Did a local points series solo today with my new crossfire and the car tried to kill me. I am running original conti tires which are shot and hoping the tires caused all the problems today. The car understeers worse than anyrear wheel drive car I have ever driven and the car was completely out of control every run. Had one of our drivers that have been racing for over 30 years go on a run and he couldn't undestand how I managed to keep it on the course. Car is great driving in a straight line on the interstate.

I need tire recommendations ASAP as we have divisionals in 3 weeks and can't put the car on grid as is. Any setup, tire pressure recommendations would be greatly apprectiated. Heard we can get close to -1.8 camber with stock suspension, is that true? Would like to live long enough to see my next birthday.

Thanks

 

I like Kumho Ecsta SX - low price great grip, roadable.

 

I love the Kuhmo XS also. Raced the tire the last 2 seasons with an integra gsr and a miata. Kuhmo's as well as all 200 treadwear tires are very expensive for the xfire and hard to find this time of year for the tire sizes. Probably going to go with a little harder compound tire that will wear better and get the camber set as far as it will go to try and limit the understeer. I don't think there is a tire out there that can make a non SRT competitive in F Street. The limitations of the car will just make me work more on driving skills until I move on to the next car.

 

Other tires you may like are Hankook RS3 and Yokohama AD08. Both are good. The Yokos work better on the cool side. As far as camber, get the crash bolts for the front which will help a little. I had -1.4º one side and -1.7º on the other, more or less if my memory is correct. My car works better with lots of toe in out back. (1/4") You have to adapt to the car unfortunately. Adjust how you brake, turn in is different because of the s l o w steering, no limited slip requires being smooth with the gas. The car dives and leans like a ship, stock. So you have to be early with inputs and off the brakes. My best advice is find a safe place and try different techniques to see what the car does well and what to avoid if possible. Once I learned what not to do, I got more than I expected out of the stock tire sizes. After racing on Hoosiers for a year, my buddy didn't show with my race rims and tires. I had to run with my stock rims and tires. The tread shifted on the fronts but my times were …. amazing. Moral of the story is forget how you've driven other cars and open your mind and senses. MJ auto crosses his NA and may be able to help with specifics.

Les

 

Hey Les, How's the new front sway bar working out for you?

 

I won't know until I hit the track again. The car has been more of a daily recently. Lots of circumstances. I'm still dicking around with the front suspension. Long story made longer because I didn't want to deal with it myself. I took it all apart last weekend and "now" know what "I" need to do, what happened, how it happened, etc. An August 19 race is probable. For those that don't know, I can't lift the front of my car enough to avoid tire to inner fender contact with my race rubber. Not a problem on the street or with street tires.

Les

 

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.

 

Im going to put my 2 cents in, you need to decide what class you're going to run first. I'm guessing a SRT by the way the rear is moving, running FS you can be competitive, BSP, sorry no chance against a well prep'd vette or 350z. I would look into the hankook rs3, the kumho is a good tire, ive ran the XS about 4 sets BUT it is not legal in stock class anymore. crash bolts as stated are cheap and easy to install, you can buy them from mecerdes too.
I would find a set of stock size 18's and get tires, 235/40/18 and 285/35/18 or 275/35/19.. you could go 305/30/19 but it will cause the front to understeer even more.