AutoCrossing my GN this Sunday. Any advice?

[scojack_2001]

Got the call from my buddy with a Audi TT. Delaware Park is holding a free autocross event where he works. Ive never done it before and thought it'd be cool.

Any advice? My GN is setup for drag use but it does see alot of street miles. It handles okay for what it is but not like some of the cars on here. Have a 36mm swaybar upfront and a ATR-replica bar out back. Good shocks and 16" GTAs.

Any advice welcome.

Thanks,

Scott

 

[injdinjn]

Stick it in 2nd and try to not spin the tires too much.

My first try was kinda like driving on ice LOL

 

[charlief1]

Get a different car. If you're set up for drag then you will slide all over the place. Lower the boost first of all and take your time until you run the track at least once. I'll bet that the car will push quite hard so be prepaird for the front to slide quite a bit. Good luck.

 

[jdpolzin]

Just go out and have some fun. Your suspension isnt exactly set up for drag, more like a street car with some beefy swaybars! They wont hurt you as much as you might think. Just turn the boost down to about 12lbs. If you have a lot of turbo lag, leave it where it is.

Remember not to over steer. A lot of people go in think they are playing a video game and want to spin the steering wheel all over the place because they are excited. Just be as smooth as you can with it.

Once you get good, you be able to use the brake to slide the car around the corners but that will come later down the road!!!!!

Thanks for representing!

 

[jlat]

hello peoples; I've never done that auto cross in a car but I use to mess around in Karting and road racing can get involved. I would keep the fuel level to a minimum take it easy till you feel could about it, play around with tire pressures, and I use both feet one for the brake and one to go. Let the tires heat up for a few laps before you go for the gold. And smoothness is the key.
have fun and lets here your comments after you do it.
IBBY

 

[OhioC5]

Pictures and video, get lots of them and have fun.

 

[85Dan85TType]

I know some people that mark their tires (I forget what with), but it will show (by rubbing off), how to adjust your tire pressure.

Only advice outside of that is: You are awesome. Keep it up.

 

[Roc87]

Be easy on your brakes! Once the fluid starts to boil, let the car cool a while. I took my GN to a local road course, it was nearly the slowest car there except in the straightaway! After 3 or 4 laps, the brakes got really bad. Same track with my old Iroc, it's brakes did a lot better, but it boiled the powersteering fluid

 

[toofastforyou]

Got the call from my buddy with a Audi TT. Delaware Park is holding a free autocross event where he works. Ive never done it before and thought it'd be cool.

Any advice? My GN is setup for drag use but it does see alot of street miles. It handles okay for what it is but not like some of the cars on here. Have a 36mm swaybar upfront and a ATR-replica bar out back. Good shocks and 16" GTAs.

Any advice welcome.

Thanks,

Scott

I don't want to break up the fun here, but I'd say park the car and just watch the show. A GN is far from ideal for that kind of use. It's simply not made for that..:frown:
Sorry, but that's my opinion...

Claude. :redface:

 

[jdpolzin]

I don't want to break up the fun here, but I'd say park the car and just watch the show. A GN is far from ideal for that kind of use. It's simply not made for that..:frown:
Sorry, but that's my opinion...

Claude. :redface:

Some are!!!!!:biggrin:

 

[BuickMike231]

I wouldn't say park the car, these can surprise a lot of people with what they can do. My car is stock suspension except for the frame bracing and I have placed ahead of Mustang, non M BMWs and plenty of F bodies. If you can stay in F Stock ( which is where we class stock) you could do alright! Most of all you will get tons of attention from everyone since you showed up with.something unique! Most people will crap their pants when they realize it is turbo!

 

[BuickMike231]

As far as advice, someone mentioned above two foot braking. This is not a bad idea so you can keep your foot into it and try to keep on the boost and left foot brake to scrub speed. Other than that, almost everything new can outwardly us stock so try to be smooth and minimize turning by trying to straighten out corners and don't be afraid to slide of around a little. Some groups get mad when you slide a bit, but as long as it is nothing excessive like a full drift you should be ok. I have 235/60/15 street tires and usually keep them around 35 Psi in the front and around 32 in the rear. Seems to be the best spot for my car, anymore Psi in the front and it plows through every corner, any less and they roll onto the sidewalls. Biggest thing is just go out and have a blast, people will be amazed you are out there with that type of car. Good luck and let us know how you do!

