Kicking off the first event of the year! Got some decent weather for the Gateway Autocross event, though the lot was cold & dirty, as would be expected for the first event. Pretty exhausted for the event, got in late the night prior from a 3+ day MBA orientation. Everything felt about the same with this car, being super loose on the 1st run, and then getting pushy at the end. I did encounter ‘ice mode’ with the brakes once, which was very frustrating. Girlfriend also co-drove with me this event, and she did really well – Closest she’s ever gotten to me. I think I will take the plunge to get 205/45-16s for the car, and get a little bit of toe out in the rear.

Mini:

CR Mini:

Things to work on (Mini):

• Focus on driving the car on the best line possible – hit cones more
• Push harder, while maintaining line
• Brake harder (May upgrade brakes)
• Run shorter tire (205/50-16 this year, run 205/45-16 next year)
• Work on being smooth
• Look ahead refresh!

Notes (Mini):

• 1/2 tank
• Ran 40/45
• Pax Points: 9,728
• Will probably get new tires & a little toe out in the rear
• 2017 Runs: 12 (+6 me, +6 CR)

The Evo was a different story. This event was to test my new setup, the 17×9.5s wrapped with 255/40-17s, and a hair of toe out in the rear. I decided to “take it easy” the first run, to let the car warm up, and I ran a 46.x, which was pretty darn fast for the course. I ran a couple of 44.6s after when I started pushing it, and though they were dirty runs, they were FTD worthy. Finally, I ran a 44.9, which ended up being my fastest clean, and still FTD for the day.

The new setup is a night and day difference with the OEM 17x8s, and any hints of both understeer & oversteer are gone. The car used to bite me with looseness in transitions and that is now all gone. Part of this may have been due to the cold, but the car was at least 1s faster than most benchmarks for today. Probably will be 0.5-0.8s faster in general compared to the old setup in more normal situations.

Evo:

Things to work on (Evo):

• Line needs work, with new wheels, pushing wider when carrying more speed
• Tighter on slaloms
• Learning/trusting braking points

Notes (Evo):

• Near full tank
• Camber at -3.3, -1.9 rear,  0 toe front-1/32 toe rear
• 35psi all around
• ACD: Snow, Dampers 5 from stiff, RSB on medium
• Pax Points: 9,734
• 2017 Runs: 6

2017 Run Count: 12 (+6 Mini, +6 Evo)