My first autocross. (long read/rant ahead)

[Crowbar911]

So Sunday I went auto crossing with the local SCCA chapter for the first time, and won the novice class. I was up against a 1999 BMW 3 series and a 93 civic.
I had an absolute blast, and would highly recommend it.

The course was set up to be very difficult, at it was the clubs last run in the summer season. I was lucky. I showed up before 7, and the only guy there was setting up the course. I helped him set it up, which gave me a (unfair?) advantage because I walked it maybe a dozen times more than anybody else.

Unfortunately, i am in the ST class due to my rear sway bar. So next time I go, I wont win a trophy.

Some thing I learned:

The difference between oversteer and understeer. And how much understeer we have.
How to control understeer.
No matter how your wheels are turned, if you lock up the wheels, you’re going straight.
Look ahead.
Smooth = fast

I had 7 run in total. My times:
115.172+dnf
113.258+dnf
61.484+dnf
52.855+dnf
54.999
53.823+1
55.984

As you can see, I improved greatly as the day went on, and I was able to control the car better.

Dnf = off course. (I kept going around a set of cones rather than though it.)
+1 = amount of cones hit on a run where I did not go off course.


Since the course was very tight and only 2 straight aways, I kept the car in 2nd, with over drive off. I felt that this really helped keep me in the power band and the engine braking helped as well. I felt like I had plenty of power when I needed it. My RPM’s never fell below 3K, and the throttle was very responsive and gave me power when needed.

I only hit redline on the straight aways, and then immediately had to brake, so I didn’t bounce off redline.

I really felt the difference with the sway bars. The car really held together well, but still had a considerable about of body roll with the sway bars and front strut bar. I feel that when either my current suspension goes, or I have the money, I will upgrade the struts/shocks.

I currently have all season general altimax tires on, which I felt really held on, but the side wall of the front tires are pretty much rounded off now (back tires show no wear). I cannot run again until I get set of dedicated tires/wheels.

Even though this is my daily driver, and I love the car to death, I spared no expense of the car, and understood the mechanical risks of this, and drove the car as hard as possible.

When I was lined up waiting to race, I turned the car off. Would it have been better to let it run and have the oil circulate and the radiator to be running?

The temp gauge never moved the whole day.

I did get a CEL on the way to autocross, but it was my normal “lean bank 1” code. I reset the code, and it hasn’t come back up yet. I did run premium, for my mental state of mind and that I feel the engine runs smoother. (No power difference, but I feel it runs smoother at idle)

I feel that the corolla could easily be competitive in a lower class with suspensions upgrades beyond the sway bars and wider tires.

I highly recommend autocross to anybody who wants to know the limits of there car.

Pictures will be posted when I get them.

Any comments/questions feel free to ask. Sorry about the ranting ahead of time.

[Bhavesh]

wow, sounds like two tons of fun!

I'm glad you took that kind of driving to the appropriate place

I do the same, except I have two machines dedicated exclusively to that duty:





I am a little weary about using my DD for racing, because the car wasn't really built for that level of performance. Holding aside premature wear on brakes & tires, the more expensive parts like transmission and engine wear are what I'm worried about.

on the other hand, I notice that parts on track-only vehicles break down constantly as well, which makes me curious whether or not the corolla would last longer (or at least, be cheaper to repair). The thing that leads me to believe this, is when you said the temperature gauge didn't even move.

so were the BMW and civic the only other 2 cars you were racing against?

beating out an M3 goes to show that it's not the car, it's the driver

[Crowbar911]

The bimmer (normal 3 series,non M car), civic, and myself were all first timers, so we were all in the novice class.

They were both stock cars, the bimmer was in D stock, and the civic was in H stock.

Im in the ST class because I have aftermarket rear sway bar, which may have put me at an unfair advantage to the civic, but the bimmer still outperforms me.

The tranny seems to shift normally, and I do have a little break squeal, which is expected as Im due for new pads, and this just made it sooner, but as you said, its to be expected.

My front tire sidewall is GONE. its really bad. But i will move them to the back so its safe.

[Bitter]

this may sound counter intuitive, but run a higher tire pressure than normal. it will really help with steering response and that mushy tire feel. what tires exactly do you have? the RT or the HP? neither are exactly performance tires, but the HP is more so than the RT.

the most important thing is that you had a blast!

[Crowbar911]

I have the Hp's in 185/65 - 14

The sidewalls of the tires are pretty beat up. Ill have to rotate them to the rear before the first snow.

Even though toyota reccomends 30 psi front and rear, I run 40 front and 35 rear in my daily driving. i tried 45 front, 35 rear, but the front felt way to twitchy. So I stuck with 40 front, 35 rear.

[Bitter]

yea, those are not a good tire for this, as you know. get some steel wheels and pack some 195/600's on there.

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires....omCompare1=yes those would do better and are cheap. there may be a falken tire which is better suited, tirerack does not carry falken for some reason.

[Corollaczy]

So u have an automatic?

[Crowbar911]

Originally Posted by Corollaczy

So u have an automatic?

Yes.

[Corollaczy]

i hate my automatic at autocross, i think i was the only one last time. but I also got the course screwed up last time, lol. but im on a stock suspension anyway so its pretty slow compared to the rest of the ST class.

[Crowbar911]

I love our "version" of auto. My buddies 01 E46 had auto, with tiptronic, and even if he has it in sports mode, the car will NOT limit itself to the first 2 gears.

We have an advantage over other auto cars like that.

I haven't driven stick to much, but I still think I would prefer auto, because you really need to keep both hands on the wheel. The guy that got me into it, has a stick, and he has to shift from 2nd to 1st for some of the switchbacks.

You should be in H stock if you have a stock suspension, not ST.

[Corollaczy]

its my dang wheel size, 7 inches wide and yokohama summer tires, check it in the sig. And with the auto, our transmissions only have 3 usable gears anyhow, lol, but i dont really want to bounce off the red limiter, thts why i didnt have it in second last time, does it really help?

[Bitter]

when i'd goto tear up a canyon road in the geo (93 1.8) i'd leave it in 2 and turn OD off, slap it up into 3rd if 2nd was winding out on a straight. 2nd runs out at 60 or so, you have plenty of room in 1st and 2nd.

[Corollaczy]

yea i kno, i still dont want to bounce the limiter, lol. But tht is wat i hate bout our transmissions, only 3 gears mean no low end power. I brake hold it in autocross since i dont want to drive drop it, even tho both are bad for the transmission....

[PhatRoyale]

Good to hear, congrats buddy.

[Milky]

sounds like you had a good time. i have wanted to take mine for sometime now, but havent. i really want to see how the 6 speed will do. its uber close gear ratios with the 4.529 final drive.