Solo First autocross!
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1st Gear
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 27
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First autocross!
Well my first in the Mini (been to lots in other cars). I attended a PCA autocross on Sunday and had a ton of fun, and there was another Mini there too, B/W no sunroof and some nice lightweight wheels. She was definitely experienced with the car, had some good suggestions for me. This was the first time I've autocrossed the Mini and the first time I've run a front-drive car of any kind so it was something of a learning experience.
If you haven't been to a PCA autox, they group all non-Porsches into a single "Visitor" class. I wasn't the fastest, but I sure wasn't the slowest either, I think I did pretty well. A buddy of mine was there in his modified M3 which he has tons of track time in, and I was only a little more than a second off his time. I didn't get to see what the other Mini ran, but I was happy with my time and had a blast!
My car was bone-stock factory setup with straight 32lbs pressure in all four tires, needed to figure out what baseline handling was. I had a lot of understeer, so my corner entry speeds were lower than they should have been, but with a little pressure tuning and an alignment, I'll expect to do much better on the next one.
I actually have a nice video, 14Mb, if anyone knows where I can post it.
Minis are FUN!!!
Mark
If you haven't been to a PCA autox, they group all non-Porsches into a single "Visitor" class. I wasn't the fastest, but I sure wasn't the slowest either, I think I did pretty well. A buddy of mine was there in his modified M3 which he has tons of track time in, and I was only a little more than a second off his time. I didn't get to see what the other Mini ran, but I was happy with my time and had a blast!
My car was bone-stock factory setup with straight 32lbs pressure in all four tires, needed to figure out what baseline handling was. I had a lot of understeer, so my corner entry speeds were lower than they should have been, but with a little pressure tuning and an alignment, I'll expect to do much better on the next one.
I actually have a nice video, 14Mb, if anyone knows where I can post it.
Minis are FUN!!!
Mark
5th Gear
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 847
Likes: 0
From: Kennewick, WA
Let's seen now.....
(E30 and E36) M3 = BS (PAX .822)
(E46) M3 = AS (PAX .831)
Mini Cooper S = GS (PAX .795)
So on a average 40 second course, he would have had to have beaten you by 1.7 seconds (AS) or 1.3 seconds (BS).
So with that in mind, YOU DID PRETTY DARN WELL! Good job!
(let me know if you don't know what PAX is and I'll explain it)
(E30 and E36) M3 = BS (PAX .822)
(E46) M3 = AS (PAX .831)
Mini Cooper S = GS (PAX .795)
So on a average 40 second course, he would have had to have beaten you by 1.7 seconds (AS) or 1.3 seconds (BS).
So with that in mind, YOU DID PRETTY DARN WELL! Good job!
(let me know if you don't know what PAX is and I'll explain it)
Thread Starter
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1st Gear
Joined: May 2006
Posts: 27
Likes: 0
Yep I know PAX. This was an E46 M3 with suspension mods, exhaust, intake, and BIG Kumho 710s. The driver has hundreds of track laps under his belt and the car is very well dialed-in. I've driven it and it's awesome. His time was only a second or so off FTD.
My Mini is a bone-stock 06 JCW (so runs in BS, not GS), factory alignment, running shaved Toyo RA1s on heavy s-lites, set at less-than-optimal pressures, with a driver with many years' autox experience but none in front drive cars.
The course was a fast 2-lapper and my time was 1:35.1xx and a blown slalom on the 2nd lap. The M3 driver turned a 1:33.8xx.
Yeah, I'm happy with how I did.
Mark
My Mini is a bone-stock 06 JCW (so runs in BS, not GS), factory alignment, running shaved Toyo RA1s on heavy s-lites, set at less-than-optimal pressures, with a driver with many years' autox experience but none in front drive cars.
The course was a fast 2-lapper and my time was 1:35.1xx and a blown slalom on the 2nd lap. The M3 driver turned a 1:33.8xx.
Yeah, I'm happy with how I did.
Mark
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