Need help taming this thing... - 986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners

MNBoxster · 05-30-2006, 03:18 PM

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 · 05-30-2006, 03:52 PM

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 · 05-30-2006, 10:37 PM

Quote:

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 · 06-01-2006, 07:57 AM

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 · 06-01-2006, 10:30 AM

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.

MikenOH · 06-01-2006, 11:33 AM

The main lessons were:

Look ahead (as perfect lap said). Not at the next cone but farther along the course to get you ready and in place for the next big course change. It might be at a right angle to where you're going. Don't fixate, just scan to prepare yourself. Ona slalom, the first cone is the key; if you blow that you're just trying to recover. if you get it right, you can knock out the remaining ones smoothly.

Brake in a straight line; get all you heavy breaking done before the turn--sounds like you're still turning while braking and the rear comes loose.

Brake late: the boxster has great brakes; don't loose too much speed breaking early.

Walk the course before you driving it and then visualize with your eyes closed.

While in line for run, scan the course as much as you can so you know what your first course changees will be.

Tires: PS2's aren't bad but the reality--my experience in 6 years at it--is that it's better to get a set of used wheels and put some R compount tires (ie victoracers )on them; or V710's if the track is close by. I really don't care for the soft sidewalls on the PS2 even with additional pressure. the victoracers have much firmer sidewalls and turn in is more precise. I'm guessing the Victoracers are worth 2 seconds but first you have to stop spinning, smooth out your steering inputs and get most of the braking done in a straight line before the turn.

And of course you have to practice and get to know the limits of your car.

BTW, I 'd recomend the EVO schools; expensive but it's a lot of hands on driving with an instructor. You find out very quickly what you're not doing right and how a good driver navigates a course.

Good luck with it

MNBoxster · 06-01-2006, 02:32 PM

Hi,

WOW! - Great Advice from PerfectLap and MikeOH - Glad to see we have so many Auto-Xers in the Group.

One other thing to add, part of the learning experience is trying things, but one hesitates because they don't want to ruin the Run.

Well, if you hit a Cone, think of it as a Free Run because the Time Penalty will pretty much put you in the Tank. So, for the rest of the Run, try a couple things like carrying in more speed/braking later, different line to a turn, etc. Don't just give up because you messed up, salvage the Run by gaining some additional experience. Remember: No Cones... No Glory!

Happy Motoring!... Jim'99

Sammy · 06-01-2006, 02:35 PM

I need to change my tires as I am down to the wear mark and they are showing cracks from being 4 years old. They aren't exactly safe to drive on the streets especially if it is raining out.

Race tires won't happen for another couple years as I have a lot of learning to do at this point.

I had success with a RX-7 and a M3 and this is quite a challenge for me, but it sure is a lot of fun!!! I'll be sure to give a review of the F1's once I get them worn in and on the track.

kabel · 06-04-2006, 06:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MikenOH

Tires: PS2's aren't bad but the reality--my experience in 6 years at it--is that it's better to get a set of used wheels and put some R compount tires (ie victoracers )on them; or V710's if the track is close by.

For the track maybe ( have not done a DE yet). However for autox, my opinion is get better at car control with street tires, r-comps can just hide bad habits.

Much of the the points already brought up are really good, Evo School is a blast (I have taken Phase One three times now, waiting for a Phase Tow to come our way) and a good investment.

BuffaloBoxster · 05-30-2006, 09:39 PM

Quote:

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