Today was my first autox in Brooksville, FL. What a great time. If anyone is ever interested the website is http://www.floridacorvetteracing.com/


My car is a 2 week old GS with F55, Auto and everything stock for now.

My first few runs I found out I was not as good of a driver as I thought I was. I started out in auto with traction control. after about my third run I was 14 sec. behind leader. So I took some rides with the leader and that was a great learning exp. This car was set up for this, to bad it was a Mutang. After this I started using the hand shifter, I was able to cut my times by ten sec. I was very happy but I still had all the nannies on. So I was feeling pretty good, I thought I would turn off the nanny. All of a sudden I sucked again. It felt like I was driving on ice I stayed with it and never did figure it out. It looked like I was going on the track to do donuts. I was spining out all over and my times went real bad.

So my big ??????????? Is do I learn to drive with nanny off or keep it on? What mode should I drive in? I am going to Seabring in a few weeks and the way I ended I am scared I am going to destroy my car if I leave the nanny off? Just looking for some FRIENDLY advice.

Thank you to all men and women who serve in the USAF

 

OK, you asked for friendly advice and I hope you take the following in a good way as that's the way it's given...I'm more concerned with you destroying yourself than your car. If you haven't learned to control your car yet, you should consider skipping Sebring. I've been on Sebring several times and it's a very fast track with some unforgiving "walls". Get some more autocrosses under your belt and attend a racing school before advancing to the "big leagues". If you really want to go just for the experience (and I can't blame you), leave the nanny controls on and don't drive so aggressive. We've all been where you are and welcome to the thrill of amateur racing...there are plenty of people willing to help, all you have to do is ask.

 

Thank you, I am sort of thinking the same thing. So should I learn with nannies off or on? What do you think would be best in the long run?

Another question???

My tires were @ 39lbs to start I put them down to 33lbs, Where should I set my tire pre?
The front end was pushing through the turns.Do tires really make a big diff?

 

I've never done a autocross, so it's obvious I'm talking out of my ***. But, I would think that trying to learn how to navigate the course without spinning out would require turning the nanny off. How will you ever learn the limits of both you and the car, if Nanny keeps butting in?

I say to turn off the Nanny and start out out slow and then up the pace as you learn. And, as others have said, you will most likely learn at a faster rate by getting some professional lessons.

 

I'm more into road courses than autocross but I've done a few. I recognize the skill it takes to autocross well. IMO traction control intervention would be downright dangerous. I suggest you learn using comp mode. This will shutoff TC but leave AH on with a reduced level of intervention. After you have many events under your belt then and only then would I suggest you shut all the nannies off. Believe me, it will get to a point where even the reduced level of AH intervention of comp mode will slow you down. Practice, practice, practice! Be safe...have fun!

 

What is AH?

 

Active Handling is your nanny (TC is another one). Leave everything off at the autox so you can learn to drive the car and there's nothing to hit. Road courses are a different story since there's all kinds of nasty walls to hit whether you have nannies on or off.

I wasn't able to make it to Brooksville this month. Glad to hear you had fun.

 

What is the difference between AH and TC?

 

Wayne O gave the best advice...TC off and AH on but only for a few events. You'll get a feel for how far you can push the car by when AH kicks in and also get a feel for how the car acts as it approaches the limit. You don't want to run too many events on AH or it'll be more difficult to wean yourself off of it. At some point you're going to have to learn how to react on your own when you exceed the limits and low speed autoXs are the best venue for that.

Tire pressure is a whole other topic and really at your level doesn't make a whole lot of difference. You need to let air out of the fronts to correct a "push" but you can only go down so far. The problem is two-fold...1) the factory alignment results in terminal understeer and 2) tire pressure changes are for "fine tuning". You don't have enough range in tire pressure to correct the terminal understeer. Understeer is the safest for a beginner with patience but from your description of your first event it doesn't sound like you have much in the way of patience when trying to get your car to turn. A lack of patience results in the terminal understeer snapping to oversteer and a quick "spin".

You're going to need to get the alignment set up for handling if you really want to get serious about this. More negative camber front and rear, move front toe towards toe-out, and move rear toe towards toe-in...how much all depends on how serious you are and what type of speeds you're running. Lower speeds will tolerate more front toe-out to assist turn-in but the same toe setting will result in spins at high speeds. There are plenty of sites on the internet as well as an "Autocrossing/Roadracing" section on this forum you can visit to get recommendations. I do my own alignments and set it to my driving style which is something you need to keep in mind...alignments are not "one size fits all". Take recommendations for just that and then tweak it from there. I have high speed and low speed alignments depending on the course...the last thing I want to be doing is chasing my tail at Sebring due to too much front toe-out.

Once you get your alignment where you want it, then you can fine tune the handling with tire pressure. And yes, tires make a big difference as well as alignment...sticky tires and a really good alignment can take an easy 5 seconds off a 60 second course.

One other thing, join a local NCCC club and you'll find a lot of fellow racers.
http://www.ncccsouth.com/
There's a really good one for you in Tampa:
http://www.floridacorvetteracing.com/
And they put on a lot of events at Brooksville.
http://www.ncccsouth.com/html/2010_sch.html
The club I belong to puts on a lot of events in St Augustine and then we're at Roebling Road Thanksgiving weekend.

