I want to get into autoxing, but I'm concerned about damaging my 8. How much damage can be inflicted by hitting cones in an autox event? Remember I'm new, so I'm bound to spin out or what not...Thanks.

 

Cones will leave black marks that'll polish off pretty easily. Nothing to be concerned about.

 

cone killer!!!!

 

eccles,

even if i run one over and it end up in the bottom of my car? will it damage my car then?

 

Nah, they're soft and crumple up easily. The most damage you'll do will be to your pride if you get one stuck under the car and drag it all the way to the finish. Once there, you can just back up and it'll pop right back out again.

 

Just make sure your oil is topped off, and your tires are at or preferably above the reccomended pressure (32 psi, I think).

 

I've had good results with 37PSI. And yeah, them cones are pushovers. I've killed a few and rubbed out the marks (yes, even dragged one for 300 feet under the car).

 

i hit a few today. my first autox. didnt get any stuck under my 8 but knocked over a couple. woah! fun! and no damage!!

FYI my tire pressure was 38 on all 4

 

I just finished my first autox last weekend as well. I did pretty good, and was able to come home with a trophy in novice class(no, not the golden cone). if I wasnt driving a 4 cyl. pickup truck I probably could have won the class hehe. I had a blast though, and have a new found respect for ZO6 vettes. controlled chaos is the only way to describe it.

 

The Z06s may not be the fastest cars around an autox track (though in the right hands they certainly can be), but they are a hell of a lot of fun to watch.

 

The ZO6's were the fastest out there that day, but damn did they stay sideways.:D I was most looking forward to see the evo run, but the driver was not the best out there. (I mean he lost to a truck ) But I could tell there was alot of potential with the evo with a good driver behind the wheel.
The thing that stuck out at me, was that by far the most important thing in order to go fast was the driver. there was guys with preped s2k's and wrx's losing to well driven accords and what not. All the magazine racing goes out the window at the track. 12 sec. 1/4 miles mean nothing unless you have the talent to hustle the car around the course.

 

Umm... any other details on this? Who ran the event (what club?)
Accidents are rare and course designs should be as such that hitting a stationary object should NOT happen.

However some clubs like to ignore this little tidbit.

--kC

 

Ahhh... that would mean it was a WRX, not an Acura. I know the guy who it happend to as he auto-xes on a National Level.

(unless it's happend there twice with 2 different cars? Which I doubt.)

Yes, course design was blamed for that.

--kC

 

So that's #2 at Turner Field.... hmmm. Interesting.

 

in the right hands. Check out the B Stock results in the Houston Region SCCA:
http://www.houscca.com/solo2/results04/04REG02R.TXT

It seems Tim Pryor knows how to drive!

 

Thanks for the kind words!

The REAL test is coming up though, in the first weekend in April, when we have the National Tour in Houston. The National Champion in his S2000 will be there, and he will be the benchmark for us to know what we still have left to do in the way of setup.

To this point, we have only used Roadrace compound Hoosiers, and I have one of the only two sets in existence of the all new 275/35/18 A3S04 autocross Hoosiers. They are going on for the tour, and the final prep is being done tomorrow (alignment finalized, etc.).

I would like everyone to cheer us on in our quest. We expect to be spanked pretty good, but we are not going to "give" it to them, we are going to do our best to uphold the Mazda sports car (Ooops, did I say "sports car"?) tradition. If anyone is interested, the link for entry lists, results, etc. is HERE.

 

You must be doing something right, the Heddericks are fast and David hedderick has trophied for the last two years at the nationals in BS. Kudos to you! We will definitely be pulling for you.

Now, tell me about these tires. How well do they fit? Require any trimming? Inquiring minds want to know!

 

No trimming required, they fit fine. We have been using the 275/35/18 R3S03's to set the car up, and the new ones are the same size. Pics of them mounted are in the Solo II section at the link in the signature.

They fit fine on the stock rims, and they don't hit anywhere - even at full loading and full lock on the steering wheel (but it's pretty close).

I'll post some of the new 04's too, but they are not mounted yet (this weekend). When they are on the car, there will be LOTS of pictures.

 

How has the car been holding up? Any failures?

Another off topic question. What is the highest speed you downshift into first at? I am worried about doing at over 20mph per the owner's manual statement that clutch failure could occur. But I wonder if that's for people that don't match revs. Any insight?

 

Very impressive times! 3rd fastest for the day? Very nice indeed.

Have fun in April. I thought Jason was running STS now with his Corrado? At least he did for the ProSolo in Atlanta.

--kC

 

Any chance of rolling an 8 at autox. As I prepare for my first event next weekend, and talking about it alot--I'm so excited, I've had two people ask me "aren't you worried about rolling the car." I'm not at all. To me I don't think the car would roll unless it hit something, otherwise even trying to do a u-turn at 100, I can't imagine anything but spinning out.

What do you experienced people think, should I worry about rolling?

 

I wouldn't worry about rolling... unless you're autoxing in an SUV.