GAX 11082015 (Evo)

Decided to use the final GAX event as a test ‘n tune (16 runs to do some shock tuning). I had been having a lot of problems with the rear of the car being unstable, especially on lift and braking, the car would be pitching and rolling a lot. I had pretty much decided to get stiffer springs, but it was suggested to me that my shocks could be playing a big role – and that 17clicks from stiff was probably too far for racing.

Conditions from the last event were a little different – it was a little colder today and at Gateway instead of Family, which was a pretty dirty surface on which we haven’t raced in a while. Course was pretty straightforward but very slalomy with a few transitions etc. A good course for testing out the suspension. Unfortunately, the tires are totally beat. I’ve been on the wear bars for quite some time now, and wearing those down as well. I’ve been mistaken for being on rcomps more than a few times. The tires are not only near bald but also very heat cycled out – that said, they only have what little grip they have with some heat on them. In general, stiffening the shocks did succeed in reducing roll and giving me that “harder edge” to ride against when turning from side to side, a little more similar to the Mini. I did experiment with the ACD tune a little today, only when I felt comfortable with where the shocks were. Turned out to be a good thing, as it really allowed the car to turn better. It didn’t make the car any more oversteer-y, just turn better. I fought the car less in turns – it almost felt like the power steering was cranked up or something, and I didn’t have to turn as hard or as much to make the same turn.

So, a few conclusions:

1) Tires make most of the data inconclusive, hard to get solid figures.
2) Stiffening the shocks generally resulted in less body roll
3) ACD tune doesn’t necessarily make the car looser, just turns better

While the shocks resulted in less overall roll and general instability, the car would still bite me from time to time – HARD. Granted I was changing shocks every run, so I don’t know how focused I was on getting a good, clean run in.

The car’s balance:

1) Understeering in tight corners, decreasing radius areas
2) Perfect in sweeper/fast entrances
3) A little loose in slaloms
4) Totally loose in transitions where, car is loaded up on one side then needs to change directions

#4 was 99% of my spins today. I’d be loaded up making a left sweepy turn, then needed to make a quick right – would turn, and the car would spin out. I can’t say from this that I want to go stiffer springs. The 8/10 felt okay, I just need more grip I think. I may still get Swift 8/10 springs from MAP, and maybe pick up 12s too just to test later, but it could be that with grippy tires the car feels perfect. Right now I have more spring than tire for the most part, but I don’t know if that will hold true once I get better tires. Judging from what I’ve spoken with people about, 1s faster all around is a conservative estimate for how much faster I’ll be. Obviously the car won’t feel perfect in every corner, just need to get it decent overall. Overall kind of odd how loose the car is for autocross. Evos aren’t exactly known for being loose in this sport.

Run	Shocks	Notes
1	17 All Around	Spin
2	17 All Around	Drift
3	17 All Around	Clean
4	17F 16R	Spin
5	16 All Around	Spin
6	13 All Around	Clean – less roll
7	13 All Around	w/ Passenger, Clean, starting to understeer
8	13 All Around	ACD Mid, Clean – 47.018
9	13 All Around	Near spin, missed gate
10	12 All Around	Near spin, missed gate
11	12 All Around	Car feeling better
12	12F 11R	Car felt good – 46.754, fastest up to that point
13	10 All Around	Car bit me
14	10F 8R	Car bit me
15	9F 8R	Looked decent
16	9F 8R	ACD Mid, Clean – 46.462, fastest of the day