Dave Ebel asked:
> I want to make all the performance
> mods I can make
> to it that will allow me to stay in the stock class. I am
> looking for any
> insights, advice, or recommendations any of you might have
> about these cars
(one reply was)
>Enter every event twice (if they let you). Take fun runs. Go to a driver
>school. Improvements to the driver are unlimited in Stock.
>Don't be too quick to hop up the car. You can learn a lot driving a bone
>stock car on street tires. Nice stuff can hide your faults and that's not
>any way to improve.
I have to copmpletely agree with this. Do a few events at least on the street
tires to get a good feel for the balance of the car. Just going to race tires
can raise the limit enough that you won't reach it and what the car will do
at the limit will stay a mystery much longer. On street tires you feel the
car move much more at slower speeds, and the breakaway is so much slower you
can drive through it. When you get comfortable pushing the edge, then go to
race tires. The limit will be higher, but the balance will be similar but the
breakaway will be much faster and harder to catch.
Wheel alignment is a strange area depending on the car you drive. Some cars
need all the camber they can get, others don't. Some need alot of toe out to
make them turn, others need toe in to go straight. For most front drive cars,
a bit over 1 degree negativce camber and 1/8 inch toe out is a good starting
point. Even on street tires, alignment will have some effect, but it will be
more subtle withthe more flexible tire. Race tires respond to alignment much
more. In any case, it takes a sensitive driver to pick up on the change from
a bit of toe. Camber is a bigger change.
The rest of the stock "mods" are very subtle in comparison. A cat back
exhaust might not make enough difference to feel, but the sound makes it seem
faster. Same for an air filter. If the car is loose, a bigger front bar may
help, but it is far easier to screw up the balance on many cars. Leave the
stock bars until you can run your 3 runs within a half second, and the car
just pushes to much, or stays loose. Driver input has a great deal to do with
this, and if your times vary by full seconds, you are not using what you
have. Shocks are probably the most mis-understood part that can help a bit.
They only have a big effect on transitions, but autocrossing is mostly
transitions, so some serious tuning can be had here. Getting adjustables can
give new drivers too many things to think about. Work on the driver before
changing the shock settings. And remember the end you stiffen more will lose
traction sooner than before. In my front driver I run my rears full stiff on
concrete, but back on asphault I had to back them off to only 1/3 stiff.
Fronts stayed about the same, 0-1/4 stiff. Bumpier lot = softer shocks too.
I have been working on the driver for 12 years, tried working on the car for
8 of them, found the driver makes alot more of the difference. My first
McKamey school was worth nearly 2 seconds of raw time when I went to the next
event. It showed in the overall indexed results.
Gary M.
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