what i meant by sway bar bushings was GET NEW ONES!!!!

200lbs is perfect for my car which i auto x but ok...

ss brake lines- if they are pinched or leaking, you would know by brakes dragging, fluid missing, a puddle in the garage or hey, how bout an inspection every once in a while wouldnt hurt.

ok, i havent chipped my car but ive heard that it makes a big difference by pple who auto x in my area, just a suggestion.

lose weight- euro bumpers, take out spare tire, loose change, sunroof and rear carpet while racing, i dont think that will put you in another class, at least not here.

 

Spare tire and carpet is OK here, some regions require that the sunroof is in (as does PCA national/zone events). All should require that the change is removed (along with anything else that isn't bolted down). Bumpers are a grey area, intentional weight reduction is not allowed in stock classes here, rear seat removal is an instant bump, you could argue that the bumpers weren't removed but replaced for asthetic reasons.

Doesn't matter, you'd have been bumped all the way up to M1 for the springs. M1 is fun, any 4 cyl Porsche model with unlimited mods, Adrial's modded '89 turbo runs here along with my '86 NA, we don't stand a chance against the insanely modded 914s. I didn't even know you could get a 914-4 motor up to 2.6 liters, must be fun in a 1400 lb car!

 

Number 1 mod..
Do all maintance first.. A good running car is far more important then a bad running car with some mods.
Number 2 mod..
Get experiance any way you can (not on the street) but parking lots in the middle of cornfields are great
Number 3 mod.. Koni Yellow's (so you can atleast have some controll over oversteer - understeer)
Number 4 mod.. Rear Mo30 sway (with good bushings) if you already have turbo bars or both front and back (use koni's to dial out understeer)
Number 5 mod.. Throttle response cam - Chip will give more throttle response

After that its basicly all up to what you want to do...

 

good idea .. but understand that DE's are NOT going to make you any better of an AutoX'er.. they are two toatally different styles of driving..
it will simply put you more in tune with your car.

 

While they are "different styles of driving," anything that "puts you more in tune" should help you with both styles.

 

How do you get significant seat time when the most you'll be driving at an Autox event is less than 3 minutes, and the events are spaced a month apart? I find it tiresome to spend the whole day out there for 3 minutes of learning.

 

Sounds like your events aren't well run, we average triple that amount of time (usually eight, 50-70 second runs). At the beginning level you can learn a LOT in 5 minutes. Think road course without having to waste time on the straights or getting up to speed.

 

I think they're well run, but there's lots of drivers (60-70 cars), so it takes time to get everyone through. They have 2 cars on the course at the same time. I get 3 runs, sometimes more, with an average of 45-50 seconds per run.

I guess I'm a slow learner, because I didn't see much improvement from month-to-month. Most everything that I learned at one session seems to evaporate before the next session.

 

With just 3 runs I imagine its tough, I really noticed only slight improvements in my own driving for the first few events. After 5 or 6 events, something "clicked" for me and it kinda fell into place (others have said the same thing), It takes an event or two each spring to get "it" back.

We keep 2-3 cars on the course and usually manage to do the 8 runs as long as there aren't more than 90-100 drivers, there have been times when we've had to cut back to 6-7 runs but that's usually due to things not going smoothly or having 100-125 drivers. The key is the transition between sets, limit the number of changes, make sure the change goes quickly, you're not ready you get skipped...everybody gets more runs. Get the first car off on time, it shows that the people running the event mean business. Even with all that seat time, we're usually on our way home by 3PM.

 

Even if you have stainless lines, and they leak, the fluid must go somewhere. It doesn't just dissappear.

Hence, you would see that they are leaking. For someone who does a lot of routine maintanence on their car, and does a lot of wheel swapping (events, etc., and "poking around" and looking at things WYAIT), I see no negatives to having braided stainless steel lines.

YMMV.

 

This is true: a cracked or leaking line will result in brake fluid somewhere visible, even with SS lines. HOWEVER: the trick is to replace the lines BEFORE they start to leak! And to that end, I still argue that non-SS lines are easier to determine if they need replacement BEFORE they fail. There is no extra layer of an outer covering to prevent me from seeing the line up close on a normal rubber brake line.

I dunno about you, but I really don't want to use the 'when-I-see-a-leak-I- need-to-replace-my-brake-lines' approach, especially if I'm going to take my car above 100mph now and again. (on the track, of course! )

-Z-man.

 

Oh, and regarding the whole autox vs. DE discussion: I believe in both. I do both. Both improve my driving. They are different in many respects, but the concepts (oversteer/understeer, throttle steering, heel-and-toe, braking points...etc) can be applied to both.

Which do I like better? Still undecided: I love to do both equally at this point.

-Z-man.

 

Well, I also replace my lines every spring on the 944, regardless of the material make-up.

And now that we have brought this into the picture, the average individual that you are really speaking about, IS the person that won't replace something until it becomes noticable that something is wrong (ie, leaks). The average american driver does not get something repaired until it is broken, or there is a warning light on the dash...(delving even further into OT land here.........)

 

Probably overkill, but that is a solution. However, you're still less likely to see the tell-tale signs of an inpending failure... (And most SS lines will certainly last a season! )
Agreed! Of course, there's my wife's approach: "I really don't know how long that tire's been flat... I did hit a pot hole real hard a couple of days ago..."
-Z.

PS: Don't EVER tell Mrs. Z-man I said that!

 

Is there anything like autoX's or DE's that people under 18 can do? It seems like you have to be over 18 for every PCA event.