Autocross Adventure w/ the 1LE - Page 8 - Camaro5 Chevy Camaro Forum / Camaro ZL1, SS and V6 Forums

JRL1LE · 08-15-2016, 08:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nilfinite

Thank you, Burt!

At Nationals, I'm going to petition that special-needs people like me need to get 14 runs to perfect the course lol. That's the only way I can catch up to these uber fast drivers.

I'll definitely try the individual tires method and report back. I think the wind coming from under the car was harming their effectiveness. There was a strong, misty and cold breeze all day. I was battling the wind from underneath to keep the blankets in place. If it was a sunnier and calmer day, the tire warmers probably would be champs. There are some custom, tighter fitted ones made out of delivery pizza heater material that is $200 bucks. I would say those were absolutely necessary if good-cold-weather tires like RE-71R and Rival S tires weren't available. Counting the days until the start of next season with new wheels and tires!

I will be there this weekend, I can help you w/ the tire warmers and if you start going to fast, I can let some air out of your tires

nilfinite · 08-15-2016, 08:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JRL1LE

I will be there this weekend, I can help you w/ the tire warmers and if you start going to fast, I can let some air out of your tires

Haha oh boy, looks like we are in the morning again this weekend on Saturday and Sunday. I'm definitely down to co-drive! One day in your car and one day in mine?

Going to be another talent-packed weekend with AAS. Time to condense 14 runs of improvement into 4 lol.

JRL1LE · 08-15-2016, 09:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nilfinite

Haha oh boy, looks like we are in the morning again this weekend on Saturday and Sunday. I'm definitely down to co-drive! One day in your car and one day in mine?

Going to be another talent-packed weekend with AAS. Time to condense 14 runs of improvement into 4 lol.

My brother may co-drive w/ me on Saturday, we'll see how it goes, maybe Sunday.

Thanks

nilfinite · 08-15-2016, 11:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JRL1LE

My brother may co-drive w/ me on Saturday, we'll see how it goes, maybe Sunday.

Thanks

Haha, sounds good. This weekend will also be a good opportunity to test out my nifty better-fitted tire blankets. Shouldn't have a breeze out there. Fingers crossed.

nilfinite · 08-16-2016, 11:28 AM

Reading through this older thread: http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=431921

Realized there were lots of lessons in there that I missed because I didn't understand them.

-David suggested 1/16 to 1/8 toe in. I didn't understand how toe in and toe out affects the rear! Didn't write it down and I instead got toe out in the spur of the moment when Trackspec (mechanic) asked me for the specs... That was fixed last weekend. http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showpo...99&postcount=4
-John suggested 28-32 cold pressures but I ran way higher than that...38...That was fixed about 2 months ago http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showpo...4&postcount=28
-Norm mentioned that better brakes wouldn't be the solution to autocross. Absolutely right. Better tires is the best solution. Know now that better brakes would be great for track. Track cars need something that can put down braking force but also handle the extra heat. http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showpo...3&postcount=34
-One nice surprise, my car is getting a lot more negative camber than I expected! -2.4 in the front! Trackspec says that maxing out negative camber is actually a very stable alignment. With negative camber, hitting bumps makes the car want to reach more negative camber but it's already maxed out

So, if you have -2.2 and want more, maybe go hit some bumps and see if things will loosen up and get you that extra camber. lol

nilfinite · 08-17-2016, 07:47 PM

Looking forward to this weekends event! Going to be the closest I've gone to driving a Nationals-level course and a bunch of former National champions to compare against.

JRL1LE · 08-17-2016, 08:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nilfinite

Looking forward to this weekends event! Going to be the closest I've gone to driving a Nationals-level course and a bunch of former National champions to compare against.

nilfinite · 08-20-2016, 06:25 PM

Came back from today's Autocross a little flustered. It was definitely a very different course than usual. Many times I was pleasantly surprised the Camaro was able to squeeze through some tough elements. Lots of cars were hitting cones today.

My GPS for some reason stopped working midway so don't have much data to reflect on.

I wasn't happy with 5 runs, was too busy running around putting tire blankets on the wheels and chatting with others.

I cut the heat shield bubble wrap into smaller fitted blankets but it didn't help that much. I'm going to stop using them. Not worth the distraction. Probably got about 5 degrees more.

Slowly getting better at offset slaloms. Really got to backside the cone prior to setup a smoother line.

Overall was a great experience trying a new type of course. Just need more seat time on these technical courses.

