1st time Autocrossing tips!

[Advancedynamix]

Just be careful with it. A b6t festiva is a hell of a lot of car. It's easy to over drive the coarse. It's especially important that your smooth in this car. If your mashing the throttle and mashing the brakes hard then your driving slow. Turbo cars go best when the throttle is rolled on smoothly. If your diverter valve is set up properly, you'll avoid turbo lag by a smooth roll of the accelerator, as opposed to stabbing it.
Your going to be excited, you'll probably be nervous. Try to stay calm and drive smooth and controlled.

One more tip. Autocross is more of a social gathering of car poeple than it is a racing sport. Think of it as a car show with people who are bored just looking at cars. To really get the most of it, walk around and enjoy the other enthusiasts and their cars. Don't get so wrapped up in your own car and times that you miss out on the environment. Lots of people will be interested in your little turbo clown car. They draw a lot if attention. Be sure to pay attention to all the other cars that are out there too.

[mikemounlio]

My tip for a first timer is go slow and get used to the way the cones work. You can't really work on your driving technique until your used to the sport. Autocross is a bit of a challenge to pick up at first.
When your comfortable with the track layout, focus on being smooth. Don't try to drive fast, try to drive smooth. Brake early at first, then later and later. Don't worry about sliding the car around, that will happen by accident at first. You'll get used to what the car does when it rotates and then you can use that to go faster (much much faster).
The nice thing about the festiva is that it's rewarding to drive at 6/10 and the fun of improving will continue for years to come. I still have not found the limit of this chassis and I've been trying for 5 years now.
If you have any sense of car control at all, this car will make you look really good. Don't let that get to your head. These things are seriously like cheating.

Your comments about this car have me som pumped its not even funny. I am just wondering how im gonna do compared to others out there. Like how easy is this car for me to drive fast vs other actually good drivers in say a vet or Porsche or something.
Its only a matter of time unilt i get out there but still i cant wait.

[Advancedynamix]

My tip for a first timer is go slow and get used to the way the cones work. You can't really work on your driving technique until your used to the sport. Autocross is a bit of a challenge to pick up at first.
When your comfortable with the track layout, focus on being smooth. Don't try to drive fast, try to drive smooth. Brake early at first, then later and later. Don't worry about sliding the car around, that will happen by accident at first. You'll get used to what the car does when it rotates and then you can use that to go faster (much much faster).
The nice thing about the festiva is that it's rewarding to drive at 6/10 and the fun of improving will continue for years to come. I still have not found the limit of this chassis and I've been trying for 5 years now.
If you have any sense of car control at all, this car will make you look really good. Don't let that get to your head. These things are seriously like cheating.

[mikemounlio]

The author makes many valid points, however the lighter a FWD car, the less likely it is to understeer under throttle. Also, the Festiva has a trailing link/Macpherson strut suspension. This style of front suspension actually forces the tires downward under acceleration (much like the swingarm of a motorcycle). This means that these cars turn very well under throttle. They also have a significant amount of camber gain due to the geometry of their front suspension.
I've been driving FWD track cars for decades and have never found a chassis that turns as well as the festiva.
He is correct though on the appropriate lift oversteer and throttle out technique. That is the ticket to a festiva. Hard braking is not necessary and if your having trouble rotating the car that means your driving it too slow. Lol

Advancedynamix due to you being the man and all i have questions about my autocross tip coming up very soon (i hope). Can you give some details on how i should be driving the car? I mean in general tips. Should i try to avoid the brake altogether, brake late, or brake early? Should i try to left off and back on the gas to pull the car around?

Im 100% new to driving autocross so its likely that i wont be able to even know whats going on until its done and over. Over time and with the right ideas in mind i will get it! But im wanting to start out being as ready as i can be.

[mikemounlio]

Sounds like ill stick to the plan open diff on the g-series then!

[FestYboy]

LSD will help save the trans and put more power to the ground through less wheel spin, especially at higher power levels.

[Advancedynamix]

Open diff is best for corners. I've never tried the Mfactory lsd, but those who have it seem to agree with me. I have driven a lot of fwd cars with quaiffe LSDs (that's the design Mfactory copied) and they suck on asphalt/tight corners. They are good for dirt though.
If you could find a plate style viscous lsd then that would work well. Helical torsens (like the Mfactory or quaiffe) are garbage on a road coarse or autocross in a FWD. They come unlocked when the wheel lifts (when you need them most) and they make the car jerky, unstable and hard to steer when diving in and out of sharp curves. They are good for straight line performance and they take much more abuse than the stock open diff.
Mazda produced an LSD for the g series. It came in the Mazdaspeed protege. I'm not sure what style it is. You can still buy them from a Mazda dealer for 500 bucks (give or take). The axle spline count is wrong for xr2 axles so you'd need to have custom axles made to run it. That could get pricey.

