Since Les gave me the setup . . . my first race had the same results. I was running on stock 6 year old Conti's, and the car pushed in every corner so bad that I was lucky not to finish dead last (someone's wife was two-driving their car).

Car Phase I: Again, get the crash bolts to add a little extra negative camber, get the stickiest extreme summer performance FRONT tires your can put on, and set them at 38-40psi. When gridding, staging and after your runs, turn the steering wheel back and forth (when moving) to scrub the tires and get as much heat into them as you can.

Car Phase II: Dedicated wheels and race rubber like Hoosiers, stiffer shocks & springs and larger front bar. CAI, larger TB and tune helps, and larger brakes.

Driver Phase I: First, read Les's post again about learning how to drive your specific car. The Crossfire has great stock brakes, and until you do something with your tires, you should brake before you turn, but you can stay on the brakes a little to help load up the front end to help the turn in. You can't just turn the steering wheel on the Crossfire and expect to corner quickly in stock configuration. For example, a stock Crossfire doesn't run sweepers very well, and on an autocross course, you can convert a sweeper into a "semi-diamond" corner. After doing some experimenting, I believe now I could back to the stock setup and do much better. Keep records about tire pressure and temperature, what works and what doesn't. Tires age, weather effects track condition, driver status (sleep, home/work issues, etc) all have an impact on results.

Driver Phase II: Go to a racing school like Evolution Performance Driving School. They will give you the book answer, plus ride with you AND drive your car to advise you on what to do. One of their tips was to touch (not slam on) the brakes lightly when providing steering inputs (like a slolom) to help settle the car and load the front tires. This was counter-intuitive, but a very but effective tip. Everyone reading this, raise your hand if you are a better than average driver. Thanks, 50% of you are wrong. Point: if you want to do well, go to school, because you don't have enough time or money to learn all the mistakes. Also, you don't have to be the fastest driver on the planet, just better than the drivers that showed up in your class, on that day, at that course.

Driver Phase III: Seat Time. Get lots of it. I've logged over 600 autocross runs, and I'm still writing down things I've learned. I also have a PS3 with GT6 and Logitech 27 driving a Crossfire and MY MODIFICATIONS. Not a Red Bull 900 HP formula car or a highly modified Viper (although that would be cool). I put several hours a week on this simulator, driving short courses with lots of turns, and it does help. (Wife from the other room: "ITS JUST A GAME", I scream back: "ITS A SIMULATOR").

The NA Crossfire is never going to be the fastest car out there, but with proper setup and practice you will compete very will in your class, have fun and race a very unique car. I've done almost everything to help the autocross setup and have done very well and gotten a lot of "I'm surprised about how well it does" comments.

Good luck with your journey, its a slippery slope.