First Auto X
 

Hi everyone, I'm writing because I will be doing my first auto x ever this Sunday. I have a 2016 sports package stock with rays wheels and the Bridgestones RE050A tires. I will run stock everything. Any tips on tire pressure? Are the stock brakes and brake fluid ok for auto x? Am I going to suffer from high oil temps? Is there anything I need to worry about? I know auto x runs are short like 40-50 seconds so I probably do not have to worry too much. Probably keep the gas above half full right? I'm just a little worried since the car only has 2,500 miles and I can't wait to abuse it a little bit. :happydance: Also I've done professional karting for 13 years but I don't know if that's going to help. Tips will be appreciated. Thanks.

Lol I'm sorry. I just found this:
http://www.the370z.com/track-autocro...must-read.html

I would keep the gas around 3/4, at a half tank I still noticed some fuel starve. cant really comment on pressures with the stock sizes, but running 275 or 285 square I usually run about 37 or 38 all around.
dont forget to look up and not at the cone right in front of you

Cool down Inbetween runs and open your hood. Take it easy don't run back to back 20 times. But let's say 4-6 times in an he if ur lucky. Fill up your tank. Have fun and learn the limits of your car.


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Don't forget to turn traction control off.

Autocross is really not that hard on anything besides tires.*

How did everything go?

*depending on the temperatures outside, how long the course is, and how much time you have in between runs.

Everything went fine. It was my first auto x and learned a couple of things about the 370z and myself. The first run I was super pumped and I wanted to go really fast, so I was sideways the whole run lol. I learned to slow down a lot on this car when turning since it understeered quite a bit. Another thing I learned the hard way is to not his the gas hard on the 370z while exiting the corner! It instantly goes sideways. Once I got the hang of how the car behaves the auto x was over :(. There were 26 entries in the Novice class and I finished 4th. In my group I finished 2nd. 1st place was a mustang cobra that had the devil in it. That thing screamed and it was supercharged. You can see it in the pictures. 2nd place was a good friend of mine on an FR-S. I got in with him as a passenger even though it was not permitted (I guess they did not see me) and the FR-S felt a lot lighter obviously and he could go a little faster through the turns with his prius tires and 37k miles on them. He also slammed the gas when exiting corner but did not slide thanks to his 200hp lol. 3rd was a corvette and then me. Lesson of the day for me was to learn to accelerate gradually when exiting corners on the 370z. When everyone saw my car and I told them I was a novice, they all were like "oh you are going to be sliding and all over the track". Meh it was not as bad as they said. Just had to get used controlling the gas pedal. Other than that I fell in love with auto x. I'm going to do a lot more autoxs. My buddy with the FR-S is going to do some more. Hopefully I can beat him next time lol. Also I ordered and hotchkis swaybar set. I'm going to use the front bar and see how that works. I think I have to do more autoxs with the 370z just the way it is, but I could not resist on trying the bars :rofl2:. By the way sorry for not taking the pictures landscape, I hate that. FR-S just had a muffler delete basically stock and my car was completely stock. Oh and yes I went with the traction control off every run.

Looks like you had a great time man!

Take notes after each run if you make changes, tire pressures, gears, speeds, anything you can remember really. Always helps to compare notes with each run to find what is working best!


-Daelen

Yep will do! and yes it was great, can't wait do more autocrosses and eventually track days. Hopefully next one will be better, I'll post what happens next!

One thing to learn is throttle control, I was able to learn quick learning autocross on an Srt crossfire, the Z is very controllable with a decent tire. Just try to roll on the throttle and not stab at it when existing corners.

Yea man I figured. I wish you saw my first run, I looked like Chris Forsberg lol. I ordered a hotchkis sway bar to help with the body roll. For the future I still need to research what size wheels and tires are best for street class. For now I'm just going to work on learning how to control the car better.

First Auto X
 

Nice job! Since your stock the only thing you can adjust is you and your tire pressure. I typically run 38-39psi up front, and 32-33 in the rear, but you'll need to make adjustments per your exact setup.

Also, eventually you'll want to square your tires to resolve the understeer problem (275 or 285s all around). Do you plan to stay in B street?

I highly recommend the hotchkis bar.

Thanks man, just installed the hotchkis 2 days ago, just the front bar (need to sell the rear one on ebay). The car feels amazing when turning at higher speeds. At the beginning I thought about staying in B street, but I really want to do the square setup. If I'm not mistaken, I can't change wheel width in B street right? I don't know if I can go square on stock wheels lol don't laugh at me. Bear with me I'm new to this. Also I want to do more stuff to the car like stillen gen 3 and most bolt ons. Many of the things I want will bump me to another class. So I still don't know which class is best for full bolt ons and a square setup for 370z. I'm still doing research. Also FI exhaust is being made:excited:. Have to wait like 9 more weeks for that.

First Auto X
 

You're better off staying in BS. You can go square on 18" wheels with stock widths. I'm not certain with 19" wheels if they fit, but I think the do and they are certainly legal. I currently have 275 square...in BS. Get the RE-71R tires. This will buy you a second, maybe more.

