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      09-11-2013, 09:27 AM   #23
intoflatlines
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Thanks for the honesty, z3papa.

The first video with the guy (Ben Thongsai, you may/probably know him) pointing all over the place is a video that I should have never posted as is. Everyone looks at that first run or two and then assumes that is how all runs were. I do acknowledge that I suck, but the beginning of that video is not a very fair/complete representation of me.

To explain that first run, out of the box I immediately DNFed by going the wrong way around the first slalom cone (this was 100% due to a total brain fart as I did completely know - and it was very clear - that I was supposed to go to the left of the first cone). Ben was pointing this out so I shifted to third and kind of just focused on trying to learn the course (I had walked it only twice, and it obviously didn't transfer to my memory very well). After the larger radius left hand 180* I was accelerating hard and didn't see the first cone in the 2nd slalom. So he urgently pointed this out, so I tried to save it and make it around the 1st cone, causing me to go a bit sideways and I overcorrected. I acknowledge that my skills (or lack thereof) are poor, but please do not focus on the initial runs in that video to make a judgement about my driving. Course memorization/analysis sure, but not driving.

For the latest autocross, I purposely did not post my initial laps with an instructor, because if I did I would get more comments about "why did you shift into 2nd so early? why were you braking so early? why did you not accelerate harder? why didn't you take that first turn wider? why did you almost miss that first gate? etc." The answer is because per my instructors' (multiple) suggestions, the first 2 runs were to be spent just taking the car through the course, simply trying to learn the layout at moderate speed. Again, I know I suck but if you're going to critique me please focus on the later runs when I truly am doing my best and trying to drive the car at my limit.

I do understand and respect your experienced suggestion about "if you are simply 'driving' the course from point to point then you'll never advance", but honestly, what do you expect a new person to do in their first couple runs? The instructors that I have worked with have all told me that the first run or two should be spent learning the course. Like I said, I walk the course a few times beforehand but it only has a limited transfer into my memory. I know how it looks and where it goes from 4mph at 5'8" from the ground (I'm short!), but when you're going 20-55+mph at ~4' or whatever from the ground it is a new course to me. Autocross school and additional experience would help this, and I do plan to attend at least one next season for sure! Maybe if you are an instructor there you could teach me, if I haven't scared you off already

I know who Jeff is but have never really spoken to him or had him ride with me. Robin was my girlfriend's instructor at the Car Control Clinic that we went to in March. In my long video that was admittedly "hard to watch" you will see that Robin did ride with me and gave me some good tips afterwards (that run can be seen at this that run can be seen at this direct link)

But I do appreciate your feedback. Other than course dissection/memorization before driving, what the major issues (I know there are many) that you see with my "least terrible"/later laps?
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      09-11-2013, 01:39 PM   #24
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Quote:
Originally Posted by The HACK View Post
As for the head turning, take a look at your own video vs. KGolf31's video and see how early he turns his head (compared to the sound of throttle).
Here is a better example with a long left handed sweeper, and better sound of throttle with the new exhaust:



Quote:
Originally Posted by z3papa View Post
Intoflatlines -- I live in Central IL, am on the board of Champaign Co. Sports Car Club which runs predominantly in Rantoul, and am also a regular with Chicago SCCA which runs in Joliet and have run with the Windy City BMW club. I don't want you to take too much offense but you really need to attend an autocross school and get some good instruction. You have a ton of bad habits to shed. Robin Blair and Jeff Kumler are both friends who would be more than willing to give you good instruction. Your first video with the guy pointing six directions was hard to watch. Course dissection is one of the first things I teach new students. If you are going through a course by yourself or with someone where you are "driving" it (ie. going from point to point), you will never advance. You need to get to the point where you have everything imprinted in your mind before you go out. The Chicago SCCA region and their events are one of the best put on the nation. If you attend their 2 day school, part of your fees is a weekend membership which can be applied to a year long SCCA membership. If you want a less competitive and more cost effective deal, CCSCC has events 2 weekends per month with 1 day costing $30 and the second $10 with no SCCA membership required.
Completely Agreed. Get to SCCA Events, please.

BMWCCA events make courses tight, and slow to minimize risk involved on their end. SCCA is still safe, but there is a whole handbook on proper design of a course. Driving schools are the best way to work on your mistakes immediately after making them, and can get easily 20+ runs

The best thing to do after walking, is to close your eyes and visualize the whole course, turn by turn. If you cannot do that...walk again.