 

TC keeps a straight line during acceleration. AH keeps you from spinning out of control during emergency avoidance maneuvers. I have oversimplified it but that's the general idea.

 

Thank you very much, It is funny that you picked up on my lack of patience. Where is Roebling Road? We are looking for something to do over Thanksgiving weekend

 

It was easy to recognize the lack of patience...I have similar issues with cars that won't turn. I've just gotten use to mine responding on command and have to recalibrate myself when I drive somebody else's car that isn't set up. Mine is so easy to drive a caveman could do it.

Roebling Road is outside of Savannah, GA.
http://www.roeblingroad.com/trackphoto.html
You'll need a high speed license to run there with NCCC but you may be able to squeeze in under the wire if you run some more events between now and Thanksgiving. It's a much safer track than Sebring as the only places you can really get in trouble are the first and last turns. If you carry too much speed on either turn, you'll run into a bunch of tires off the first turn or spin off the last turn into the concrete wall that appears as a white stripe on the straightaway in the link above. Either one will ruin your day. You can ruin your day on other parts of the track but you have to get really, really stupid. Rain complicates things (especially for the fools that don't slow down enough) but it isn't that bad.

 

For an autocross on EMTs I would set the cold tire pressure the day of the event at the factory recommended setting of 30 psi. An autocross will help you learn car control techniques so I suggest you turn off all of the Nannies by pushing and holding the console button until you see the message that tells you they are all off. Then hit the reset button so you can display one of the instrument readings on the DIC. Since things happen very quickly in an autocross make sure you have all of your braking done before you turn the steering for a turn and then after the turn in add a little throttle to slightly power through the turn (you do not want to be coasting). If you feel the front end is pushing (sliding through turns) then back off on the throttle a little until the tires don't feel like they are pushing when you make your turn in or while in the turn. Make sure your transmission is in a gear where it will not suddenly downshift on you as you accelerate out of the turn and roll your foot into the throttle. Repeat as many times as neccesary to get through the course. After a while you can pick up different things you can be doing but at first you just want to simple things and find out how the car feels and how to read a course so you can place the car correctly. Think slow in and fast out and the big emphasis should be on SMOOTH. Jerking the car and sliding it around may look cool but that is the slow way around a course.

As for Sebring. Are you just going to drive the course in some sort of open track or you going to have an instructor in the car with you? If you are just going to go out by yourself I would forget about it. If you are going to be in a car with an instructor then it probably is something you can do without putting you, your instructor or the car into any significant danger. Schools set up with instructors are designed to help the novice move from the terrified level to a comfortable level in a matter of a few track hours. Listen to the instructor as they will focus you on the safety aspects of the track like flag stations and run off areas. Then they will focus you on driving the course with emphasis on the driving line, proper braking points, corner entry, apex and corner exit so you can get the most enjoyment out of your time. The difference between an autocross and a high speed event is at the high speed event your instructor has time to see a potential issue far enough ahead to tell you about it so you can make a correction before it becomes more than a potential issue.

Bill

 

It's fun to horse the car around but if you really want good times, you have to be smooth. Jerking the car upsets the chassis...a good analogy is when you upset your wife, she's more likely to bite you in the azz than reward you with a good time.

For more great advice like the post from Bill above, make sure you visit the "Autocross/Roadracing" section of the forum regularly as you develop your skills.

 

Thank you for the great advice, I am set up to be with an instructor I know I need to slow down but it is so fun going fast. I think the bigest problem I hav is that I used to drive a TAFC at 250mph and now 120 feels slow. But then them dammm corners come up. . I was only tought to go fast in a straigt line.

I really thank you all for the great advise. Please keep it comming. And do not forget to thank a VET

 

I have been in HPDE with NASA for the last year and progressing through the different levels. One of the things you will learn is that smooth is fast and fast is slow if you are not smooth. Another thing to remember is that you will not impress and instructor by going fast, he or she is going to be more impressed with a.) the control you have of the car, b.) the line you are using ensuring you are hitting the apex, c.) setting the car up for entry into turns by breaking in a straight line and then execuite your turn and excell out of the turn, d.) last but not least is track/car awareness what is going on ahead of you? what is going on in the next flag stand, do you even notice the flag stands, what is happening in turn 2 if you can see it for awareness of the track and other vehicles.

I use all of these for road racing and even more. Just some things to consider if you want to progress.

 

I also auto cross my F55, though it is not a GS. I assume that you are still running the Goodyear Runflats. Not going to be real competive with those tires. I regularly run better times than even the Z06's and I attribute it mostly to tires.

Unless you autocross alot put the car in comp mode and leave it there until running the cones becomes second nature. Until you know what you are going to do at least a turn ahead of where you are you will be faster.

Walk the course, then walk it a few more times. Understand where you can be agressive and where you need to back off. One thing I will tell you is you can always run the slalom faster than you think possible.

Don't worry much about shifting. Get into 2nd gear and leave it there until you get more time under your belt. It is part of the smooth is fast thinking.

Last but not least is smooth is fast but at the same time smooth is slow. You need to be agressive as possible but at the same time be smooth. If your tires a making noise you are over the edge. But if you don't hear the tires every now and then you are slow.