Welcome back readers. On Sunday, April 19th, Philly SCCA had their first event of the season for points-- Mini of the Mainline Event #1.
The week following this event was full of racing action. I had a test and tune on the previous Sunday, I had a track day on Wednesday of that week, and those events all led up to the first autocross of the season.
With over 150 entries, the season opener is always full of people and there is a limited amount of runs. This means that there were only four runs for each person and therefore less opportunities to tweak the car's settings.
My run occurred in heat three. During heat two, I took the opportunity to prep my car for the first run. In addition, my friends Edd and Shawn ran in heat two!
Edd's Car
At the test and tune, I noticed that I was getting a lot of sidewall scrub at what seemed like the optimal tire pressure for a compromise of grip and oversteer for my heavy, front-wheel drive car. So, I decided to change my tire pressures from low to high. Here is what the tire pressures were at before I ran:
Front Driver: 34 PSI
Front Pass.: 32 PSI
Rear Driver: 32 PSI
Rear Pass: 30 PSI
It looks like they had changed since my track day since my tire pressures were two PSI lower on my passenger side than my driver side. Maybe I don't remember changing them after some hot laps? NJMP's thunderbolt does have a lot of left turns after all. The pressures for the first run were:
Front Driver: 40 PSI
Front Pass.: 40 PSI
Rear Driver: 36 PSI
Rear Pass.: 36 PSI
For the second run, I noticed a lot of understeer. Despite this I went down to 36 PSI in the rear while the tires were hot. Note that hot PSI are always higher than cold PSI. Think ideal gas law if you've ever been in a high school chemistry class. Run 2:
Front: 40 PSI
Rear: 36 PSI
Second run was my best run. I understeered like crazy into a corner after the turnaround at Warminster, but the time I made up in the slalom on the first half of the course made a huge difference. I don't know why I didn't just wait to see if my brakes would heat up to allow me to stop sooner or if the increased tire temps would increase my quickness, but I guess I was just antsy.
Photo by Anthony DiGiovanni
I think that's one of the challenges with autocross for a guy like me. I'm so tempted to make changes to the car when it may not be necessary. I may have just been able to leave the car at the same tire pressures since I did so well in the first half of the course and just adjust my driving style for the second half of the course.
Photo by Anthony DiGiovanni
I guess it all comes with experience. Anyway, I adjusted my tire pressures for the third run despite all of this. Run three was as follows:
Front: 38 PSI
Rear: Same as before
Photo by Anthony DiGiovanni
Run three was actually slower than I predicted. I got some pretty nasty oversteer in the first slalom and that slid me into the Chicago box on the firs thalf of the course. As a result I decided to lower the rear tire pressure for the fourth run:
Front: 36 PSI
Rear: 32 PSI
The fourth run went better in the first half of the course, but again my brakes didn't bite as I had expected in the second half of the course...so I ended up hitting a cone head-on with my car. It kind of sucked! At the end of the day my best time was a 42.9 and I got third in DSP thanks to my mishap on the fourth run!
Photo by Anthony DiGiovanni
Despite all of this nonsense though, as you can see in the above picture, my friend Alex finally got to autocross his winter build known as Touge Turbo! Go look up the hash tag on Instagram to see more his build! #TougeTurbo
The video of my runs is below! I even included cockpit video with this one and as usual I included commentary on my driving technique and on the car setup. Thanks for reading guys!
With racing season upon us I will have many opportunities to fill your plates with plentiful portions of technical jargon, racecars, and fun, fast, and safe driving! On April 15th, I experienced my first track day ever thanks to SCCA and their new program called "Track Night in America."
Track Night in America is aimed at newcomers who wish to enter into track racing from essentially any avenue. Whether you're a kart racer, autocrosser, or traffic jam bum, if you want to get to racing then you can do so with Track Night in America thanks to the SCCA. It is a safe, controlled environment where you can push the limits of your car.
As a matter of fact, everyone I was driving with either autocrossed before or was a regular autocrosser!
Image from SCCA
With a price tag of $150 before a one day only $25 discount, I could not resist the temptation. Although the track day occurred from 3 to 9 PM, cutting into the work day, so-to-speak, this price is nearly half the cost of an average track day with HPDE or Hooked on Driving or any other camp. However, with any event comes preparation that needs to take place.
