Hey guys.

I'm joining a club at my school that holds about 6 autocross races a year and I'm looking forward to trying the Cobalt out just for fun.

I'm looking for some advice from some more experienced racers on some little easy things I can do for the afternoon. These need to either be easily undone or not effect the use of the car as a daily driver - I drive around 2,300 miles a month, so i still some level of comfort.

Please don't tell me I need a $700 header, a $400 cat back systems and smaller pullys, new injectors, $1200 race springs and shocks, etc. All I'm looking for is some tips on setting up a STOCK car with a STOCK engine and STOCK suspension and wheels. Things like tire pressures, or maybe some little tricks I may not even be aware of.

My racing experience is entirely on a dirt oval racing a 1986 Monte Carlo, so this will be a whole new experiece for me.

Thanks for the help.

BTW - the car is a 2006 Cobalt SS/SC, Limited Slip front Diff.

 

I prefer 40psi up front and 42psi in the rear. Your best bet is to start your tire pressures the same at all 4 corners and then experiment with them to see what YOU prefer.

Honestly the car is a blast to drive stock. Little things that help would be a strut tower brace, rear support bar, stickier tires (although you trade of tread wear).

Surgeon General's Warning: Autocross is habit forming.

Looking forward to hearing how you do and how you like it!!!!!!! If you have more questions be sure to ask.

Best strategy is to start off stock and go from there.

 

i'm no a crazy autocrosser at all, but from my personal experence, fun does not mean spendinng a lot of money.

alleycat58 is right, personally, i'd take it as-is and see what you get.

 

These cars are great stock, so I totally agree with the leave it alone untill you really need to change anything. I have found that depending on the course anywhere from 38.5 to about 43 psi in the front works also for the rears there are two ways to go, either you put alot of pressure in them or you don't have much at all. Alot in the rear is like stiffening the rear end up so it looses traction easier ands helps the car rotate around corners easier, the not much pressure also helps but makes the transision is more gental and doesn't snap out.

 

Nice! So I don't have to really do anything then!

A question on the strut tower brace...

Does it make a noticeable difference (again, for fun means i want to feel it, not just see it on the clock), and where can I get a decent one at a decent price? I've tried looking online and have come up empty handed.

Thanks again for the quick responses.

 

Most of the stuff that you need to do to have fun and be competitive are driver skills. Being a racer, I'm sure you know how to set up the seat, hand positions etc to be able to control the car the best. I would like to add though (since I've seen it being disasterous if its not done) that seat position and arm span is VERY important. Make sure when your shoulders are against the back of the seat that you can put your wrists at the top of the steering wheel. Also a more upright position allows you to see the cones better and possible create a better line for yourself. Another important thing in driver skill is pedal modulation. Try and remeber that the brakes and gas aren't on/off switches, you can use the brakes to trail brake and apply a bit more preasure on the front tires bla bla bla. Again, I'm sure you know this alread since you do dirt track racing.

Another thing you might want to look into is this clip that locks your seat belt. I don't remember what its called but its fairly cheap and allows you to lock your seatbelt so you don't go sliding around as much.

I personally wouldn't put a strut bar on u ntil you see how the car performs. If it tends to oversteer a lot then go for the strut bar, otherwise leave it alone and have some fun.

Oh, and auto-x is addicting so be careful!

 

I ran my SS/SC stock about 2 weekends ago.... and the car does fine (aside from wheelspin), throttle control is important.... I also pull the fuse on my ABS so I can brake deeper into the corners. I ran 40 psi all around for my first outing and placed 3rd in class behind cars w/ coilover suspension (not bad).... next time I will experiment and report back
Auto-xing will teach you some excellent car control.
Find someone at the event who knows what he or she is doing and ask them to watch you (or ride along) and give advice.
My advice is don't over drive the car... remain calm.... move your mirrors so you can't look out the back (look at where you are going, what cones you've hit are already down).
Most of all have fun.... that's what it's all about.


PS....

 

Welcome to the addicting fun that is autocrossing.

The first thing is to try and get as much seat time as you can. Autocross events give you anywhere from three to six runs and each time you go, the courses are different. Seat time and exposure allow you to analyze courses to really plan on how to drive your car. If you're in the metro NY area, you're more than welcome to attend the local NYR SCCA autocross on September 9 at Nassau Coliseum.

In terms of quick and simple things you can do to the car and remain stock, here's a quick run down:
1 - K&N air filter in the factory airbox
2 - Optimize tire pressures. The 42/40 split suggestied by alleycat would be a good start, but as they say your mileage may vary. The idea is to use tire pressure to fine tune out some of the inherit understeer of the car.
3 - Good gas and good lubricants.
4 - Something to hold you in place a bit better: either the CG-Lock seatbelt attachment or a harness.

I'm a big fan of running in stock form because of the limited number of upgrades that can be done, driver abilities play a far more important role.

Hopefully this helps and keep us up to date on how you do.