Flogged the P today
I finally got the Protege out to its first autox today, I'm pretty impressed with this car. Here's a brief overview -
Car - '03 Protege LX/5sp. Stock suspension, F/R toe set to 0, stock rear camber, front camber tweaked in as much as possible(~ -.6 deg.), 205/50/15 tires - cast-off Hankook Ventus 211's front/Yokahama A008R's rear. Initial pressures 43-psi f/r cold. I knew the car would probably rotate well with this tire combination, but wow! At the end of the first slalom was a 180+ turn, probably ~100' diameter....the first run through was a complete drift, near maximum lock, though somehow I managed to ride it out(and the other 2 ~180-degree turn on the course...). Needless to say, I dropped the rear pressure after that run, down to 43psi hot. The second run was my fastest timed run of the day, at 53.909 - slightly less than a second behind the class-winning MINI on Hoosiers. It was still a slippy/slidy run, but at least I was a little more prepared for it. I didn't change anything for my 3rd run, but pushed harder - and it was more than the car could take. I almost spun again & took out a few cones. I tried to work with these setting, and as a result, my fourth run was essentially more of the same..... So, for my 5th/last run, I dropped pressures in rear to 38lbs. The car really felt great that run! On the slaloms, where I really had to focus on keeping the back end behind me, the car pivoted nicely w/o oversteering. On the sweepers, I could balance the car very easily between over-/understeer with left-foot braking....and then at the very end of the course, I decided "what the hell - I should be able to flat-foot it through the finish".......and I hit the timing reflector. Doh! Such a shame, too, because I'm sure it was faster....I just wish I knew if it was a second faster, or not. Definitely close, though.... Overall, the car felt really good. The bone-stock suspension felt great(the surface is old/rough Air-Force concrete, similar to Topeka). In fact, I can't think of any other completely stock car - except for the Evo - that I've autox-d, and thought this much of the suspension! Now that I think I've got the tire pressures figured out, I'm not in a hurry to change anything else. And as long as I can race against the Mini drivers(they're also friends of mine, and are heading to Topeka next week - which should give me *some* idea of what this car may be capable of). Also, after 6+ years of me autox-ing, I finally got my wife out to drive in her first event....and of course, she's hooked!!! |
you planning on doing any suspension mods? yeah i am gonna get back to autox once i get settled at my new job.
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your first mod should be an AWR front motor mount.
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Well, I'm planning on staying in Stock class, so the motor mount isn't an option.
Not sure if I'm going to do anything for a while. I may go for the largest front swaybar I can find - *if* I can get some rear shocks with enough rebound valving to lift(or nearly lift)the inside rear wheel. I've used that setup before on other Stock-class cars & have been very happy with it.....I know all the small-front-bar vs. large-front-bar discussions, but the large bar works for me. On my last run, though, I was really happy with the balance & grip of the car, so I don't want to change anything until I run it as-is for at least one more event. |
how can upgraded sway bars and bushings be ok but not a motor mount??
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I understand how you feel - the Stock class rules can seem pretty absurd at times. As it was explained to me, the rule regarding allowing front swaybar changes dates back to the 1960's - when adding a front swaybar was sometimes needed to reduce body-roll within a *safe* limit.
There is *always* some debate about drastically changing the Stock class rules - who knows, maybe someday it will happen....I'm not too concerned either way. But I think the popularity of the Street Touring classes has grown out of the contempt some people have for Stock class - that, and the fact that Street Touring fits pretty well with what most people are already modding on their cars. |
I like the "don't ask, don't tell" mods. Can they see it? Can they tell the difference between stock and not-so-stock?
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gald you liked it Pete...you should try mine again on the autocross course...
Shawn |
Cool! I'd like to check it out sometime, Shawn....just have to find time to get down to a Stl autox sometime!
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