It shouldn't take you 2 runs to get your bearings straight, IMO. You should be balls to the wall with the first run.

My last event these were my times:

51.908 (W/Passenger)
51.756 (W/Passenger)
50.317
50.621
50.148

You can see what an extra 200 lbs would do to your times too, interesting to note.
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      09-11-2013, 03:10 PM   #25
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Thanks for the input. I will make more time to walk/memorize the course as suggested.

I just find it surprising that you/others are saying that I should go balls out on my first runs, when that's the exact opposite of what qualified instructors have told me before each event.

I do understand the criticism though. First immediate order of business is walk/memorize the course better. Next season I will do a couple autocross schools and give SCCA a try.

What I don't get is people looking at my "learning" laps (out of 12 total runs) and then using those first laps to tell me that I need to learn the course - that's what I was doing! How about you look at the later laps, after I know the course, and tell me what else I'm doing wrong? (I already know that I need to learn the course sooner)
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      09-12-2013, 09:14 PM   #26
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If you come to the CCSCC autocross school, I would instruct you. I don't tend to teach at Chicago SCCA or BMWCCA anymore as they tend to overlap and I'm racing myself. With that said, I always try to teach how to dissect courses into three or four segments which can be memorized so you are dictating where you want to be before you get there. The key part of this is really understanding how to walk a course, walk it three times, where you can walk your line with your eyes closed. I know it's hard but autocross is very much a mental game to learn what you don't need to pay attention to to. Virtually every course has 70-80% which don't have any importance. Learning how to eliminate those from your view makes this process much easier. Once the course is mastered in your mind, going faster is about how long your foot is on one pedal, and not on the other. In a stock car, straight line braking is absolutely critical. Your tires can brake, turn or accelerate but not two or three together. I can make you faster while slowing down the "mechanism". On instructional runs where I'm driving, I often tell the passenger every little thing I'm doing just before I'm going to do it so they can understand it is a thinking game that can be slowed down even if it seems like it is all coming at them fast. I'm sorry if my comment came off very critical. You have extremely abrupt inputs which are typically a response to being behind the course due to reacting to it as it is right in front of you. Only in exceptionally rare instances do I point segment to segment as it makes the student dependent on my pointing.
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      09-13-2013, 08:55 AM   #27
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Quote:
Originally Posted by z3papa View Post
If you come to the CCSCC autocross school, I would instruct you. I don't tend to teach at Chicago SCCA or BMWCCA anymore as they tend to overlap and I'm racing myself. With that said, I always try to teach how to dissect courses into three or four segments which can be memorized so you are dictating where you want to be before you get there. The key part of this is really understanding how to walk a course, walk it three times, where you can walk your line with your eyes closed. I know it's hard but autocross is very much a mental game to learn what you don't need to pay attention to to. Virtually every course has 70-80% which don't have any importance. Learning how to eliminate those from your view makes this process much easier. Once the course is mastered in your mind, going faster is about how long your foot is on one pedal, and not on the other. In a stock car, straight line braking is absolutely critical. Your tires can brake, turn or accelerate but not two or three together. I can make you faster while slowing down the "mechanism". On instructional runs where I'm driving, I often tell the passenger every little thing I'm doing just before I'm going to do it so they can understand it is a thinking game that can be slowed down even if it seems like it is all coming at them fast. I'm sorry if my comment came off very critical. You have extremely abrupt inputs which are typically a response to being behind the course due to reacting to it as it is right in front of you. Only in exceptionally rare instances do I point segment to segment as it makes the student dependent on my pointing.
Thanks. If I do a CCSCC school I will let you know!

No worries about the criticism - that's why I keep posting the videos in this thread! I can see how course memorization comes into play with my inputs, as you said that they are very abrupt, probably due to "reacting" to the course as I drive through it rather than thinking ahead. Hopefully the last video for this season next weekend will be a little better.
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      09-22-2013, 11:48 PM   #28
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Well today was the last autocross of the season for me. This course was much faster and smoother than past layouts that I drove with the club (still probably not to SCCA standards though, Kgolf31 )

I arrived pretty early and spent a lot of time walking the course beforehand. I tried to memorize and visualize the course and split it into different sections as suggested. It did help a lot. I tried to focus on being more smooth and it did also help a lot, even though I am still not yet very smooth. Here's the video of my best lap:

