Need AutoX Build Advice

[muffinz]

Originally Posted by tahdizzle

I am going to say the opposite about having someone else drive your car and tell you what it needs.

Your driving style will differ and while those suggestions may mirror your opinions, they may not. And if they do mirror your opinion, they may not mirror them to the same degree or vice versa.

In autoX, we are all agreed that the stock primacies need to go.
But as far as suspension set up, the degree your car pushes in a corner, the amount of understeer/oversteer all depends on your driving style.

Are you the type to mash on the brake pedal in a straight line, or do you tend to trail brake....

in a nutshell, what someone says should be good for your car may not necissarily be good for your car.

I would drive the car, then take it to a good alignment shop and say "I Feel that the car oversteers/understeers too much", "I get a lot of push making a left/right turn.", etc and then let them try to tune your suspension to your needs and your driving style.

I don't trail brake. Always in a straight line (at least for now)

Maintenance throttle thru a corner and try to get on the throttle smoothly at/after the apex.

I feel confident in my corner entry abilities - the exit is where the most time is made up and I want to be able to set the car up so I can really fly out of corners.

I also agree that I need to be the ultimate decision maker on what needs to be done to dial the car in.

Thanks!

[Darnold]

Originally Posted by muffinz

I don't trail brake. Always in a straight line (at least for now)

Maintenance throttle thru a corner and try to get on the throttle smoothly at/after the apex.

I feel confident in my corner entry abilities - the exit is where the most time is made up and I want to be able to set the car up so I can really fly out of corners.

I also agree that I need to be the ultimate decision maker on what needs to be done to dial the car in.

Thanks!

Gotta work on the braking/acceleration they work similarly although in autocross it can be a bit tough to progress if you're in small technical courses.

As for having someone else tell you what is needed, the goal is if you want to continue modifying your car they will give you an idea of what the car needs to suit your driving style. That is what a good mentor will do, our instructors at SCCA NH will gladly codrive and help you set up your suspension/tire pressure on the spot and work towards improving the drivers laptimes.

[7thgear]

Originally Posted by muffinz

I know there is no right or wrong answer to a good suspension setup, .

there is most definitely a right or wrong answer


with the right being a very narrow field, followed by a slightly larger "good enough/balanced compromise", and then a potentially infinite number of wrong.

[7thgear]

Originally Posted by Darnold

That is what a good mentor will do, our instructors at SCCA NH will gladly codrive and help you set up your suspension/tire pressure on the spot and work towards improving the drivers laptimes.

A good mentor should teach, not setup.


I would spend the time to learn/ask the right questions to understand what tire pressure does and how it affects the behavior of your tires, which in turn is correlated to your inputs.


at the end of the day you need to understand why putting more or less pressure in your tires results in the changes that took place.


having someone else do the mental work for you is a long term disservice


kinda like the catch a fish/teach to fish sorta thing.




cuz if the following weekend said mentor isn't around and the conditions change dramatically, you'll be screwed!

[CatDaddysBBQ]

I am in the opinion that it's better to modify gradually, to fix issues YOU notice you would like to improve. Pick something you want to change (understeer/nose dive under braking/etc) and research some solutions and do it. Try out the new setup and then find the next thing that you'd like to improve. That way you are actually learning something.

Just throwing a laundry list of things at the car is expensive, and if you don't like what the new car is like, you have very little idea of what is the issue or what needs tweaking. This doubles if you have a stranger drive the car and tell you what to bolt on.

Learn your car well enough so YOU know what you need, and buy those items.