Areddi's Autocross Video Thread

[Areddi]

Here is the video from the Test & Tune day. Picked up .6 from the day before, but just couldn't get under 40 seconds. Might have had it if I hadn't over-corrected at the end by the no-fun cone.

[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-5SKnP14Y8"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-5SKnP14Y8[/ame]

[Kinickie]

Where are you mounting your camera? I couldn't seem to find a good spot that allowed you to see both driver input and the course.

[swift996]

Wow those ZIIs made a huge difference. I plan to order some very soon. I'm still waiting on my coilovers to come in.

[Areddi]

Originally Posted by Kinickie

Where are you mounting your camera? I couldn't seem to find a good spot that allowed you to see both driver input and the course.

I actually made a mount out of some pvc and u-clamps. Approximately $8 at Home Depot them I Plasti-dipped it just to make it black:

[Areddi]

Been awhile since the last video, no events to attend until this week! Had a great time at SCCA today at FedEx field. Ended up pulling 5/12 in STX, beating everything other than the E36 3-Series' that were running(2 of them co-driven).

I have to say that the front sway bar was a huge, huge difference in the over-steer of the car. I would suggest that anyone who is planning on modding suspension leave your rear bar alone if you plan on autocrossing on good tires.

This was a very challenging and enjoyable course. Enjoy the video:
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52HZNlybIS0"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=52HZNlybIS0[/ame]

[Biggins]

Nice video. I was tired by the end of my runs on such a long course.

It was fun, but it was such a long day for us afternoon people. I left too much time out there though. Are you going to be there tomorrow?

[kanundrum]

One Thing I noticed both in the video and when I was in your car is your driving style. A big aggressive? Is that because of the tires ? They seem to have a lot of grip. I am running a 255 setup all around and I am wondering both about grip levels when it comes to communication as well as PSI inflation levels.

[Blown_xa]

Originally Posted by kanundrum

Nope and Nope. You are perfectly setup and won't have brake issues. All you need is a tank of e85 and you will be good to go.

Straight line gets old once you get the autoxing bite, trust us. Straight lined for years before really discovering autoxing. Changed my life

well said. I go to the strip maybe twice a year, autocross 20+ times. Stock brakes are fine, my brakes are stock and half the size of an FRS. I run 11's in the 1/4, it is boring.

[Areddi]

Originally Posted by kanundrum

One Thing I noticed both in the video and when I was in your car is your driving style. A big aggressive? Is that because of the tires ? They seem to have a lot of grip. I am running a 255 setup all around and I am wondering both about grip levels when it comes to communication as well as PSI inflation levels.

Sure so a few comments. I ran a 36 psi square setup this week, and that felt pretty much perfect for me on the 225 setup. If I had a wider tire setup would I run a different psi? Maybe, but you're talking only a couple lbs difference +/-2 either side of 36 till I found what felt good. A 255 setup is wider than necessary for the horsepower and torque this car has, but you're turbo'd now I think, so maybe in your case you need it with the power output levels you have now. Otherwise it's just extra weights the car has on the corners.

As far as driving style goes, I am pretty aggressive, but not in the way some people are. My aggressiveness comes in cornering, because I drive with the concept of "preservation of momentum," and I learned to drive that way from owning a Miata. In that car, you have to keep your speed up, so a smoother line I found to be better.

If you have a higher power car, you can dive into a corner, go heavy on the brakes, and then accelerate out pretty much however you want, since the power is going to make up for the line that you didn't follow like a "preserver" would. This is not a bad thing, nor is it wrong, just a different style for a different car. Some people on this car also drive slidier, which is also not a bad thing if you know how to do it. I was always taught that if you're sliding, you're slower, so I learned how to drive trying not to slide as much as possible. People who like it and know how can also be fast, it's just not the way I drive.

[Biggins]

Originally Posted by Areddi

Sure so a few comments. I ran a 36 psi square setup this week, and that felt pretty much perfect for me on the 225 setup. If I had a wider tire setup would I run a different psi? Maybe, but you're talking only a couple lbs difference +/-2 either side of 36 till I found what felt good. A 255 setup is wider than necessary for the horsepower and torque this car has, but you're turbo'd now I think, so maybe in your case you need it with the power output levels you have now. Otherwise it's just extra weights the car has on the corners.

As far as driving style goes, I am pretty aggressive, but not in the way some people are. My aggressiveness comes in cornering, because I drive with the concept of "preservation of momentum," and I learned to drive that way from owning a Miata. In that car, you have to keep your speed up, so a smoother line I found to be better.

If you have a higher power car, you can dive into a corner, go heavy on the brakes, and then accelerate out pretty much however you want, since the power is going to make up for the line that you didn't follow like a "preserver" would. This is not a bad thing, nor is it wrong, just a different style for a different car. Some people on this car also drive slidier, which is also not a bad thing if you know how to do it. I was always taught that if you're sliding, you're slower, so I learned how to drive trying not to slide as much as possible. People who like it and know how can also be fast, it's just not the way I drive.

Sorry I didn't get to meet you. Just a little critique from your FedEx vid (if you don't mind), I think you could bomb into some of the corners a little harder. Also, I think your hands shifted a little too high on the wheel by about mid-run.

I know you're STX vs. RTR but I think we have a similar set-up. You might want to try lower pressures in the rear. My car felt great at 34-35F and 31-32R last weekend; they were nowhere close to rolling over... I do prefer more oversteer everywhere though so our driving styles differ a bit. If I wasn't rusty and didn't make a couple tiny mistakes, I would have been under 70 both days. Are you coming out to more of their events?

I'm not sure where to start on a 255 square set-up because I think that's way too much tire for autocross. I think it would be tough to get them hot enough to be effective unless it's a 2-driver car. 35F/33R would be a good place to start I suppose.

[Areddi]

Yeah I will plan to be at more SCCA events this year. CDC is my primary group to run with but I try to hit up both when I can. RTR runs afternoons usually so we'll usually be at different times.

I think as it gets later in the summer I may drop down a little more on air pressure. I think with a few more runs I could have gotten near 70, or at least I hope so. Was a great course for sure!

[fredk]

SCCA rotates the runs groups up every event so that they all roll through throughout the season.

I ran 35f /31R at the grip challenged Fed Ex and it was good. The top three twins in RCS were all quicker than the fastest STX car both days.

[Areddi]

Took FTD at Corvette club yesterday. @Biggins had me in the morning but I managed to sneak by his time in the afternoon. Close competition though! Always fun to go woop up on the vettes.

No video from CDC on Saturday, my SD card was unseated for my first run. The only video I got was on my slowest run, and then 45 minutes of the trees when I forgot to turn my camera off and let it fill up. I think I finished with like a 42.2, but we'll need to wait for the results.

Anyway, here is the video from CCA:
[ame="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFqYfI6s0xU"]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFqYfI6s0xU[/ame]

[kanundrum]

Awesome! Where does the corvette club usually run? You had mentioned columbia