So I have now completed 2 Auto-x's with the Z. I have some basic bolt-ons and a C/F hood. On both courses the sweeping turns have been very difficult for me. I feel like I am having a hard time keeping the car from spinning out. I spun out three times today and it was very frustrating.

I have Tires at 32/32 and 31/32 (psi) (when I checked them after running a couple times).

I'm not trying to look for things to do to car yet as it's only been 2 events. I'd like to get some advice from others who have more experience with this car as to what you do to keep the car dialed in on the turns. Do you enter a certain way or feather it bit differently.

Thanks!

 

PS. My buddy has video footage of one of my runs that you guys are welcome to analyze.

 

use 35Fpsi adn 34.5R on the stock re040.

Spinning is usually overdriving. There is nothing wrong with the car

 

That's what I am thinking right now. But what can I do and how to improve that.

Thanks.

 

Learn to modulate the throttle to control the car through turns like that so you don't overpower and spin. It's just something that's going to take a little practice.

Start slow and increase speed until you feel the rear start to slip. If you go all-out and the rear breaks loose, you're going to have a hard time trying to gain control, especially if you're trying to stay on course and not hit cones.


Are you driving in first or second gear? Most of the time, you should probably be in second. The throttle can be real touchy in first.

 

Thanks Dave!

Today was a very fast course (airfield) so I was in second the whole time and even 3rd at one point. It feels like I carry too much speed and I can give it a little gas to grip but the Z is quite tail happy even when as gentle as you can be.

 

Like the saying goes "slow in, fast out". I have a problem with that and need to work on it. It's better to enter a turn going to slow and adjust for speed than to overcook it and fight the car the whole way through.

 

another thing to do is put white shoe polish on the tire sidewalls (where the sidewall and tire tread meet)...the general rule is to run the lowest tire pressure without having the tire's 'roll over' (you can check the show polish to see if it's occruing)...that usualy gives you the best traction.

it sounds like you just need more seat time...the more you drive, the quicker your reactions will be to sensing oversteer and you'll be able to recover prior to spinning out. IMO, AutoX is the best place to learn this balance...there's not many places that are safe and legal to learn car control. (track events are legal, but not always the safest due to higher speeds and tire walls)

 

Thanks guys I appreciate it!

 

One other thing to add. Learn to live in the present! Lol

In other words, if you realize you came in a bit too slow in a corner, don't try to compensate by going on the throttle earlier and/or harder. It's too late, do better next time but for now, just ride the corner the way you just set it up.

 

Good advice...

One thing I would add is work on smoother transitions from brake to throttle.

If you are staying in second, work on left foot braking, and brake in the straight lines. On tighter sections, trailbraking (Braking into the turn) will cause a lot of rotation. Once the rotation starts, and then you lift, and then apply the throttle the car will go around. Finish all of your braking before the turn and apply light throttle before any turn in.

 

All good advice, but since you only have two autoXs under your belt I wouldn't even start to try left foot braking and/or trail braking like Mr. Howard suggested. Save that for later as they are more intermediate to advanced techniques.

Your problem is most likely either overdriving or not being smooth enough. Driving is all about weight transfer between the tires and the key to that is being smooth. Think of a wagon full of rocks with a string attached to the handle. If you yank on the string real quick, the string is going to break and you are going to think that the string is not strong enough to pull the heavy wagon. Now you do it again, but this time you slowly pull harder and harder on the string and suddenly you are pulling the wagon with the same string you thought wasn't strong enough. That string is the tires traction limit. The smoother and more gradual you are with it, the higher the traction limit becomes. This is because of weight transfer. When you turn, brake, and accelerate, you are transfering weight off of one or more tires to the other tires. Lets use a right hand sweeper as an example. When you turn right, you are taking weight off of the right hand side of the car and moving it out towards the left hand side of the car. This makes the contact patch of the left hand tires bigger, giving them more grip, but it also makes the right hand tire's contact patch smaller, giving them less grip. A tire's contact patch can only get so big, but it can get infinately small, theoretically until the tires are literally off the ground. So the name of the game is to transfer just the right amount of weight to the outside tires to where it is at its maximum contact patch, but no more than that so you don't take any more contact patch off of the inside tires than necessary. The key to doing this is to be smooth with your steering movements. The same applies to acceleration and braking.

Now, here's another tip. Try lowering the tire pressure in the rear a few pounds and going up in the front a few pounds. This will help by giving the rear tires more traction than the fronts. The result is that you may get understeer instead of spinning out. Understeer still won't help your lap times, but at least you can avoid DNFs.

 

Sorry, that was the point I was trying to get accross in too brief of a reply. Smooth transitions and basic techniques.

 

+1. This helped me out a lot when I started auto-xing. Especially since I get some pretty nasty understeer. I can let my low end torque pick up the slack when exiting the turns.

Also, try and keep steady pedal pressure when going through turns. Each run try and give a little more, but keep it the same pressure throughout. Too much on-off will make the car get herky-jerky on you.