which one of the two do you think is harder on our cars,I think auto Xing,just my experience. Btw I hope someone comes out with bigger steering knuckles for our cars soon

 

Auto-x by far. Not only are you still launching the car fairly hard, depending on how much space the region gives you to get up to speed before the timing lights, you're also flexing the chassis around every turn and alternating between heavy braking and heavy acceleration. Auto-x puts a TON of strain on a car. I would actually say auto-x is harder on a car than running a road course. I've done both and the braking/turning in auto-x is even more straining than on a road course (depends somewhat on the course too). You've got a lot more drastic weight shift through an auto-x course.

 

I honestly would NEVER drive auto-x on my car. its just to violet on the vehicle IMO.

maybe on my saturn or old integra which i wouldnt mind beating the hell out of, but id rather leave the courses or 1/4 mile to the ss/sc.

I wish there were actual courses you could take your car on around calgary like people do on nurburging in germany

 

It's actually not THAT bad if you know how to set a car up for it and know what to check for when you go over your suspension. It mainly just tends to loosen things up. Might wear the struts out a little quicker. I just cringe when I see people who have just gotten lowering springs with no strut or shock replacement done that are going to go take their car out. Or worse yet, some kid at tech happened to mention that he cut the springs on his Hon-duh before an event, then got mad because they told him his car was unsafe for the course.

I lucked out, I have a road course about 35 minutes from my house. There's several within a day's drive as well.

 

Thats some rational thinking you guys got there about autox, Ilove course racing though but I don't really want to hurt the car that much,and 1/4 mile just bores me,well have to stick to the streets

 

Autocross is definitely harder on cars, but I think it is more fun. You have to weigh the good and bad to figure out which is better for you.

I autocross with the Detroit region SCCA, it is hella fun.

It should not be too bad for my car since I work for a place where GM parts and special service tools come easy to me and am able to do the work myself, if needbe. I do labor time studies for GM.

 

AMEN!!!!! I love to auto-x and get to the road course when I can (though that is EX-PEN-SIVE...).

 

Whats the worse I could do because I want beter nuckles some auto x tires, i really wanted to gear my car in this direction. I drive a rig all day so I find this extreamly fun

 

GM actually provides better steering knuckles for competition use.

Here is a link to a thread I started about them:
https://www.cobaltss.net/forums/autocross-road-racing-53/warning-autocrossers-19407/

 

Wow 300.00 each, i was not expecting that

 

Have you gone auto-xing before? If not, then don't mod your car. Keep it stock for the first half a season to a year. THEN change things. Don't get too aggressive on the tires either. You need to learn how to feel your car. Like they tell you in a lot of driving schools, you need to find where the "edge" of your car is first. How fast can you take a sweeper before the tires give out? How fast is too fast for the slaloms? THEN you can start adding things (one at a time is best). Suspension is best, do only minimal engine enhancements. Each thing you add will change the limits of your car. So for every mod, there is a slight learning curve. Ok, now you have grippier tires, but where can you push them harder and how much can they take? Now you've got adjustable coilovers...but what's the best setting for each coilover? What tire pressures work well?

Start with some minor suspension adjustments, strut tower brace, rear support bar. Then go up from there...coilovers, or, if that's out of the budget, get some stiffer shocks/struts (I'm not a fan of simply putting lowering springs on an auto-x car.) Work upwards from there, anti-roll kits, maybe look into some sort of modification to the rear torsion beam (the GAC cars run an adjustable sleeve on theirs that allows them to tighten up the rear). Get more aggressive brakes. Once you've maxed out on suspension, then you can start adding to the engine. I've seen a lot of people with pretty high horsepower cars go out to and auto-x and get beat by Civics. In fact, in a lot of events the lowest PAX time rarely comes from the car with the most HP...

 

I will agree with what alleycat58 said.

I ran three events before I got my Falken Azenis RT-615 205/40R16 autocross tires. My next mod is a 4-point harness (harness I ordered) and my last will probably be a catback exhaust ( will get next season and more for cool sound than power because I plan on remaining in stock class for a while).

Those are probably gonna be the only mods I do to the car because, for one: it is an automatic , and two: I just want to get familiar with my car and how autocrosses are run.

I will say that tires are probably your most important mod in terms of times. The first autocross I ran with my new tires (autocross tires I use), I got first place.

Overall, the best advice is to just take it one step at a time and don't overdo it and force your car into a class you are not competitive in by modding your car too much.

 

totally agree with you there man, with suspension mods you should be ok. and going from a 4 pass air to water to a 2 pass should help the temps too, dont forget higher octane fuel or a gallon of toulene.

 

I can't afford harnesses yet. I have to put one in BOTH front seats for a road course. Required while you still ride with an instructor...although this will be my last track day with a n instructor REQUIRED...but there are some VERY knowledgeable people at the track I run at (including a few former professional racers), so while I might not be required to have an instructor, I'd like some input on my technique and therefore I'd have to have the 2nd harness.

An auto can be a HUGE advantage...

MY auto-x tires DEFINITELY not for the beginner...

 

Did yous see my link above to the harness I ordered? You can order two for about $280 as a package here: http://www.soloracer.com/schrothpackage.html


P.S. Get the Ralleye 4's. They work better for Cobalts

 

Wow, they look nice. Is it a firm hold or does it get a bit jerky?

 

Still waiting for them to come. Will post review when I finally get them and put them through their paces

 

nice

 

Cars shouldn't be having coolant temp issues...if they are, sounds like there might be other issues there. Mine runs about 169-174 during and after a run. SOMETIMES it will heat up to about 200 in the grid if there are a lot of delays in starting each car.

I WILL NOT under any circumstances add pure toluene to my tank. Regular gasoline already contains about 20% toluene and too much of it can cause major fuel system problems. It's just not worth it.

 

$280 is still out of my price range until I'm done with school.

 

thanks guys this is alot of really good info, due to budget I will be doing things slowly,outside of a street course the only autoxing I have is when we trained on crown vics,in the military.

 

i agree about the toulene, not good for our pumps and lines, i was told 2 gallons was a bit too much and that i couldve caused damage to my injectors all the way to the pump. but 1 gallon is ok as long as u fill the tank with premium. i felt instant throttle response and my RL pulled a bit harder! but its not for everyone. dont knock it till you tried it!!!!!

 

I don't know much about autocross so I was hoping you could answer two questions for me.

1. Why can an automatic be a huge advantage (my car is auto but I always thought stick would be better)?

2. What did you mean that those tires are definately not for beginners?

 

his tires are R comps, very good tires!!
i wouldnt put them on for my first autox, thats for sure

i think stick is better to use, you never leave 2nd gear anyways
with an auto, it could shift down into neutral in a corner and give you lag

 

I can probably answer those.

1. You do not have to spend time shifting or worrying about what gear you should be in when using an automatic. It is done for you.

2. The tires that autocrosser has are just barely street legal (two raing grooves). They are real sticky and are not allowed in the stock classes, which is where beginners usually are. They are more for a person who has advanced enough skills to mod their car and move up the class levels.