I autocrossed today with the oe all season tires.
suffered terrible understeer from a terribly designed course...i should work on left foot braking...
the course was a huge left turn that ended up w/ driving in 2 complete circles before finishing...
fit is quite underpowered, so launching had to be from at least 4k to get any good wheelspin
i'm also used to cars w/ no ABS, so i feel like the ABS is very intrusive on my driving.

anybody have recommended tire pressures?

i'm going to try to get the factory "crash bolts" to get some negative camber in the front before the next autocross. hopefully get some new tires too.

on the bright side, steering is really quick, so i entered many elements earlier than i was supposed to...

my autocross history includes a corolla(launching from 2k gives wheelspin, even with falken azenis), and a sts2 prepped crx(me driving in video) which doesn't understeer. coming from the crx, i was definitely over-enthusiastic for the first few runs and disappointed with the massive understeer, so i hope tires and crash bolts will fix that.

 

another test and tune today w/ another club, had a better course to work with...

this car can slalom like no other, the rear never swings out, so you can be as aggressive as you want. i just kept going faster and faster, and the car would keep clearing the cones, definitely exceded my expectations.

FTD: csp miata 29.2
my FTD: 33.0
tires+camber+shocks+everything else allowed in stock should equal around 2-3 secs if i ever fully prep this car for h-stock...(will never happen)

stock dunlop tires, set the pressures at F:46psi, R:48, and they heated up to around 49 or 50 front and ~51 rear. still struggling with understeer. Can't really bleed the front tires anymore for more grip or else it will roll over on its sidewalls. we'll see what happens after i get the crash bolts and learn how to left foot brake.

getting used to the abs...i have to straighten my wheel almost completely to have any good braking power...kind of annoying when you are entering a corner which you can brake later and harder w/o abs. i still gotta learn how to cope with ABS.

fastest launching is from over 4k w/ some wheelspin.

overall much better experience today than 2 weeks ago...

tire tread is now down to ~2/3 of what i started with ...so...after i wear the rest of it, i'll be on my way to get new tires! (hopefully direzza z1s)

 

Great to read about your experiences! It'll be interesting to see how the launch RPM changes with some "real" tires. Are you planning on changing wheels in the future as well, or just cramming what you can on to the OEM wheels? I've been experimenting with some 225/50's, but I'm not sure the extra width is worth the extra weight and compromise in fit. Most of them are 20# or more, and you have to choose a fairly narrow profile to fit well without rubbing.

HF

 

due to lack of money, as soon as these all-seasons die, i will be getting new tires on the stock wheels. this is my only car, so i'm getting some reasonable width tires.

my options: (depending on parents...not my money)
extreme performance summer: Dunlop Direzza Sport Z1 195/55R15
UHP all seasons: Nitto Neogen 205/50/15, or Falken Ziex ZE912 205/50/15

picking up crash bolts this week. hopefully getting an aquaintance to install them next week and align to my liking.

still waiting for 5k miles to do my first oil change(maintainance minder says 70% left). hoping to get royal purple. (should add like 2-3hp right??) speaking of which...anyone dynoed with synthetic oil to find more power?

other possible upgrades:
k&n air filter

other possible upgrades after warrenty is over and i make more money:
STS-ify or FSP-ify my car!

i think mods are overrated...the driver mod is the best mod you can do to drive faster...
but driving faster cars is definitely a lot of fun(i'm not bashing modded cars)...like that crx i drove

 

Good to hear your experiences. Better tires and crash bolts will definitely help. I installed the crash bolts last weekend. Haven't autocrossed with them yet (first local event is 3/8 -- can't wait!), but I've noticed major gains in street grip. The front end really bites a lot better now.

If you were 4 secs. behind a CSP Miata, I'd say you did real well. R-comp tires alone could make up maybe 3 secs. of that.

 

next autocross is mar. 9th...i'll see what i can pax w/ this car in all-season tires...should be interesting

for reference:
driving an HS 2004 corolla ce w/ falken azenis rt-215, i paxed around 25th out of ~120.
driving an STS2 crx, i paxed 4th out of ~120 and beat some nationals level drivers.

i've been autocrossing since end of '06, total of 15 events.
no prior motorsports experience...

i have played many many hrs of GT4 though...how much do you think that contributes?