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      04-03-2014, 12:07 PM   #29
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Some great pointers here. I'm still a novice with 1 1/2 years of AX, but the things that have helped me improve the most are:
1. Internalizing the course. I walk it as many times as I can, and draw a map. Then as I'm waiting for my runs, I close my eyes and try to run the course in my head from memory, like the bobsledders do.
2. I try to figure out where the important exits are - in a series of consecutive turns opening up to a straight, I'm looking at them as a whole, focusing on the best way to set up the exit. Looking ahead at that exit the whole time. Then looking at the next series of turns.
3. Try to drive tighter to the cones. My lines are fairly smooth, but I tend to be too far out from the cones. Getting closer to the important apexes really helps my times.
4. try to quickly figure which corner(s) is the hard one. There's usually one bear that bites me, maybe overcooking or losing control. I really try to focus on setting up, and getting that corner right.

The great thing about autocross is there is so much to learn, you can be enjoying improving for a lifetime.
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      04-02-2017, 06:43 AM   #30
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I am doing my 2nd autocross one week from today. It's in Brooksville FL on an old runway. This post has not been active for 3 years. Is anyone else using a Z4M for autocross, or HAS used in the past On the first one 3 months ago, there was another Z4MR driven by an experienced driver. He finished 5 seconds better than my best run. I went into it pretty unknowledgeable. Just watched a few videos and read up on apexing ( didn't really know anything about it ) Took my first 2 of 4 runs with an instructor, first one is mandatory, second one by choice, 2 different instructors. Did a run with an instructor at the beginning of the first run. He had a MIATA and he whipped that car around at the brink of losing control. He was in complete control of it's limits. That's what I want. First thing I bought for the car was a new set of Bridgestone Potenza RE-71's. Spent more than I thought I wanted to, based on advise from this forum. I want to control my car a the edge of it's limitations. I do realize that at 3200#, this is not a prototypical autocross car. I know this car has limitations. I don't care about points, plan on doing an autocross every other month or so. Want to move on to HPDE once I have a full understanding of my cars abilities and become a better driver in general. I think driving at Sebring being my goal. I'd like some advice on a few things in general, not Z4M specific. I'd like to use good autocross driving habits, instead of just steering my car around the coarse.
1) Left foot braking
2) Keeping my hands at 9/3 position on the wheel
3) Backsiding cones
4) Trail braking
5) Figuring proper tire inflation

I have read some things about all of these, but don't fully understand them.
I have just installed Vibra Technics MM and Rogue Engineering TM and would like to continue adding any suspension parts that my 11 year old car with 56K should have for longevity and improved handling. I have looked into :
1) Strut brace
2) Sway bar F/R
3) RTAB
4) FCAB
5) FCA
6) Subframe poly - I've seen 8 piece sets that claim ease of installation

Any particular Manufacture to go with or stay away from for these parts.
Any help on these questions would be greatly appreciated
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      04-02-2017, 02:49 PM   #31
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Quote:
Originally Posted by JJZ4MR View Post
I am doing my 2nd autocross one week from today. It's in Brooksville FL on an old runway. This post has not been active for 3 years. Is anyone else using a Z4M for autocross, or HAS used in the past On the first one 3 months ago, there was another Z4MR driven by an experienced driver. He finished 5 seconds better than my best run. I went into it pretty unknowledgeable. Just watched a few videos and read up on apexing ( didn't really know anything about it ) Took my first 2 of 4 runs with an instructor, first one is mandatory, second one by choice, 2 different instructors. Did a run with an instructor at the beginning of the first run. He had a MIATA and he whipped that car around at the brink of losing control. He was in complete control of it's limits. That's what I want. First thing I bought for the car was a new set of Bridgestone Potenza RE-71's. Spent more than I thought I wanted to, based on advise from this forum. I want to control my car a the edge of it's limitations. I do realize that at 3200#, this is not a prototypical autocross car. I know this car has limitations. I don't care about points, plan on doing an autocross every other month or so. Want to move on to HPDE once I have a full understanding of my cars abilities and become a better driver in general. I think driving at Sebring being my goal. I'd like some advice on a few things in general, not Z4M specific. I'd like to use good autocross driving habits, instead of just steering my car around the coarse.
1) Left foot braking
2) Keeping my hands at 9/3 position on the wheel
3) Backsiding cones
4) Trail braking
5) Figuring proper tire inflation

I have read some things about all of these, but don't fully understand them.
I have just installed Vibra Technics MM and Rogue Engineering TM and would like to continue adding any suspension parts that my 11 year old car with 56K should have for longevity and improved handling. I have looked into :
1) Strut brace
2) Sway bar F/R
3) RTAB
4) FCAB
5) FCA
6) Subframe poly - I've seen 8 piece sets that claim ease of installation

