Oct 3 was my first AutoX

[JGSlayer]

Well yesterday sunday October 3rd I autocrossed for the first time. And now I wanna go back again, and again, and again, etc... i need to save up some money first and get an extra set of tires because i can see how quickly they get eaten up.

It was a pretty cool course including a high speed slalom a decreasing radius corner, a couple 180 turns and several other little twisties.

I ran 37psi all day because I didn't want to eat up my sidewall because i don't have money for extra tires right now. So needless to say i became master of the front wheel drive all wheel drift. My first time of the day with the instructor was 81.1 seconds, my goal by the end of the day was to reach high 60s. here are the times for my day in order from first run to last:

81.1
69.5
68.6
66.1
66.7

in comparison the fastest around the course was a pretty modded corvette that ran a 52. My friend in his 270 hp awd eclipse with shocks/struts and springs ran a fastest of 55. Miatas usually ran high 50s or low 60s.

Ill have a couple pictures up later.

[NegatiZE]

Congrats! Those are very good times for a newbie IMO.

[MazdaRacer]

Welcome to the addiction!! Awesome improvment!!

I like how your jumping in with both feet!! just got a pro, and already racing it...NICE!

[JGSlayer]

Here are two post race pictures with my number and the center caps off.

I also thought i mention taht I've figured out a couple different ways to better my time. One would be to get a set of sport tires like azenis and run a much lower pressure around 30psi or just run less pressure in mine, but again this causes more sidewall wear. A second would be if i had a better seat and seatbelt because i spent a good amount of energy trying not to be thrown about in my stock seat with automatic seatbelts. I also hit my head a lot with my helmet part way out the sunroof.

[NegatiZE]

I run my Azenis at ~38PSI.

There's a little arrow on the sidewall that shows where they recommend the "rollover" stops. I wouldn't go any further than that.

[JGSlayer]

I run my Azenis at ~38PSI.

There's a little arrow on the sidewall that shows where they recommend the "rollover" stops. I wouldn't go any further than that.

thanks i didn't know that! a lot of people there were running about 35psi or less so i figured it wouldn't be bad for it, but ill figure it out once i've done some more testing.

[NegatiZE]

No prob. Here it is circled in yellow.

[MazdaRacer]

don't worry about tires just yet, if ya have to, get some $30 cheap ass tires from Sears or somewhere and burn those off while you learn.

As for the seat, ya i HATED that. i wore a knee pad cause i'd rub my knee raw durning a practice day. Invest in a torso harness to start. They run maybe $25. It'll wrap around the back of the seat and up under your arm pits. www.racerwholesale.com has good prices and fast shipping.

I run my Azenis at 41F/43R psi. Although tire pressure is setup dependant. Before i stepped up to really stiff springs, i ran 36F/38R psi. Remeber the tire is a spring as well. Unlike your current setup, the tires' spring rate (pressure) can be tuned. Play with that a little.

I like to use the extreme tuning method. Go big one way, then big the other way. Then you can fine tune to find the middle. i.e. start at like 45psi, then try 35psi. see how each extreme feels, check the tires, then go in 1lb increments up or down to find the sweet spot.

More camber Clint, MORE camber

[NegatiZE]

I have max negative camber possible w/o a camber kit.

Kinda hard to see but they're cocked inwards just a tad:

[MazdaRacer]

that was a rear tire!?!?!? then you need more air pressure.

then get camber plates!!!!

[THEGOLDPRO]

man i love auto crossing, i was gonna run this past sunday, but for some reason my seat belt decided to **** out on me, and break, so yeah i couldnt.

[pigeon]

hahaha my first time autocrossing i could barely stay on course

i kept getting confused and running on the wrong sides of the cones!

thats awesome that your times kept improving, you caught on waaay faster than i did!
lol

my times were all over the place cause i kept getting penalties for going off course

[JGSlayer]

i didn't off course or hit one cone, came very close a couple times but never hit one!

[MazdaRacer]

i didn't off course or hit one cone, came very close a couple times but never hit one!

then your not pushing it hard enough....

[JGSlayer]

ok ill push harder next time, which will be oct 17th if i have a job before then.