Phil, Pat,
Thanks for the input. That probably is the best course, in terms of getting
some real tires and spending a lot of time in it before making changes. I
was just wondering mainly if camber is adjustable in the car, because we all
know how precious that negative stuff is in stock-class cars.
Pat, as for maximizing the way to drive it, no, I don't think that's
happening yet. I mean, we've got a total of 9 runs in the car (his 6 and my
3). As for the "hot shoe" part, well, I was the "lukewarm shoe" in the car
and he was the guy who hadn't autocrossed in about 6 years. Granted, it was
my first event of the year, but I didn't feel as rusty as I thought I would.
Oh, BTW, it was at the Wisconsin Autocrossers event... didn't see you there.
(You might remember me from years past... I had the black Fiero Formula when
you were in your 914 days... yes, the one that wrecked at Dane County. :-)
Point and squirt may be something we'll try, and actually that's what
occurred on my first run in the car... get in a little hot, the thing won't
turn-in well, but when it's straight, hammer on it. I think I bummed my
friend out when my first run in the car was almost a second faster than his
best after 6 runs... but I can't help but think there are more effective
techniques in the car.
I also found that it didn't really care for turning when it was on full
power too, like you mention with the throttle finesse. You know, a stock
front-driver on a slightly twisty bit where you can keep full power on may
understeer some, but generally not much. In the same section, a rear-driver
under full power will either plow a bit under full power (my Fiero) or
oversteer a bit (anything driven by Darrel Padberg). The WRX seemed to push
the front end under full power (at peak power) more like a rear driver with
great rear bite. Once it does that, it seemed (on stock tires) that whatever
vector the car was on as peak power hit, that was where it was going; no
semblence of holding its line and understeering slightly or going to
oversteer. In fact, I put the first cone mark on his car :-) when I was
exiting a gate and there was a single cone on the outside about 30 yards up,
just to keep you over to the right of the lot... the car was understeering a
bit, but I kept the hammer down, like any good autocrosser should. :-) Well,
instead of continuing that amount of understeer or increasing slightly, the
front end was just *gone* in an instant as the motor hit peak power.
It seemed to me like it had the strange combination of grinding, mid-corner,
front-driver understeer, then followed by a rear-driver's exit plow where it
plants the rear end and picks up the front enough where it doesn't turn (ala
my Fiero Formula). It was a wierd sensation that hopefully can be just cured
by tires, but it also may lend credence to Phil's suggestion of keeping the
thing as straight as possible when on the boost.
As for lag, like Pat said, not too bad... a bit more than the 3rd-gen RX7s
I've driven, but not awful. Under 3 grand, not much happened in the way of
boost though, but I didn't find that too debilitating... no worse than the
Miata I was in that has no low-end power. And that split second it took to
hit 3K felt like it was erased as the power began to pour on. Very linear
after 3K.
I did like the car, absolutely. Now I just have to spend more time in it.
So I must ask the master: Pat, any tips on how to butter up the owner so I
can bum rides in the future? :-)
--Dave
Date: Tue, 21 Aug 2001 21:21:30 -0500
From: washburn <washburn@dwave.net>
Subject: Re: WRX help please
Phil Ethier wrote:
>I know you don't know what the car will be like with sticky tires, so I
suggest
>you don't tune the suspension until you have the stickies on. From what
>you
>know now, I find it difficult to project.
>
I've autocrossed both bone stock street tires WRX and a BFG g_Force shod
one. Neither had any further suspension tweaking. I recommend doing as
Phil suggests and run the car with tires before making any decisions on
suspension tuning. Unless you feel confident that your technique is
maximizing the car, I would also advise lot's-o-seat time too. Maybe
find another "hot-shoe" to run to with you and compare notes. There are
situations where your lines might be better in a point and squirt mode,
but not all the time. BTW, BFG's liked 38 front and 28 rear pressures
FWIW.
>
>For now, try the FWD tuning method: Get the front to stick as well as
possible
>by any means available. Then overinflate the rear tires until the car can
>be
>tossed into the corners. Turn in late, turn in hard, late apex and roll on
>all that turbo power as early as it will take it. Squeeze the power on as
>you
>straighten the steering wheel.
>
>Which suggests the question: How's the turbo lag?
IMO, lag was not an issue itself, but general low RPM output was. Once
things get humming, the response was actually pretty impressive, and the
throttle required a little finesse to be smooth. Fun, fun car I
thought.
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