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Autocross!

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Matthew E. Herd

Jedi Warrior
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Hey all,

Just a quick report on my first successful race of the year. I went to a Philly Region SCCA autocross at Cal Ripken Stadium this past Saturday (19 March). Since I last raced my car, I got new wheels with Yokohama A032R's, 1" lowered springs front and rear (stiffer rate of course), changed my shock oil to STP (as per Jeff's recommendations some time ago), and installed a custom Panhard Rod, among other smaller items. I'm glad to say it was a blast, with my car turning some pretty quick times, and I was far from at the limit of its potential, just getting used to the amazing performance changes from my previously all-weather-tire shod Midget. Since it was a pretty open course, I was a bit timid with the full throttle, as I stayed in 2nd gear. However, I did manage to turn in times improving by about .8 sec each run, with only 4 runs due to huge turnout.

One interesting (and somewhat scary) finding from the video (taken by my father) was that on one particular off-camber turn, the new tires provided so much traction that it seems (albeit from a considerable distance) that the car's inside wheels lift. Not just one, but both wheels appear to lift up. If only I could serve the video, I would, but unfortunately I don't have a convenient way to do so. While I know that there is little I can do to put those two wheels back down, I'm doing a little brainstorming to try and lower CM. Also working on a rev-limiter so that I can put my foot in it without worrying about over-revving.

Interestingly enough, I soundly beat my only other class-mate, (I'm told, but can't verify) a MkI VW Scirocco (I personally think they're awful cars). I know it was a Scirocco, but not what Mk. I also beat a Street Modified Acura RSX, a D Street Prepared Turbo Beetle, and a B Street Prepared Corvette Stingray (which I'm especially proud of). While I have no idea of the driving caliber of any of my fellow competitors, its still kinda neat to see that my old British Iron, even if inexpertly driven, can do quite well!

Matt
 
Glad you had a good time.

A friend of mine has been running the Pennsylvania Blue Mountain SCCA Winter Series Solo 1 and he has been having a great time (in a Yugo!). I ran my first auto-x (we called them "field trials" of "gymkhanas") in '69 and I occasionally still run autocross events with the NNJ-SCCA (in the Miata).It's still great fun for me.

One of my Sprite-racing friends has problems with lifting two wheels. But he is running super-stiff springs and shocks. His rear springs are from a Chevy truck and are cut lengthwise . His front springs are around 800#. He's running a welded diff, so he can actually keep them aloft for quite a while. Many of our fwd racers (with locker diffs) can do this as well (especially VW Golfs).

Sounds like you were able to run the Yoko A032Rs without any clearance problems. Good deal.

Honestly, I've never heard of running STP in lever shocks (though I would trust Jeff's opinions). I wonder if the heavy oil is keeping the wheels off the ground (due to very slow rebound).

In answer to Dart's question, here's some other lists with track/auto-x events in 2005:

https://www.autox4u.com/

https://vista.pca.org/jsr/jsrpca/dales.htm

https://www.phillyscca.com/schedule/regional_schedule.htm

I'm off to Summit Point in a few weeks and am anxious to see how some of my Winter improvements will turn out.
 
I plan to attend as many of the Summer Series events as possible (on the www.phillyscca.com page). The next two are April 3rd and 24th? Its a long drive from Troy, NY, but it sure is a blast, and the parking lot at Cal Ripken is quite large. I don't know if I mentioned it earlier, but we had 156 entries on Saturday. Dart, if you're coming out for one, send me a message!

Matt
 
I am glad to see someone is autoxing close to my area. I'll try to make the next one now that they are close to me. Wish I would have known about it last week!
 
The autocrossing up here starts in sometime in april, I'm currently getting the car ready by putting some new parts on it. I plan to get the yokohama A032R's, 175/60's for the front(7" wide) and 215/50 for the rear(8.5"wide). With this, I have to flare the rear wheel wells, but I haven't thought about the front, will they fit with having to do any metal work? How well do they perform? What kind of break-in/ heat cycling did you do for the tires?
Thanks, John
 
...and for those of you who would like to try something with much more seat-time than an autocross, there are many track day/Time Trials scheduled in the northeast USA.

One top club for track days is NASA (not the rocket guys) as well as the Time Trials available at our club.

For rules for our EMRA TTs, go HERE.

For info on how to run your ordinary street car in a TT at Lime Rock, Summit Point, Pocono, Watkins Glen, BeaveRun, and/or Shannonville (Ont), see our TT 2005 schedule HERE.
 
