My Autocross Day
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Yesterday was my first ever trip to an autocross event. It was great to have the car on such a
big open area where it could be pushed without worrying about limits. It's the first time that
I've really driven it hard since doing all the mods to it. I learned a lot from the experience, the
main things being:
To explain:
Bottom line, I ran a best of just under 51 seconds, while my buddy Mike with his 2009 Z06
ran in the 44 second range. Unfair comparison? No, not really as the MR2 is such a go-kart
on the street, I expected it to do better than it did, even for a first time out. Sure, his car cost 7
times what mine has so I don't feel "bad" it's just that there isn't much left to do to mine and
his is till dead stock. Sure, on the street, my car handles better than most other drivers are
willing to try. It's a competent and fun car, and I enjoy it but this has shown that the project
has reached its end. Watching other cars on the track while being a cone monkey showed
me how much better they were able to jump from corner to corner simply from having more
available power. The MR2 does great as long as you can keep up your speed, but if you
slow down it takes too long to get back on pace. For those who as thinking it to themselves,
NO I will not convert it to supercharged.
Overall, it was a good day, but I'm ready to move to a car with more torque.
Here is the video of my best run (50.399) and also a video of my car from the outside doing
a 51 second run.
big open area where it could be pushed without worrying about limits. It's the first time that
I've really driven it hard since doing all the mods to it. I learned a lot from the experience, the
main things being:
- After all my suspension work, there is no way to get unintentional "snap oversteer"
that is supposedly so common in the MR2. - The front is too tight so the tires just tuck and it pushes - but certainly doesn't do that
on the street. - Even with all the engine mods and the 6 speed, the car still doesn't make enough
torque to do well on an open course like this. - I'm simply too tall for the car.
To explain:
- The "snap oversteer" that is supposedly such a bad problem (especially on the early
MK1's) does not exist on my car. Diving into a 90 degree turn at 35+ mph, cranking
the wheel and dropping into 1st gear produces a little kick of the rear end to the
outside and a slight drift - but you really have to try to do that. - The push on the flat autocross track is what hurt my times so much. You could feel it
scrub up to 15 mph of speed off, after which accelerating back up to speed cost too
much time (due to the lack of torque at the speed and gear for the conditions. - The car still exhibits the runs good to 4250, then takes off (in rpm/engine response)
after that. This makes it too easy to break the tires loose if you hit the gas at the
wrong place, and also means that (at the speeds of this course), you were either too
fast to use 1st gear or too slow (under 4250) to effectively pull hard in 2nd. - I had to run with the sunroof out of the car, slouch down in the seat and lean my
head to the right to fit in the car with the helmet on. As it is, I sometimes hit my head
on the roof if I hit a hard bump, but this was just too much.
Bottom line, I ran a best of just under 51 seconds, while my buddy Mike with his 2009 Z06
ran in the 44 second range. Unfair comparison? No, not really as the MR2 is such a go-kart
on the street, I expected it to do better than it did, even for a first time out. Sure, his car cost 7
times what mine has so I don't feel "bad" it's just that there isn't much left to do to mine and
his is till dead stock. Sure, on the street, my car handles better than most other drivers are
willing to try. It's a competent and fun car, and I enjoy it but this has shown that the project
has reached its end. Watching other cars on the track while being a cone monkey showed
me how much better they were able to jump from corner to corner simply from having more
available power. The MR2 does great as long as you can keep up your speed, but if you
slow down it takes too long to get back on pace. For those who as thinking it to themselves,
NO I will not convert it to supercharged.
Overall, it was a good day, but I'm ready to move to a car with more torque.
Here is the video of my best run (50.399) and also a video of my car from the outside doing
a 51 second run.