 

[GNTIM]

what roc87 and buickmike231 said. Give it a whirl, but you will probably heat the brake pads and fluid if you 2 foot it. If it were mine, I would put dot5 fluid and good pads on it, then take your time learning the track and car. Biggest mistake noobs make is trying to beat other cars, just worry about you.

 

[jlat]

hello peppi; Funny that Scott W. doesn't have some advise to give as he does things with his car other than drag race.
IBBY

 

[83hurstguy]

walk the course before the event with somebody who has auto-xed before. Don't rush through it, and envision the smoothest, straightest line you can take around the cones. Don't run in the first group, they usually split you in half (50% maintains course and spots, the other half runs). Watch the other cars run, observe braking points and lines the more experienced drivers use. Run the entire course in your head a few times so you don't get confused when you are out there.

After that, it's easy... don't try to drive fast, just stay smooth and have fun. You'll get the fastest lap times with a high corner exit speed, so don't try to go in too fast and have to dive on the brakes. It will destroy your times. Brake early, get the car turned in, and get the best exit speeds possible. I'll sometimes two foot brake, but in a car with no lateral support in the seats, I usually end up having my foot mashed into the floor and pushing myself back into the seat so I don't slide all over the place.

 

[scojack_2001]

Thanks guys. Gonna go out and change out the front pads here soon. Wont bother getting the good one, or even cutting the rotors eek... Im doing the LS-1 conversion over the winter so I'll just save my money. After this its going to my buddies shop in Seaford, DE to have the whole dash ripped out out completely rewired. Plus my trans is hurting and I think the alchy pump is leaking. Im not even sure it'll pass the tech inspection.

Im considering putting my worn out BFG DRs on the rear and moving my 245/50 Kumhos to the front. Im not sure my current 225/55/16 Nittos I have on the front will help the handling.

Not looking to win or anything, just want to have fun here.

 

[scot w.]

I do have some advice... For the op just go out there and have fun, you will be amazed how well these cars actually do! To the one who says " park it" you would be suprized to know that there are some turbo buicks out there that do more than go in a straight line and do it quite well.. If yo' need to see proof there is a video in the multimedia section of my car on the auto x..

 

[scojack_2001]

Decided against doing the autocross for safety reasons. Had to help a freind move yesterday so my pre-race inspection got pushed back untill late. Found the pads were done in (worse than I thought) and the swaybar mount had ripped out of the frame on the drivers side, and the endlink was broken too. Also noticed a melted drivers side upper rear control arm bushing. Havent seen that one before...

So Im about to head back out and put the pads on it and put the GN back in the garage.

Thanks to all for the advice.

 

[scot w.]

I would keep the fuel level to a minimum

I DO NOT RECOMEND DOING THIS! I would suggest filling the tank up for the weight and better 50-50 weight distribution, plus the added weight will lessen tire spin and most importantly during an autocross the gas will be sloshed around and the last thing you want it the fuel pump to NOT pick anything up while hard into a turn!!!

Let the tires heat up for a few laps before you go for the gold. IBBY

This would only depend on the autocross course and the people putting it on plus how many laps you get. The last one I done you only had (3) One lap attempts and out of 10 cars per group you have to wait for 9 others to finish before you can make your second attempt so it would never work letting your tires warm up!! Each course is different depending on car count and the people putting it on. Good decent sticky street tires is the best way to go and you don't have to think about warming them up....


Scot W.

 

[scot w.]

I don't want to break up the fun here, but I'd say park the car and just watch the show. A GN is far from ideal for that kind of use. It's simply not made for that..:frown:
Sorry, but that's my opinion...

Claude. :redface:

This is funny stuff right here!!! LOL

Nobody said it was "Ideal" but your WAY off if you think these cars CAN'T do it!! The guy just wants to run an autocross and have fun and by all means he should!!...

"It's simply not made for that"... Really? Were they made to dragrace? NO but they do that quite well...

1967 Camaro's were simply not made to do that either but with todays technology they sure are doing it just fine!!

Here is a short video of just one of my slower passes out of three this day.. Oh and BTW.." I placed 30th out of 79 cars and it was my second time ever autocrossing" Looks like they work just fine when done right!!

Left click image to view video: