AUTO X help please. - Honda Prelude Forum

ms3p · 02-15-2002, 05:44 AM

I might be going to my first AUTO X this weekend so can you guys give me some good tips on it. Also I drive a SS Lude . Should I do the course in auto or SS mode??
Any useful info is appreciated.

THanxx

Darth Luder · 02-15-2002, 05:54 AM

Can a mod move this to the autox forum?

First, you will want to get there early and try to help out setting up. If you are going with friends, this will be good. You will want to run in the Novice class and learn how to drive for your first few events. You will be amazed at how much you have yet to learn how to drive. It is really funny to watch these drag guys come to the events and be like, aww man, I know how to drive, watch me go, Im gonna beat you so bad. Then they go and DNF, spin out, etc...

Read the novice handbook too:

http://www.tirerack.com/features/solo2/handbook.htm

Dont worry about mods or tires or anything yet. Your greatest mods will be the improvement in your driving skill. Some basic starter tips are these:

If you are pushing out on course, you might not be on the correct driving line. Watch others driving and compare their line to yours. Just remember that there are many correct lines for getting around a course.

You can also bump up the pressure in your front tires and keep the rears the same, this will get you better grip up front because of a more flattened tire and bigger contact patch and stiffer sidewalls, producing some oversteer. Do not get crazy with it however, something like 44 front and 34 rear for stock tires is a good start.

Just remember to go and have fun in novice. Dont go looking to beat anyone in classes. Also remember there is a big difference between r compounds and street tires. There will be others in novice that have just as much to learn as you do so just go have fun and see who ya can beat there. Its always fun to see the little 4 bangers beat the V8's, even vettes in novice..

ImagePree · 02-15-2002, 11:28 AM

moving to AutoX forum.

darth: seems like you write that little paragraph every week.

Pork Chop · 02-15-2002, 11:42 AM

I'd run it in SS mode. 1st gear goes up to 45mph and on a tighter, slower course, it may be possible to run the entire course in 1st.

On a more "normal" course, you'll probably need to shift to 2nd and back to 1st for the slower parts, since 2nd gear tends to bog more in the slow corners.

If you're concerned that all that shifting will be too distracting, you could just run the entire course in 2nd gear and just concentrate on driving the right line.

Darth Luder · 02-17-2002, 07:02 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by ImagePree
moving to AutoX forum.

darth: seems like you write that little paragraph every week.

Thanks See, what paragraph are you talking about? Hey, racing season is almost here!!!

Be sure to let us know how you do in SS mode.

xtal · 03-16-2002, 06:35 PM

Run it in 2nd.. I have a 5spd, I've tried running our typically REALLY tight courses all in 1st, but you get a mad engine braking effect that sucks. Shifting back to first even double clutched is not an option on my car and I wouldn't recommend it as I'm pretty sure the transmission will fail on me in a few years anyhow. So I just run in second and focus on driving line. One of our courses lets you get into third though, which is fun++

.

One way I make time on the lude is to take full advantage of the brakes, I can brake later than a lot of other guys and still pull through the features. Every 0.1s you brake later adds up over a course

.

If anyone downshifts 2-1 on course in a 5th gen, I'd love to know your technique

.

Steve

Pork Chop · 03-17-2002, 11:57 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by xtal

If anyone downshifts 2-1 on course in a 5th gen, I'd love to know your technique .

Steve

Heel-toe w/ double clutch. Works pretty well. The important thing for me was to practice doing it everyday, such that it becomes second nature to me. I don't do a 2-1 everyday, but I still heel-toe/double-clutch every downshift when I'm driving around.

ImagePree · 03-17-2002, 12:04 PM

i don't think it's worth the trouble to downshift to 1st in an autox... just for the time spent trying to downshift, turn, accel, then upshift again, that could be a whole .5 sec wasted when instead, that time could've been used trying to concentrate on the turn more.

i've tried once or twice myself, and it didn't work out very well. not that i dunno how to heel and toe, just didn't feel like it was beneficial to my times.

Pork Chop · 03-17-2002, 12:24 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by ImagePree
i don't think it's worth the trouble to downshift to 1st in an autox... just for the time spent trying to downshift, turn, accel, then upshift again, that could be a whole .5 sec wasted when instead, that time could've been used trying to concentrate on the turn more.

i've tried once or twice myself, and it didn't work out very well. not that i dunno how to heel and toe, just didn't feel like it was beneficial to my times.

Excellent point. If you get it right, you'll pick up a little time, but if you botch it, you'll lose a lot of time.

For some actual data on the time gain, I found it to be 0.1 second. When I took the Evolution AutoX school, I asked my instructor if it was worth it to go into 1st. Since the school is set up to give split times for all segments of the course, he tried 2 runs, one going into 1st and the other leaving it in 2nd. He also tried this with a Type R and got similar results.

ImagePree · 03-17-2002, 01:41 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Pork Chop

Excellent point. If you get it right, you'll pick up a little time, but if you botch it, you'll lose a lot of time.

For some actual data on the time gain, I found it to be 0.1 second. When I took the Evolution AutoX school, I asked my instructor if it was worth it to go into 1st. Since the school is set up to give split times for all segments of the course, he tried 2 runs, one going into 1st and the other leaving it in 2nd. He also tried this with a Type R and got similar results.

i see i see.
i'm sticking to my philosophy then.

thanks for you input.

xtal · 03-17-2002, 01:53 PM

On the 2-1, do you get grind? I get some serious crunching action when I try that, and I know how to double clutch properly. My feet are too big to get heel-toe down with the stock pedals, though.

I stick with concentrating on the turn vs. downshifting. The only time I know it costs me bigtime is a 360 turn around that's really tight, you're exiting at most 30 km/h, and I'd say the loss is at least 0.5s. But I really hate that crunch.

Steve

Pork Chop · 03-17-2002, 02:13 PM

If I don't blip hard enough on the double-clutch, it crunches.

In general, it's really not worth doing a 2-1 unless the corner is really slow and the following section is a long straight. In that situation, going into 1st gives you a slightly better pull out of the corner for the resulting straight.

SleepyFish · 03-18-2002, 06:04 AM

Ah yes, the the 2-1 downshift dilema. Personally I try to avoid it. You have to be a good driver to be able to do it well and not lose time. My skills are not there yet. The chance to lose time is much greater than the chance to gain time by going down to 1st.

I had a friend/instructor drive my car and he downshifted to first for some of the corners. He's a very good driver and was very smooth with the downshift, but I told him to leave it in 2nd for the next runs to see if it was better. Turns out he was faster by leaving it in 2nd. It just doesn't feel faster since you're not pulling very hard out of the corners. Just depends on the course and how tight the corner is I guess.

Darth Luder · 03-18-2002, 04:06 PM

I would say it is very course dependent as well. In general, I do not see an advantage, however, I am not saying that it is not out there. You also HAVE to be good at it, or those precious tenths start accumulating on the possitive side.......