Have fun! Autocross is a great way to learn the limits of your car (and driving capability) and improve both. Fortunately, you are starting with a pretty good platform. The car has good weight distribution and much better suspension components than most sedans so the handling is predictable. You also have much better brakes than most sedans- all much more important than hp. It is a bit heavy, but that will just teach you to be smoother with your inputs and probably end up getting stickier and wider tires.

 

Just got back for the day! First off, thank you all for the tips. That was ridiculously fun.

I was doing 20 min sessions every hour from 9am to 5pm. Each 20 min session was 3 laps + exit the course and line up again. So even though it was "autox", I would say it took a good toll on the car. The weather was sunny, but cool (65).

My VVT Oil Temp reading hit a peak of 282F, my coolant hit a peak of 219. Despite these high temps, I never recalled my engine going into limp mode - it pulled strong throughout the day.

Brakes did fine, there were 2 hard braking zones per lap. No signs of fade throughout the day.

Power steering fluid was bubbling whenever the car was on. I'm not sure if the fluid was boiling because as soon as the car was shut off, the bubbling stopped. There was no leakage/overflow. Thoughts?

OEM tires suck. Could not hold a good speed through the right sweeper and the tires were constantly squealing. My first few laps I spun my car out multiple times as I was learning the limits of my car.

The 7AT gearing is weird for autox. I always found myself close to redline in 2nd gear, and 3rd gear revs would have been too low to have good acceleration at corner exit.

I did a ride along on two miatas with sticky tires and an s2k and those things pull so many lateral Gs it made my neck sore after a few laps. No wonder people get racing seats.

Highlight of the day was definitely a ride along in a Datsun 240Z. What a monster. It is such a raw experience, and the inline 6 engine sounds so unique. Despite the body roll and squat, the chassis is well balanced.

 

That sounds like a fun day at the track! That is interesting that you were driving 20 min sessions for an autocross, but only 3 laps. Am I reading that right?

Your power steering fluid can get a bit frothy from the pump in addition to the heat. I switched to Redline fluid (I think they recommended their trans fluid) and it seems to help a bit.

 

3 laps, exit the course and get in line (1 min) and then 3 laps again, until 20 min is over. Run groups were approx 10 but towards the end of the day it was just 4 or 5 of us going at it continuously haha.

 

Nice! That almost sounds like a lapping day. Definitely a lot more wear and tear on the car than a normal autocross. Glad to hear the car held together relatively well (aside from the brake fluid). Do you have an oil cooler?

 

Brake fluid was fine actually! There were not too many hard braking zones in the course.

Car needs new tires now, but I want to go squared so I will need to wait until I decide on new wheels before I get new tires. Any recommendations are appreciated.

No oil cooler, though that is up next too. At 282F I doubt the oil has the same lubricating properties it does at the normal operating temp....

 

Whoops- I meant power steering fluid. I think you swapped to RBF600 fluid. That is what I have run for years without any issues.

As far as tires- any Tire Rack "extreme performance" summer tire will probably work great. I run RE-71R's and love them for street/track. What tires do you have now?

 

I am running OEM Hankook Ventus s1 Noble2 "ultra high performance" all season tires. Not sure if they're considered any good, but in any case the rears are running low on tread and I need a new set. While I want them to be sticky for autox purposes I also need good wet performance for the rainy Bay Area.

The dilemma is that I really want to go for a squared setup both for handling and for tire rotations, which means I need to save up for wheels before I go for new tires...

I've heard great things about the RE-71R. How are they in the rain?

 

Glad to hear it all went well for you!

The other problem with high oil temp is that the oil breaks down and stops lubricating as well at all times, not just when it's momentarily hot, so an oil cooler is an unfortunate necessity when you start getting beyond street driving really.

I had RE-71R's but ran my last event on them a couple weeks ago at a Porsche autocross. 6th outright, my best time was good for 4th but I made a mistake and hit a cone, it cost time regardless of the penalty which sucks, means I was capable and threw it away.

Final Raw Time Results


I would recommend the RE-71R's for sure, I have had a great run with them, however, the problem with all track tires is that you will want to wear them to bald to get as much life as possible and the tire will allow this and grip until that point. However, they've long become useless in the wet before they are throw-away track tires.

The RE-71R's are OK in the wet (I'm in Houston, torrential rain is normal) but I am moving to a dedicated set of track wheels (Enkei RPF1 in 18x9.5 +38) and moving on to either Nitto NT-01 or Maxxis RC-1 and moving focus from autocross back to track days where I belong.

Last weekend the fronts of my RE-71R's were bald and only down to the tread depth markers on the rear tires, with the stock staggered setup I couldn't do any more rotating and got stuck with under utilized rear tires. Cash down the drain really. I put a set of Hankook Ventus V2 on ($700 fitted) now as my road set cause the price was just too good to say no.

It's soo much nicer driving my car on the street now, the Bridgestones were HOWLING and had really bad resonance at 40 and 80mph - which is about where I spend all my time driving, so I'm happier in the car and so is the wife. And you know what they say

 

^Oil cooler will have to be next as part of an oil change....I will just have to hold off on any more aggressive driving until I can save up for wheels + better street tires (probably $2k all in). Thinking about 18" Wedssport SA10R, Buddy Club SF, Buddy Club RS10, or Enkei RPF1.

Nice driving in the video. It looks like you're very in control, like you don't have to fight anything.

Here is a short clip of my Sunday. It's not the best footage but thought it'd be fun to share - the first clip is my 2nd lap around the course with VDC off for the first time LOL

 

Love watching those videos. keep them coming guys

I had to laugh a little watching Analyst's video....BMW looked like they were having a rough day lol.

 

Thanks! And I am fighting and on the edge almost constantly in that clip, I just have quite a number of years practice so it doesn't seem as obvious. Slow is smooth and smooth is fast. You'll get there as well, you did very well for your first time out!

 

Nice video, Splitter. I've only run TWS 2.9 and never as an autocross course. 1.0G, impressive. Does the camera have all the functions shown in your video? If so, what brand?

 

I have run the 2.9 ccw course for a few laps before and it was good fun until I cut a corner and banged up a wheel on a concrete apron, ending my day.

The car peaks 1.2 lateral G's and will hold ~1.15 steady cornering. That's with 245/265 RE-71R's so I'm SUPER excited to see what I can get out of some 'proper' track day tires and 285 all round.

I use Solostorm for autocross. I run it on an android tablet with a bluetooth GPS and ODBII unit to get accurate maps and engine/throttle data. The tablet gyro sensors provide the rest of the inputs and the software overlays the data to a video file, for me provided by a GoPro Hero 2.

Solostorm is expensive ($200) plus gadgets (~$100) but the analysis software is second to none for comparing laps/drivers between runs on the day. It is however for autocross only at the moment (maybe forever, up to the developer).

For on the track I have Harry's lap timer and still need to get the PC software sorted out for doing the data/video overlay but it would look similar in the end and should provide similar levels of data feedback on the track.

 

I ran 2.9CCW several times in my Sentra SE-R and once in my Miata. The last time out we took a parade lap at lunch clockwise. It's a whole new track! Oddly, I didn't get that feeling running Motorsports Ranch Houston in both directions.