Okay, so we (Huntley and I) finished our second autoX ever today. Please bear in mind I have 6 DE days to my credit. So today's new experience was, coming out of a large sweeping turn and into a slalom, I swear the car was pulling to the right due hard acceleration. For the first gate this was fine since the cone was on the left. When I tried to angle for the next, everything went wobbly, and had to fight the car, then it settled. Yes the conditions were wet, DSC was off, tires could use more tread. Any tips or suggestions? I did get to practice throttle steering in a different part of the course, what fun!!!! I have a autoX or DE day every month until the rains return (sometimes both). But I'm not an addict, I can stop any time, really, I can, really! :crazy:
Thanks guys, at least I know I'm not crazy. When I mentioned yesterday I got asked if I was driving a Subaru. No, that MINI GP over there. Then they stared at me like, yeah, whatever, chick driver. But I smoked their times
Rae I think the LSD your GP & my R53 have can add to the toque steer on certain road surfaces & different traction conditions. I am glad to have a LSD though.
:cornutoes my heart good to see females beating us males and bringing our egos down a notch.:lol:I love to laugh at myself. :devil: Limited Slip Differential or Lysergic Acid Diethylamide 25 ??????????? Both could smooth out torque steer so to speak.:lol: Jasonopcorn:opcorn:
I can't wait for the official season to start, these have just been warm ups. I could run in girl class, but I choose not to. I don't see that guys have any advantage at autoX, except that they've been told they are inherently better drivers rrr: I do love slinging my car sideways through corners. Here's to fast women and tight curves :beer
I just installed the engine torque bushings from Way Motor Works and my torque steer is gone. Took about 10 minutes to install.
Women sometimes have an advantage as they usually weigh less Individual results may vary. The group I drive with the closest competition I have is with a young lady who is a very good driver. I was always glad she had more power than me so I didn't mind getting schooled by a girl. I also liked nothing more than hearing guys ***** about a girl being faster than them. Know what if you don't want to get beat by a girl you need to drive faster than them, the clock does not know the difference
Rae..... I sure hope you have one of those "You just got pass by a girl" badges on the boot of your GP? If not, it's a gotta have mod...:devil::devil::devil:
Good point about the engine mounts.....you should also check the LCA bushings as they could need replacing also.
Nothing pleased me more than to see the look on other drivers faces when they realized that Babs had been the one who had beaten them in a race. Big fun for Babs & I. Not so much for folks with fragile egos.
Indeed I do, I had it for a while, but didn't put it on til I earned it on the track I'll definitely look into the bushings. The previous owner drove her hard too, just not on the track or autoX.
am i the only one that thinks this could have been understeer, wet track thin tread? I guess it matters not. Good job Rae nice to hear your always improving.
No you aren't alone. In fact, I was just about to post the same thing. What you described sounds more like understeer. You said the car was pulling to the right but didn't mention the direction of the sweeper. I'm assuming it was a left-hand sweeper. If it was then yes, you were understeering or "pushing" to use the NASCAR term. Then you spoke about trying to get to the next cone in a solom and the car went wobbly. I'm guessing you experienced another effect called "Throttle-lift oversteer". You were going too fast to make the next cone so you popped off the throttle and started your turn-in. This unloads the rear causing it to oversteer into the turn and you would have to fight it back. These are both normal things and can be "helped" with suspension and tire-pressure adjustment. Frankly, it's a good thing to learn about and given you are driving a GP I doubt you really need mods aside from more seat-time (Which you are obviously getting ). I would talk to an experienced FWD autox'er in your group about getting your pressures set to help with the understeer. The throttle lift oversteer can actually be used to your advantage if you learn to control it correctly (And it's stoopid fun to do... :cornut. As it can be used to help you rotate around tighter turns without sacrificing speed. I'm excited you are getting the seat time and I'm glad you are addicted. These cars are so much fun to track and run. Good skill to you (ya don't need luck) and have fun. Oh one last request: PICS AND VIDS!!!
Thanks everyone! That's why I posted it as a question. Truly this is a new experience for me, and I'm trying to hone my skills and my knowledge. It was a right hand sweeper straight exit into a gate, left into the first cone of the slalom. Indeed the tires are a little thin, almost to the wear bars - Yokohama S drives. Since I have such kick@ss car, I really hate to look like a fool on the course, but I also want to push it every time. We had 10 laps, I improved 4 seconds from my 1st to 2nd and then dropped .5 to 1 sec each consecutive lap. Even with the puddles. Honestly it was like getting skid pad practice in, without totally toasting my tires I'll get shots posted. I'm still working out my mounting system, as there's no sunroof to mount my suction cup to in the GP. I also think you should come up and show me how it's done. Our first official event of the season is April 30, May 1. I'll let you drive my car :ihih: