix the monkey first.

I am doing a very deliberate modification program on my reach car ZHP

Suspension and tires. But I am on the third season of autocross with the car. I got to where I knew where and how I was over driving the car and am now fixing that.

Enjoy

[johnrando]

Good stuff, enjoy the process

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[az3579]

There was quite a bit more understeer than I would have imagined, so I probably can use a bit more throttle to bring everything back into balance, which should drop my times a bit.

Understeer is not corrected with more throttle input with a ZHP. Having an open diff and barely even 200 wheel horsepower isn't going to get you out of an understeer situation. What'll need to do to correct this is not overdrive the car. In my beginning years I found that I overdrove the car far too often, leading to understeer. Be progressive and ease into the limits versus just going in full blast. The very famous and completely true saying is "Slow in, fast out".



3) My vision is poor. Besides the fact that I wear glasses, I need to be able to look ahead a little more, predict and visualize the course to make my lines tighter.

Looking well ahead is the #1 thing most performance driving schools will teach you, and they will all make a point of it. If you can learn to look ahead, most of your learning will be rapidly accelerated. This one took me years to fully understand, and now I appreciate it so much! When you look ahead, everything slows down and gives you more time to plan ahead and set yourself up for what's coming versus reacting to it as it hits you. It's always easier to do things in "slow motion". :thumbsup



4) My coordination needs improvement. This one will come with more seat time. I need to develop more awarness about the car and how my inputs will affect it. Muscle memory and repetition here.

More seat time absolutely will improve your skills, as long as you practice the correct skills.



5) Modifications are useless until I can master the above skills...still need to replace those damned bushings ugh....

Also 100% true. I always advise people that instead of worrying about putting on performance modifications, go maximize your own skills first in the car you already have. Then you'll get a better appreciation for what each mod you install does to the car.



6) I think my racing style is going to be the smooth, deliberate type. I don't think this car will like the sharp, jerky style that I've seen others drive with.

Smoothness is one of the key things I struggled with when I first started. I found that by learning the critical skill of looking ahead, the smoothness issue resolved itself. A lot of these skills tie in together. Jerky movements upsets the vehicle's balance, so to fix all of this, I recommend you focus on looking well ahead and everything else will fall into place.

[Johnmadd]

Understeer is not corrected with more throttle input with a ZHP. Having an open diff and barely even 200 wheel horsepower isn't going to get you out of an understeer situation. What'll need to do to correct this is not overdrive the car. In my beginning years I found that I overdrove the car far too often, leading to understeer. Be progressive and ease into the limits versus just going in full blast. The very famous and completely true saying is "Slow in, fast out".



Looking well ahead is the #1 thing most performance driving schools will teach you, and they will all make a point of it. If you can learn to look ahead, most of your learning will be rapidly accelerated. This one took me years to fully understand, and now I appreciate it so much! When you look ahead, everything slows down and gives you more time to plan ahead and set yourself up for what's coming versus reacting to it as it hits you. It's always easier to do things in "slow motion". :thumbsup



More seat time absolutely will improve your skills, as long as you practice the correct skills.



Also 100% true. I always advise people that instead of worrying about putting on performance modifications, go maximize your own skills first in the car you already have. Then you'll get a better appreciation for what each mod you install does to the car.



Smoothness is one of the key things I struggled with when I first started. I found that by learning the critical skill of looking ahead, the smoothness issue resolved itself. A lot of these skills tie in together. Jerky movements upsets the vehicle's balance, so to fix all of this, I recommend you focus on looking well ahead and everything else will fall into place.

+1 I have no track experience here but I drive for a living and have for 20 years and all of this applies for truck driving also... I need to do an event in my car now lol.

[DeathTrap]

+1 I have no track experience here but I drive for a living and have for 20 years and all of this applies for truck driving also... I need to do an event in my car now lol.

You should! You'd probably do very well.

All,
Thanks for the tips and encouragement!

The times are posted. I was 21/33, about middle-end of the pack. Not anything to brag about.
Miss Sarah Edge was the number 1 in Novice with a 63.888. She's a sweet little girl...until she gets behind the wheel and unleashes the beast :o . She drives a beautiful silver 2011 Carrera S and is Randy Pobst's pupil. Not going to catch up with her anytime soon, but I can dream lol.

Run #1: 84.964. Taking it easy hitting all the gates. Not much there.
Run #2: 75.341. A little bit faster, keeping the inputs smooth, small and precise
Run #3: 75.286. Not much difference, this was the sloppy, letting her hang loose run. Clearly, this is not the way to do AX but fun nonetheless.

If I was able to do my 4th and 5th runs, I'm sure I could've touched 70 or 71. I started to kind of understand how to speed up and attack the course in "segments" if you will.

I may do one more Novice class run before I jump to Rookie class simply because Novices get 5 runs instead of 4. I will focus simply on ONE thing, versus trying to correct everything in one go. I think vision and eye placement will help the most, so I'll do that next.

[DeathTrap]

Severe weather (thunderstorms) on the last event caused them to wrap it up early. No runs for the Afternoon Heat B.

Next event is in April so I have time to replace my Guibo, CSB, shifter bushings, Headers(?) Install, subframe and diff bushings, RTABs, control arms and related bushings and maybe a subframe reinforcement. Whew, no time to waste!

