Hi guys... I thought I'd share that I visited my first Autocross last weekend, and decided to participate in one on Easter Sunday. (I hope Jesus will forgive me for not attending... he's all about forgiveness so I should be ok. )

Anyhow, since I have a 15% pulley, that pops me right into SM. I'm ok with that, my Mini runs really strong with the pulley, 2% crank pulley, Alta intake, and ignition mods. Dyno'd 194/172 last month with that set up.

I have my rear sway on the middle setting... I'm going to try it like that this time around. I know if it's too tight, the rear end will get away from me if I puss out in a hard corner. I also have a CG lock on it's way... hopefully that will be helpful in keeping me planted in the seat a bit better.

It appears I'll be running with 2 other Mini's, as well as a BMW M3, a really modded Lancer Evo, for starters. Yeah, I'll be happy if I beat the other Mini SM newbie. Obehave will be the other, and he has cool wheels and tires.(SSR's)

Any advice on street tires regarding tire pressure?

 

Also try to make the VMSC one on April 23 down at RIR. Gowest and myself (no. 97) along with a few other MINIs will be attending and would love to have yall come on down. You can check it out over at www.vmsc.org Currently im also running in SM using the Hankooks 205/50/15 on the holies. As for the pressures most bump up the fronts by 6 lbs from the street and 8-10 in the rear. or for me its 37 front with 39 in the rear. These pressures will differ depending on the tires. With a set of the Dunlop M901's in 215/40/17 i was running 41 front and 45 rear. Once a ran a set of Drag slicks (had them for about 3 years never used them) and to make that set work right the pressure was at 56

 

your size is the same as mine even though we run different tires (i run kumho escta spt's)

dependent on temperature.. i'd do 40/38 first and see how you feel, of course, my street tires dont always run autox, i pull out my track tires later on when the temp starts getting higher... but always i run 2 psi higher up front... seems to help the car rotate...

 

Well, Things went ok for my first race! I was mostly focused on not hitting any cones and staying on course. I suceeded, and managed to improve my time by 2 seconds at the end. If I had another 20 laps, I might have been competitive!

A Cooper beat me, if that tells you anything. I was in 2nd the whole time after shifting into it at the beginning... which I kind of think was a mistake. Everything happens so damn fast!! I think if I had the newer tranny, this would have been less of a problem, as 2nd isn't so tall, and I would have been in the powerband a little deeper.

I'll try and make it on Sunday... have to see if the wife is up for another husbandless day.

Here's a few pics:

 

Don't feel bad about that... I've heard that those Coopers can be pretty quick.

 

Ditch those heavy S-lites!

 

Looks like a nice venue by the ocean. I'm running non-runflat Khumos now with s-anchors. Looks like you did fine for the first time.

 

Good work. Just get out and gain some experience.

Focus on looking ahead as much as is possible. Walk the course a couple of times (three is good) and draw it out. Be open to making changes on the fly and look at the experienced drivers and see how they go on the course and follow their lead.

Turns and other elements come up about 7 times more frequently then when you drive on the track so be alert. The key to autocross is learning how to drive fast and clean with only a few tries. Anybody can drive fast after alot of practice, the skill comes into play when you've got to perform under pressure.

Don't worry about hitting cones, attack the course and never coast, either be full on the throttle or full on the brake. Many times there will be a turn that requires "slow in" and "fast out" and if you take the "in" part too fast you will have to brake harder than needed resulting in "slow out" which will ultimately cost you more time.

Another key is to stay off the brake more and just ease off the throttle a little to loose speed then get back on the throttle ASAP. The more you brake the more you have to gain speed. The Cooper can do well as long as it doesn't loose too much speed, if it brakes too much it lacks as much power to speed up again.

2nd gear is fine for most of the course, Start in first and rev up near redline then shift and keep the revs up as much as possible. You'd need to be going 65 before shifting to 3rd which doesn't happen too often. Downshifting isn't usually worth the effort.

At the end of the day you can do fun runs for practice or ride along with one of the faster drivers that day to get the feel of going faster on the same course.

Tires and wheels make a huge difference. Light rims and sticky R-compound tires are worth a look later. Meanwhile wear out the runflats and get some practice/fun.