I've done a search and can't really find what I'm looking for. Right now I have a stock 2008 mini cooper s with the sport suspension. I am going to do my first autocross soon. I may have the Alta 22mm rear sway bar by then, but might not. What are people recommendations for setting up the car. I am currently still on the crappy run flats and will be using them for the event.
What is recommended for tire pressures? How about getting an alignment, is there any play with the sport suspension to get more front camber, if so what are the suggested alignment specs? anything else you can think of to help me would be greatly appreciated.

 

I would tell you that if this is your first Autocross ever to just leave the car alone, bump up your tire pressures about 4 PSI from cold and just drive. Autocrossing is a skill that takes time to learn, again this is all assuming you have never done it before in any car

 

I've never auto crossed before, but I used to race legends cars. I'm not looking to change the suspension as of now, other then the rear sway bar. I'm just curious what tire temperatures and alignments should be at for a stock suspension. Thank you for the tire pressure idea of 4 psi higher.

 

I have been Autocrossing for over 25 years,and car control DE Instructor, It takes alot of learning. Those who are sometimes fast on the street or on the track have a hard time Autocrossing I have seen this many times, I tell all my students, walk the course as much as you can, do your first 2 or 3 runs slow, try not to touch the brakes learn the course, your fourth run find your brake points, and you last few runs try to increase your speed and be a smooth as possible. Setting up a car is very involved if you want to do it right, you need to know your class and the club you are running in as some of the rules vary.

Take your time and have fun at your first event, you will enjoy it i am sure

 

How many runs do you guys get? We only get 3-4 competition runs locally. Would be nice to get more. My first instructor told me (assuming 3 competition runs) 1) course, 2) line, 3) speed. Seemed to work well.

But yes, +1 to all the above advice. Don't do anything to the car until you know what class you want to run and what the allowances are for that class. The biggest factor will be getting yourself to a driving school or two and some stickier tires. Save up for those and then start on the suspension mods when you know exactly what class and have a feel for what changes would help you to be faster.

 

I think everyone is misunderstanding what I'm asking. I am keeping the suspension stock. I'm asking what tricks there are to make the stock suspension handle better, getting it aligned to certain specs, tire pressures, the free camber trick i read about, things like this. I've also heard to unhook the front sway bar etc. What advice do people have to make the stock suspension setup for autocross.

 

Jrpsaros,

the stock suspension understeers, so balance is the goal

a rear sway bar helps (not legal in a stock SCCA autocross class)
shocks help (legal)
no data on a front bar (sorry)
camber helps (only the slop in the standard setup [OEM tolerance] is legal)
an eighth inch of toe out at the back works for some, but others don't like it
i'd run an OEM alignment the first year or two unless you have test time

my general rule for tire pressures is a two step
1. get the front axle right - no roll-over to the shoulder of the tread
try and get the most positive turn in and greatest lateral grip
too much pressure will reduce acceleration and braking - diminishing return

2. then, tune the rear for the amound of rotation you like

not as a suggestion, as my suspension isn't stock, but just a data point -- I ran the Dunlops at 38f 48r in the dry last year

some folks swear by low pressure in the rear for rotation, and I've tried it and found it made the car sloppy in the slaloms. I therefore go high in the rear.

your mileage may vary.

i hope you enjoy the sport as much as I.

cheers,

Charlie

Ps: if the mod bug bites you too hard, the good news is that camber plates and coil overs can make a mini on street tires good for 1.1 g all damned day.
the bad news is that you're then in street mod or street touring extreme, which are both fun but where the Mini no longer dominates.

Pps: Hoosiers are like crack - resist as long as you can...

Try GRMPer at Grassroots Motorsport, troll the SCCA forums, here's a starter:
http://sccaforums.com/forums/permali...ad.aspx#249444

 

Almost all of the events I attend are in very large lots as in Giants Stadium in NJ, Very rare that we dont get at least 7 runs in, when we run in a somewhat smaller lot we get 10 to 12 runs in. Even when we ran the English town road course set up as an autocross we were able to get 6 runs in

 

None of these tricks will help a helluva lot at your first couple events because.. it's your first couple events. Searching through and reading all the autox primers / guides out there will be more valuable than trying to sort out your car before you've run it.

Tire pressures will be entirely dependent on tire/car, course, and driving style. Start higher than normal, play around in 2psi adjustments but try to avoid changes after every run - you'll have a harder time figuring out what's working / not working if you're always changing something. I run 40psi (hot) all around these days. When the car was stock, I ran higher pressures in the rear to decrease grip back there.

When you're ready to plop money / time into playing with alignments, stock you're pretty much limited to changing toe. Zero or toe out up front will get the car to turn better. I've left a little toe-in in the rear because the car is a daily driver and also sees the track, both places where I don't need it being overly sensitive.

You'd want to do a search for the r56 camber trick, but my understanding is that there is some room for the top strut bolts to move, so you loosen em up and move em to the outside, for more negative camber. We're only talking 1/10s of a degree here.

You can remove some rear camber from the rear. Again, only a few 1/10s.

I've heard of people unhooking the front sway. In theory it makes sense. Last I heard, the national caliber mini folk weren't doing it, which probably means it doesn't help.

 

Amen to Redskunk.

It is 90% driver and 10% car.

My first year I ran in ASP with runflats -- it just didn't matter at that stage.

The 2nd year I ran in ASP with Hoosiers -- I felt like a real racer, but it still didn't matter.

The 3rd year I put the Quaife, coil-overs and other chassis work in place, switched to STX (it's a JCW which is why I had to start in ASP, then the rules changed) and started running sticky street rubber. That was probably the first year that the car mattered at all!

Evene now after five years of back to back and two local championships if I had $500 to buy speed with I would still put it in the hands of the Evolution program.

I guess if the sport weren't so damned hard I would be so damned hooked!

All power to you and I wish you fast learning and tons of fun.

Cheers,

Charlie

With apologies to the Wallenda family: "On the course is life, and everything else is waiting".