 

first points event of the year yesterday! results to come...all i know is that i got first in street tire class out of 10 drivers.

equipment: completely stock including OE tires.

anybody have any tips on more effectively using ABS? i feel like i would be able to brake better without it.

this car is unspinnable...i'm sure some people have spun it before, but having driven an easily spun crx, my reflexes have me so that i don't spin out...ever.

since this car is so unspinnable, it's so easy to throw around. Slaloms are very fast, 3 cone slaloms (in and out) are really fast.

i was going to try left-foot braking for a long sweeper, but realized that my left foot is pinned to the floor next to my clutch to keep me in place during my run. when i approached that sweeper, i looked down, saw my left foot keeping me in place, and realized i can't really move it, so i just said screw it, and kept going. because of this, the car still gets more understeer than i would like.

I get some inside wheelspin every time accelerating out of a slalom or chicago box.

dropping the clutch at 4000rpm, and keeping it floored keeps the revs up and launches pretty fast.

will post later comparing times...

 

more comments about this weekend...

drove there in the pouring rain. it does havoc on mpg. i usually average 34-35 mpg, but i got less than 30mpg in the pouring rain.

OE tires are peices of crap. 3k miles, 2 test and tunes, 1 event, and i'm getting close to the wear bars. or maybe i have to learn to conserve tire during autox.

this car never ceases to amaze me. it'll soak up anything i throw at it.

i have some cone marks on my car now but can't really see it since my car is so dark.

can't wait 'til times are posted!

 

nice driving in that vid. off-topic question: were you on anteaterforums?

 

no...what the heck is anteaterforums?

 

68.623 was my fastest time of the day. no mods...OE tires...

FTD fully prepped(i think) AS S2000: 61.170
Fully prepped HS Mini cooper: 67.251
Fully prepped GS MCS: 64.278

overall:
PAX: 18th/103 (2.844 seconds from first)
RAW: 37th/103

this car seems just as good if not better than the '04 corolla w/ azenis i drove last year...

if i could get 3.6 secs raw i would be first pax...that's 5 percent of my time
wheels, tires, shocks, sway bar, air filter, exhaust, alignment should get me 5% right?
just imagine what i could do with a fully prepped Fit...Honda has made an awesome car...

 

Sounds like you did great. They say R-compound tires are good for 2-3 seconds. Another half-second for the right alignment, shave another half-second once you get to know the car well, and you're there!

Still waiting for results from my weekend. Organizers are pretty slow at posting them, I'm afraid.

BTW, did you have any trouble with spinning the inside front tire in corners? That was my biggest problem.

 

it wasn't a really big problem...it wasn't like i was spinning the tires and bouncing off the limiter, they were spinning, but not a lot, i could still keep the throttle down.

i would say i drove this car at 97% last weekend...my tires were squealing almost the whole time, so i don't think i would be able to push it much harder...

 

crash bolts on back order...who knows when those will come in...sigh...

 

Yeah, I got that same story last week when I ordered mine. I wanted to send a special thanks to Skimmer for snagging the last set in the CONUS...

HF

 

LOL! Yeah, and I thought mine were never going to come! But hopefully, you guys won't have to wait too long. My dealer had 3 and it was only the 4th that took a couple weeks to arrive. You might try calling around to other dealers in your area to see if they have any in stock. With any luck, Honda will recognize the demand for these and start stocking more.

 

Using 4 crash bolts in the front isn't legal in stock class (I think you are still in there, I know you had a few other mods that weren't stock legal - not sure if you fixed those).

You can use one per side, but not two.

 

why? they are factory bolts...where did you hear this?

 

What if it takes two bolts on a side to get the alignment back in to specs? A fix is a fix..

HF

 

The factory doesn't permit the use of 4 to fix an alignment issue. If more than one per side is needed, then something else (spindle, strut, etc) needs to be replaced. Using 2 per side is a safety issue. Consult the dealer service manual.

If it's not something the dealer would do to fix, then it's not legal for stock.