[mikemounlio]

Should i be looking to find a LSD or is the stock g-series good enough OR do i want to leave it alone and just try it out 1st.

[Advancedynamix]

1st in SMFT1!

Gotta get better tires, and much more practice..

Great job! That's a good looking car!

I think the flares are for a miata.. Here's a lil writeup on it from b4 I was the owner: http://www.dailyturismo.com/2014/12/...1991-ford.html

this from the original CL ad:
"This is not your regular Festiva. Oh no no no. This is a 'Beastiva'. What is a 'Beastiva' you might ask? Well let me break it down for you.

Normally this car has a 1.3L 8 valve wonder-bar that pushes out 50 small ponies on a good day. But that wasn't good enough so, a 1.8L DOHC Mazda 'BP' was taken from a Ford Escort GT, given new life through a full rebuild by Cylinder Head Service and HnG Machine, Felpro, King, Sealed Power and my hands. It now has 120 of those rampaging ponies under the hood and at 1500 lbs, this pertinacious little bulldog has the legs of a supermodel. Oh yeah.

... bla bla aftermarket parts bla ...

OBX-R Micro Fart can 'to keep wilderness life off the road as you pronounce your presence.'
Small box with moving parts and rotating shafts that make 120-130 rampaging mustangs.

... bla parts bla ...

This is in fact. A car. But would be better used as a fun project to attract the female persuasion from other cars of much higher cost after humiliation through the gauntlet.

Look at the pictures

Pure ladies magnet.

NOW INCLUDES SNOW SPIMSY WHIMSIES AND MUD FLAP FOR ALL YEAR HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT! "

One helluva sales pitch!
If you aren't using those whimsies then I'll buy 'em off you.

[Hatch]

Good to know! I was planning on eventually hitting a scale just to see.. I figured it was probably more around 17-1800..

[w4rkry]

@ Hatch: one correction, curb weight is at least 1713 lbs. That's the lowest figure I have seen anywhere. Not sure if that is with/without fluids.

I can confirm that a fully stripped festiva with only the 2 main pieces of Glass and motor weighs 1680 lbs.

The JDMSTIVA weighs 1860 with subs.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-N910A using Tapatalk

[TominMO]

@ Hatch: one correction, curb weight is at least 1713 lbs. That's the lowest figure I have seen anywhere. Not sure if that is with/without fluids.

[Hatch]

Can we get some details on your Fender flares? Or the whole car actually? Do you have a garage/build thread?

I think the flares are for a miata.. Here's a lil writeup on it from b4 I was the owner: http://www.dailyturismo.com/2014/12/...1991-ford.html

this from the original CL ad:
"This is not your regular Festiva. Oh no no no. This is a 'Beastiva'. What is a 'Beastiva' you might ask? Well let me break it down for you.

Normally this car has a 1.3L 8 valve wonder-bar that pushes out 50 small ponies on a good day. But that wasn't good enough so, a 1.8L DOHC Mazda 'BP' was taken from a Ford Escort GT, given new life through a full rebuild by Cylinder Head Service and HnG Machine, Felpro, King, Sealed Power and my hands. It now has 120 of those rampaging ponies under the hood and at 1500 lbs, this pertinacious little bulldog has the legs of a supermodel. Oh yeah.

... bla bla aftermarket parts bla ...

OBX-R Micro Fart can 'to keep wilderness life off the road as you pronounce your presence.'
Small box with moving parts and rotating shafts that make 120-130 rampaging mustangs.

... bla parts bla ...

This is in fact. A car. But would be better used as a fun project to attract the female persuasion from other cars of much higher cost after humiliation through the gauntlet.

Look at the pictures

Pure ladies magnet.

NOW INCLUDES SNOW SPIMSY WHIMSIES AND MUD FLAP FOR ALL YEAR HORIZONTAL MOVEMENT! "

[w4rkry]

Can we get some details on your Fender flares? Or the whole car actually? Do you have a garage/build thread?

[Hatch]

1st in SMFT1!

Gotta get better tires, and much more practice..