Autosolo and a Strange Sensation.
Discussion
I "competed" in my first Autosolo on Sunday. Good fun if a little nerve racking initially. The car went well anyway which is the main thing. On a grippy surface with tight turns dictated by fiendish position of cone "gates" I am sure I felt the steering get really heavy as though the power steering had been overwhelmed. I know I was asking a lot by expecting the poor thing to turn on a sixpence while pressing on in 1st. Occasionally I was able to boot the tail round with throttle but not always safe in confined spaces. Was it just the build up of understeer on giving this funny feeling? Some steering fluid has found its way out of the reservoir unusually. The steering feels perfectly normal afterwards. Someone else in a less shiny Eunos was going much quicker than me by using more revs and the handbrake and old tyres. And skill!
I've got a funny feeling the fluid is probably the original! My MOT comes up soon so I will ask my friendly garage to change it and flush it through. Thanks for the advice. I suppose to some extent the reservoir works as an Air Separator Tank. Maybe a bigger one would help if the problem persists. I don't know when my next Autosolo will be. It was good fun and I know a traditional Autotest would be far too much for me and my gearbox and diff. At least I can add this to my list of excuses for a poor result. I was beaten by a Volvo Amazon and my very best time was on a par with a Citroen AX.
They all do that- its very annoying especially when doing autosolos where you have to make fast and frequent steering movements. my advice to avoid it... smoother driving.
Regarding the other mx5 going faster- in my experience with autosolos the best approach on nearly all that i have done is to leave it in first gear and rev the nuts off it, I appreciate that hearing the car bouncing off the rev limiter is a bit disconserting but you rarely go above 30mph.
Dont be dishartened by being beaten by inferior cars- a lot of people have said to me that small fwd hatches are best suited to this sport but in my opinion mx5s and the like are always more entertaing. infact when i was doing it regually it was always the guys in old fwd bangers that were winning, a combo of agility and driving talent.
Regarding the other mx5 going faster- in my experience with autosolos the best approach on nearly all that i have done is to leave it in first gear and rev the nuts off it, I appreciate that hearing the car bouncing off the rev limiter is a bit disconserting but you rarely go above 30mph.
Dont be dishartened by being beaten by inferior cars- a lot of people have said to me that small fwd hatches are best suited to this sport but in my opinion mx5s and the like are always more entertaing. infact when i was doing it regually it was always the guys in old fwd bangers that were winning, a combo of agility and driving talent.
Edited by Pete Franklin on Tuesday 11th October 15:57
Cheers Peter
I will persevere.
PS How do you find your P5 suspension? Phil did some good work on my car recently. I have the Bilsteins on the rear still and something else on the front.
I suspect that playing with ride heights and tyre pressures would make a difference for Autosolos but who is going to go to the trouble of working it all out and testing the results? I would be happy to have someone else's settings to copy!
I will persevere.
PS How do you find your P5 suspension? Phil did some good work on my car recently. I have the Bilsteins on the rear still and something else on the front.
I suspect that playing with ride heights and tyre pressures would make a difference for Autosolos but who is going to go to the trouble of working it all out and testing the results? I would be happy to have someone else's settings to copy!
Pete Franklin said:
They all do that- its very annoying especially when doing autosolos where you have to make fast and frequent steering movements. my advice to avoid it... smoother driving.
Regarding the other mx5 going faster- in my experience with autosolos the best approach on nearly all that i have done is to leave it in first gear and rev the nuts off it, I appreciate that hearing the car bouncing off the rev limiter is a bit disconserting but you rarely go above 30mph.
Dont be dishartened by being beaten by inferior cars- a lot of people have said to me that small fwd hatches are best suited to this sport but in my opinion mx5s and the like are always more entertaing. infact when i was doing it regually it was always the guys in old fwd bangers that were winning, a combo of agility and driving talent.
Yeah theres always "preferred" cars for auto-solos - ie the old bubble nissan micra, or a rover 214/216Regarding the other mx5 going faster- in my experience with autosolos the best approach on nearly all that i have done is to leave it in first gear and rev the nuts off it, I appreciate that hearing the car bouncing off the rev limiter is a bit disconserting but you rarely go above 30mph.
Dont be dishartened by being beaten by inferior cars- a lot of people have said to me that small fwd hatches are best suited to this sport but in my opinion mx5s and the like are always more entertaing. infact when i was doing it regually it was always the guys in old fwd bangers that were winning, a combo of agility and driving talent.
Edited by Pete Franklin on Tuesday 11th October 15:57
Im considering giving it a go meself!
PATTERNPART said:
Cheers Peter
I will persevere.
PS How do you find your P5 suspension? Phil did some good work on my car recently. I have the Bilsteins on the rear still and something else on the front.
I suspect that playing with ride heights and tyre pressures would make a difference for Autosolos but who is going to go to the trouble of working it all out and testing the results? I would be happy to have someone else's settings to copy!
The P5 kit is very good- its firm but rides bumps very well and feels nice and flat in the corners and the handling is very neutral. I was the first customer to get the kit fitted so there were a few niggles to start with but they have mostly been resolved.I will persevere.
PS How do you find your P5 suspension? Phil did some good work on my car recently. I have the Bilsteins on the rear still and something else on the front.
I suspect that playing with ride heights and tyre pressures would make a difference for Autosolos but who is going to go to the trouble of working it all out and testing the results? I would be happy to have someone else's settings to copy!
I have played about with changing damper settings/ tyre pressures but to be honest with such limited testing you are more likely to change the balance of the car and it would take you longer than the competition to get used to it. I used to play about with tyre pressures but it normally made the handling unpredictable. I always tended to raise psi as the tyres felt like they could roll off the rims however depending on your tyre profile lowering by a couple of psi will give you more grip at the expense of steering response (bear in mind that overheating isnt really an issue at these events). I'd just go with what youve got assuming the car has a neutral balence to start with. if you want more tail happy then raising the rear pressures to something like 30psi will do that but in my experience it isnt controllable.
Edited by Pete Franklin on Wednesday 12th October 09:50
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