Any particular Manufacture to go with or stay away from for these parts.
Any help on these questions would be greatly appreciated
If it was a titanium silver Z4MR you ran against that was probably Carl Waghenfor. He's a decent driver so he's a good benchmark to compare yourself to. He runs a lot more FAST events than I do so you'll get more comparison points tracking to his times. I won't try to comment on the suspension parts since my car is a 3.0si and the suspensions are different. On the autoX questions, here's my $0.02:

1) Left foot braking - My first BMW was an E36 with an auto trans so I learned left foot braking auto crossing that car and have been doing it since. That's just what feels natural to me now. In theory not having to move your right foot back and forth to accelerate and brake cuts a few tenths time. That's the upside of it. The downside is it is very easy to over brake. It's a conscious effort to keep my left foot off the brakes and just lift off the throttle when only a slight slowing is needed. I know several SCCA national champions that left foot brake and I know several that don't. Really a personal choice, and there is a definite learning curve. I wouldn't think about trying it for a while. Too many other things you need to get to be 2nd nature before LFB will really make any difference.
2) Keeping my hands at 9/3 position on the wheel - If an autocross course is designed correctly and you keep up enough speed you rarely need to do any hand over hand stuff to manuever. Keeping your hands a 3 & 9 gives you the most flexibility in steering the car.
3) Backsiding cones - Generally the fast way around an autocross course is to get the car pointed at the next element before you've left the one you're at. In a slalom that means you've already got the car pointed to go around the next cone as you're going by the cone you're at. I posted up a digram that shows the difference. On the right you can see that you should be passing the cone on the rear corner or "backsiding" the cone.
4) Trail braking - This is not releasing fully off the brakes before you're passed your turn in point. It's an advanced technique that can help the car rotate if done correctly. If done incorrectly it will help the car rotate a lot, more commonly called a "spin". Like left foot braking, there's a lot to be learning and a lot of time to be gained before you need to worry about this.
5) Figuring proper tire inflation - This can be a key element in autocross, but you need to get to where you can run consistent times before you can see the results from adjusting pressures. Best bet is to find someone experienced running same tires on the same car and run what they're running for now. On the RE71s I was running 30 psi front and 31 psi rear. Fronts are 245/40 x 18, rears are 265/35 x 18. I'm on Hankook RS-4s currently and running much higher pressures. I believe Carl runs 2 psi higher than me. I'm not convinced that's optimal for his car but it's where he feels comfortable. He's on wider rims so where's he's at may actually be good. He just hasn't tried going down until grip goes away to see if there's anything to be gained there.
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      04-03-2017, 12:30 PM   #32
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Lines on a slalom

since the shortest distance between any two points is a straight line, it is often better to run the slalom in a zig-zag line rather than a smooth, constant speed S-curve.

If the cone is your apex, then you are behind in the slalom. You want to turn in to the cone well before you get to it.

Use the brakes to plant weight on the front tires and allow you to make a nice quick change of direction. Then full power, for a spit second then brake ( in a straight line) get the weight forward, pivot the front end, power on again. Do this all the way through the slalom. This is the fastest way through.


^ I copy pasted this from a Subaru AX forum...So your "FAST" diagram has not quite a zig zag. Yours has a straight line in with the zig zag. Which in this post is the " brakes to plant weight/full power/then break in a straight line/pivot/power ". Do you agree with this ?

Since I hit POST REPLY, I can't see your post and will come back with more, next post. I'll see if I can copy/paste ACTUAL coarse from FAST. Basically it's a total slalom. Ten cones down/Full Circle ( snow man ? ) then 7 slalom back. Completely different from my first event.
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      04-03-2017, 12:48 PM   #33
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trial at coarse view

Brooksville_2017_04_08.pdf

My quoted text from previous post is an interesting thread to read. It's from North American Subaru Impreza Owners Club. NASIOC has a 2004 post on it's forum, titled Slalom Technique Question. I had stopped when I read the pasted quote, but as I read further the owner of this statement got pretty much shredded for his statements. He did throw in keeping a turbo spooled, there was some left foot braking discussion and some great debate. It's a good read, I'd be interested in your take, if you have the time and interest.

