1st time Autocrossing tips!

[mikemounlio]

It is an absolute blast.

We swapped my car from manual rack to Kia Rio power rack, camber plates in the rear. Swapped bens car in a day and a half: advanced suspension, camber plates, new front hubs.


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I am going to try to get my front to act better but i may end up having to pull the camber plates out for autocross. The car simply doesnt have space to generate enough speed for that much camber. Or so it seems at this point. My front pressure was my biggest killer tho. I cant decide on a path until i get the front set right! Its in the works tho.

[Hatch]

well, I found out this weekend's autocross that I'll be competing in T-SMF which is the local club's tire pax. Should be interesting

[fudge]

dang you guys start early! You are in the tire pax because you are on slicks? I wonder how many cars are in that class haha

[Hatch]

not slicks, 200tw - it's their "street tire pax"
tire pax because there's absolutely no one running SMF. And with all the aspire and protege parts it really can't run in any street classes or anything lesser, really with the 1.8 it should be in X prepared but of course that would mean I'd be dead last no matter what.

[Hatch]

woohoo! good way to start the season - 1st in SMF! waiting on results to see what pax... won it by a tenth

[mikemounlio]

woohoo! good way to start the season - 1st in SMF! waiting on results to see what pax... won it by a tenth

Hatch can you tell your setup again please? Congrats on the win man. What area do you run in? I would kill to have my season staring already. We dont even have our schedule yet!

[Hatch]

Hatch can you tell your setup again please? Congrats on the win man. What area do you run in? I would kill to have my season staring already. We dont even have our schedule yet!

Thanks Mike! Yea the benefits of being a nomad - I can go where the action is! I'm in NW Florida, the club is Wiregrass Region. Gulf coast region kicks off their season this sunday, so I'll have a couple events in before most clubs have their schedules out!

This is the build list:

Suspension:
Aspire front and rear control arms and rear hoop
EBC Green Stuff Pads
EBC front Rotors
Goodrich EGT lines
KYB GR2 fronts, Mazda 323 GR2 rears
Aspire Front Springs: 175lbs Rear Springs: 135lbs

Battery Box in the rear, Moroso setup

Tranny: Mazda E Series
New half Shafts, New Shift Forks, Output Seals

Engine: Hot Tank, Chem Cleaned, Honed with TRW Chromo Piston Rings, KING bearings, 10 under. Decked 1MM. Full rebuild on the head. New Oil Pump, New Water Pump, New Timing Kit. Full FelPro Gasket kit. Bhanoff Organic Clutch, resurfaced flywheel. 'Festiva' New Cap, Rotor, Coolant flush. New Fuel Pump and relays. EGT ECU.

15x7" Drag wheels with 195/50 Hankook Ventus RS3 (not recommended - pony up for bridgestone re71-r)

[mikemounlio]

Thanks Mike! Yea the benefits of being a nomad - I can go where the action is! I'm in NW Florida, the club is Wiregrass Region. Gulf coast region kicks off their season this sunday, so I'll have a couple events in before most clubs have their schedules out!

This is the build list:

Suspension:
Aspire front and rear control arms and rear hoop
EBC Green Stuff Pads
EBC front Rotors
Goodrich EGT lines
KYB GR2 fronts, Mazda 323 GR2 rears
Aspire Front Springs: 175lbs Rear Springs: 135lbs

Battery Box in the rear, Moroso setup

Tranny: Mazda E Series
New half Shafts, New Shift Forks, Output Seals

Engine: Hot Tank, Chem Cleaned, Honed with TRW Chromo Piston Rings, KING bearings, 10 under. Decked 1MM. Full rebuild on the head. New Oil Pump, New Water Pump, New Timing Kit. Full FelPro Gasket kit. Bhanoff Organic Clutch, resurfaced flywheel. 'Festiva' New Cap, Rotor, Coolant flush. New Fuel Pump and relays. EGT ECU.

15x7" Drag wheels with 195/50 Hankook Ventus RS3 (not recommended - pony up for bridgestone re71-r)

Sounds like a fun setup! How do you like the EBC pads and rotors? i am thinking i will upgrade to them or have my knuckles custom machined to allow for a willwood setup. I would think the ebc take a autocross lap or two to hear up and then really start to grip good.

[Hatch]

I have no complaints on brakes, never had any fade. Locks em up easily if you romp on em.

I guess I could add that there's no interior behind the front seats, and miata flares to cover up the Sawzalled fenders

[mikemounlio]

I have no complaints on brakes, never had any fade. Locks em up easily if you romp on em.

I guess I could add that there's no interior behind the front seats, and miata flares to cover up the Sawzalled fenders

I am fully gutted. Nothing under the dash. Actually my dash is floppy as its only held in by a couple metal screws. No heater core, radio no nothing. My rear glass is gone. rear seat support is gone. It is as gutted as you can get and still have lights. My new autocross car is going even lighter. I want it to be under 1800 pounds with bumpers on. I think i can do it tho. Carbon doors, hatch, bumpers, hood the works.

