Need help taming this thing...

[Sammy]

I just started autocrossing my 2002 Boxster S with 18" wheels with Michelin PS rubber. I seem to have trouble with pointing the right end of the vehicle in the right direction, thus I have made a habit of spinning out. I have been running 40/40 in front/rear pressures. Any advice? The car is completely stock. The tires are the original and are on their last few miles.

In my very amateur opinion the rear seems too stiff and I have very little feedback before it breaks loose. Is this old tires? Am I just a lousy driver? When I'm not spinning out I have been putting down some pretty good times considering I am running street tires.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated as I'm having a blast and am trying to learn how to drive this car at its limits.

Sammy

[MNBoxster]

Hi,

I suspect you've put your finger on a number of the issues. Worn Tires will tend to break away much easier/sooner than a newer set. Also, you have your tires waay too inflated, try 5-6lbs. less.

And being less experienced, you may not be able to feel the Car before it breaks away, but that's OK. Just stick with it and try to evaluate how the Car feels and see if you can keep it from the edge. The key to great Auto-Xing is SMOOTHNESS over speed, being unsmooth costs you more speed than you realize.

In the beginning, concentrate on Clean Runs, not the Clock. Your Times will improve naturally as you gain experience. Try to learn from each run and adjust accordingly. Good Luck!...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

[KRZTACO]

Mmmm.....good points from Jim....you must drive quick to have a fast lap.

Smoothness is the key.

Sounds more of a driver issue (no pun intened). I run 40 psi on my stock tires at the track for the front and the rear. I also run 18 inch tires at the track too. I think the biggest thing would be to EASE into the peddle on exiting the turn.

Do a search, I know we've covered this similar situation before.

KRZ

[MNBoxster]

Originally Posted by KRZTACO

Mmmm.....good points from Jim....you must drive quick to have a fast lap.

Smoothness is the key.

Sounds more of a driver issue (no pun intened). I run 40 psi on my stock tires at the track for the front and the rear. I also run 18 inch tires at the track too. I think the biggest thing would be to EASE into the peddle on exiting the turn.

Do a search, I know we've covered this similar situation before.

KRZ

Hi,

It's typical to run a little higher pressure on a Track, but for Auto-X, often a little lower pressure will give better control, especially on a worn set, with stock suspension. I would stagger the pressure Front/Rear with the Rears having greater pressure (maybe 2 PSI than the Fronts), this will help reduce understeer. 18's should be fine, better in fact than 17's for Auto-X as Turn-in is improved. Great advice about getting on the Power easy!...

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

[Sammy]

I just ordered a set of Goodyear F1's so hopefully this will clarify if it is more of a tire issue (I am by no means discounting that it may be a driver issue). I will try to run the fronts at 38 and the rears at 40 at the next event to see what happens. Thank you for the advice and appreciate any other comments people may have!

[Perfectlap]

the secret to Autocrossing which is harder than doing laps on a track,

is to do it ALLOT.

no amount of advice is ever going to work until you are comfortable in the car.

In essence you are doing two things at once:

1- LOOKING AHEAD!!!

2- and errr driving the car


Until you can do #2 to the point where it becomes instinct (most types of turns and slaloms in autocross become familiar after about 12 events and their respective approaches/set ups).....well yeah instinct won't take over the driver part and allow you to fully concentrate on where you are going two gates gates ahead vs. what's directly in front of you.

People get target fixation in Autocross because their hands are so full of movement and the feet are working and the eyes are darting left to right and
the lateral/long. g forces are breaking your concentration.

You'll have some "A HA!!!" moments (like brake or throttle at all times no in between pauses) after you have had many many laps of mistakes.

p.s.
Victoracers are popular, as are my Toyo-RA1 and the Michelin Pilot Cups.
But none really ideal for Autocross.
My advice is to NOT change tires until you have done another 6-9 autocross events. You want to make your big mistakes on the worn tires. Which means you'll have to concentrate on minimizing mistakes vs. setting fast laps.
Once you feel you can string a few consecutive laps without making any BIG mistkaes, then mount some tasty rubber. No sense ruining a set of $1000 tires with lumpy shoulders and flat spots that you'll be stuck with for the rest of the season.

[BuffaloBoxster]

Originally Posted by MNBoxster

you have your tires waay too inflated, try 5-6lbs. less.

The key to great Auto-Xing is SMOOTHNESS over speed, being unsmooth costs you more speed than you realize.

Listen to the man