As mentioned in my previous article, one of the first things I tackled was the brake pad situation. On the track, stopping and turning are much more important than going straight. One of the first things mentioned on New Jersey Motorsports Park's tech form is that brake pads should have more than one half of their life left.
Since I had been using my HP Plus pads for more than a season of autocross, I felt it was time to finally replace them. Here's what the old pads looked like-- they definitely have some life left in them!
Next, I sent my car off to my good friend Alex who was supposed to align my car. The desired settings were:
Front camber: -3.0 degrees
Rear camber: -2.0 degrees
Front and rear toe: Neutral
Caster: non-adjustable on the RSX
However, thanks to a seized rear eccentric bolt, rear toe was not adjustable. Since Alex didn't want to do a half-good job of aligning my car, he stopped at rear camber and let me know that after four hours he was unable to do anything with the car. Thanks anyway Alex!
In addition to my poor alignment, out of good will, while Alex was washing my car, my aero block-off plates came off! I guess it's better it happened there than at the track!
So, not only was my alignment bad and my block-off plates had popped off, but there was a slew of other things I had to comb over before I brought the car on the track. On the checklist I had:
Fix front camber on driveway
Fix front toe on driveway
Make sure all bumper clips were securely fastened
Tighten down the battery strap
Install my new Hawks and bed them in
And make sure all suspension components were in good order.
I started by jacking the car up and maxing out the camber, within reason, on my adjustable top hats. The top hats are pictured below:
However once I did that, the car's toe was EXTREMELY out of whack. The car tracked hard to the right, so I had to adjust the tie-rod ends with some guesswork.
After doing that I tightened down the battery strap, I tightened the lower locking collars on my coilovers, I checked all of the wheel bearings, I installed my pads, and I bedded them in. Since I had done so much in just a couple of hours before I was due to leave, I took it easy on my way to New Jersey Motorsports Park (NJMP).
When I got there, I signed in at the gate, drove to Thunderbolt (one of two circuits at NJMP) and got set up at the paddock area.
I brought a couple of things with me to make sure I'd be able to lounge comfortably during the advanced and intermediate sessions, my friend's GoPro, and I also brought some tools with me to make sure the car would be in good hands.
This is, of course, in addition to my helmet, which you must have, my long-sleeve sweater, which you must have, my close-toe shoes, which you must have, and my long pants, which you also must have.
Here's a more detailed list of what I brought:
A large tarp to cover my belongings
A box of open-ended wrenches
10 mm through 14 mm deep sockets and a ratchet
A small toolkit which was comprised of a small ratchet and multiple shallow sockets
Allen wrenches
A chair
Dinner (PB&J)
Lots of water
GoPro
GoPro charger
Number plates-- in case we needed to be marked
Painters tape-- to hold my magnetic number plates to the car
A pen and some paper
Sunscreen
Helmet
Sweater
Jack stand
Note that I may have over-packed, but it was my first track day and I did not want to be unprepared.
Once set up, we held a driver's meeting. During the driver's meeting we went over hand-signals to let people know that you want them to pass you, we went over passing zones, we went over flag signals, and we went over general tips to stay safe on the track. The novice group had their own special leader who took the time to ensure we all had a fun, safe time on the track. His name was Tom. Thanks Tom!
After the driver's meeting, we filled out a self-tech form. This form goes over everything from having your battery tied down, to discolored, cracked, or warped brake rotors, to no floor mats or loose items in the car. We signed it to ensure that we were liable for any accidents and handed it over to the coordinators of the event.
Then, we headed out for paced laps to understand the corners on the track, including turn-in points, apex points, exit points, braking points, acceleration zones, and passing zones. Here's the car that I was following-- an intermediate class STi!
After the paced laps, we sat and waited for the advanced driver (there was only one) to finish his run. However, due to a stroke of bad luck, his drain plug came loose and he spilled some oil on the track. According to my sources though, he was able to turn off the motor in time before damaging it!! I'm happy to hear that.
As a result, there was a bunch of kitty litter put out on the track to make sure that no one slid on the oil. This made for some tricky situations on its own, but it was definitely better than the greasy alternative, if you know what I mean.
After the mishap in the advanced group, we all waited for the intermediate group to get finished with their runs. While we waited, I got some cool videos of the faster guys driving by!