[Hatch]

I've heard that unless it's "dry carbon" the hood and maybe even doors will be heavier than the thin skinned OEM

I'd say for autocross my ideal budget build would be a b6t or a BP supercharged, with advanced suspension, running 13" slicks

and if not budget, throw a ford 2.3 ecoboost in there htd

[mikemounlio]

I've heard that unless it's "dry carbon" the hood and maybe even doors will be heavier than the thin skinned OEM

I'd say for autocross my ideal budget build would be a b6t or a BP supercharged, with advanced suspension, running 13" slicks

and if not budget, throw a ford 2.3 ecoboost in there htd

The hood will not save me any weight as i have a gtx hood now. Its like 2 or 3 lbs. Its super thin. The doors i will save weight on! And the hatch i will save weight. The bumpers will be redone just to look nice. I think i can save enough weight in the doors and hatch to not add any weight with the carbon crap. I run 13" hoosier slicks and a turbo bp with the advanced suspension. Its one hell of a combo. I love it and will only make it better and better over time.

[Sid_RallyX_82]

@MikeMounlio
You had some questions a couple years ago, as a novice AutoXer. It seems now that you are figuring things out, and I've heard that the best way to learn something is to teach someone else, so would you be able to tell me, a novice, what you've learned from your experience with your builds and driving?

[mikemounlio]

@MikeMounlio
You had some questions a couple years ago, as a novice AutoXer. It seems now that you are figuring things out, and I've heard that the best way to learn something is to teach someone else, so would you be able to tell me, a novice, what you've learned from your experience with your builds and driving?

I would love to help. Let me start by saying i am still 100% a novice driver.

not in any real order. just as i happen to think

#1 just get out there and start driving. The best thing is seat time in the car. So drive it. Drive it as much as you can. I dont daily my autocross car and it kills me. Drive it as muc as you can.

#2 Autocross it even if you dont have a good suspension or motor swap. The more you get used to the cones flying by the better.

#3 walk the track several times. look at each turn as its very own turn AND look at each turn as well as the turn before and after. Sometimes its faster to go slow in one section so you can hit another section better and faster.

#4 ride with others. Get in the car with other drivers to see what they do. If they are faster then you i bet the 1st thing you notice is how smooth they drive. (my big issue is driving smooth)

#5 drive smooth. i have power for days but when i control the power and smooth it out i run fastest.

#6 look a turn ahead. if you focus on the cone at the car you will mess up the one thats next. always look a turn ahead. If you focus on a single cone thats to long. you always want to keep the focus moving forward. it will help slow down the speed at which the cones seem to pass you by.

#7 tire pressure. You want to find your tires best psi. Im not sure where to even start here as i have no real idea. I just simple adjust tire pressure so that my tire is using all its tread and none of the side wall. If you look at the tire after a run you will see where the smoothness stops and the snad paper looking rubber starts. That snad paper looking part is the rubber that has pulled off the tire and deposited on the side. Adjust tire psi down if your smooth section is not to the edge of the tread pattern. tire pressure up if the smooth section is all the way on the side wall. After a run look at others tires to get a better idea as to what i mean. Again im new and this may be off. This is just what i do for now!!!

#8 Car setup. The better you dal in the car the better chance you have at doing good. I have been through a lot of different parts to find what works for me. So far i have to say 100% what charlie says about the setup seems to be the best. I will list my build below

aspire front brakes
festy lca
festy inner tie rods
rio power steering rack
aspire outter tie rod ends
full advanced suspension front and rear (120# front springs, 105# rears)
festy rear drums redrilled to match aspire bolt pattern.
no rear brakes (not sure this will matter in autocross or not)
motor is a bp
trans is the g series
motor is turboed
core support has been done
motor is moved forward quite far
i made a 3rd trans mount
all mounts are made with rubber. no hard mounts
My trans has the mfactory lsd (charlie says this might be hurting my times) i have not tested an open diff yet.
The car is gutted (everything is gutted out of it- the car is autocross only no lights, doors, glass, hatch, dash, nothing)
camber plates in the rear -3.5 and the front is cambered as well
13" slicks off ebay


I started out with an aspire rear beam with sway bar and 120 pound springs in rear. 150lbs in front. the car was way to stiff and had lots of understeer. The car seems to do best "soft" everyone tells me at each race man you need to add rear sway bar its lose...but the car does best for me when its lose. I still drive the car like a total noob. i dont left foot brake. i dont transfer weight. i dont really stick to a plan. I get to excited and just drive fast. I need to work on taking a breath and chill out. Gotta focus more on what to do vs hit the gas.

ask anymore questions yo want. i still suck so this is all a noobs opinion