Hi guys,
I'm going to be autocrossing for first time on Sunday and was hoping some one can recommend a good start point for tire pressure and damping prior trial and error on the course.

Here is my current set up:

Buddy club racing spec coilovers

Work Emotion CR Kai 18x9.5 wheels all around. 245F/265R Nitto NT05 tires with 3000 miles.

Thanks for your help guys.

 

Try searching in the Race Tech section. I think I posted a similar question over there before my first autocross. I can't comment on your suspension. Regarding tire pressures I found that I was running lower pressures than most of the autox guys recommended. My tires were stock sized and not ultra grippy so I was able to lower the pressures to 28 and get the correct amount of tread roll over. Good luck and take it easy on the first few laps just to get the course down. Walk the course plenty before hand. Have fun.

 

too wide too big of a car to autocross -- but you can try - you'll find out

 

+1 on the walk the course you may think you know what to do but everything in thecar is somuch faster paced that you dont! specially if its your first time and you dont really know what each of the cones mean make sure you walk the course with someone who knows what they are doing / been there before so you know where to go sometimes depending on the club they may skim on cones and the course can just become a sea of cones and you end up going head onto oncomming traffic ( I've seen it happen )



ALSO!! DO NOT BE AFRAID TO FLOOR THE CAR ... yup every chance you get make sure your pedal is to the floor specially with those tires you got. brake in straight lines . that means dont brake mid turn , if you go into a turn to fast you can brake to scrub some of that speed off but if you brake tomuch the car will spin .. I dont know howmany times I tell people to brake in straight lines but actually doing it seems to be harder then you may think .


also DONT BE AFRAID TO FLOOR THE CAR , yeah i said that twice its a little frustrating when you see people on course that look like they are going out for a sunday drive to the beach. But its very common with new people .



Now after I said dont be afraid to floor the car.. make sure you stay on course which leads back to walking the course plenty of times . doesnt matter howmuch you floor the car if you are offcourse. so dont be afraid to give it gas but still keep the car in the course.

The most important thing of all is to have fun .


now that answered lots of questions you didnt evne ask LOL

as for the tires I cant tell you what to run with those kinds of tires as I run RS-3's .

Like was stated above best bet is prob the racing section . and goodluck have a great time .

 

This statement is totally false and should be ignored. What a joke.

 

LMAO I agree 100%


what would make you thin the FD is to wide???

have you ever looked up what car has won SSM class for the last for ever years??

which car was top in Aclass until Z06 muscled its way in ? lol

 

I would start with tire pressure of 29 front and 27 rear. Set with cold tires. If your shock stiffness is adjustable, I like the front a little stiffer than the back, with medium stiffness in the front. I like about 1.6 degrees negative camber in front, and 1.3 degrees in the back.

The handling limits of our cars are pretty high. You can push harder than you think. Most important, have a good time.

 

You will get tire pressures all over the map and how people drive really effects what pressures they prefer etc...

BUT General rule 34 to 38 hot.

So street tires I'd start at 32

R competition tires like RA1s or 888s 28 to 30

Slicks or A6s, 710s etc.... around 27 or 28

General rule for grip is to up the pressure for traction and lower for rotation or push but the problem with that is if your tires are super wide or you have wide wheels like you the tires won't roll over as much so you have to be careful you don't under inflate when trying to find a the sweet spot. Under inflated tires will slow you down because you want the car to set or react as fast as possible.

Bottom line If I was driving your car I'd start at 32 cold

The buddy clubs have fairly stiff springs and those tires don't have much grip so I'd start pretty low on setting with even front and rear. PUSH is the enemy when auto crossing especially when you 1st start out because most beginners over slow and then over accelerate which is the push equation in a nut shell.

 

I competed with them day in day out....some cars like mini cooper - fiat 500 - honda pot pot CRX does much better because its small and agile. None of these full heavy wide cars beats my car....yet

Z06 - Viper - Mustangs in autocross? forget it.

 

You are auto crossing with the wrong people

 

.... or you're autocrossing in a 7-11 parking lot.

 

i'm just telling you the truth.... they are big -- and single turbo even worse for autocross.
I've done it so many times at airport tarmac.....i haven't seen anyone beats my 7...yet

 

^^^

Not understanding. First you say the RX7 is too big to be a good autocross car relative to Fiat 500's and Minis, then you say you haven't seen anyone beat your 7.

What are you driving, and what are you commenting on?

 

i'm just telling you the truth.... they are big -- and single turbo even worse for autocross.
I've done it so many times at airport tarmac.....i haven't seen anyone beats my 7...yet

Your statements do not measure up to the results from national autocross events.

What you are doing is either not similar to SCCA autocross or the drivers are not similar to SCCA autocross drivers.

We have a similar issue where we autocross on a small lot with lots of gravel and low power, skinny tired and underpowered and/or awd cars do much better in pax than they should.

Our issue is the venue and course is not really autocross as defined by how the sanctioning body runs the events (as seen on the national level).

 

Hi guys,
I'm going to be autocrossing for first time on Sunday and was hoping some one can recommend a good start point for tire pressure and damping prior trial and error on the course.

Here is my current set up:

Buddy club racing spec coilovers

Work Emotion CR Kai 18x9.5 wheels all around. 245F/265R Nitto NT05 tires with 3000 miles.

Thanks for your help guys.

Most beginning drivers (once they find the course) will do best with lower tire pressures and softer damping as things will happen slower and they will have time to "correct"

Advanced drivers will want higher pressures and taut suspension as they are correcting before the beginner driver would even know they are in trouble.

So, you don't necessarily want to run the same set up as the fast guys right off.

That said sometimes I see new drivers come out that are already the "fast guys". They usually have carting, or motorcycle experience or live in remote locations with dirt roads.

If you find yourself already at the top of the leader board, by all means start following the fast guys set ups- otherwise go with what you are most comfortable with at first.

 

Lol: its not rx7 but a lotus super 7
Http://imageshack.us/scaled/landing/29/7engine.001.jpg

Http://imageshack.us/scaled/landing/685/mama047.jpg

F20c s2000 engine supercharged 400 hp @ 900 lbs car

 

Http://imageshack.us/scaled/landing/29/7engine001.jpg

 

Sure, that better be faster than any class an FD RX-7 can fit into as it will be placed in a faster class.

A true SCCA A mod car is much faster than what you linked to, what is your point?

 

Thanks for the help guys. I'll let you know what settings I end up using and will post some results. Hopefully I can borrow my buddy's gopro and will put up a video of the event.

 

Werd. A 900 lb. kit car with a transplant motor based on a 30 year old car isn't exactly a test case, and I doubt it competes with RX7's directly in any organized autocross. That's closer to a formula car than a modern production machine.

 

You must be in a small pond there...

 

Playing around with various pressure settings on A6 I have found that 30-32 lbs is the sweet spot.

I have started running 32 psi front and 30 psi rear on 285/30/18 all around.
A co-driver and I tested this last year, and I just had the same results a couple weeks ago during a practice session.

This of course is dependent on many variables, these are just my results.
My car is an FD in SSM, about 2650 lbs.

 

I should pass this info along to the contingent of 'Vettes that come out to our events... or the odd Lambo or 911 Turbo. Or Pontiac Bonneville (that one probably is too wide, but you can run anything). We've had cops run a course in their Crown Vic.

 

Tell this guy... Fastest stock-tub production car in the country.

 

^ that is decidedly not a guy, and yes she can kick all our asses .