And finally it was time for the beginner group to run. Here's a map of Thunderbolt and the layout we ran for future reference:
Initially I took it slow. I wanted to get a feel for the track and ramp up my corner speeds and get later and later in my braking zones to push the car.
Eventually I got comfortable on the track and really learned where I could push the car. The turns that were covered in kitty litter initially tripped me up really bad. And after the long front straight that leads into Turn 1 at NJMP, I learned that it was difficult to heel-toe due to the sheer magnitude of braking that needed to be done.
This area proved difficult to heel-toe downshift in
I wasn't passed once and after the first run everyone was asking who was driving the red Honda!
However, whenever you drive your car hard, it is to be expected that there may be some sort of mechanical issue. When I popped the hood I noticed oil on one side of my valve cover and freaked out! I quickly took off my intake manifold cover and while doing so I noticed that a bolt holding my valve cover on had come off. The area is shown below:
So, I simply took a bolt from somewhere else in the engine bay and replaced the one that fell off with it. Notice how there's no washer on the middle, front valve cover bolt as well. That's because I took that washer and used it on the corner valve cover bolt.
After that, for the second run I took things easy at first. I watched my temperature gauge and looked in my rear view for smoke. I also kept my senses keen to make sure that no funny smells were coming from my engine bay. With all things in check, I began to push the car a little harder and I still did not get passed once.
Finally, before I started the last lap, I asked the novice instructor, Tom, about one corner in particular that I did not know how to handle. It was unlike some of the kinks that took place at high speeds because for those I could just let off the throttle, oversteer, and hit the gas. It was also unlike the low-speed technical corners where I could slam the brakes, oversteer, and hit the gas.
He ended up telling me to keep the car in forth gear, brake gradually, and let off gradually. Doing so induced corner entry oversteer and allowed me to power out of the corner. Here's the corner I'm talking about:
If you want to take a look at my driving, check out this video! It has a lot of comments to help you guys see what I was thinking and what I was doing to be slower or faster through given sections and corners! Maybe if you want to get into track racing this will help you!
At the end of the day I ended up meeting a bunch of people and having an amazing time. Everyone agreed that I was the fastest of the day and I learned so much and had a blast driving with the other novices. People kept asking if my car was turbocharged and how much displacement I had. When one driver heard I had an N/A 2.0 liter motor he was shocked!
When I was leaving, some instructors even stopped by and asked who was driving the "red Honda" as everyone called it. They said, yeah, "you're definitely ready for intermediate group!"
It felt so good finally being fast-- as compared to autocross where all of the lighter cars with better tires destroy me. I guess we'll see how I do next time! But for now, I'm gonna sign off. Hope you had fun reading!
If this is your first time here, then just "welcome," period!
The other day I took part in an autocross event known as the Summer Series Rust-Off.
Every year, the Philadelphia Region of the Sports Car Club of America hosts its "Rust-Off" so that members can dial their cars in that they've been working on over the winter. This allows us to prepare for the upcoming points season so that our cars are working to our limits, and not the other way around.
With a long day ahead of us, my friends Anthony and Alex rolled up in their silver and blue miatas, respectively. Alex just finished building his Miata that he calls #TougeTurbo for track use.
Alex is running some insanely wide Rota Grids with Hankook Ventus RS3 Version 2's for the street and some flow-formed Jongbloed Racing Wheels wrapped in Maxxis RC-1's for auto-x and track use. Protection for Alex is provided by a full Spec Miata bolt-in cage, six-point RaceQuip Harness, and Sparco Sprint V for extra bolstering. He is running Tein Sport Coilovers, NA8 brakes and blank rotors, and energy suspension bushings in every possible location.
Those are just some of his upgrades and he is currently in the process of saving up for a turbo kit. Go check him out on Instagram at @MX5Militia.
(From left to right) Alex's car, my car, and Anthony's car
The lighting was less than optimal for my phone camera.
Again, poor lighting.
With Alex off to a cruise, it was just Anthony, me, and some friends from the 282 Touge Crew.
We walked the course and started prepping the cars for a day filled with many, many, many runs. I ended up getting 19 runs in total which is way more than an average Northeast Autocross. Keep in mind, I started racing in the Midwest where the population density is much lower.
