Driving Frustration Setting In

[jpvette]

Alignment and tires helped a lot on my car. Put the most tire you can on the front. I have 0 toe and 1.5 neg camber on the front and 1/16 toe and 1 neg camber on the rear. Under street rules You will probably not find enough front grip, You just have to adjust to it. Usually when I have understeer it's because I overcooked the entrance, try to brake as hard as You can then rotate with gas. ABS is your friend, use it. This is my third year autocrossing and I gauge my progress by overall run times and PAX run times. If You are improving your PAX placement You are improving as a driver (ie. placed 75th one event then placed 70th next event etc.). By the way, my wife likes the way your car sounds.

[steverife]

I found in Jed's S2000 that it was incredibly easy to lose the front. I found the car pushy on entry, neutral to pushy mid-turn, and loose on exit.

Like Jim said, you just aren't going to find the front grip you want in Street. The car isn't going to rotate, at least in any predictable manner, if you have lost the front.

[CobaltSSlow]

I was Dewitt's co-driver at the park and I was quite surprised at how neutral and forgiving the car was and how well it rotated on/off throttle and under braking. It just always wanted to turn. I was surprised at his tire pressures as well as they sounded more like something I would run on my somewhat heavy FWD car, so you might want to try bumping up front pressures. Get some people to ride with you and get a few different opinions. Having someone drive your car will help immensely too.

I would get on the Camaro forums and find the road-race/autocross section and either post there or read through some setups. They can be immensely helpful, just be sure to read through a few to be sure your getting good information and maybe bounce it off the folks in here as well. The people who know what they're talking about are usually pretty easy to spot.

[jpvette]

After reading in some of the Camaro forums about the nannies on your car are you aware of having to hold the button down for 8 seconds to totally disengage everything? If the nannies are on it will kill the handling. My car will push and brake like crazy with stability/active handling on. Pull the manual and make sure, I thought I was turning mine completely off at first but was only turning it part way.

[dewittpayne]

After reading in some of the Camaro forums about the nannies on your car are you aware of having to hold the button down for 8 seconds to totally disengage everything? If the nannies are on it will kill the handling. My car will push and brake like crazy with stability/active handling on. Pull the manual and make sure, I thought I was turning mine completely off at first but was only turning it part way.

The Mustang stability control is similar. You can turn traction control on and off at any time by pressing the button. But you have to be stopped with the engine running and the brake applied before you can turn the rest of it off by holding the button down until the dash display tells you that Advancetrac is off.

When all else fails, read the instructions. I'd been competing for a year before I did that.

[CobaltSSlow]

From some brief forum'ing I came across this. Its a list of their different options and relative bar stiffness - note that the 'performance' oriented FE5 OEM stuff keeps a relatively soft front bar while the rear bars increase steeply in rate as you move up in factory suspension packages. Do you know what package yours has? You might want to contact these guys and explain what you are trying to do.

http://www.moderncamaro.com/forum/tires ... isons.html

[Gen52SS]

I have driven since the first event in February with all nannies OFF. I have used the white shoe polish on my tires and found the sweet spot. I have tried air pressure changes from suggested 37lbs to 44 high and 32 low have changed many combinations higher front lower back and reversed. Since my car stock gears are if not mistaken are in the 3:27 range I have tried some short tight courses in 1st gear only with some success on others it doesn't work and must be in 2nd gear since my car is automatic and geared the way it is I find a torque issue at some speeds. I can go to 60mph in 2nd before rev limit is hit but when I need the low end torque sometimes it's just not there.

When I drove the old Chatt Eastgate location I found 1st gear helped me steer the car through sweepers with the lower end torque in 1st. to avoid the understeer. Some have asked about my long range commitment ...intentions if you will on the sport. That this may not be the right car for me if I plan to go to nationals or something at a higher level....a change of rides might be a better choice. Yes I bought the car before finding out about the world of autocross so I'm stuck with what I have. I do get to pick-up all the hot babe's in it got an advantage over some on that I always get a new car just before my warranty is used up... but that's 2 years away.

From the start I wanted to run what I had the camaro learn as much as possible in my first year with ETR attend as many events as possible and do NOTHING to my car for my first season except learn. My plan in my second season is to change my setup with tires to a square setup from a staggered. Once that has been done and I run a few events I will see where I'm at then. DeWitt doesn't have a ride this Sunday so he will co-drive with me and work on a few things. This turned out to be an informative thread...thank you all for the help.

[dewittpayne]

The thing about factory packages and Street class is that you can't pick and choose from different packages. You have to install an entire package. The Brembo package for the Mustang isn't just brakes and wheels either. I looked at Stranoparts.com and he only lists front and rear sway bar kits, something else you can't do in Street class.

[Gen52SS]

GM sells the 1LE track Pack for stock SS Camaro $3000 but to keep my warranty it must be installed by dealer. It also does not include GEARS, TRANS, 26HP, WHEELS AND TIRES I don't think so.

[dewittpayne]

I didn't realize it was an automatic. We'll have to try just leaving it in drive. Because of the torque multiplication from the fluid coupling in the automatic transmission, a tall axle gear ratio is normal. As I remember, the automatic version of the Mustang uses a 3.15 rear axle ratio compared to the manual transmission options of 3.31, 3.55 and 3.73.

[CobaltSSlow]

I simply posted that to show that a stiffer rear bar is probably going to give the desired balance. One bar is allowed in stock... Stepping up to the FE5 or one of the adjustable race bars may be what's needed. I'm not sure a square setup would be legal unless you did the entire 1LE swap. I think better tires and more rear sway bar will help. Obviously seat time will be most important. I'm sure Dewitt will have some good insight as his car is well sorted.

[dewittpayne]

GM sells the 1LE track Pack for stock SS Camaro $3000 but to keep my warranty it must be installed by dealer. It also does not include GEARS, TRANS, 26HP, WHEELS AND TIRES I don't think so.

The engine likely makes less difference than you might think. The lower horsepower engine might well have more low end torque, which is what you actually need and of which you have in plenty with the auto trans. The same goes for the rear axle ratio. Depending on the how much they charge for installation, $3,000 is a little high, but in the ballpark for a set of shocks, springs and sway bars. You'd spend about that much to put together a used Miata package and then you'd have the problem of where to put it, because it probably wouldn't be suitable for a daily drive.

I spent a good fraction of that amount getting the front end repaired after the spindle broke.

I just looked it up. $3,000 must include installation because the MSRP is $1500 for the parts alone. And that looks like a deal to me. Wheels and tires were always going to be a separate expense if you're serious.

[dewittpayne]

I'm not sure a square setup would be legal unless you did the entire 1LE swap.

Me either. You can only put wheel sizes on that were available as a factory option for your exact package as purchased. I have a GT Premium, non-Brembo. I can't use Brembo wheels. I'm stuck with 8.5" wide rims. However, you can put any size tire on the wheel that will fit under the fenders without modification. I have 275 section width tires on those 8.5" rims, which is a bit of a squeeze. It would be more of a squeeze to put those tires on 8" rims.

[garkit]

You can find the 1LE suspension parts a little over $1300 http://www.summitracing.com/parts/nal-23123397
but no gear(391), I've see them advertised for $450 and no tires and wheels, I've seen a set on ebay for $3500. The 6 speed is just a little different but I don't think you even want to try changing the Transmission. Only other major difference is the rear axles
a little beefier. If you change your gear you'll need a tune not sure if that's legal in Street. Probably a lot easier to trade cars.

[garkit]

Why would a 1LE conversion make a square setup more legal? Actually the 1LE isn't square as the front wheels are 10" and the back are 11" just the tires 285 are the same.