first off i'm sorry if this is a redundant post. i was wondering about the gearing/shifting in auto-x. i did my first one at the end of last year. i had patrick riding shot gun, showing me the basics. HUGE HELP!!!! i stayed in 2nd pretty much the whole time, except for launch of course. i was watching a video a month back of milo and it sounded like he was going down into 1st. so my first of probably many questions is: how often do you find yourself going down into 1st? was it just the track i did was larger than usual? it was a huge track, i think i ran it in 63 sec. also, is that even a good idea? how hard IS it on your clutch/tranny? one last question for the admins, i only see 4 threads in the Auto-X Solo I/II, Drag, Track, Rally area. are there archives that i came go thru so i'm not asking questions that other have already answered?
i rarely ever had the need to shift to first with the stock turbo... in fact sometimes u will lose time shifting to first because if u stay in 2nd, u will hit boost pretty quick since the turbo upgrade and before meth, i didnt make torque until about 3700rpm... so if i fell to 3000, i HAD to shift to first... with the meth now, that might not be necessary anymore my car readily shifts into first when rolling... i never force it though... i apply slight pressure and just hold it until it simply pops into first... this doesnt happen with most wrxs though
yeah, 1st is a little tight/notchy. that's why i ask. did you ever use the clutch to "push" or "spool" you out of a tight turn? i know, not a good idea, just wondering. also, i was shocked at the amount of understeer. nothing but harder braking to get the ass-end to rotate, right? i don't feel i have the power at the low-end to swing my ass around. deep down inside i wanted to e-brake one of the turns.
the one autocross i went to i had to downshift into first for a tight 3 turn staggered slalom, aside from that it was all 2nd and a bit of 3rd on the long straight slalom
i never used the ebrake... never used the clutch to spool it up in second... wrx's are prone to understeer... the best thing u can do is go with an aggressive swaybar setup and use lift throttle oversteer to ur advantage... power oversteer is fun but not my best friend on a track... ideally u want to use weight transfer to control ur car through a turn... lift off the throttle to transfer weight to the front and kick the back end out... step on the gas to transfer weight to the back and go wider through the turn so far i have NEVER gotten into 3rd at an autoX
There are two things you can do to your car in a stock class to combat understeer, atleast that i have found helpful. Larger front sway bar will definately give you faster turn in and make your rear a bit more squirelly. Secondly changing your alignment will definately help the handling of the car as well as dialing out understeer. Lucky WRXs can get more negative camber than STis, I don't know how much though (maybe as much as -2?, I don't know for sure). A sway bar shouldn't run you more than $200 tops and an alignment from Gran Turismo is about $85 or SOG will do it for ~$125. The thing that took me the longest to get over is that the harder i push my car and caused it to understeer the more time and tires I lost.
yeah, the quieter my run was, the faster i was. shocking! i'll have better tires this time, so maybe that'll help me out. i could REALLY feel the sidewalls bend on my daily RE 92's Sway bar you say, i'll start my readings ASAP.
ok, this maybe a dumb question. i even got a book last week abou suspensions. are an anti-roll bar and a sway bar the same thing? also, who here uses left foot braking at the auto-x?
Yes, they are the same. I have tried to left foot brake before and it just doesn't work for me. I highly doubt anyone on here does it.
cool-io. yeah, i've tried it on open roads and in vacant parking lots and it's just awkward and violent.