Autocrossed the GTO this weekend.

[Prodigalson]

A friend took a video. It was my first AutoX in any vehicle. It was a University sponsored event. I started out with a 46 second time and ended up at 39 seconds. The record was 35 seconds, driven by a guy in a WRX who had 4+ years experience w/AutoX. I was really pleased with how well the Goat handled considering the weight and partial psuedo-luxo suspension, although I must admit it had some crazy wheelspin on the hard turns. I actually got my best time when I accidentally left the traction control on for half of the track. I plan to AutoX more often..Any suggestions as to how to post the MPEG?

[RedhotGTO]

Any suggestions as to how to post the MPEG?
try this place...
http://www.streetfire.net/default.aspx

.

[bradz24]

yeah about the wheel spin. . you have plenty of torque. . next time leave it in 2nd gear and concentrate on your driving.. and you won't get wheelspin as much . if you are spinning tires you are not moving forward as fast as you can with traction.

[Prodigalson]

yeah about the wheel spin. . you have plenty of torque. . next time leave it in 2nd gear and concentrate on your driving.. and you won't get wheelspin as much . if you are spinning tires you are not moving forward as fast as you can with traction.

Yeah, I was in 2nd almost the entire time. I upshifted from first at the first straightaway and stayed in 2nd thereafter.
Having some difficulty uploading the video, but here is a still from the video..

[Chilly Palmer]

Yeah, I was in 2nd almost the entire time. I upshifted from first at the first straightaway and stayed in 2nd thereafter.
Having some difficulty uploading the video, but here is a still from the video..

Can't see anything but black squares ...

I wonder how the GTO would do with some stiff suspension ...

[City Goat]

Black squares here too, great time though man.

[Doug05CGM6]

Welcome to the Auto-x world. I've been out a couple of times in the GTO and it certainly is fun to drive. However, it's definitely easy to overdrive this car through the course. My next event is on July 2nd with the New England SVT club. I enjoy running with cars like ours instead of the little AWD Subarus.

[Prodigalson]

Sorry about the black squares instead of pics. Having some trouble with this computer. I tried doing a print screen during the mpeg, copying it to Paint and saving as a JPEG, but it goes blackon me...I'm definately hooked on AutoX..Yes it is fun running the Goat against a WRX or an STI...

[duomaxwell]

What's up man? I just did my first Auto-X sunday. All I have to say is WOW!! I have been going to them for awhile...mainly just watching my bro do them. He drives an STI. It is such a rush....but I have ALOT to learn.

What tire pressure did you run? I put mine at 45 psi all the way around and marked my tires. I didn't have any side wall rubbing. I was thinking about going down to 40psi.

The GTO has alot of potiential for auto-X. I was surprised that the handeling wasn't that bad. I thought I would be really tough with the weight.

The worst thing was tring to stay planted in the seat. OMG!! On every turn I was sliding all over the place. LOL. The course that I did was very tight. (Didn't get out of 2nd gear). I think if I get one of those seat belt fasteners (lock guards) it will make it better.

But yeah....Auto-X is so fun. I'm glad I gave it a try. Peace.

[Prodigalson]

Yeah, the track I ran was fairly tight too. A dead pedal would be helpful there..I ran my tires at 40 PSI. Yeah, the GTO does pretty wel, doesn't it?

[bradz24]

The worst thing was tring to stay planted in the seat. OMG!! On every turn I was sliding all over the place. LOL. The course that I did was very tight. (Didn't get out of 2nd gear). I think if I get one of those seat belt fasteners (lock guards) it will make it better.


try this with your seat belt. .. buckle up tighten it up real tight. . un buckle it and twist is one or two times. .. then re-buckle. .. I think you will find like me and a few other that it will keep you planted better that way.

[duomaxwell]

Yeah, the track I ran was fairly tight too. A dead pedal would be helpful there..I ran my tires at 40 PSI. Yeah, the GTO does pretty wel, doesn't it?

Thanks for letting me know your tire pressure. Did you have any side wall rubbing? Have you done anymore since your first one?


bradz24

Thanks for that info. Someone at the auto-X told me about that. I will give it a try at the next one.

Peace

[Prodigalson]

[QUOTE=duomaxwell]Thanks for letting me know your tire pressure. Did you have any side wall rubbing? Have you done anymore since your first one?


Well, to be honest, I'm not sure about side wall rubbing. I should have marked white stripes to the sidewall to see, but didn't think of it. I did do the first few runs @ 50 PSI, and noticed an improvement when I lowered them to 40PSI. Beyond that I cannot say. I haven't done any more AutoX, but I did take the Goat to the dragway a few weeks ago...

[GTOFrank]

try this with your seat belt. .. buckle up tighten it up real tight. . un buckle it and twist is one or two times. .. then re-buckle. .. I think you will find like me and a few other that it will keep you planted better that way.

