KJinDC

So I went to a gravel pit of a lot for an autoX this weekend and was lucky enough to have my street and track tires with me. The original plan was to run the Michelin Pilot Cup Sports (track tires) and beat on my buddy in his RA-1 shod S4. Well, after the 1st 3 runs I spent lunch whining about not being able to turn or apply throttle with out pushing or transitioning to fairly excessive oversteer. after the whining I spent the remainder of lunch also asking all those within ear shot if they knew where the 3 seconds I was looking for was hiding. My buddy had run a 41.1xx and my best was a 44.5xx at that point. I felt that street tires would have been better for the surface, but also the MPCS simply weren't getting up to operating temperature. I was convinced to keep the MPCSs on for the afternoon runs though since all the top guys were on Hoosiers or Toyos or r-compounds of some sort. Of course, all the fast guys were AWD also. =^p

After lunch I adjusted the pressures on the MPCSs and tried again. My best was a 43.5xx and my buddy/nemisis set a 41.3xx to claim the official FTD (the morning runs are just practice runs). Okaaay, so another month of "gee, didn't your little sports car loose to my big, bloated family sedan AGAIN." It's all good natured of course.

So, I got smoked by my buddy. He narrowly edged me out last month as well, so i should be used to it now. Well, as I was changing back to my streets (bridgestone S03s) they announced a limited number of funs runs. I didn't finsh the tire swap in time but I begged the announcer to let me get one run in on my street tires. He obliges and I'm busy tighening my helmet strap as I launch out of the gate. I immediately felt the improved grip and my final time was a 41.7xx!!

Up until this point I have been in love w/the Michelin Pilot cup Sports. They are my 1st r-compound tire so I can't fairly compare them to any other on the market but they come highly rcommended by members of the p-car world. My only issue is that they take FOREVER to warm up. That being so, I don't think they're the best choice for autoX. At least not on a cool, overcast day where the surface is pretty gravelly.

Any suggestions or tricks I could try to get these tires to work at the autoX? Once again, i love them on the track but for autoX I need as much grip as I can get since my car is classed as SM2 and I'm geting creamed after indexing.

Thanks.

-KJ

Corey S

Gravelly autox? Full tread Kumho Victoracers are king.

Alex Milenkovic

Almost all the RWD and over 50% of the FWD cars were having a very, very hard time of it with the gravel out there. Warren and I were running in my 2.5 RS, and our times improved while everyone else's got worse in the afternoon - taking us from mid pack to well into the top 10 Believe it or not, the lack of traction helped my car out, because I was able to slide it more easily and compensate for the understeer.

But remember KJ, Bill in his 325 and Marti in his SVT Cobra, are usually very good drivers and place near the top. Bill spun twice and finally rattled off one good run (a 42?) and Marti was struggling in the 43s and 44s all day long. Matching his time is absolutely nothing to feel bad about.

In the morning session, the course favored the heavier RWD cars. As the asphalt kept getting torn up by car after car running on it, things took a turn for the interesting, heavily favoring the AWD cars. I think you did quite well for the car you had and the conditions you were faced with.

Wait for a hot day in July when we run at the school, and see what you think of the car/tires then.

Hiding Out

The runs and drivers that impressed me the most (or the ones that I remember seeing) on Sunday were...in no particular order:

+ the 190E 16V 42.xxx run
+ the "Queen Mary's" 43/44.xxx run
+ Warren's and your good runs in your RS
+ Dana's last run in her TT
+ Bill's last run
+ the Honda Civic guy that ran and got stopped because he didn't have a helmet on...hehe...was he even registered?

I'm still trying to figure out if I ran with less than stock boost! I may have mistakenly set the Revo chip that morning to a boost setting less than stock. I kept thinking "wow, this car is running sooo smooth...I can't feel the boost kicking in!" I guess that's what happens when you don't know what the hell you're doing!

Roberto

Hiding Out

Right-click and save for best playback. Each one is a little less than 5 MB. Sorry if the quality isn't up to snuff...haven't figured out how to make good-lookin' web videos yet.

<a href="http://www.theaegis.org/auto/20030608_Mustang.wmv" target="_new">One of Marty's runs (43.xxx)</a>

<a href="http://www.theaegis.org/auto/20030608_Gray911Cab.wmv" target="_new">One of Joe's runs (43.xxx)</a>

<a href="http://www.theaegis.org/auto/20030608_ALMSTT.wmv" target="_new">Dana's best run (43.0xx)</a>

<a href="http://www.theaegis.org/auto/20030608_325.wmv" target="_new">Bill's best run (42.4xx)</a>

<a href="http://www.theaegis.org/auto/20030608_WRX.wmv" target="_new">One of Gonzalo's runs (41.8xx)</a>

<a href="http://www.theaegis.org/auto/20030608_S4.wmv" target="_new">One of Andrew's runs (41.xxx)</a>

Please don't kill my web host! hehe...

Roberto

Davekhall

Well, I'm the moron in the Honda that forgot my helmet.

But, hey, It's my first year out there, and I'm pretty happy with with my driving so far. I actually ranked 15th on that track 2 months ago with my little 1.6 liter. Go Honda!

(Did I forget to mention that's 15th with the index?, Oh, well)

Man, that was a good run I had going without my helmet, too!

Dave 'Tony' 'Wish I had AWD' Hall

Hiding Out

Well, I wouldn't call you a moron! Anyone who even wants to try autoxing has got to have some smarts.

Roberto