AutoX

[32wildbilly]

Last Sunday was AutoX and no shoot-outs had occurred the night before. Course was mixed sweepers and had three super tight slow speed obstacles. Temperatures started in the mid 80's and quickly went to 95ish with full sun and high humidity. It is HOT in a darker colored car with a helmet on and no A/C in those temps.

I had the 245-30 Contis OEM tires on with additional air in the fronts to reduce understeer. They worked nicely. Understeer gone...finally. The 240TW made traction much better. The problem, beyond my lack of talent and experience, are the tight areas. The CTR has a wheelbase of 103", width of @74" and 295 ftlbs of torque that hits at 2500 through 4500rpm. So the combination of a FAT car and having to drop to first gear to get out of tight turns becomes "interesting" even with gentle throttle modulation. I only coned twice in the eight runs but lost significant amount of time in the slow areas each run trying to figure out how to go faster.

First set of four runs I was in the top ten out of 22 cars. That made me happy because we had three SCCA "ringers" show up with their highly modified cars. The second four runs in the afternoon when the heat came up I failed to improve as much as the others and ended up 16th. Honestly the heat got to me even though I drank enough water to float the Titanic, wore my jungle hat, ate and spent as much time in the shade as I could.

Still so much FUN and can't wait for the next session.

[32wildbilly]

For those of you who have AutoX'd your 996's I have a question.

I hear a lot of noise that our cars understeer badly. Have you guys found this to be true?

[gnat]

For those of you who have AutoX'd your 996's I have a question.

I hear a lot of noise that our cars understeer badly. Have you guys found this to be true?

I haven't heard that about the RWD cars, but it's definitely true of the AWDs. "Badly" is relative though as I find it quite manageable.

The wife is the one that spent a day Xing it while I only did one run in it, but I experienced it on a road track and have played with it in less appropriate situations.

The newer/stickier your tires, the less of an issue it will be. The big difference I'm told between the RWD and AWD drives is that we can wait longer to brake and then get back on the power sooner. Get your timing right and modulate the power right and you'll almost not notice the understeer.

[theprf]

It's rather more easy to transition into oversteer than you might think. Just stab the gas quickly. After all it's a 911 and they are supposed to be easy to spin, right?

[32wildbilly]

Thanks guys...I think.

If my Indie ever decides if he wants to tackle the UAOS conversion for my failed AOS I will probably give the 996 a try.

[FRUNKenstein]

I will be a corner worker at our KCRPCA autocross tomorrow. Our autocross chair is a huge X1/9 fan, and he wants me to bring it out. So, we'll have an X1/9 running the test laps first thing in the morning, then leading a group of about 30 Porsches through the familiarization laps. This should be interesting . . .

[32wildbilly]

I will be a corner worker at our KCRPCA autocross tomorrow. Our autocross chair is a huge X1/9 fan, and he wants me to bring it out. So, we'll have an X1/9 running the test laps first thing in the morning, then leading a group of about 30 Porsches through the familiarization laps. This should be interesting . . .

Most won't be able to keep up with you on the familiarization laps. So you're not running the actual AutoX? That sux.

[FRUNKenstein]

Had a blast working the KCRPCA autocross today. I helped set the course up, which is helpful when it comes to driving it. The autocross chairman loves X1/9s, so he used it to drive through a couple of test laps as we were tweaking the set up. Then I got in a quick preliminary lap before we started the official laps. I also got one timed lap in, and I was right in the pack, albeit towards the bottom 1/3 of the 33 “official” drivers. Not bad for 75 hp and all-season tires.

Driving pics are the autocross chairman at the wheel.

[32wildbilly]

Had a blast working the KCRPCA autocross today. I helped set the course up, which is helpful when it comes to driving it. The autocross chairman loves X1/9s, so he used it to drive through a couple of test laps as we were tweaking the set up. Then I got in a quick preliminary lap before we started the official laps. I also got one timed lap in, and I was right in the pack, albeit towards the bottom 1/3 of the 33 “official” drivers. Not bad for 75 hp and all-season tires.

WOW! I just noticed from your pics that you guys use yellow pointer cones. Excellent idea. I think I'll suggest that to the local group.

[gnat]

Had a blast working the KCRPCA autocross today. I helped set the course up, which is helpful when it comes to driving it. The autocross chairman loves X1/9s, so he used it to drive through a couple of test laps as we were tweaking the set up. Then I got in a quick preliminary lap before we started the official laps. I also got one timed lap in, and I was right in the pack, albeit towards the bottom 1/3 of the 33 “official” drivers. Not bad for 75 hp and all-season tires.

WOW! I just noticed from your pics that you guys use yellow pointer cones. Excellent idea. I think I'll suggest that to the local group.

That does seem like a blindingly good idea once you've seen it!