So yes, it was Carl. At check in/pre entrance he was doing the signing in. As he was checking in the car lined up ahead of me, I noticed him eyeballing my car several times. Then he walked up and said " You must be Jeff " and I said " You must be Carl " He was the only car I really cared about, as far as comparing myself to. Nice guy, we talked a bit, then I didn't really see too much of him the rest of the day. I'm going to look and see if he is out there again, I signed up fairly early, all 104 spots are nearly full. The AM session filled fast, as there is Miatapoloosa later in the day Sat.

1) LFB- I have never done it in my life. Experimented in the Honda a bit the other day. Seemed weird. Had GF in the Z4M car while driving nearly all day and thought best not to try it with her in the car. I'm going to experiment with it. When there is NO TRAFFIC AT ALL. I of course will not do it at the event Sat. Actually had GF drive my car for the first time. I wanted to set that # 2 seat memory for her. Adjusted steering wheel/mirrors. She had not driven stick in 4 years. She did OK. She drove ME to a beach bar in St Pete Beach. She wore a matching red bikini/red lipstick/red shades. She got ALL kinds of attention while driving MY car. ( she looks like Cameron Diaz/just tuned 30 )

2) I watched a 3/9 steering technique YTube video. Amazing that he had to nearly roll his hands over/upside down, but maintained that position on the steering wheel. He had a yellow neon piece of tape at the 12 position. Which seemed like a good idea as well.

3) I've got a much better understanding of backsiding now. Cool diagram. Printed and saved in records/file THANKS ! Q : The parallel ( with the cones ) STRAIGHT lines.... I'm 99% sure this is because the format of the diagram doesn't have curves in it's ability right ? That pasted quote also seemed to indicate that there was some parallel to the cone driving " brake ( in a straight line ) " which is why I even ask. I have NO FEAR of asking a dumb Q.

4) TB, OK for now, but I'm just trying to take it all in, keep it in mind, practice a bit a SLOW speeds on empty roads and see if I can start good habits right from the start VS having to break those bad habits later. Driving School is NOW on my list of things to do.

5) Tire pressure. I'm pretty sure Carl told me ( I asked him ) that my setting of 35-F/36-R was "probably" too much. I know how to chalk and why, though I did not. I did not see any tire temp machines that anyone was using. I did buy a descent tire gauge with valve. I think I'll drop down 2 # on both and see how I like it. At 33/34 should I take that long highway drive out there that low, OR drop at the event, refill before heading home ? Seems low for everyday driving.

One last possibly stupid question. I kept my DSC ON the whole time at the first event. I've never really driven with it off and didn't want any surprises on the coarse. It made me feel safer. I know that if I really want to drive this car to it's limits this will LIMIT ME. I'm going to turn it off tomorrow and do some driving ( after Mann cabin filter/new spark plug install ). So I'm going to push the car some and see how much difference the DSC really has. With AX, control seems more important that speed/power. So even if it slowed me some, I felt I was less likely to spin get a DSQ. I think you have DTC right ? Which I think is nearly the same.

Super excited for Sat ! REALLY APPRECIATE any and all advice ( past and future)....from anyone
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      04-03-2017, 07:26 PM   #34
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Attachment 1600147

My quoted text from previous post is an interesting thread to read. It's from North American Subaru Impreza Owners Club. NASIOC has a 2004 post on it's forum, titled Slalom Technique Question. I had stopped when I read the pasted quote, but as I read further the owner of this statement got pretty much shredded for his statements. He did throw in keeping a turbo spooled, there was some left foot braking discussion and some great debate. It's a good read, I'd be interested in your take, if you have the time and interest.

So yes, it was Carl. At check in/pre entrance he was doing the signing in. As he was checking in the car lined up ahead of me, I noticed him eyeballing my car several times. Then he walked up and said " You must be Jeff " and I said " You must be Carl " He was the only car I really cared about, as far as comparing myself to. Nice guy, we talked a bit, then I didn't really see too much of him the rest of the day. I'm going to look and see if he is out there again, I signed up fairly early, all 104 spots are nearly full. The AM session filled fast, as there is Miatapoloosa later in the day Sat.

