Deckdout2

iTrader: (151)

So a friend at work with a Miata and heavy suspension mods talked me into going out to SCCA auto-x day here in Charlotte today, and I was pretty thrilled that I finally got to do this. Even moreso that I came out with almost 2 seconds under his best time of 38.xxx with my 4 door boat. I think he's pretty new to competitive driving and needs a little more experience as other Miatas there were forking out 34.xxx - 35.xxx's.

I was told the course that I ran was an actual national course (whatever that means). At anyrate, the fastest/er cars pulled 30's (STI's, Vettes, heavily modded 2 seaters) and on my 5th run I pulled out a 36.202.

My first run was to see what it was like, feel the track, and see what I was getting into, so I came out with a 39 or 40. 2nd run I improved to a 38.xxx, 3rd and 4th run even better with 37.xxx's. On the last run I said I'd be happy to just break 36. So being well into that made me very happy. My Wanli tires held up ok, and broke loose much more than I wanted, so next time I'll be out there on my new T1Rs and see if I can get into the 34 - 35s.

I'll post actual times when they are up on the SCCA site.

NinjaEdit: My tire pressure was set to 40f/38r, and my Illuminas were 3f/4r. I forgot to check here to see what others are running. Maybe with the proper settings my times could have been shaved more as well.

irish44j

iTrader: (38)

glad you had a good time, and put up respectable times as well...

for the tire pressures, many of us have found that jacking up the rears helps to "bring the rear around". I typically run 38 up front and 40+ in the rear these days. Same with illuminas. 4 up front, 5 in the back. Oversteer is your friend in maxima autocross, since it's damn near impossible to lose the tail.

HotshotVQ35

iTrader: (5)

you think auto-x is fun? take that 3.5 6spd on a road course and you will forget all about auto-xing

BEJAY1

iTrader: (19)

Glad you had a great time and did well the first time out!

The CCR forums talked about today's course being more open then Sat's and that obviously helped larger "boats" like yours. Saw some pics of a SpecV - wonder how it fared. The term "National Course" refers to a regional style course that offers a bit more speed and balanced mix of maneuvers. 30-40 sec seems like shorter one but I'm sure they made the best of Knights Stadium.

Deckdout2

iTrader: (151)

You were the first person I thought of.

That's good to know for the next times I go. That's what I was going for was a little oversteer, but didn't know how to set it up to get the results I was looking for. I was bugging the hell out of most people there to try to get an idea of what other fwd runners had setup, and see if I could get comparable. I'd like to see if I can get my hands on an LTB2 and test out the improvements on a course.

Deckdout2

iTrader: (151)

I definately want to do a weekend at VIR sometime in the future. A friend of mine here with an M3 goes with his bike and his car, and has loved it.

Deckdout2

iTrader: (151)

Thanks for the course explanation, cause I didn't have any experience with other courses to compare it to. Everyone there was saying that my car would favor today's course because of everything you stated before. The long straight-aways offered the 700whp supercharged Vette and the even boatier Frontier to make up lost times in the corners. There was also a Typhoon that benefited from that, but on his last run I think he threw a rod in going into the slalom and had to be flatbedded out.

The white Spec-V with decals actually pulled some awesome times with a female driver @ 33.xxx's. I was pretty impressed. All in all I thought that the the course offered great aspects of all types of maneuvers.

Deckdout2

iTrader: (151)

Word on the boards state that the Typhoon blew out the tranny.

97SEdriver

iTrader: (3)

I doubt it, auto-x only helps your track ability. Plus, auto-x is usually far more conveinent.
Auto-x is blaze in, set up, hang around for a while drive for maximum of 5 minutes and go home.
A track day is far more of a committment, you are toast after a track day, regardless of the outside temp. Take a NASA HPDE, you're out there for about 2 hours of track time most of it over 80, that takes a hell of a lot more out of you than an auto-x. If I had the funds to do more track days I would, and prefer it over auto-x, but I don't think I will ever forget about auto-x.
Auto-x is like watching ****, watch for a while and 5 minutes later (of work) it's over...A track day is like having 4 different girls..a half hour apart....