After walking the course and going through tech, I began to dial the car in. With no sway bar at my last event I was spinning out like crazy. On exit ramps and other long sweeping corners, my car had more grip than ever with a crappy alignment, however without the sway bar, fast direction changes proved difficult. Autocross and track are very different-- keep that in mind. You can see how bad I did at my last event in Hershey in the video below:
Hershey PA Autocross with Susquehanna SCCA
For this event, my stock sway bar was back on with new end links and new tie-rod ends. I also bled my brake system properly and checked my Hawk HP Plus pad life. For my next track day I will be replenishing my HP Plus's with new HP Plus's!
With all of that in mind, I'll share with you some of the tuning steps that I went through during my first heat. My GoPro died for the second heat, so I can't do much for you guys there, except tell you that it went really well!
The settings for all tire pressures are in cold PSI if stated as an actual number (e.g. tire pressure was 30 PSI). If the tire pressures are stated in differences (e.g. 1 less PSI in front tires) then I changed the tire pressures while the tires were hot.
The settings for my first run were as follows:
Full soft damping rate in front with full stiff in rear
Tire pressures:
Rear tires-- 29 PSI
Front Tires-- 30 PSI
The tire pressures gave me no sidewall scrub in the previous event that I ran in Hershey, PA.
After the first run, I noticed that the car was rather unpredictable in direction changes. I was getting a lot of snap oversteer when transitioning from the first slalom to the next. As a result, I decided to stiffen up my damping rate in the front by five clicks. Keep in mind the Tein Street Flex has 24 "clicks" of adjustability.
Run 2 went much better. The oversteer I received in transitions was much more predictable. The settings for this run were as follows:
Five clicks from full soft in front for damping rates
Tire pressures same
For Run 3 I went with the same settings as for Run 2, but I noticed that on the long sweeper in the back I was getting substantial understeer. As a result I decided to lower my front tire pressures by one PSI for Run 4.
Run 4:
1 PSI less in front tires
Same damping settings
If you're an experienced auto crosser, you know that sidewall scrub is bad. This occurs when the tire rolls onto its outer edge during cornering. This is bad because you lose contact patch.
Notice how the front passenger side tire is almost on its edge as this Audi corners
To determine if you are scrubbing, there is a technique that most autocrossers use known as "chalking the tires." What you have to do is take a piece of chalk and color the side of the tire with the arrow shown below:
If you are just on the arrow, you know you are using the tire to its full potential and your tire pressures are set correctly. However, if you are riding on this arrow, you are losing grip due to sidewall scrub in most cases. Of course, there are other variables, but this is an all-else-equal approach to sidewall scrub, contact patch, and maintaining grip.
During Run 4, I noticed that I was not using all of my rear tires thanks to this tire chalking technique. So, I let out one PSI in the rear tires for my fifth run.
Run 5:
Same damping rates
1 less PSI in rear tires
Run 6, 7, and 8 all utilized the same settings as Run 5. During these runs I was trying to push my car as hard as possible. I got a feel for the cars limits and by Run 9 I was able to more gently modulate my throttle during the slaloms, transitions, and sweepers.
Look at it in the video to verify my improvement.
The last run of the first heat was Run 10. During Run 9 I noticed that I was still getting a lot of understeer on the "turnaround" in the middle of the course. I know now that I need more front camber because I am currently running with no alignment.
Also I am losing grip when my front end is compressing. This implies that I am losing contact patch in the front of my car upon compression thanks to the wonders of macpherson strut suspension geometry.
Take a look for yourself and READ the caption!
Taken from Sport Compact Car
So, even though letting out more air in the front would result in more sidewall scrub (I was already on top of the arrow) I decided to let out more air pressure up front for my final run. It helped me to corner at the turnaround, but again, I was losing contact patch due to sidewall scrub.
Run 10:
One less PSI in front
Same suspension settings
Here's a video of all of the runs from my first heat:
During the second heat I marked my fastest time of 29.288 seconds on the course with no cones. I beat a couple of really good cars (mainly AWD and RWD) with good drivers and good tires (most had Direzza ZII Star Specs).
Fastest Run:
Suspension five clicks from soft in front, full stiff in rear
Front tire pressure: 34 PSI
Rear tire pressure: 28 PSI
Keep in mind that these tires are better than the Bridgestone Potenza S-04 Pole Positions that I am running. Once I get my camber dialed in to be negative in the front, slightly negative in the rear, and my toe to be at zero degrees all around, I believe I will be poised to be much faster in future runs!
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