1) LFB- I have never done it in my life. Experimented in the Honda a bit the other day. Seemed weird. Had GF in the Z4M car while driving nearly all day and thought best not to try it with her in the car. I'm going to experiment with it. When there is NO TRAFFIC AT ALL. I of course will not do it at the event Sat. Actually had GF drive my car for the first time. I wanted to set that # 2 seat memory for her. Adjusted steering wheel/mirrors. She had not driven stick in 4 years. She did OK. She drove ME to a beach bar in St Pete Beach. She wore a matching red bikini/red lipstick/red shades. She got ALL kinds of attention while driving MY car. ( she looks like Cameron Diaz/just tuned 30 )

2) I watched a 3/9 steering technique YTube video. Amazing that he had to nearly roll his hands over/upside down, but maintained that position on the steering wheel. He had a yellow neon piece of tape at the 12 position. Which seemed like a good idea as well.

3) I've got a much better understanding of backsiding now. Cool diagram. Printed and saved in records/file THANKS ! Q : The parallel ( with the cones ) STRAIGHT lines.... I'm 99% sure this is because the format of the diagram doesn't have curves in it's ability right ? That pasted quote also seemed to indicate that there was some parallel to the cone driving " brake ( in a straight line ) " which is why I even ask. I have NO FEAR of asking a dumb Q.

4) TB, OK for now, but I'm just trying to take it all in, keep it in mind, practice a bit a SLOW speeds on empty roads and see if I can start good habits right from the start VS having to break those bad habits later. Driving School is NOW on my list of things to do.

5) Tire pressure. I'm pretty sure Carl told me ( I asked him ) that my setting of 35-F/36-R was "probably" too much. I know how to chalk and why, though I did not. I did not see any tire temp machines that anyone was using. I did buy a descent tire gauge with valve. I think I'll drop down 2 # on both and see how I like it. At 33/34 should I take that long highway drive out there that low, OR drop at the event, refill before heading home ? Seems low for everyday driving.

One last possibly stupid question. I kept my DSC ON the whole time at the first event. I've never really driven with it off and didn't want any surprises on the coarse. It made me feel safer. I know that if I really want to drive this car to it's limits this will LIMIT ME. I'm going to turn it off tomorrow and do some driving ( after Mann cabin filter/new spark plug install ). So I'm going to push the car some and see how much difference the DSC really has. With AX, control seems more important that speed/power. So even if it slowed me some, I felt I was less likely to spin get a DSQ. I think you have DTC right ? Which I think is nearly the same.

Super excited for Sat ! REALLY APPRECIATE any and all advice ( past and future)....from anyone
The diagram is a bit crude since it was done on a phone using mobile power point at the time I did it for a friend several years ago. I just couldn't draw arcs like I wanted to with my finger LOL. The key take away is the line across the back corner of the cones.

Carl's a good guy and should be a good source of "M" info for you.

Approach LFB very carefully! It takes about 3-4 weeks for humans to make or break a habit and LFB is no different. First week there was a lot of neither foot on the brake as my brain was fighting the learned right foot braking. That was the sketchiest period. The 2nd week was more both feet on the brake as the brain over reacted to the first week. The 3rd week I was using the left foot mostly but it took deliberate thought and my brake modulation sucked. Toward the end of the 4th week I was starting to get the hang of it, but keep in mind this was with my auto tranny E36 so there was no clutch to deal with. When I got the Z4 I was back to RFB for street driving and relearning LFB on the autocross course. There were a couple incidents where the left foot found the clutch pedal when it needed to find the brake pedal that caused the wipe out of some cones, but fortunately nothing more. It is an adrenaline spiking feeling when you believe you have your foot on the brake and it goes right to the floor like you have no brakes, but then after a moment there's the realization you hit the clutch pedal.

Most people drop their air pressure at the event and then refill before leaving. It's mainly to reduce tire wear as much as possible since you already know the car handles better at the lower pressures.

