I agree that seat time is most important. But Jeffrey said his all-season
tires would be toast soon.
So I recommend he enter STS-N with some Falkens on his stock rims. This
will improve his times (which never hurts), while still keeping his costs in
line and his learning curve in the "slippery" tire range. He could be
reasonably competitive in STS for around $500 and drive to the event on his
"street" tires.
~ Ken Stolz
#12 STS Scooby-Roo
-----Original Message-----
From: cary alpert [mailto:cary_alpert@yahoo.com]
Sent: Tuesday, February 19, 2002 3:46 PM
To: Will Kalman; !Team.net
Subject: Re: Novice needs suggestions.
I also agree with Will. I started just a few months
ago and while I have done some simple car upgrades,
there is no subsitute for seat time.
Also having a target to shoot for, like getting within
a few seconds of Will, also helps.
Cary
--- Will Kalman <will@kalman.org> wrote:
> I agree with Alan and Dave! Tighten the loose nut
> behind the wheel first.
>
> I started autocrossing about two years ago and had a
> set of Nitto NT-450's -
> the NT stands for No Traction. I knew after my
> first event that the tires
> weren't good and my first thought was "what do I
> have to buy to get
> faster?". Thankfully, I resisted that temptation
> and ran the Nittos for the
> remainder of the year, dropping time relative to
> other competitors all
> along. Now that I've started to pull things
> together in the driving
> department, I've been upgrading the hardware and
> taking time to adjust my
> driving to it. And don't get discouraged when your
> times "plateau", I've
> found that after running the same relative times as
> the rest of the class
> for months, something inexplicably "clicks" and I
> get a bit faster from then
> on.
>
> Will Kalman
> '91 Escort GT
> Cal Club #232 STS
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Dave Kizerian" <davekizerian@hotmail.com>
> Cc: "autox list" <autox@autox.team.net>
> Sent: Tuesday, February 19, 2002 1:52 PM
> Subject: Re: Novice needs suggestions.
>
>
> > I agree with Alan on this, Run whatever you have
> currently and spend the
> > money on tracktime.
> > I learned in a civic running 440 treadwear all
> season sumitomos, I ran 1
> 1/2
> > seasons on those tires running every local event
> we had, and learned so
> much
> > about driving, and controlling the car. When I
> finally did switch to
> better
> > tires I found I was quite a bit faster than I ever
> would have guessed....
> > (hmmm amybe I need to spend another year on cheap
> slippery tires to learn
> > the new car?!?!?)
> >
> > Dave K
------ Original Post --------
After two autocross events, I've found out that it's really challenging to
get a good time.
Was beat by about 73% of the competitiors on the first event, and got beat
by 57% on my second event. (Pax Score) So I'm improving. (Things were much
more fun at the second event, now that I'm more relaxed behind the wheel.)
Here is my dilema, tires.... What to do.
I'm currently running a BMW 300i, on 205/50/17 All Season Radials in Street
Touring. All stock except for two appearance items, aluminum pedal covers
and a 1 inch tall lip spoiler.
I've got three options:
- Keep running with the same tires till theyr'e worn out (and after a car
control clinic and two events it's obvious they're going to get worn soon.)
- Get a second set of rims with the largest stickiest rubber that I can fit
on the car and run DSP.
- Order some 225/45R17's summer street tires and put them on the stock 7
inch rims, when 7.5 would be better. Keep running in STS-N.
- Pull off the spoiler and pedals, get a set of sport package tires and
wheels 225/45R17 F, 245/40/R17 R and run DS-N.
Anyone got a guess on how much time I'm giving up with All-Season tires vs
some performance tires?
Thoughts and advice appreciated.
--Jeffrey Macko
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