No questions here, or anything mind blowing, I just needed to tell someone who may find this interesting.
Went to the local novice school last weekend and had a blast. Classroom on Sat, drive on Sun. Ended up being a quite exhausting weekend with the kid who didn't want to sleep, and an hour drive at 7am both days.
All the instructors loved my car and seemed to go out of their way to come by when I was in the staging lane. I have never been around so many people who had a clue what it was. The only older cars in the class was my 68, and a 74 Capri II. Pretty much everything else was a WRX, Miata, Protoge or VW (and one S10 4wd, as his WRX was in the shop).
My times were dissapointing to me at least, though they told me not to worry about it. The slalom was a complete blast and I wish they had at least 5 more cones. I had much trouble with the 90 deg corners, and the one "roundabout" A circle about 50' across. My 175/70 Michelin mud and snow tires, even at 50psi weren't up to the task and I couldn't carry enough speed through the turns to be in the powerband in 2nd gear (3k+).
Also hurting me was my lowered springs and cut bump stops. I lowered as per the Comp manual, but I don't think I cut the bump stops down enough.
I have never pushed the car that hard in the corners before, and it is amazing what they are capable of, even one like mine. I would love to ride in a roadster that is truly sorted out.
Even more amazing was the ride with the instuctors. My first ride was in a 73' 914. holy crap was that fast. And the way it handled was amazing. I really felt the rear swing around the corners. This run was 44 sec, and mine was 51. It felt like we cut 30 seconds off my time after the run.
I am hooked, but need to do some more work on the car before I go out again. Tires, which I wanted to do anyway, but the real thing that I must stop is the oil leaks.
Thanks for reading
My first AutoX
Moderators: notoptoy, S Allen, Solex68
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SLOroadster
- Roadsteraholic
- Posts: 5360
- Joined: Sun Dec 08, 2002 2:53 am
- Location: Napa Ca
autox
Yeah, I had the same general thing happen at Shasta last summer. I'm hooked. I can't wait to get my engine rebuilt so I can go have some fun now that the car is sorted better (and I have tires that grip).
Nice job and have fun.
Will
Nice job and have fun.
Will
Sorry, I find modern engine swaps revolting. Keep your G, R, or U series in your Roadster!
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oilleak
What's wrong with an oilleak?
It is a blast no doubt. You're best bet is to get a set of Falken Azenis - 195/60-14's. Ideally you can run them on 14x6.5 wheels with something around a +10 offset and you won't have any rubbing. May still need to roll your rear fender lips but that's all you'd need to do. FWIW, I run mine at around 36psi front (Hot) and 34psi rear (Hot). The Falkens won't win in CSP but until you get a bit more experiance, you won't be able to get a lot out of R compounds anyway. I'm still learning that game. For the bump stops, put a little grease on the top of the bump stop and check it after a run. If any grease has transfered to the contact point on the chassis, you're bottoming on the stop. You have to be a little careful about how much you cut the stop down so you don't wind up with the steering rod contacting the chassis but you probabley don't need to worry about that on street tires. You'll want the comp front sway bar too and I'm a big fan of Koni's - if you can find any.
Other than that, the biggest thing to fix is always the driver. A good place to start is "Secrets of Solo Racing - expert techniques for autocross and time trials" by Henry Watts. Basically autocross 101. I still reffer back to it periodically.
Also, feel free to come visit www.autocrossforums.com - A buddy of mine started the site a few months ago and it's beginning to take off.
It is a blast no doubt. You're best bet is to get a set of Falken Azenis - 195/60-14's. Ideally you can run them on 14x6.5 wheels with something around a +10 offset and you won't have any rubbing. May still need to roll your rear fender lips but that's all you'd need to do. FWIW, I run mine at around 36psi front (Hot) and 34psi rear (Hot). The Falkens won't win in CSP but until you get a bit more experiance, you won't be able to get a lot out of R compounds anyway. I'm still learning that game. For the bump stops, put a little grease on the top of the bump stop and check it after a run. If any grease has transfered to the contact point on the chassis, you're bottoming on the stop. You have to be a little careful about how much you cut the stop down so you don't wind up with the steering rod contacting the chassis but you probabley don't need to worry about that on street tires. You'll want the comp front sway bar too and I'm a big fan of Koni's - if you can find any.