Or move your seat back inches lock the seatbelt with your hand, then move the seat forward 2 inches or however tight you want. It should keep you strapped in better.

[YellowJacketGTO]

Awesome to hear you guys are AutoX'ing your GTO's, I am picking up a Yellow one this Friday. I have been X'ing for about a year or so now and love it..... car before this was a turbo VW so I am sure I will have to get used to the GTO with it being RWD and having alot more power. Even though it is heavier it should have an advantage being RWD due to more power going to the wheels and being able to drift the car some. Need to find some different tires, I'm sure the oem BF's won't be too good as compared with Mich PS2's or some GoodYear F1 GS-D3's.

40PSI sounds like a good pressure, that's what I always use to run mine at. You don't want to raise them to high cause the tire will wear wierd and you might risk blowing the tire if it's hot out... think the max pressure on the oems and most replacement tires is like 44 or so. My car will be an auto, so will probably leave it in 2nd like I did with my other car, but we'll see. Did you leave T/C off most of the time? Awesome times for the first time out. I always use to suprise STI and EVO guys with my VW. :D

-Rob

[jcain]

honestly, who auto-x`s a gto?... j/k. i, too, will be joining in these conversations as soon as a certain something/s gets here!

[Prodigalson]

Well, like I said in my original post, I actually got my best time when I accidentally left the traction control on for half of the track, but that could be b/c I was a AutoX newb, and someone w/more experience could find it to be different in their case, especially given the crazy amount of wheelspin I experienced..

[YellowJacketGTO]

Prodigalson - That's awesome. Yah, I have found that once you learn to control the power better then you can turn T/C off and do even better. Again, awesome times for a first run and in comparison with the other cars there. My dad and I autoX with the BMW/Porsche GA Club Chapters down here and they are a blast. I'll definatly post up when I get my car out, gonna run it bone stock first and go from there like I did on my VW. :cool:

-Rob

[duomaxwell]

I have to say that I am offically hooked on auto-X. Its such a rush. I am going to my 3rd event this weekend. My second event went really well. I felt more relaxed and was alot less nervious. However I still have alot to learn.

I definetly want to get better tires though. In auto-X it is one of the most important things. These stock tires are just hurtin. LOL. My threads are getting killed though. But yeah auto-X is alot of fun. Peace.

[MiTechRox]

Hey Prodigalson! Why Won't You Take Care Of Your Kid? What Is There To Be Afraid Of If You Aren't The Dad Huh? Do Dna & Prove Yourself. You Won't Because You Are Afraid Cuz You Know You Are His Dad & A Deadbeat. You Are Supposed To Be A Christian & You Abandon A Disabled Child? You Are A Wuss!

[Scotts05GTO]

Hey Prodigalson! Why Won't You Take Care Of Your Kid? What Is There To Be Afraid Of If You Aren't The Dad Huh? Do Dna & Prove Yourself. You Won't Because You Are Afraid Cuz You Know You Are His Dad & A Deadbeat. You Are Supposed To Be A Christian & You Abandon A Disabled Child? You Are A Wuss!


If you have a personal matter to discuss with someone on this forum send them a private message. Please do not I repeat Do Not post this again. Thank you for your consideration, have a nice day..

[St.Mary]

Only 1 post too...hmmm :sneaky:

[blackws6]

man,that's messed up!that dude needs to handle matters w/o us know somebody's business.but i guess ignorance is present almost everywhere.its a shame.

[jonlee]

so any update on the pics/video?

[wraith]

I went last weekend also, my first event. I cant say I did that well, but I finally stopped going off course and dropped 5 seconds, but I think i could have done a little better. The car really had a hard time changing directions quickly and I wasn't used to the way the steering lags a little from action to reaction, so I hopped around on the front wheels a few times. I have some pics though, enjoy! I had a great time, but I may take my 3000gt VR-4 next time cause its a much better handiling car--but the GTO is fun letting the ass hang out in turns---it needs sway bars and stickier tires. At 40psi, I was chunking the tires and scrubbing the side walls pretty good and although i totally admit I could learn to drive better, the EVOs and STis were all doing 35 seconds to my 45seconds and I think I could get that to about 40 seconds with some practice and a little more throttle control.

http://www.plaftaphoto.com/gallery/album225/MG_189 4
http://www.plaftaphoto.com/gallery/album225/MG_189 5
http://www.plaftaphoto.com/gallery/album225/MG_189 6
http://www.plaftaphoto.com/gallery/album225/MG_189 7

Sam

[Dbluegoat]

nice pics

[wraith]

The guy at the NASA events must have an awesome camera cause the clarity is really good and the GTO is just such a beautiful car, I got alot of good comments about it. When they see it in real life, the comments about it looking like a Grand Am never seem to come up, or they are just being kind to my face.