I run Minotaur wheels all around, which are 5" wide. Everything fits within the stock arches, but the rear (square arches) were clearanced by grinding/bending the fender lip. The Yokohamas, which are .6" narrower than the Kumho's, just fit. I wouldn't try the slightly cheaper Kumho's due to size limitations without doing further "adjustment." Also, since they're supposed to wear much faster than the Yokohamas, I think I'll stick with what works. Since you're flaring fenders, you should be fine.

As to heat cycling, I simply drove about 15 miles, most of which was at about 50-55 mph. After the little trip (it was in about 30 degree weather), the tires were warm to hot to the touch all the way around. I didn't push it hard, and didn't cause the tires to slip. I then let it sit (this was thursday, about noon) until saturday morning when I loaded the car onto the trailer. I got tech'ed in the AM, then it sat again until about 2 PM when I raced. The recommendation is that you allow 48 hours after heat cycling. I don't know if the tires got up to temp, but I figure easy driving at high speed should do the job.

As to grip, compared with my 165/70R13 all weather Michelin X's, they're incredible. I put the car up on 2 wheels in a slightly off-cambered corner with these. Upon inspection of the video, they're wholly off the ground, and slow rebound has nothing to do with it because of how long I held it. The grip is phenomenal compared with what I'm used to. Added to the other suspension work, the car is a completely different animal (which I love).

Oh, back to the Yokohamas, they fit nicely in my stock front wheel wells, but with some possible rubbing at full lock (my swaybar causes some interference at full lock too, so I'm not sure if the tires add to it). Due to the fact that I have no idea where you're getting such wide wheels, I couldn't tell if they'll rub or not.

P.S., the Scirocco I spanked had wheels at least 50% wider, probably closer to twice as wide, but it didn't help him /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif

Matt
 
Thanks for the info. I will definetly be using in the weeks ahead. Did you use the 175/60's? I believe I have the minataur wheels also, might be changing to 2002 BMW wheels though, they will probably still fit, any one have any experience with that type of wheel?
 
[ QUOTE ]
BMW wheels have a metic bolt circle. Around 100 mm I think.

They are close to the 4" bolt circle on Spridgets, but should not be used. Absolutley do not use them.

[/ QUOTE ]

Oh, thought they were the same, onto ebay they go. What kind of wheels would you recommend? I have wire wheel minatuars on it right now. Pic:
DSCN0255.jpg


I want to change the axles and front spindles because I have no spare wirewheel axles if one breaks. So I want to change to the standard hubs since I have more spares if they break.
 
Just a reminder, if anyone happens to be in the Aberdeen, MD area (including Chester or Lancaster Counties of PA), and wants to come out to the Philly Region autocross at Cal Ripken Stadium, all you need to know is under the Solo section of the www.phillyscca.com website. Also, you can send me an email to coordinate. My email address is herdm@rpi.edu. It's great to see more LBC's at these things. We sometimes see a TR4, an XKE, a BGT, a Mini, and, of course, my Midget, but rarely more than one or two at once ... Just trying to keep everyone who might be interested updated!

Matt
 
My car didn't have any of the anit-sway bar components when I bought it. I am planning to start autocrossing it this summer. Should I get the 7/8" bar or something smaller?
 
What class will you be racing in? Also, what tires are you using? If you're using stock tires, the 3/4" bar is good. I've found the 3/4" bar to be a little skimpy for sticky tires, etc, but its still not bad, just not quite stiff enough for my tastes. It's also good on the street with 70 profile street tires. I've never tried the 7/8" bar, but am thinking of making a custom bar which would be a bit stiffer (yet lighter). Hollow tube can make the bar somewhat lighter than solid, especially when you get up to 7/8" or so with the solid bar. Also, as to a comparison with a stock bar, the improvement was amazing, so with no bar at all, you should be shocked at the improvement. Hope this helps.

Matt
 
You can also check out the autocrossing in Frederick, MD and Va with the Capital Driving Club (sponsored by the Capital Triumph Register). The lot is smaller than Cal Ripken, but members pay only $20 for 6 runs.

Capitaldrivingclub.com.
 
For autocrossing in the Connecticut area, check out : https://www.cartct.com .
It's in Bristol,CT at the Firestone Plant parking lot (its huge).
$25 for non-members for 3/4 runs, $20 for members, then at the end they have dollar runs, you pay 2 bucks per lap.
 
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