Since the Z4M has a limited ship diff, the threshold where DSC kicks in is higher so it might not interfere as much as it does on the non-M cars. On my si it kicks in at the worst possible time so I run with all the nannies turned off. I believe Carl leaves it on, but it might be costing him on some courses.
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      04-04-2017, 07:35 PM   #35
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Just got back from some spirited driving. I played around with LFB just to try it. I had ONE life time conditioned response incident. Pushed in the brake like it was the clutch. Lucky I was belted in securely....Tried a bit of some Heel-Toe. Got a little hang of it, just approaching stop signs from 3rd to 2nd, then tried one on my favorite 90* banked turns on a ruralish road. I've driven on it tons of times, it's like 10 mins from the house. Did OK. Lot's easier to do when you are actually dropping down and then giving it the gas in a turn. Going to keep practicing on that curve. I've watched some really cool split screen videos of pro's doing it. It's pretty amazing. With the DSC of I was able to get some rear end wiggle. Felt like 33#-F/34#-R gave me a lot of traction. I've been running 4#'s more for everyday driving. Interestingly when I bought the RE-71 they filled them about there, which I thought was an error. I've always gone with what the tire states is max, minus 5#'s. Which I'm pretty sure is 50# on the sidewall. I went into the tire shop that installed and asked why they filled them so low and he told me that 37# is pretty standard when they fill performance tires. So I just keep learning.....
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      04-05-2017, 12:18 PM   #36
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Just got back from some spirited driving. I played around with LFB just to try it. I had ONE life time conditioned response incident. Pushed in the brake like it was the clutch. Lucky I was belted in securely....Tried a bit of some Heel-Toe. Got a little hang of it, just approaching stop signs from 3rd to 2nd, then tried one on my favorite 90* banked turns on a ruralish road. I've driven on it tons of times, it's like 10 mins from the house. Did OK. Lot's easier to do when you are actually dropping down and then giving it the gas in a turn. Going to keep practicing on that curve. I've watched some really cool split screen videos of pro's doing it. It's pretty amazing. With the DSC of I was able to get some rear end wiggle. Felt like 33#-F/34#-R gave me a lot of traction. I've been running 4#'s more for everyday driving. Interestingly when I bought the RE-71 they filled them about there, which I thought was an error. I've always gone with what the tire states is max, minus 5#'s. Which I'm pretty sure is 50# on the sidewall. I went into the tire shop that installed and asked why they filled them so low and he told me that 37# is pretty standard when they fill performance tires. So I just keep learning.....
In high school my girl friend split her lip open on the steering wheel and bounced my forehead off the windshield of my '56 VW Beetle and cracked it (windshield, not my head, although my head felt cracked too) the first time I tried to teach her how to drive a manual tranny. She stomped on the brake like it was the clutch also. The car only had seat belts so no upper body restraint. Could have really used the 3 point belt there! Not much fun taking her home looking like she'd been on the losing end of a fight.
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      04-08-2017, 09:01 PM   #37
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Did a lot better on my 2nd event today. Last run without DSC. Man what a huge difference ! Got my best time out of the 4 runs. Talked to a guy named Joe with a Silver 2001/2 Z3 M. He is really fast out there. He told me to always run with it off. No wheel spin with it on. Went with 31#-F/33#-R. Had great traction. Did my homework for this one, read a lot on AX in general. Walked the course 2X's. Had a great day. Thanks for your advice.

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      04-09-2017, 12:26 PM   #38
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Did a lot better on my 2nd event today. Last run without DSC. Man what a huge difference ! Got my best time out of the 4 runs. Talked to a guy named Joe with a Silver 2001/2 Z3 M. He is really fast out there. He told me to always run with it off. No wheel spin with it on. Went with 31#-F/33#-R. Had great traction. Did my homework for this one, read a lot on AX in general. Walked the course 2X's. Had a great day. Thanks for your advice.
Good going! You had some tough competition to run against too. Both Dat Nguyen and Ken Marion have trophied at SCCA nationals and they're really good autoX drivers. Doug Adams would be a good one for you to benchmark against when he runs the Corvette. That was a really challenging course with all those slaloms. They're really time eaters if you're not good at them. Ken posted up a video of his best run, so here's something you can watch and learn from.
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      04-09-2017, 01:21 PM   #39
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Yeah, it was a slalom fest for sure. Dat won the S1 I'm in. 40.944 in his '07 MX-5, which was just behind the fastest RAW time of the day 40.887. My best was a 48.625 ( with DSC off ) as mentioned. This last week I got a bit of a hang of how it moved around corners with it off. It was really my first time experimenting with it. My start was a minor burnout, which caught me off guard. I'm NEVER going to be able to COMPETE out there. Not against Miatas and S2000's. I feel like my driving skills have improved and if I was in a " OH SHIT " situation on the road, my evasive maneuvering will be more predictable. Great group of guys out there. Probably do another one in a couple few months. I really think springs with a higher rate would increase the handling, of course there are all the other options as mentioned, I'm just enjoying reading all the posts on suspension and trying to learn from what others have gone through. My car SEEMS to suck at the "snow man/figure 8 circles, the inside feels like it's waaaayyyy up there. I need to do more of these in a sensible parking lot, it's really more me than the car honestly.
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      04-09-2017, 02:19 PM   #40
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Yeah, it was a slalom fest for sure. Dat won the S1 I'm in. 40.944 in his '07 MX-5, which was just behind the fastest RAW time of the day 40.887. My best was a 48.625 ( with DSC off ) as mentioned. This last week I got a bit of a hang of how it moved around corners with it off. It was really my first time experimenting with it. My start was a minor burnout, which caught me off guard. I'm NEVER going to be able to COMPETE out there. Not against Miatas and S2000's. I feel like my driving skills have improved and if I was in a " OH SHIT " situation on the road, my evasive maneuvering will be more predictable. Great group of guys out there. Probably do another one in a couple few months. I really think springs with a higher rate would increase the handling, of course there are all the other options as mentioned, I'm just enjoying reading all the posts on suspension and trying to learn from what others have gone through. My car SEEMS to suck at the "snow man/figure 8 circles, the inside feels like it's waaaayyyy up there. I need to do more of these in a sensible parking lot, it's really more me than the car honestly.
Mostly this.