[DeathTrap]

Drove on Road Atlanta today. 2*20 minute sessions. Took it easy for the most part and had a lot of fun...I got black flagged once when I ate some dirt coming into a corner too hot. I am starting to understand the difference between "feeling" fast and actually being fast.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190317/f3ee5d5edae24dfba07242d1f325e207.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190317/7100f84927b28d270ad8d7a26868a3a5.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190317/4a95922b0b5867c5394761f73cca28d9.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190317/0452731595406b04ddf3b86e85db0ea3.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190317/a6fd4ea5c55a148226ef1a498254afb2.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190317/0b5058bcc63b1457c52838738a6a55f3.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20190317/04b72c936ef63225e53eaf169b7e141c.jpg

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[DeathTrap]

Points 4 is tomorrow but I'm going to miss it. Need to figure out what's going on with my alignment. I know I need to press the RTABs in a bit more so that they protrude 2.5mm from the arm. I think they are at 6 mm now.

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[PetesZ]

Chased the alignment on the daughters car for a bit. Ended up replacing/refreshing all the bushings up front and getting a tailored alignment.

A bigger front sway bar and strut tower brace does wonders for the understeer.

The re11r tires made the car fully stick. Amazing what they did.

[DeathTrap]

Once I get the stock alignment dialed in, I'm getting summer tires.

I did go to the AutoX "Novice School" where it was just a full day of listening to the car, doing drills, etc. I'm getting close to being able to drive the car to the limit of the all-seasons and maintain that limit through the entire course.

I lose a bit of confidence in certain sections, but once I overcome that I'll be ready for the next level [emoji3526]

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[YoitsTmac]

What is your current tire tread wear rating? Props to you for going out and doing events. Definitely heed to the advice of starting slow and building up speed. As an "intermediate," looking ahead is by far the best advice. Smooth hands should come naturally, but if not, be aware of it. If you take a street corner slowly, you slowly move your steering wheel into the turn, and slowly out. I've recently found how powerful this is in exiting corners with more speed. Turning isn't an on off switch.


Laguna was the thrill of my life, only being 20 when I did. I'm sad I haven't done one since. My advice to you would be to, as others have said, start slow and build speed. If 10 is you feeling like you're driving at the limit, and a 1 is driving around town, start at a 6 or 7. Feel the car. When I did Laguna, there is a surprise bump on corner 6 before you climb the hill - it's just more intense than it looks. When driving at a 7, I got tire squeal there. If I drove at what I felt was the cars ability, I could have lost it. With every lap, you build up based on what you learn. Maybe at a 7 you learn you could brake way later before a corner, so when you drive at an 8 you brake harder (maybe at the same braking point to play it safe) and see how much more room you got. Maybe at an 8 you learn the back wants to come out through a corner 5 and that it can't be taken any quicker. Now you know where the limit is when you try to drive at a 10.

I haven't heard this advice by any instructor instructor, but this is what helped me post a "good" time around Laguna (1:55 in 328Ci) : when you're driving a lap at an 8, smash the brakes a little earlier than you think you should - find where ABS intervenes with the tires and brakes up to temp, and ride the brake pedal right at that limit (as hard as you can without ABS intervening. Hit ABS lightly to know where that limit is, but have it intervene as little as possible). I found that I was only braking at around 80% of the cars abilities when the tires were at the right temp. When I did my hot lap I thought I was going to die coming up on turn 2 at 105-110, but I took what I learned from testing my brakes on the previous lap and was at the right speed right before turn in.

I'm no professional, but these are what I learned and helped me become really good. Your car is an eye catcher truly - love the pics and one of my favorite colors.

On the subject of tires, if money is a concern (as in you can't just get whatever tire you want), I highly highly recommend the Firestone Indy 500 which is usually stupid cheap. It uses a tread pattern of a previous Bridgestone flagship. Now outdated, the tread was given to Firestone using a higher tread-wear compound. The tire has a stiff sidewall (great for track) and doesn't get greasy. I can also say I don't recommend the General GMax RS, which just got incredibly hot and greasy with minimal abuse. My Indy 500's have seen nothing but hell, even on my day to day as I conquer freeway ramps and I've gotten about 20k miles with a track day and about 6 auto x events.

Hopefully this was helpful and not just out of place. Congrats for finally making it out :)

[DeathTrap]

Current tires are all seasons, UTQG = 500. Not great, but good for listening/feeling what over-driving is. I have a set of 17's that I'm going to throw summers on once I freshen them up.

I haven't been out in about 2 months trying to tackle this misfire issue. Hopefully this summer I'll be back at it. The Firehawks are on my list. Everyone says their great for the price. Your tips have definitely helped. I feel like I jumped in trying to be Randy Pobst from the start, and that's more detrimental than anything. Ever since then, I've been listening to the car, feeling it a bit more, paying attention to the nuances. I need to put in some work!

But thank you again, it is much appreciated!

[YoitsTmac]

Right on, sounds like you're on the right track. Definitely share what tires you end up with! For what it's worth those Indy's typically get $100 off a set of 4 if you choose to go that route.

We've all been there, feeling like superman but really still walking. my second auto x my mom wanted to come with me on the course and I wanted to freak her out. My mom is a wild driver, so I went a little too hard and spent about 7 second of my run failing to correct a little bit of oversteer. Backs out left, too much correction, out right, etc. Ever since then I'v put myself in place and more recently, keeping smooth hand movements really really helped me improve.

Subbed, I love reading about someone else HPDE experiences who's more or less taking the same approach as me. Best of luck tracking down that misfire!

[Bob1035]

Great, albeit old, thread! I'll always remember my first autocrosses, so much anxiety and nerves and I really had no clue what I was doing. Was driving my Integra Type R at the time, which is not exactly an easy platform to AX. Any, been out of it for more than a decade, so I'm stoked to get back into AX with my new-to-me ZHP :)