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Got to know my E46 a little better. (Autocross)

17K views 83 replies 31 participants last post by  Mango 
#1 ·
So I autocrossed for the first time. Had a lot of fun and really got to learn my car more. Very humbling experience. I was very very happy with the way my car behaved on the course except I did have to deal with some understeer at times.

I'm sure I can thank the staggered stock setup for that! I kept coolant temps in check consistently throughout the day, all went perfect. Highest I went was 96c while sitting in line w/ the a/c on. pretty much stayed at 90-93c the whole time. I was also very happy with the brakes.

Went on back to back to back runs and everything went very nicely. I think next time I want to have a little less body roll (rear convertible swaybar) and light wheels w/ RS-3s. These street tires aren't so grippy out here but I learned a lot from sliding around..

Here are a few pics:
























 
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#12 ·
Looks like you could run a couple more PSI,
.
this. first half of the day run 5-7 PSI higher than normal.
check your wear (should be at the tip of the little arrow) and adjust accordingly.
it's cool you had a good time. what other cars were in your class?
it might be easier to stay competitive if you ran with bmwcca. sometimes general autocrosses have beasts in every class which makes it very hard to be competitive.
 
#17 ·
Nice! Looks like fun...

I keep trying to convince my friends that this would be 10 times more fun than hammering on the gas pedal and running 12s/13s at the dragstrip. Not many people seem to be as excited at the thought of auto-x as myself..which is unfortunate. :(
 
#53 ·
Drag racing is boring unless you have more HP than you can use on the streets, IMO. :)
Now, if you have tons of HP, then it can be fun and/or scary. Some people have the impression that it just involves flooring it, which is pretty much true with cars with normal amounts of HP. But, if you ever get to drive a car with obscene amounts of HP, then it becomes something completely different. Tiny corrections can upset the car, and put you in to a cycle of back and forth corrections.

But Autocross is way more fun, and more within the reach of the average guy, and you are not risking a $10-20k engine when you do it. :yikes:
 
#21 ·
+1 that thing is amazing.

I ran 40 psi all the way around. Wasn't sure if running more would've helped? I'll try more next time.

tape is so i dont get sand/rock-blasted. obvious, no? tape is cheaper than paint.
If you were already running 40, any more pressure would have helped. You exceeded the limits of the traction on the tires. Simple as that. The solution is to either not autocross, or pick up a dedicated set of tires.

The wear you got is much less than what I did to my V12s are about a month of driving on them.

Nice! Looks like fun...

I keep trying to convince my friends that this would be 10 times more fun than hammering on the gas pedal and running 12s/13s at the dragstrip. Not many people seem to be as excited at the thought of auto-x as myself..which is unfortunate. :(
Most people I know that are into care prefer either drifting or drag racing. The drift stuff is cool I suppose but nothing does it for me like autocross (and someday HPDE's as well).

Awesome. Tons of fun, isn't it? Great to hear you had a good time and took something away from the experience.

That's an *expensive* autoX. But to get that many runs and that little downtime, i'd pay that for sure. Too much downtime and not enough runs at the clubs around here.
$75 is definitely more than I've ever paid to to autocross, but with that amount of runs and only brief waiting periods, I'd say it's well worth it!
 
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#30 · (Edited)
I don't know who the f you think you are, Mango, but while you were off autocrossing yesterday, guys here were having trouble...calling for you...crying for you. No Mango.

You of all people should know that if you're going to take a day off, even 'because 'sort of' race car, you need to ask permission first.

You can't leave these guys alone even for a day...no telling what they'll do! Actually, I'll tell you what they do...they use green coolant, they lower, they paint their tires...tires! They paint tires, Mango! And where are you?

Off in some parking lot messing up your bearings and tires...just thinking of yourself.

Selfish!

Face Munich...read Bentley 200/13-17 ten times!
 
#31 ·
I ignored my coolant system refresh and installed projectors...I couldn't help myself... I'm sorry... I need ... Help. I just really new help ok ? Kalim ran off to the middle east with Albee and now I have to drive my car or a business trip and its going to be hot...

And I just want more carbon fiber, gimmethefracjincarbonfibwrwhatssofhckkngwringwirhcarbonfiberiloveitireallyloveit... I... Love... It.... Ahhhhhbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbbc ncdknkxjejnsjnekjdmnkkxjkxjk b
 
#35 ·
Oh, yea, that's another thing. They make green painters tape. WTF were you thinking, Mango?

On the understeer, just bump up the pressure in the front a bit...bet a few pounds would make enough of a difference.

I don't think I'd autocross, but I'd love to track my car. When I become a comedy cult leader, I'll take the money from my cult members and make that happen. I hope they'll give me enough for the Nurbergring...I want to drive it IRL one time!
 
#36 ·
Oh, yea, that's another thing. They make green painters tape. WTF were you thinking, Mango?

On the understeer, just bump up the pressure in the front a bit...bet a few pounds would make enough of a difference.

I don't think I'd autocross, but I'd love to track my car. When I become a comedy cult leader, I'll take the money from my cult members and make that happen. I hope they'll give me enough for the Nurbergring...I want to drive it IRL one time!
 
#39 ·
fiveeight...

You said to increase the rear tire pressure to reduce understeer...and I'd said just the opposite. I wonder if AutoX is that different from 'regular' driving...because in DD, increasing the front tire pressure relative to the rear increases oversteer. For the same degree of turn in the tires, with more air, the tire is bigger, and thus more turning is done.

Are the physics in AutoX that different? I'm confused...or you just made a typo.
 
#43 ·
The tire has a range of pressure in which it will obtain optimal grip. Under-inflate the tire and it will roll over on the sidewall too much, decreasing grip. Over-inflate the tire and you will balloon out the center slightly, decreasing grip.

Because of this, there is no blanket statement that will *always* be true, as the balance between the front and rear are relative to one another. But in a situation like Mango described, where he's running 40PSI, running slightly higher in the rear will move the car's tendency more towards oversteer. If his pressures were lower (say 30 PSI), the same might not be true.

Every tire is different. But from my experience, when you're at the high end of your optimal range of pressures like that, running higher in the rear will loosen the back end up. I do this in my E36 on tighter courses where I want to steer more with my right foot. I run star specs, which have a very stiff sidewall and squared shoulder. Other tires would take more pressure to slide off in grip on the top end. But regardless, 40 cold is on the high side.
 
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