NER Autocrass 05/01/2011 NHMS

This past weekends autox was one of our few events held at NHMS in Loudon, NH. This location is a much smaller lot and in turn a much shorter course but is a nice change of pace. The weather was comfortable with plenty of sun and temps in the high 60's. The pavement was a bit hotter allowing me to get some heat into the R-comps for the first time this year.

For this event I had decided to scrap my old tire pressure settings and try out something new. I had been caught up in chalking my tires and reducing pressures until I was scrubbing to a point I was happy with. After many events of working in this direction I realized that I may have brought them to a point that I was getting less grip out of them. I fully expected to spend some time spinning throughout the day with my tires now set to a cold psi of 35F and 30R. After the first few runs I did lower all four by a couple PSI so they would be at the 35/30 when hot. I was pleasantly surprised that I had been correct with the adjustments and I did not spin at all. I was also able to push the car (the tires really) a little harder than before and still achieve the same scrubbing points.

I had also adjusted both my sway bars to the softest settings (27F, 24R). This did help reduce the rear tire lift I had been experiencing but it did not eliminate it. I also tried a few different lines through the sweepers that comprised most of the course and had a bit more success with the inside tire.

The only other thing that I did change was (upon Marc's recommendation) I started running with the DCCD set to the rear. Although I did not feel a big difference in the car the first run like this, coincidentally, was my best run for the day. I will explore this more in the future.

A great battle began very quickly in our class with the top time changing frequently. I did have it at one point in the morning runs but quickly lost it. As everyone's times improved I reached a plateau (both myself and the car) and just could not manage a time to move me back up. Once all my competitors had broken the 30 second mark my goal changed to at least break that point as well, even though they continued on to get into the 28's! My best time of 29.860 was good enough only for last place but see below to see how close each position was. Overall I ended up 20th in raw times (can't complain about that) and a bit lower in PAX thanks to all those Miatas!

I did not let my previous win go to my head, however, I am still not upset about the loss, rather, I am actually kind of pleased! I am still running 95,XXX mile OEM springs and struts so the fact that I can even be competitive at all makes me happy, if for nothing else, about my actual ability to drive the car.