Can't make the Sunday event afterall which is a bummer.

The highlight of today was chatting to a newbie that was inspired by my Camaro last weekend at the Lotus AX. His mind was blown that a big American muscle car could hang with the small lotus and other cars. It was his 3rd AX so gave him a ride along in my car and also coached the guy for a run.

The newbie's excitement was similar to mine when I first got this car. This car shatters the belief that American cars can't handle.

Burt · 08-22-2016, 10:42 AM

I had a similar experience yesterday with the central Kentucky region. It was a good learning process, but when I was finished I wasn't happy with my times. It didn't help that most of the field was on Hoosiers or Re-71s and really skilled. My friend had a better day, he got ftd in his Viper ACR:

JusticePete · 08-22-2016, 03:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by nilfinite

The highlight of today was chatting to a newbie that was inspired by my Camaro last weekend at the Lotus AX. His mind was blown that a big American muscle car could hang with the small lotus and other cars. It was his 3rd AX so gave him a ride along in my car and also coached the guy for a run.

The newbie's excitement was similar to mine when I first got this car. This car shatters the belief that American cars can't handle.

nilfinite · 08-23-2016, 01:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Burt

I had a similar experience yesterday with the central Kentucky region. It was a good learning process, but when I was finished I wasn't happy with my times. It didn't help that most of the field was on Hoosiers or Re-71s and really skilled. My friend had a better day, he got ftd in his Viper ACR:

Quote:

Originally Posted by JusticePete

Thanks for the support guys! Definitely need more seat time. Thinking back on the run, I was very happy with my 5th run until the very end. I slowed down a bit more than the previous runs, took a tighter line and I should have forced the car to rotate a bit more before putting down the power. Lesson learned that cost me multiple seconds.

Going to head to a PCA event this Sunday. Going to be tight again at Marina. Slowly getting more comfortable with tight/slower courses. Hoping the gap between runs this Sunday will get some heat in the tires.

nilfinite · 08-29-2016, 06:21 PM

Update on the PCA event: A packed event! Long delay between runs. That was not helpful for my tire temps especially since Marina is 60 degrees and windy all day. In the end, still got decent times in comparison to benchmarks.

I got mid 46s. Scott Frasier, multi-time national champion, got high 43s in a Porsche GT3 dialed in for Nationals. Another good regional competitor in STR (on slicks) got high 44s. I'm happy with my time in comparison to those baselines. There was at least 2 seconds left on the course.

Tire temps before the 4th run: 90 degrees. 30 degrees more than ambient. I've found 130 degrees was perfect for the RS3s. Lower temps meant grip was 0.8-0.9Gs according to Harry's Laptimer. 1.1-1.2Gs when up to temp. RE-71R will surpass those Gs at a lower temp; around 110 degrees.

I measured the tire temps on a Cayman S with RE-71Rs: 110 degrees, of course.

This was a tough but good lesson to learn: spending a half a season on finicky tires. Learned a lot of patience this season and learned about what the car feels like at the limit.

I definitely enjoyed impressing die-hard Porsche guys with the Camaro's capabilities. I was the longest and widest car there. Being able to beat smaller, lighter, lower, faster and slick-equipped cars blew some minds.

nilfinite · 09-06-2016, 10:22 PM

Some good news: I ordered the GA3R wheels!!! They are going to look exactly like this:

I think the black tires + silver wheels will complement my white 1LE nicely. This is a close-enough example:

Now just have to wait the several weeks for them to be cut and shipped!!!

Burt · 09-06-2016, 11:26 PM

*wipes drool off screen*

those are going to look awesome! Did you end up going with 19x10/19x11?

08-16-2016, 11:28 AM	#103
nilfinite Drives: Camaro 1LE Join Date: Nov 2015 Location: Bay Area, CA Posts: 245	Reading through this older thread: http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showthread.php?t=431921 Realized there were lots of lessons in there that I missed because I didn't understand them. -David suggested 1/16 to 1/8 toe in. I didn't understand how toe in and toe out affects the rear! Didn't write it down and I instead got toe out in the spur of the moment when Trackspec (mechanic) asked me for the specs... That was fixed last weekend. http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showpo...99&postcount=4 -John suggested 28-32 cold pressures but I ran way higher than that...38...That was fixed about 2 months ago http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showpo...4&postcount=28 -Norm mentioned that better brakes wouldn't be the solution to autocross. Absolutely right. Better tires is the best solution. Know now that better brakes would be great for track. Track cars need something that can put down braking force but also handle the extra heat. http://www.camaro5.com/forums/showpo...3&postcount=34 -One nice surprise, my car is getting a lot more negative camber than I expected! -2.4 in the front! Trackspec says that maxing out negative camber is actually a very stable alignment. With negative camber, hitting bumps makes the car want to reach more negative camber but it's already maxed out So, if you have -2.2 and want more, maybe go hit some bumps and see if things will loosen up and get you that extra camber. lol Last edited by nilfinite; 09-20-2016 at 01:28 PM.

