Finally got the courage to try this and I will say that I had the time of my life. Everyone was very helpful and for a noobie everything went smooth (no DNF’s and didn’t spin once but I was really close though). Got there and the car was put into BSP so for a first time auto-xer to be competitive in that class is next to impossible….lol. The car ran great and I really didn’t play with many settings because I just wanted to work on technique and “smoothing” things out. I am planning on going to the rest of the events for the summer and was looking for some input about settings. I also had 2 pros drive along with me today giving me tips and what not (really cool of them). All and all it was a lot harder then I thought it was going to be. Some of those turns are so sharp and proper setup was more then key, but I would say to all that you have to try it once because it makes you a better driver!

Here is what I have to work with for modifications that can be tuned.
.
Rims: Ro-Ja 19” R2-5’s (I know huge for this kinda thing)
Tires: Toyo T1-R 235 / 285
Pressure today: 40psi all around
Suspension: Apex’i N1 dampers set at 24 out of 32 all around
Eibach sways set at soft front medium rear
Alignment: Front: -1.25 camber, 1/8 toe out
Rear: -1.75 camber, 1/8 toe in

Feedback about the car was that I had a hard time getting the car to stick. The front end just seemed to keep pushing, (even the pro was like you gotta get that fixed). I tried a few different driving styles to try and correct it and no matter if I came in slow or fast I just kept going straight. I even tried just making the tires react to one thing at a time (braking with out a steering input, or visa-versa). I really don’t know what to do to get it to grip a bit more up front so this is where I need some advice. The rear end did what I expected it to for the most part (smooth on the throttle really helped to steer the car out of turns too) so the rear seems to be where it should be, but I am open to suggestions as I just want to get better and I am willing to practice to do so. My first two runs I ran the exact same time at 66.729, third run I hit a cone and got 67.XXX with the penalty, fourth was somewhere in the 65.XXX, but my last run was 64.3XX so I got better but there is tons of room for improvement.

Sorry for the long post but I figured I wanted to post all my reactions to this awsome day and hope for some good feedback!

Thanks,

SeeULater

 

Welcome to our "obsession" err, hobby!

235 on the front vs 285 on the rear, and yes, you've got so little tire in the front vs. the rear, the car will push pretty badly.

Find a set of 17" wheels and get a set of good street tires (Falkens, Kumhos, BFGs) in the same size all around and use those at events and leave the Ro-Jas at home.

 

Oh come on. How can driving around cones be that difficult?

 

It will be even better if you get to do 4th gear esses

 

If you are going to race again with the exact same setup, I have two recommendations:

Set both your front sway and your rear sway to full stiff.

After that, drive again. If you still have that push into the turns with 40psi all around, I would then start raising the rear tire pressure.

 

The pros make it look easy but when a novice sits behind the wheel its an entirely new game. LOL

I was thinking about that but I was unsure as to what to do. It crossed my mind to make the front stiffer and leave the rear but I also though why not just put everything to full stiff and see what happens then. If I wanted to try and correct it with tire pressure would I want to just raise the rear a bit and maybe lower the front a bit too? I think my alignment is pretty average and that those numbers are pretty solid so I am gonna keep those the same.

Anything else that I should think about???

 

With 40psi, your tires are like ballons. You want to have the grip with the lower pressure.

 

First off, you need enough tire pressure to keep the tread on the ground, sidewalls don't have a lot of grip.

Second off, you've got a HUGE difference in tire widths between the front and back, so of course the end that has less tire on the ground (front, in this case) will slide.

 

im from ct and attending my first auto-cross in the Z on this coming sunday. I have hotchkis front and rear swaybars. any suggestions on setting for them and tire pressures for the stock 06 wheels? thanks!!!

 

What I am beginning to gather is that I need to get rims that are close to the same size and run tires that are the same with! From there I should be able to get a better feel for everything and adjust from there.

Would making the sway bars stiffer help or hurt me if I had the same sized tires all the way around? I would guess help but I really dont know what to think.

Thanks again,

SeeULater

 

35psi all around on the stock tires. The sidewalls on the Z tires are stiff enough to support the car even down to 33psi, I wouldnt even consider going to 40psi. On my race tires, I sometimes go as low as 28psi. Never had a problem. Which autox you going to? CART?

 

This National Tour trophy winner, three-time regional champion, and (somewhat) national-level competitor is telling you to use pressures to keep the tread on the ground. That may mean that you'll be running 40-44 PSI (I use 44 front/40 rear on street tires).

See if you can dig up your stock wheels for your "play" tires. While the stock wheels will be quite heavy in comparison (unless you bought a track model), they should be good enough to get you started.

 

Thats just it I do have the Track model! When I bought the car all the guy had left was these rims as he sold the track rims to help pay for these new ones. I am working right now to aquire another set of stock track rims.

My tires are the T1-R's so I am not running the stock tire. I am going to up the pressures next time that I go for sure!

I guess I was wondering if anyone else has coilovers and what kind of setting they are running for damping along with maybe some sway bar settings.

 

I respectfully disagree, and inherently question your motive here. This isn't drag racing.


I dropped over 1.5 seconds on the same course (test and tune day, I got 35+ runs) by upping my rear pressure from 38 to 40 and the fronts from 38 to 44. Keep in mind these tires are Falken Azenis 615's in 255/40/17. They have incredibly stiff sidewalls.

I may not be as well known nationally because I do not compete in NT or in Topeka, but I can assure everyone that I have plenty of autox experience in many different Nissans. Three season championships, one of which I was undefeated in an 11 race season. At the same time, I in no way intend this to be a measuring stick contest. "What works for you may not work for some"

Generally speaking, in the racing forums we tend to keep it nicer as we are all trying to do the same thing: get faster.

 

This information is incredible to me. You are located where? And use the same tire pressures in street tires to success as I do.

One more, and it's an 'internet fact'!

 

trade in your Z and buy an Elise!
Peace!

 

Reading this part of your post again made me think of something simple that may help you. You say that pros 'make it look easy'....well, they make it sound easy as well. You'll notice that most of the guys going very fast are not squealing tires. Although your mind associates screaming tires with speed, know that the tires are past their limit, and therefore not handling at their best ability. When you drive, your tires will tell you when you're pusing it too hard, especially street tires. Listen to them! IMO, it's better help than any amount of chalk you put on your sidewalls

 

There are three Elises running in my region, they are yet to beat my B Stock Tire 350Z that happens to have an open diff. One of them is in ASP!!! lawl

 

Northwest region.

Normally I now run DOT-R tires (V710s, previously Hoosiers) in competitions, but run street tires in almost every practice and every rain event (there are a few here in the NW).

 

I had the same tires for the first part of 2006, never used more than 35psi. I had moderate success in them as well.