Sam

[duomaxwell]

Very nice pics wraith. Glad you enjoyed your first auto-x. I started this summer and I am so hooked its not even funny. Yeah...the goat has some potential on the auto-x.

Don't worry about putting up good times your first time. Basically it will come in time when you learn the car and what it is capable of doing. (right now I'm learning how to turn or pitch the car with the gas) I run my tires at 45 psi in the front and 42ish in the rear. You should mos def increase your pressure if you are having side wall rubbing. But yeah...I have done about 5 events so far and my tire threads are killed. lol. Auto-X is murder on the tires. The best mod you can do is to get better tires (the stock goat tires are awful) this will get you better times.

Yeah...you gotta love those Evo's and STI's. They do so well out there. Those cars are sweet. My bro has an STI and just kills it out there. Alright man...good luck with it. No doubt you will get better with each event. Peace.

[Redfred]

use the t/c to get a feel for a solid hook up after a bit you learn what it feels like then you can turn it off and gain some time. spinning tires slow you down (no forward motion) but it's fun.

[Heinous]

I just autocrossed for the first time this weekend. A club at my school put it on. The GTO was a little overpowered for the tight little course, but it was a blast. I didnt really know what I was doing, and with the T/C turned off it was crazy. I was sliding and smoking all over the place. I got some pretty shitty times, but man it was fun.

Heres a short video (http://www.rpi.edu/~hainec/video/autox.avi)

[Matagasco]

It's great you guys are doing some real racing with your cars!

Those are some really tight courses you are running to have times that quick, but it's more about the individual layout's consistency that you have to adjust to.

What I mean is that although a course may be short, sometimes there are a couple of fast 60+mph sections mixed with tight 15mph stuff. Other times a course will be a consistent speed range throughout, with little variation.

Tire pressure is really dependent on so many things, the first of which is the tires you are using. Some tires react well to low pressure, others get torn up and ripped off the rims if the pressure is too low. While common thought is that low pressure = more grip, many street tires flex onto the sidewall during the forces they deal with in an AutoX. This can be recognized by squealing during apex, and will slow you down dramatically.

I used to race in NY Autox at Nassau, driving a 98 Avenger. While it was front wheel drive and had very little power, the suspension and tire setup was very much so set for AutoX. I would run Toyo Proxe FZ-4's in the STS class. They worked incredible, but I would typically run 61psi in the front, and around 50 rear. It seems like way too much, but it took a lot to keep the sidewalls up. With this much pressure I got very little to no squealing.

Now I'm sure everything changes from low power, FWD race tuned susp. to high power, RWD, plush susp. I haven't gotten to test the GTO in an AutoX yet.

I'm sure you will be addicted forever now. Have fun! :driving:

[Heinous]

I autocrossed the GTO again last weekend. I still suck at it, but it was a blast. The course was a lot tighter this time, and I was having a hell of time getting the goat to stay in it. I still got beat by a bunch of civics and golfs--but hey, with half the size and way less power, they were much better suited for a course like this.

Some pics:

http://www.rpi.edu/~hainec/images/PICT0349_small.j pg
http://www.rpi.edu/~hainec/images/PICT0351_small.j pg
http://www.rpi.edu/~hainec/images/PICT0352_small.j pg
http://www.rpi.edu/~hainec/images/PICT0355_small.j pg

[duomaxwell]

I autocrossed the GTO again last weekend. I still suck at it, but it was a blast. The course was a lot tighter this time, and I was having a hell of time getting the goat to stay in it. I still got beat by a bunch of civics and golfs--but hey, with half the size and way less power, they were much better suited for a course like this.


What's up Heinous? Haha....sounds like you caught the Auto-X bug like me. Isn't it so much fun? After one event I couldn't get enough. Don't worry about getting first place. As long as you are doing better than your last times you should be fine. Try to learn how your car will react. Ask other rear wheel V8 guys at the events for tips. Also the instructor can give you good tips too. The best mod you can do to get better is to get a good set of R-compound tires. This will make you get better times. I'm still running the stock tires. Last weekend was our last event, so now I have to wait till summer again. Good luck man. Peace.

[Heinous]

Yeah, I plan to get some new tires, but I want to wear these stock ones down first. Autocross is an absolute blast. I have a couple of autox events coming up in a few weeks, so I will be getting some more practice.

[KrautBurner]

I just autocrossed for the first time this weekend. A club at my school put it on. The GTO was a little overpowered for the tight little course, but it was a blast. I didnt really know what I was doing, and with the T/C turned off it was crazy. I was sliding and smoking all over the place. I got some pretty shitty times, but man it was fun.

Heres a short video (http://www.rpi.edu/~hainec/autox.avi)


clicked the video,
file not found :banghead:

[Heinous]

Oops, I moved the file. I updated the link, and here it is again
video (http://www.rpi.edu/~hainec/video/autox.avi)