Other than that, the biggest thing to fix is always the driver. A good place to start is "Secrets of Solo Racing - expert techniques for autocross and time trials" by Henry Watts. Basically autocross 101. I still reffer back to it periodically.
Also, feel free to come visit www.autocrossforums.com - A buddy of mine started the site a few months ago and it's beginning to take off.
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esmeby
Thanks for the advice. I will try the grease trick to see if I am bottoming out the stops.
I do have a set of the 81-83 280xz wheels up on a shelf, waiting for me to get the required lugs and some new tires. 195/60 Azenis were the plan for these rims when I got them. It is quite hard to find anything negatve said about them, and the price is right.
I do have a set of the 81-83 280xz wheels up on a shelf, waiting for me to get the required lugs and some new tires. 195/60 Azenis were the plan for these rims when I got them. It is quite hard to find anything negatve said about them, and the price is right.
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DatsunBucky
- Roadsteraholic
- Posts: 665
- Joined: Sun Jan 19, 2003 6:09 pm
- Location: Taylorsville, UT
esmeby-
Keep in mind that bump stops do more than just keeping the shocks from bottoming out, they're also part of the tuning you can do to the suspension.
If you were to lower the car so the bump stops were in solid contact with the frame, there would be no compression movement in the suspension, and the springs and shocks couldn't do their job. Basically you'd have an infinite spring rate. The other extreme would be no bump stops, and the shocks would bottom out, with probable damage to them.
As you lower the ride height, what you want is for the stops to be lowered at the same time, so the suspension can still move, but be shaped so as to soften the effect of them contacting the frame, thus the taper on the front stops and the ridge on the rears, per the Bob Sharp manual.
and when it comes time to cut the stops, please remember that it's easier to cut more off than to somehow put some back on. I used a hacksaw, and other than the smell of burning rubber, no problem in cutting.
Putting grease on the top of the stops to see if they contact the frame is a good idea, but just because they're contacting the frame is not a bad thing in itself.
With that said, I'm really glad you had fun at the autocross school. Whatever you do to tighten the nut behind the wheel will do much more for handling than what you'll do to the car. Better tires won't necessarily change the understeer/oversteer characteristics, but will certainly raise the limit where it happens. I know you don't know me, but trust me, learning to drive properly, without "crutches", will pay higher dividends than sticky tires. And it's cheaper, too!
When I get my Roadster done and on the autocross course, I'll be on old Sears Weatherhandlers for the first year. Yeah, it's more fun with sticky tires, but learning to drive on slippery tires will force me to drive the right line, and when I change over to racing tires, I'll be that much faster.
Keep in mind that bump stops do more than just keeping the shocks from bottoming out, they're also part of the tuning you can do to the suspension.
If you were to lower the car so the bump stops were in solid contact with the frame, there would be no compression movement in the suspension, and the springs and shocks couldn't do their job. Basically you'd have an infinite spring rate. The other extreme would be no bump stops, and the shocks would bottom out, with probable damage to them.
As you lower the ride height, what you want is for the stops to be lowered at the same time, so the suspension can still move, but be shaped so as to soften the effect of them contacting the frame, thus the taper on the front stops and the ridge on the rears, per the Bob Sharp manual.
and when it comes time to cut the stops, please remember that it's easier to cut more off than to somehow put some back on. I used a hacksaw, and other than the smell of burning rubber, no problem in cutting.
Putting grease on the top of the stops to see if they contact the frame is a good idea, but just because they're contacting the frame is not a bad thing in itself.
With that said, I'm really glad you had fun at the autocross school. Whatever you do to tighten the nut behind the wheel will do much more for handling than what you'll do to the car. Better tires won't necessarily change the understeer/oversteer characteristics, but will certainly raise the limit where it happens. I know you don't know me, but trust me, learning to drive properly, without "crutches", will pay higher dividends than sticky tires. And it's cheaper, too!
When I get my Roadster done and on the autocross course, I'll be on old Sears Weatherhandlers for the first year. Yeah, it's more fun with sticky tires, but learning to drive on slippery tires will force me to drive the right line, and when I change over to racing tires, I'll be that much faster.
Bucky