From a car potential standpoint your Z4MR stock is competitive with S2000s. If you look at the 3/26 FAST results you'll see I was within a couple tenths of Randy Barrera on tires that were still somewhat green. The MX-5 is a bit of an over-dog in B Street, and Dat is an alien level driver in that car.

Next time out, ask Loren or one of the other instructors to drive your car on the course. It's a bit tough to give control of your baby to someone else, but they'll drive about 9/10s and run times 3, 4, even 5 seconds faster than what you've been posting. There's a lot of driver tuning available before you'll be able to take advantage of modifying the car. If you can get to an Evolution Driving School, or SCCA Starting Line school, or if Suncoast PCA offers a school, it will take far more time off your runs than throwing parts at a car that's already pretty good.
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      04-09-2017, 03:35 PM   #41
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Thanks for that. I did think about offering it to someone. I do realize I'm a nube and the car has way more potential than what I'm able to do out there. I have seen many posts that suspension upgrades can make a big difference. My indy shop owner told me I need 2-3 years driving the car and working on my DRIVER MODS before I should worry about anything else. I want the car at it's full potential. But I truly know that my seat time and education is THE most important thing. Thanks for "steering" me in the proper direction in going to school. Mom was a lifetime grade school teacher and I know that the knowledge mod is very important. I think once I saw my smushed OEM engine mount, I feel like the car could use some refreshing in things like bushings and the like. Hey at least I'm not wanting to go right into performance upgrades...I love the way the car feels

This AX I was 70th out of 104 timed RAW, which is better than last time by far. I think that running without the DSC will help me really take the car to more of it's potential limits as well.
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Thanks for that. I did think about offering it to someone. I do realize I'm a nube and the car has way more potential than what I'm able to do out there. I have seen many posts that suspension upgrades can make a big difference. My indy shop owner told me I need 2-3 years driving the car and working on my DRIVER MODS before I should worry about anything else. I want the car at it's full potential. But I truly know that my seat time and education is THE most important thing. Thanks for "steering" me in the proper direction in going to school. Mom was a lifetime grade school teacher and I know that the knowledge mod is very important. I think once I saw my smushed OEM engine mount, I feel like the car could use some refreshing in things like bushings and the like. Hey at least I'm not wanting to go right into performance upgrades...I love the way the car feels

This AX I was 70th out of 104 timed RAW, which is better than last time by far. I think that running without the DSC will help me really take the car to more of it's potential limits as well.
Your indy is a smart man! By all means do the maintenance work to keep the car reliable. While suspension mods give the car more capability, they don't necessarily make it easier to drive to use that capability. It's actually possible to spend a lot of money on suspension bits and go backwards until you develop the skills to make the setup adjustments and get a feel for where the edges are.
To be really quick on an autocross course you need to be able to run between 10/10 and 11/10 of the adhesion limits of the car. DSC is designed to keep you at about 9/10 max. Pretty much everyone gets quicker when they turn it off.
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      04-09-2017, 07:26 PM   #43
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Yeah, next up is the change flush of ALL fluids except oil, which I did right away. Having no idea if and when they have been changed bothers me. Dimple plugs and starting my Blackstone readings will give me piece of mind. Think I'm going to stick with OEM fluids. I know that firming things up will make car response touchier and therefore would take some getting used to. Again, I would think the subframe bushings would be pretty hard, brittle and degraded by now and add slop to the handling. Had GF watch the video, thanks for posting. First time I was 91st raw/99 timed, so yesterday being 70th out of 104 is 4 X better, which she deducted. is a big improvement....Baby steps...
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