RGTorque Posted May 4, 2008 Share Posted May 4, 2008 YOU FORGET TO PUT ON SUNBLOCK!!! So i went to my first autox today in warminster pa at the old air field. i had an absolute blast. i was guided by Tom (yellowss7) and an instructor in the morning and by afternoon i was doing well. times were (in sec) am session 75 72 69 71 (hit cone and spun) pm session 69 69 68 65 i think Tom ran in the low 50's the entire day the rear end kept trying to come out but no matter how much i tried to feather the gas (i can only image the sliding without lsd in the rear) it still crept out and i was drifting through the turns. the car was on street tires (no name brand) so i could have picked up a few sec on slicks. im not sure if im going to be buying slicks soon because i want to get used to controlling the car when its very sensitive like it is now. a few autox like this and ill run slicks. then ill be gunning for you Tom :jonautox: . i was told to soften up the suspension (dampening adjustable coilovers) before my last pass to help with the over steer problem and it made a big difference. i look forward to the next event!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slngsht Posted May 4, 2008 Share Posted May 4, 2008 sounds like a fun day. you might want to try some Rcompound street tires like Toyo R888 or RA1's, so you can run them on the street as well as the track. They're not as good as slicks, but stick much better than regular tires. By the way, if you only spun and hit one cone, you're not qualified to use Boxologist's smilie. You have to earn that right by doing something worthy, like wiping out timing equipment while yelling yeeeehaa :rofl: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yellowss7 Posted May 4, 2008 Share Posted May 4, 2008 Roman's car is really nice looking. I heard alot of people complementing it. Roman had a great attitude and will be a force to recond with once he gets the suspension set up. I rode with him on one run and the rear was pretty squirrely. We did one 360 and stayed on course and then he proceeded to power oversteer all the way around the turnaround sweeper. :thumbs: There are plenty of competitors that will give you their suggestions for improvement in both your set up and driving,if you ask them. Find the good drivers and get them to ride with you or even give you an instructors run with them at the wheel. Note the improvement in his times, 10 second improvement over the first run. I bet his face hurts right now from smiling so much. I took a video of one of his runs, I'll post it up after dinner. Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RGTorque Posted May 4, 2008 Author Share Posted May 4, 2008 "will be a force to recond with once he gets the suspension set up" currently not sure how to setup the suspension. i did notice it was better in the turns when rear is set softer but with only one run its hard to tell... i wish i could just do laps around that track for an hour while tweaking it. "We did one 360 and stayed on course and then he proceeded to power oversteer all the way around the turnaround sweeper" this was the most entertaining part of the track for me. just a little throttle and i feel like i can "tokyo dift" the car around the turn. its a really strange but cool sensation. later i was told that this was not the proper way to get around the turn. the proper way is to go in slow keeping traction and exiting fast without sliding about. "There are plenty of competitors that will give you their suggestions for improvement in both your set up and driving,if you ask them" everyone there was super helpful and i loved hearing their tips / tricks . next time i will have to play with tire pressure and a few other things i learned about. "I bet his face hurts right now from smiling so much" yes my face hurts from smiling, mostly because i never thought i would be able to make it through that field of cones and gates without going OC every time. it also hurts because its about as red as the usa7s logo on the top of the page. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mondo Posted May 4, 2008 Share Posted May 4, 2008 :thumbs: Look forward to going myself... I see those videos and kind of get lost seeing all those cones. Hopefully easier actually being there. Glad you had a blast Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kitcat Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 Suspension setup = R compound tires. On a 55 second course, they are worth 2-5 seconds. However, no reason not to slide around on your no-names for awhile and get the hang of reading the cones and learning the car's strengths and weaknesses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yellowss7 Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 KitKat wrote: "R compounds =2-5 seconds" Agreed!!! When Michael Dougherty let me take his 7 on slicks out for a run, I couldn't believe the difference. On the Avon CR500's I was always understeering, His car on slicks was like it was glued to the ground. I bought a set before the next event. Come on over to the dark side Roman. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slngsht Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 Michael D keeps telling me that... once you try it, you'll never go back. I just can't stomach the cost of slicks for the limited life. In my tire sizes, tires are an investment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RGTorque Posted May 5, 2008 Author Share Posted May 5, 2008 i just checked tire rack for comp/dot tires and the only thing in my size 215/40/17 front 225/40/17 rear cost 237 EACH!! thats a little rich to me right now. im going to work on getting new exhaust work done first. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slngsht Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 try 305/35/18 :willy: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gjslutz Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 Try: http://thetireshoppe.com/default.asp?ID=276&sa=y&pagedata=newtires&display=1&nav=5&ModelID=2337&SizeID=32827 193.00 & 199.00 for the R888 TOYO's at The Tire Shoppe. The R888 tire is great in the rain and are even better dry. They heat up fast as well. I now use my Falken RT615 set for trips only. They cost less than the R888's and do ok for performance driving, the R888 is much better for me though. Toyo also has an 100.00 rebate on a set of 4. Mine was issued as a prepaid Visa debit card that is good anywhere. I think it is in your area. Joe sure gave me great service. Gary Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yellowss7 Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 Sorry it took so long. Here's one of Roman's runs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
