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Points 4 is tomorrow but I'm going to miss it. Need to figure out what's going on with my alignment. I know I need to press the RTABs in a bit more so that they protrude 2.5mm from the arm. I think they are at 6 mm now.
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Chased the alignment on the daughters car for a bit. Ended up replacing/refreshing all the bushings up front and getting a tailored alignment.
A bigger front sway bar and strut tower brace does wonders for the understeer.
The re11r tires made the car fully stick. Amazing what they did.
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Once I get the stock alignment dialed in, I'm getting summer tires.
I did go to the AutoX "Novice School" where it was just a full day of listening to the car, doing drills, etc. I'm getting close to being able to drive the car to the limit of the all-seasons and maintain that limit through the entire course.
I lose a bit of confidence in certain sections, but once I overcome that I'll be ready for the next level [emoji3526]
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What is your current tire tread wear rating? Props to you for going out and doing events. Definitely heed to the advice of starting slow and building up speed. As an "intermediate," looking ahead is by far the best advice. Smooth hands should come naturally, but if not, be aware of it. If you take a street corner slowly, you slowly move your steering wheel into the turn, and slowly out. I've recently found how powerful this is in exiting corners with more speed. Turning isn't an on off switch.
Laguna was the thrill of my life, only being 20 when I did. I'm sad I haven't done one since. My advice to you would be to, as others have said, start slow and build speed. If 10 is you feeling like you're driving at the limit, and a 1 is driving around town, start at a 6 or 7. Feel the car. When I did Laguna, there is a surprise bump on corner 6 before you climb the hill - it's just more intense than it looks. When driving at a 7, I got tire squeal there. If I drove at what I felt was the cars ability, I could have lost it. With every lap, you build up based on what you learn. Maybe at a 7 you learn you could brake way later before a corner, so when you drive at an 8 you brake harder (maybe at the same braking point to play it safe) and see how much more room you got. Maybe at an 8 you learn the back wants to come out through a corner 5 and that it can't be taken any quicker. Now you know where the limit is when you try to drive at a 10.
I haven't heard this advice by any instructor instructor, but this is what helped me post a "good" time around Laguna (1:55 in 328Ci) : when you're driving a lap at an 8, smash the brakes a little earlier than you think you should - find where ABS intervenes with the tires and brakes up to temp, and ride the brake pedal right at that limit (as hard as you can without ABS intervening. Hit ABS lightly to know where that limit is, but have it intervene as little as possible). I found that I was only braking at around 80% of the cars abilities when the tires were at the right temp. When I did my hot lap I thought I was going to die coming up on turn 2 at 105-110, but I took what I learned from testing my brakes on the previous lap and was at the right speed right before turn in.
I'm no professional, but these are what I learned and helped me become really good. Your car is an eye catcher truly - love the pics and one of my favorite colors.
On the subject of tires, if money is a concern (as in you can't just get whatever tire you want), I highly highly recommend the Firestone Indy 500 which is usually stupid cheap. It uses a tread pattern of a previous Bridgestone flagship. Now outdated, the tread was given to Firestone using a higher tread-wear compound. The tire has a stiff sidewall (great for track) and doesn't get greasy. I can also say I don't recommend the General GMax RS, which just got incredibly hot and greasy with minimal abuse. My Indy 500's have seen nothing but hell, even on my day to day as I conquer freeway ramps and I've gotten about 20k miles with a track day and about 6 auto x events.
Hopefully this was helpful and not just out of place. Congrats for finally making it out :)
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Current tires are all seasons, UTQG = 500. Not great, but good for listening/feeling what over-driving is. I have a set of 17's that I'm going to throw summers on once I freshen them up.
I haven't been out in about 2 months trying to tackle this misfire issue. Hopefully this summer I'll be back at it. The Firehawks are on my list. Everyone says their great for the price. Your tips have definitely helped. I feel like I jumped in trying to be Randy Pobst from the start, and that's more detrimental than anything. Ever since then, I've been listening to the car, feeling it a bit more, paying attention to the nuances. I need to put in some work!
But thank you again, it is much appreciated!
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Right on, sounds like you're on the right track. Definitely share what tires you end up with! For what it's worth those Indy's typically get $100 off a set of 4 if you choose to go that route.
We've all been there, feeling like superman but really still walking. my second auto x my mom wanted to come with me on the course and I wanted to freak her out. My mom is a wild driver, so I went a little too hard and spent about 7 second of my run failing to correct a little bit of oversteer. Backs out left, too much correction, out right, etc. Ever since then I'v put myself in place and more recently, keeping smooth hand movements really really helped me improve.
Subbed, I love reading about someone else HPDE experiences who's more or less taking the same approach as me. Best of luck tracking down that misfire!
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Great, albeit old, thread! I'll always remember my first autocrosses, so much anxiety and nerves and I really had no clue what I was doing. Was driving my Integra Type R at the time, which is not exactly an easy platform to AX. Any, been out of it for more than a decade, so I'm stoked to get back into AX with my new-to-me ZHP :)