Second event in the VN, second time struggling with the balance. I’m wholly convinced this is just related to tires though, and with fresh rubber I’ll be able to lean on the car a lot more. Right now, it doesn’t give a lot of confidence that I can push the car without the back end stepping out. I had an instructor drive the car, and he spun out at the exact same spot. I’m also finding that the brake booster feels super aggressive. I don’t think it’s contributing to the looseness, since I’m not usually aggressively braking and turning, but I think there are times when it could. Overall, with the RSB already on soft, it’s just going to have to be a matter of getting more heat in the tire. I got a chance to basically hotlap it at the end and basically found the rear end was sticking much more – hopefully a positive sign. I thought cold conditions were ideal for FWD cars but now I realize that was just years of driving pushy cars whose balances were fixed by cold rear tires. Now I think FWD cars are the most disadvantaged. AWD has it easiest, but even RWD cars are able to generate heat in the rear tires simply by being the ones to put the power down.

I didn’t like the course, with the launch start, poor design/big offsets, and tight final corner. No real tricky elements, but good practice anyway. The whole course ended up being around 38s long for me – not long. However, I’m not 100% comfortable in the car so I’m trying to get as much seat time as possible. I may change the setup a little, but I’m still reserving final judgment until temps come up. I just checked and these tires are pretty darn fresh, but from 2022 & being stored outside, in the cold, etc. seems to have done them some harm as far as grip levels go. Today was high 40s low 50s, similar to the previous event or even a touch colder. We did get 8 runs which was nice, but I need a “real” course. The classing system is also strange – lumped in with Miatas and MR2s from ES which were very fast and some of them dual driven (which helped keep heat in the tires). Next events are on Friday (corp volunteering event) and Saturday (NNJR #2).

Set Up (VN):

• DS
• 255/35-18 RT660, 36psi/35psi
• WL 24mm RSB on soft
• Camber at -2.0 0 toe, -1.5 0 toe
• Brakes: Stock

Notes (VN):

• 2025 VN: 2 autox / 0 track
• Car is loose, reevaluate with more heat to see if the tires are ok or if I should swap to a new set to be more competitive right away

2025 Event Count: 2 Autox