09-06-2016, 10:22 PM	#111
nilfinite Drives: Camaro 1LE Join Date: Nov 2015 Location: Bay Area, CA Posts: 245	Some good news: I ordered the GA3R wheels!!! They are going to look exactly like this: I think the black tires + silver wheels will complement my white 1LE nicely. This is a close-enough example: Now just have to wait the several weeks for them to be cut and shipped!!! Last edited by nilfinite; 09-06-2016 at 10:35 PM.

09-06-2016, 11:26 PM	#112
Burt Cone Killer Drives: 2012 SS Join Date: Dec 2013 Location: St. Albans, West Virginia Posts: 832	wipes drool off screen those are going to look awesome! Did you end up going with 19x10/19x11? __________________ 2012 Camaro SS - Sold Selling off my remaining wheels, tires, 27mm front sway bar, and MGW shift knob. Get them out of my house before my wife puts me out!

08-17-2016, 07:47 PM	#104
nilfinite Drives: Camaro 1LE Join Date: Nov 2015 Location: Bay Area, CA Posts: 245	Looking forward to this weekends event! Going to be the closest I've gone to driving a Nationals-level course and a bunch of former National champions to compare against.

08-20-2016, 06:25 PM	#106
nilfinite Drives: Camaro 1LE Join Date: Nov 2015 Location: Bay Area, CA Posts: 245	Came back from today's Autocross a little flustered. It was definitely a very different course than usual. Many times I was pleasantly surprised the Camaro was able to squeeze through some tough elements. Lots of cars were hitting cones today. My GPS for some reason stopped working midway so don't have much data to reflect on. I wasn't happy with 5 runs, was too busy running around putting tire blankets on the wheels and chatting with others. I cut the heat shield bubble wrap into smaller fitted blankets but it didn't help that much. I'm going to stop using them. Not worth the distraction. Probably got about 5 degrees more. Slowly getting better at offset slaloms. Really got to backside the cone prior to setup a smoother line. Overall was a great experience trying a new type of course. Just need more seat time on these technical courses. Can't make the Sunday event afterall which is a bummer. The highlight of today was chatting to a newbie that was inspired by my Camaro last weekend at the Lotus AX. His mind was blown that a big American muscle car could hang with the small lotus and other cars. It was his 3rd AX so gave him a ride along in my car and also coached the guy for a run. The newbie's excitement was similar to mine when I first got this car. This car shatters the belief that American cars can't handle.

08-29-2016, 06:21 PM	#110
nilfinite Drives: Camaro 1LE Join Date: Nov 2015 Location: Bay Area, CA Posts: 245	Update on the PCA event: A packed event! Long delay between runs. That was not helpful for my tire temps especially since Marina is 60 degrees and windy all day. In the end, still got decent times in comparison to benchmarks. I got mid 46s. Scott Frasier, multi-time national champion, got high 43s in a Porsche GT3 dialed in for Nationals. Another good regional competitor in STR (on slicks) got high 44s. I'm happy with my time in comparison to those baselines. There was at least 2 seconds left on the course. Tire temps before the 4th run: 90 degrees. 30 degrees more than ambient. I've found 130 degrees was perfect for the RS3s. Lower temps meant grip was 0.8-0.9Gs according to Harry's Laptimer. 1.1-1.2Gs when up to temp. RE-71R will surpass those Gs at a lower temp; around 110 degrees. I measured the tire temps on a Cayman S with RE-71Rs: 110 degrees, of course. This was a tough but good lesson to learn: spending a half a season on finicky tires. Learned a lot of patience this season and learned about what the car feels like at the limit. I definitely enjoyed impressing die-hard Porsche guys with the Camaro's capabilities. I was the longest and widest car there. Being able to beat smaller, lighter, lower, faster and slick-equipped cars blew some minds.