If u do bolt ons I believe u go to str which has a tire restriction of 255 all around. :/ otherwise you go to ASP(?) which you'd need to spend a lot more $$ than just the bolt ons to be competitive. I actually took my stillen gen 3 intake off so I could stay in BS. :)


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Sounds so exciting thanks for sharing!!

I'll second the recommendation on the RE-71Rs. I have them and they are fantastic. They last a reasonable amount of time too...I'm 4 track days in on this set and I still have 6/32nds up front and 4/32nds in the back.

Also, going to a wider tire up front will help with understeer...try a 275.

Hmmmmm good to know that. Lol I thought I was going to need new wheels to go square. I'm such a noob:bowrofl:. I have a 2016 Sports package, so the 19" wheels. Current tires are the stock RE050A 245/40R19 front and 275/35R19 Rear. I'll check the fitment for square. About the bolt ons then I think I'm going to keep it in BS. It's really tempting to get bolt ons though. Wish I could get to 330whp-335whp, but it's one or the other. I prefer the track lol. Also are the RE-71R's better than the RE11's and RS-3's?. BTW thanks for the help. If I ever meet you, I buy dinner lol

Very nice. I will check the RE-71R's square and see what's up. I've seen a lot of people talking about them around the forum. The understeer was pretty annoying. There was a 180 degree turn coming from a straight and I had to brake really hard. I had to slow down way too much to turn.

You can stay in BS and run 275 or 285/35r19 tires on the stock rays rims. Glad you enjoyed it! I'm on my third year, and my second year in a-street prepared. Take it from me... Take things slow and stay in BS, find as many local events as you can. Get some seat time. The mod bug can get yo and before you know it you're up against 500hp evos on giant Hoosier A6 slicks with $10k coilovers. Hah

Stay out of ASP unless you have some serious $$$ to spend. You're probably looking $30-40k minimum to build the car and that doesn't include the tire budget for each season (another $3-4k). Also figure on more money for all the development work as no one has yet to build a successful ASP 370Z.

Lol ok I'll stay in BS.

That's what I needed to know. Def going square when I buy my next set of tires. Yea man I've been holding myself from buying stillen gen 3's and longtube headers hahaha. I'll stay in BS then. I was working in Ohio this summer and went to watch an auto x at the wilmington airport and there were some beastly evo's, rx7's, and sti's. I"ll stay in BS. Don't have that much money to spend in a car like that lol

This ^^^ . 370Z isn't very competitive is ASP or BStreet unfortunately. But with proper driver (in certain courses), it can win regional events

To compete with ASP Evo's, you're gonna need to rob a bank in asp. I run Bstreet. It fun. 275/35-19" re-71Rs on oem 19" rays is very good. Stock RE-050 is absolutely trash in my opinion. If you were oversteering a lot that day, perhaps your tire pressure wasn't set right? next time, chalk the sidewalls of the tire on 3 spots (right where the arrows are). You can use white shoe polish. It will show you if you're over or under inflated.

Will do man! I was using like 38psi front and 34psi in the back. I can't wait until the tires wear off to get new ones. The 275/35-19" you mean is for a square setup right? lol excuse my dumb question

That pressure probably isn't bad. You could lower the rear a little. I usually run 39/32-33 psi (fr/rr).

Welcome To GrassRoots Motorsports!
 

Second place in your first auto-X (in your class) is great. I suspect your karting experience had (and will continue to have) a lot to do with that.

Auto-X has a lot in common with karting. If you are sliding or spinning your tires you are slowing. Also, at this point there is nothing you can do to your car to make it faster. You need SEAT TIME running auto-X.

After a event, ask yourself if a better driver could have run a better time in your car (or if you are lucky there is someone running the same car)? Do not drop money on modifications until the answer to that question is no. Save your money for tires, entry fees, and spa days for your wife/girlfriend.

Will do for the next one!

Yea I definitely need more seat time. The second auto X I did was a lot better, I won the whole thing and there were no classes, everything was open. It wasn't as official as SCCA, but there were a lot of cars. You saw the other post because you commented. In that one, I knew the car limits better and I knew not to slam on the gas when exiting corners lol. Let's see what happens on the next auto x. The only thing that I've ordered recently is the fast intentions catback exhaust, I could not hold myself because I want to hear the car lol. I bought it at the end of august and I'm supposed to receive it at the beginning of December. I can't wait. This 3 month wait has been torture. Many people have told me that it is worth the wait.

Still disagree with those that think the 370z is not competitive in ASP (Tour Format). You will spend a lot of money to do it, but it's possible. Stay home or find a co-drive for Pro's though.

Agreed! Need to be smart about your setup and it ain't gonna be cheap but it can be done. Locally I'm competitive but I'm not running the right coilovers nor the right tires to compete nationally (or north jersey, which is pretty much the same thing considering the amount of national champs they have haha).