AutoXing the Eco-Ride

[dremd]

Well I haven't been to a soloII event in nearly a year now, but I think I'm going to take the golf rather than the Supra just to get a feel for it at the limit.

I've got a few thoughts/ polls

1) Should I re-fuel prior to hitting the course to check my mileage, or leave it as is and let it be a bad tank with a lighter car?

2) Should I keep my milage (written in shoe polish) on my back window?

3) How much should I pull out in the name of weight savings? I one hand I have a Focus I want to beat; on the other I want to get a feel for it as I drive it daily.

4) Running 55 psi now, should I drop it down (tires arn't as sticky as Supras by any means)

5) Should I dial in a tad of Toe at the track to improve performance, or leave it as I drive it?

6) Should I turn up the Fueling? I get just a bit of a cloud (load smoke) now, but I'm sure I could pick up 10 hp with more smoke.

I know I'm a little neurotic (and fuel wasting); but hey I'll still burn less than half the fuel I would in the supra.

[MazdaMatt]

Check the rules, you may bump up a class for adding fuel.

Drop all the weight you can. If you can quickly and easily change your alignment without paying for it, toe out in the rear for autox and put it back for DD (for safety). Drop your tire pressure to 42psi front, 38 rear. Kick that Ford's ass. Mileage is for commuting

[dremd]

i'll be bumped no matter what. car has neuspeed springs (maybe too low for handaling), bilstein blue shocks and struts, bigger nozzles, and a bigger tune.

i guess i might as wellgo all out and pull the seats out, ruin my tank, drop the spare, tools, rear carpet. now i need to decide if i should pull the bumper (30lbs) or not. i guess i might as well crank fueling; that way it will be harder for the corner workers to spot me knocking over cones :-)

fyi focus is 05 hatch cai, header, no cats, cat back, tune, and rear sway all installed by me.

i've never raced on tires this hard or fwd any tips?

[MazdaMatt]

tips for fwd on streets:

brake hard and when the nose is dived down, get off the brakes and flick the wheel. You need the most weight on those front wheels as possible for good rotation. Most importantly: LISTEN TO YOUR TIRES! If they screach, ease off the throttle and steering lightly for a moment. You can't force streets, especially on fwd or you'll be understeering like crazy. If you can get some toe out in the rear and toe in on the front you'll be rotating that vw like nobody's business.

fwd inherently sucks at autox, so you need to do some weird stuff to get rotation. front wheels do all the braking, steering and turning. The rear wheels are only there to piss you off and force understeer. consider a string between the bottom of your steering wheel and your gas. Every time you turn the wheel, get off the gas, every time you straighten out, get back into it.

[meemooer]

EXACTLY as MazdaMatt said. That what i learned from racing a FWD circle track division a few years ago. When you gas it through a corner the front end just pushes because now the front tires have more force pushing them to slip and slide

[dremd]

thanks guys!

I cranked the fueling last night; WOW! if you roll in to it in 2nd the tires (well tire) will break loose on dry pavement! But good lord it is NOT GREEN AT ALL! GIANT smoke cloud. Oh well it will only be like that on the track from here on out.

[MazdaMatt]

If you have the ability to tune per RPM band, you may want to consider chilling out the low rpms a little. I knew a guy that chipped his turbo vw and his autox times were slower because he couldn't smoothly control the power delivery.

Let us know how it goes for you!!

[BBsGarage]

Originally Posted by MazdaMatt

Check the rules, you may bump up a class for adding fuel.

Drop all the weight you can. If you can quickly and easily change your alignment without paying for it, toe out in the rear for autox and put it back for DD (for safety). Drop your tire pressure to 42psi front, 38 rear. Kick that Ford's ass. Mileage is for commuting

I've gone higher then that in the front.

Yous could use that as a starting point and use the tried and true show polish method of fine tuning the pressures. The idea is to keep the tire from rolling onto the the sidewall. So dab some show polish along the edge of the tread and side wall in 3-4 spots on each tire. If the shoe polish disappears you need more air. If none of it goes away you could drop the pressure some.

[MazdaMatt]

That's usually my COLD starting tire pressure, and I ALWAYS use shoe polish at autox! Good advice! The shoe polish method is excellect for tuning your front tires, however i've found that rear tire pressures have more to do with ability to rotate than maximum grip. In fact, less grip in the rear is good, you almost want to replace your tires with shopping cart casters for FWD autox.

[dremd]

golf is now 210 lbs lighter according to my postal scale.
i lost my glasses while working so now i'm stuck looking for the err i wanted to hit 300lbs reduction.

[Yaristock]

Really really reaaaalllly pay attention to what mazda matt said. It is way too different from your supra to go at it blind. If you lose control of the front don't gun it, it won't even out like a rwd would ease the brakes and regain traction. If you lose the rear put on the gas to even it out. Have you tested to see if you get any torque steer out of your new configurations? You may have to physically compensate on that part. Read up on the Scandinavian Flick for desperate situations, and to more fully understand how and why brakes helps your cornering in fwd. And if at all possible Pics and Videos. Its not likely in your VW but most hatches have a tendency to go 3 legged on tight turns so don't freak out if you notices a slight change in your steering when this happens, 3dr hatches have a certain structural quality that helps maintain and control it. plus its extremely fun to watch spectator faces as you hike up a leg around a corner.

edit: iirc only the early rabbits did this, recently the yaris liftback has shown this attribute but I don't believe the golfs have achieved it.

[dremd]

about 23 miles out from the track now.

it does 3 wheel, frequently, infact i 3 wheel it nearly daily, if i apply power i can pull that wheel down. if i hit the brakes while tripoding the abs ****s abrick and something scarry happens.

golf is 4~5 dooor

[Yaristock]

O assumptions took the best of my lol. ABS is a crutch anyways; and of course it thinks you lost a wheel and does not know how to compensate on only 3. What about torque steer are you getting any or no??????

[dremd]

very minimal torque steer on the golf. non issue
ended up with 32psi front 58psi rear, worked ok; really really would need tires to drive it competively.
lost to the focus big time. my best run didn't get timed, might have been closer.
power delivery is prety good once you accept that you need 3rd gear most of the time.
i'd need a heck of a lot more seat time to get good in fwd; but i did beat a viper, a vette, and a twin turbo 5 series.