More in-car from the '06 season...

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Back on street tires this time... "uber" fun airport course...

Click Here

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Was on a new set of R-Comps the event before... Makes a bit of a difference...

Click

Didn't have the camera in for my fastest run, but this one was a couple tenths off... and has an interesting "event" that was new to me... I think the outside rear tire starts to spin under acceleration because the inside tire is alreay up in the air... thank you limited slip diff...

[mnice78]

wow, nice driving..looks like a lot of fun!

[Johnnyscene]

89 FTW!

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Yeah, it's a blast.

Thanks.

[deep throat]

I just need your input and advice since you've got alot of experience autocrossing mate

Next month would be my first autox, I'll be running the vert. It's quite a handler with the cupkit and the sway bars, but somehow I feel not really sure if I should do it! I don't know if the car would "perform" in a way! And to tell you the truth, I feel that I'll be the problem since I haven't done it before :P What did you feel in your first autox? Any tips for a fresh noobie??

About the LSD, it's ALWAYS a confusion to me! How do you you've got an LSD?

Thanks man...

[James]

If you have an M3 then you have an LSD.

[deep throat]

Originally Posted by James

If you have an M3 then you have an LSD.

That I know. Suppose I come across one in the junk yard and I was told it's an LSD, I know it'd be marked on the housing. The test I'm interested in is the physical one. Which one lets the two wheels spin together? Or what happens when one wheel loses traction (suspended in the air for example)?

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Originally Posted by deep throat

I just need your input and advice since you've got alot of experience autocrossing mate

Next month would be my first autox, I'll be running the vert. It's quite a handler with the cupkit and the sway bars, but somehow I feel not really sure if I should do it! I don't know if the car would "perform" in a way!

Cool... I have to say that most verts round here need a roll bar in order to autoX... except for stock, street prepared and street touring; with the following extra rule: you must use a factory seatbelt for your upper body restraint as it will still allow the driver to lean over into the passenger seat during a roll-over... otherwise you should have a roll bar that extends beyond the top of your helmet by a couple inches...

I guess with sway bars and springs - you'd be street touring... should be fine.

Originally Posted by deep throat

And to tell you the truth, I feel that I'll be the problem since I haven't done it before :P What did you feel in your first autox? Any tips for a fresh noobie??

Well, let me put any doubt out of your mind... _YOU_ will be the slowest part of the equation at your first autox...

My suggestions are always as follows... Do it!

But do it with the following expectation: You are going to have fun, and meet people who can teach you a LOT about driving... Open mind, have fun, expect to suck... bad.... for the first 4 events... and be ready to learn...

Do _NOT_ go into it with the expectation that you are a rock star and will show everyone how it's done... You will go home very dissapointed if you do...

Find someone with a similar car (RWD, 3000lbs, etc...) and ask them for advice on where to start with tire pressure, etc... you can change the feeling of a car quite a bit just by going up or down 3-4psi at one end or the other...

Experiment... just because someone tells you that 41psi front, 36psi rear works for them... don't think that will work for you... try it... then try something else... somewhere it will start to feel good for _you_...

Slow is fast... AutoX is about vehicle control... not about how out of control you can throw your car into a corner... there is plenty of room for aggression, but not until you learn where the limits are.

Originally Posted by deep throat

About the LSD, it's ALWAYS a confusion to me! How do you you've got an LSD?

Thanks man...

Jack the car up in the air... spin one wheel by hand... if the other wheel turns in the same direction, LSD... if it goes in the opposite direction, open diff...

Or... for those rednecks reading this... do a burn out... if you have one rubber strip on the ground - open diff, if you have two black strips... LSD.

[deep throat]

Thanks Ethan, I really appreciate the GREAT input

I never thought I'd rock the track, I'd be lucky to do it in 6 events actually. My street driving is excellent, but the track is a different story; you can tell by just watching.

I love the amount of people I get to know at every event! It isn't about the driving in the first place. What do you think of the car as a whole? A 328 manual vert with the setup mentioned? It's no M3 coupe for sure, but I'd appreciate an insight on how it'd do out there before I officially "do it" and publicly humiliate myself

For whatever it's worth, the tires are TOYO's @ 245/40 rear and 225/45 front on 17"s...

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Manual 328i is a perfectly respectable car...

here is the "issue"... It's not stock...

So you'll be in a class that allows |----------| this much modification... but you have |--| that much modification... So you will be running against cars that should be faster because they have probably been prepared to the max that the rules will allow...

If you get serious about autoX - you'll get frustrated by that... and either mod the hell out of the vert, or more likely, pick a car that is already the "ringer" for whatever class you want to run in...

But, to start with... for the first couple years... your car is good enough that a good driver should be competative (if not the absolute best in class) with it...

So remember it's not the car, it's the nut behind the wheel that needs to be fixed.

Edit: And, um... try 41psi front, 36psi rear to start with...

[deep throat]

Alright alright

That's some encouraging stuff right there ...Thanks!

[AlpinweissM3]

Just curious what R-Comps are you running?

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Originally Posted by AlpinweissM3

Just curious what R-Comps are you running?

Hosier A6's...

[AlpinweissM3]

Thats what I though you were going to say. Seem like the Hoosiers are always way quieter than other R-comps. I ran on a set of Toyo RA-1s and I could make them sing like your street tires but those hoosiers they are so damn quiet.