S1Steve Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 Hi Everyone, I see I missed all the fun on Sunday,I was laid up on the beach in Cancun. Our man Roman called me and said he really enjoyed his first autox.Tom is pointing him in the right direction and he is HOOKED.I'll try to get out for the next, and join in on the fun. Well Done Roman and Tom. Steve:cheers: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boxologist Posted May 5, 2008 Share Posted May 5, 2008 damn, i thought they joking whne they said a taxi was autoXing:crazy: was wondering how u got 8 runs at a philly event:confused: (NC) Roman, what tyres are on the Miatalite now? if theya re decently sticky, stay on them for teh rest of the season and then look towards a more usable r comp. driver control at the limits is much easier and less dangerous on harder tyres. i'll also recomemend finding a codriver who very good. if u have a small cheap camcorder i'll send u my mount from last year. PS. Tom, that was meant for a prosolo launch Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RGTorque Posted May 6, 2008 Author Share Posted May 6, 2008 omg... that looked so slow on video and felt so fast in person.... also it does not show the super fun slide i did all around that turn at the very back of the track. the tires are brabus crapers... no name brand summer tire they are not sticky for the track but with the price of wheels/ tires im not sure it i can do ti this season. the first thing i really need to do is my exhaust because its very restricted and is LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOUD. keeping it down the center channel is a challenge and will cost me $1500-2000 depending on how big a paint it is for the installer. thanks again for the help and hints from the old school guys. if not for guys like tom, i would have not broken 70 sec that whole day!! also regarding the 8 runs... i had so much fun in the AM i asked about running PM. they said since i was not running for times that it would be ok plus pm only cost $20. i would have run all 4 sessions if they let me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kitcat Posted May 6, 2008 Share Posted May 6, 2008 Didn't get enough runs? (You are so hooked!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keith Posted May 8, 2008 Share Posted May 8, 2008 Se7ens need better tires than most other cars. But since they're so light, their tires also last a whole lot longer. My first set of RA1s lasted a few years, including two magazine tests and countless autocrosses and track days. Get Toyo R888, Toyo RA1 or Nitto NT-01s. They'll last a long time and have nice friendly behavior. I autocrossed my car on a set of worn Azenis RT-215s once. The car was terrible. On the RA1s, it's so much better behaved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
athens7 Posted May 8, 2008 Share Posted May 8, 2008 I ran my car at the SCCA Atlanta Region Novice school last month (11 runs!) with my stock Avon ZZ3s 205/45 ZR16. Kind of greasy, but progressive and easy to recover. I'd love a set of R compounds, but the closest size I can find is 225/45 16. Looking at my wing stays, I don't see that I have 20mm available additional width. Is the only solution different size wheels and new tires? If so, I'll have to run this season stock and save up for a wheel/tire package for next year. If not, I would welcome suggestions as to more cost effective alternatives. Does taking out a timing reflector and a half dozen cones in a 4 wheel slide at the finish on my last run qualify me to use the Boxologist Smiley? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boxologist Posted May 9, 2008 Share Posted May 9, 2008 I ran my car at the SCCA Atlanta Region Novice school last month (11 runs!) with my stock Avon ZZ3s 205/45 ZR16. Kind of greasy, but progressive and easy to recover. I'd love a set of R compounds, but the closest size I can find is 225/45 16. Looking at my wing stays, I don't see that I have 20mm available additional width. Is the only solution different size wheels and new tires? If so, I'll have to run this season stock and save up for a wheel/tire package for next year. If not, I would welcome suggestions as to more cost effective alternatives. Does taking out a timing reflector and a half dozen cones in a 4 wheel slide at the finish on my last run qualify me to use the Boxologist Smiley? did u wrap the data cable around an axle :7fume: Roman's car and roman in action http://s188.photobucket.com/albums/z294/sc2pete/warminster504/IMGP7877.jpg http://s188.photobucket.com/albums/z294/sc2pete/warminster504/IMGP7905.jpg http://s188.photobucket.com/albums/z294/sc2pete/warminster504/IMGP8004.jpg http://s188.photobucket.com/albums/z294/sc2pete/warminster504/IMGP8005.jpg http://i188.photobucket.com/albums/z294/sc2pete/warminster504/IMGP8006.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yellowss7 Posted May 9, 2008 Share Posted May 9, 2008 I see the problem with the oversteer Roman, it's the fat load in the passenger seat in the last 3 photos. I'm definately weighing down the right side of the car. Tom Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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