I just want to tell everyone that I took my Crossfire to the autocross track with my college car club. It was great fun getting to know the true limits of the car even though I did not do too good because of my lack of experience. The good thing is that one of the more experienced guys got a ride with me and he said I ran a very respectable time for someone with no autocross experience. The most difficult about it was figuring out the course...my last out of 4 runs was the only time I ran the track exactly on course (the other times I missed one little cone or two).

I have the Continental Conti-trac all seasons which were run at 41.5 psi front and I believe 35 psi rear. A run lasted about 70 seconds. It was a fairly fast course, taken all in second gear. The tires showed little wear by way of very small chunks of rubber missing from the outer ribs of the tire (this statement sounds worse than it really is). The car had alot of grip, but initial entry to a corner exhibited understeer while exiting a corner revealed slight oversteer that is easily controlled by throttle application. Too much body roll was exhibited by the car due to it's soft suspension but the course was slightly bumpy, which allowed the vehicle to maintain grip through some of the bumpy portions. You can really control how much grip the rears have by throttle modulation. The vehicle was also very fast at changing directions as exhibited in the slalom sections of the course despite the slightly sluggish steering. I took one of my friends in the car for one of the runs and he was giggling the whole time. When it ended, he got out and said: "Remind me to buy this car next time!" My brakes are somewhat warn well but they still slowed the car down decently well. I really wished I had more time to concentrate on my line through the course...the whole time I was just trying to figure out where to go! I beat a couple of 350Z's and Vette's though throughout the course, which was great! Here's a link to the thread of the event, with pictures of me and the Crossfire starting on the third page. There are also two videos on the third page of the thread, one launch, one 2nd run...that's me! Launching this car was funny that one time. I put the foot all the way down and the rev's stayed at 4,000 rpm, sorta like a launch control. I slipped the clutch a bit and I took off with barely any wheel spin...it was pretty undramatic but effective.

http://mmsports.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=98520#98520

 

Congrats GolfDude! Glad to hear you had tons-O-fun!

My first track time will be on the 11th with HDDP at Willow Springs. (EDIT Buttonwillow Raceway) He won't be in the car probably, but he'll be in his own event there.

Again, congratulations on your fun outing.

 

Thank-you and good luck in your races!

 

Good luck there, take a video camera with you. One of these days I will make it up there, maybe for winter intersession. It would be cool to see a crossfire racing club.

 

Glad you had fun Golfdude. I saw pictures and the results from the event and wondered if the owner of the Crossfire was on here. I will be running my car this weekend and I will also get to run against Chike who won DS that day. We shall see how things go, glad to hear someone else getting into racing with their Crossfire.

 

ButtonWillow Raceway for this event. It's actually a little bit closer to you off the 5. Would hate to have you show-up at the wrong track.

 

I am confused by this comment...I was the only Crossfire at the event. On the mm forum I am ultimagtrlover. Thanks for the comments, I really did enjoy it. I forgot to mention how my polished, glazed, sealed, and waxed Crossfire was incapable of having the numbers on the side of the car "Stick" to the paint surface. My number was 52, and without moving, there was a slight breeze in the air and it constantly removed the numbers from the car! By the second run the commentator allowed me to run without numbers! It's a testament to the products I use. Everyone laughed about it too...it was great!

 

Well look at it this way, you now have 100% more experience than you did before !!!

I find that to be my main issue with autoX. It's a pain trying to follow those cones.

Keep-up the good work...

 

Sounds like you had the same great time that we did a few weeks ago in Orlando. We were on a short banked oval, but I'd love to be able to try a road course one day. I was looking at the link to the '07 SRT Nationals and that course looks incredible. As next year arrives, I'm going to try to see if I can't plan a weeks vacation to drive up there for those 4 days.
Thanks for sharing your experience.

John

 

This is great guys... I love the fact that we're getting more Crossfires on the track, no matter what kind of track...

 

I just meant that I am a member of a sports car club a bit south of you and some of our members were there and posted pictures and results on the club forum from that event. I saw the pictures of your car and wondered if you were a member on this forum or not. Sorry to be confusing. I will be giving Chike in his 2006 WRX a run on Saturday. Unless my driving skills are lacking for the day or the car and I don't see eye to eye on how it is supposed to handle.

 

Ahh, yes, that was me! The guy in the brownish/grey '06 WRX is supposedly super-fast...he beat my friend's time in his STI! Driver skill is key, if you can beat Mr. WRX, then you are GOOD!

 

Well I would like to think after autocrossing for 5 years I am half way decent. I beat Chike by 4 seconds on a 50 second course in my Miata against his WRX back in July. So is the Crossfire 4 seconds slower around the course than the Miata. I would expect due to prep levels of my Miata it should be 3-4 seconds faster on a minute long course than the bone stock Crossfire, I will be driving so it should be a fun event.

 

Keith, you want to put my kosei's and 710's on for the dixie event? I doubt anyone will actually protest you on the wheel diameter. What's the width of stock xfire front wheels? My kosei's are 17x8 on all four corners (F:245/R:275).

 

HMM. Very tempting. The stock front wheels are 18x7.5 and the rears are 19x9 so I would be giving up a full inch in back and gaining a half inch in front. I would say that would be a good idea to see how the car handles with race tires on it. Thanks for the offer Dave.

 

FYI guys, 245's won't fit on the front, upper A frame bolt will slice the inside of the tread / tire. I have a brand new set of Hoosier 235/40/18's that will attest to that... And if you put spacers on the front wheels to bring them out far enough, you shouldn't be on a race track.

 

I've auto crossed the crossfire and i could tell you the only car i wanted to beat (and this was my first time out) was a wrx imprezza. i beat him by a tenth of a sec. I have a limited auto and the car did over steer in and under out but the gas pedal helped that. I was impressed. By the way along with that wrx was every rx8 along with him. Lots of potential in this little car.

 

Not necessarily. It depends on the offset of the wheel. That being said, using a spacer for autocross is a perfectly fine solution. I wouldn't do it while tracking the car at speed, but at autocross speeds, its fine.

 

Dave has been running the 245 Kuhmos on the front with no issues. FYI the 245 Kuhmo is the same width as the 225 Hoosier.

 

I'll buy that rationality since your speeds are relatively slow and you're not making that many laps. I have no problem with rear spacers for the track, but fronts are a NO NO. IMO.

I'm really surprised that a 245/40/18 Kumho is the same width of a 225/40/18 Hoosier, I would very highly doubt that. I can tell you from my experience, a 235 or wider Hoosier R3S05, Toyo R1 or Michelin Pilot Sport Cup will not clear the upper A frame bolt with the OEM wheel offset and a -1.85 camber adjustment. A 235/40/18 from those aforementioned tires takes an additional 7mm's to clear the end of the bolt.

And after re-reading Dave's post, I understand now how he's getting the clearance for a 245 tire, he's running a 17" wheel. So, back to my original comment from a few posts ago, a 235/40/18 + width competition tires will not work with the OEM wheels !!! Get your facts straight kid !