My school is puting on a road race in two weeks up the side of the mountain behind my school, basically you climb 3000 ft in a few miles of switch backs. They are closing the road and everyone has to wear a helmet. It is a two stage race, One up and One down. Anyways I entered my max in the sedan under 3.2L class.

I drive this road all the time, and Mountain bike down it. So I know every curve which will help me alot especially on the way down, but I am worried about going up, and keeping my power up. Besides tearing out the interior, what should I do to make my max ready? Like what tire preasure should I run? Any sugestions including driving help would be appreciated.


Thanks alot.

 

When we get ready for SCCA races we basicly take out everything we can, spare tire, floor mats etc. Take out your center caps in your wheels, and make sure there is NO LOOSE DEBRIS in your car. other than that, just run it hard man. It is a stick right? i wouldn't race an automatic, but if you do make sure you keep it outa drive man. Oh, make sure to torque your lug nuts to spec and adjust the air pressure in your tires.

 

Its an auto. Which sucks, but i raced my friend in his A4 1.8t which is chiped, and I killed him on the way down. I am gonna put the new wheels on before the race.

 

you race up a curvy hill??? and your school puts this on?? what kind of crazy place do you live in? its an interesting idea i guess...

 

Worry about your tires. You don't want to race on brand new tires. At least i wouldn't. You want to make sure you heat cycle them before you race on em. If you do, make sure you heat em up before your run. Don't forget about the understeer that max's generally show, use your throttle to keep your nose pointed the right way. good luck

 

Well its not really a school run event, but it is put on by the frats.

 

When I went driving throught he mountains in Georgia for Maxus (Damn, I STILL want to see videos of that drive! talk about one kickass drive!!)


well, I put my front tires at ~43psi and rears at about 41psi.. for daily driving, I usually run 30psi in front and rear.
(btw, this was the same on the Konigs with Pirelli P7000SS tires)

as for the gutting the trunk issue, my car corners BETTER with my stereo in the trunk.. yes, acceleration is slower, but average speed through the corners is much better because it helps to hold the ***-end down.
the week that I drove around with no stereo, I had to completely re-learn how to drive my car around hard corners.. MUCH more steering with the gas, or the back end would slide out.

just another FYI, my car with 300lb of stereo, stock springs, struts, rims, tires with only Sus Tech Sway bars... I could out corner another 3rd gen with toks, eibachs, sway bars, and newer tires of the same model as mine
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now for the auto tranny issue...
turn your OD OFF!!
you probably on't be goign about 75mph on this race, so just leave the car in 2nd gear, unless you get below 30mph, then you'll want to manually throw it into 1st.. doing it manually makes it happen much quicker, and you'll pull out of the corners better- just be careful of breaking the wheels loose when the tranny kicks down from 2nd into 1st if you're still turning.. the front tires can break loose, then next thing you know, you're going straight with the wheels turned way past where you want to go!!

If you have a chance, install a tranny cooler before the event too.. of course, give it time to break-in and make sure there are no leaks (no real break-in required, just enough time for small leaks to surface is a good idea.. don't want to blow a tranny here!!)

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If you still want to do weight savings, yank your passenger seat and anything else up front.. the pass seat will save you about 35-40lb. pull the rear seat too if you wanna- as long as the people who are sponsoring the event say removing seats is legal... it'll take you about 15 min.
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one more bit of advice- it helps me stay put.. just before you start, pull your seat back a couple inches, then slam on your brakes and lock the seat belt.. now slide the seat up to about 1-2" closer than you usually sit (usually I sit pretty far back witht he seat leaned back..) for this, you want to be sitting upright and as close to the wheel as you can comfortably sit and still move between pedals quickly)..
you'll be squeezed into the seat by the seatbelt and the belt won't unlock while you're driving this way- it'll help hold you in the seat while flying around the corners.. it makes a big difference in fatigue on your back and sides after hard driving for a while..

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Last thing... stuff like this CAN be dangerous.. be careful, be safe, and drive within your limits. good luck, have fun, and drive hard!

 

Thanks for the help. Anything I can do to get more power, like disconecting the air conditioner.

 

nah, maybe pull the belt on the A/C compressor, but I doubt if it'll do much for ya..

hmmm, turn your heater on it's hottest setting and flip the switch to high- if you can stand the heat in the car..
it'll help cool the engine a little more, but probably won't make enough difference to be noticeable.

 

my AC belt is disconnected. I really didn't notice that much power. It feels like i got a little more, but i can't be certain. Make sure your engine is cool before you start your run. ESPECIALLY on the uphill run. You'll have a bit more power at first. COoler engines make a bit more power, Take out your aircleaner. If you're only gonna be drivin for a little bit, and you want as much power as possible, just gank it out. I'm sure there'll be people that yell at me for sayin this, but hey, it's my opinion. also, don't overinflate your tires. you want to be careful. if you want to test this, take white shoe polish (like the kind that you write ET times on your windshield with). mark three dots on your sidewalls, you'll be able to tell how much your tires are rolling on their side walls. then you can adjust your tire pressure accordingly.

 

yeah, I shoulda mentioned the tire pressure thing..
you gotta adjust it to the CORRECT pressure.. this will take a little practice to get right, depending on your tires..
41psi is fine for these tires on runs like this, but on small tracks, I usually go even higher.. 45 or 47..

it all depends on the brand of tire that you're gonna run.

about the air filter thing, that'll be fine as long as it's not dusty out.. if the drive is very dusty, I wouldn't recommend it. (a little road dust is okay, but you don't wanna do a pike's-peak-in-the-dust run or anything! if there's and gravel or anything that you have to go through, Id' be vary wary of it..)
I ruined a dirt bike engine only running it without a filter for about 15 min in mild dust.. it's a little different there, but not much..

 

Does that mean there's beer too?

 

LOL! I'm sure you'll be there if there is!