Autocrossers please read

[Unclesams_SVO]

I have been preping and reading how to set up my svo. I'm just wondering if there are any new inputs from any one for tire pressure and front and rear shock settings.

I still have Koni's front and rear btw.

[svobud]

It helps to know what tires/size you're running. From there you'll only get some basic starting recommendations and you'll need to adjust your tire pressures depending on track surface and outside temperatures from one run to the next. Marking the tire's side edge of the tread block before a run will show you if you're using the tire correctly. Lower/raise the pressure til it starts showing wear and then keep it at that pressure between runs.

As for Konis ... set your rears halfway or firm and leave them alone. It's not like you can jump back there and make adjustments between runs unless you've updated your rears to the newer/external adjusting kind. The fronts, set halfway and adjust to suit for the course. It's something that only comes with experience, but you'll start getting a feel for how to set them for YOUR driving technique.

[Unclesams_SVO]

The tires are BFG R1's size 235/40ZR17 mounted on a 17x8 wheel.

[svobud]

The tires are BFG R1's size 235/40ZR17 mounted on a 17x8 wheel.

Start them 40psi cold. You might need to drop them a bit to around 36/34 or so. Just depends on track temp and surface. Be sure to drive around and put some heat in them and scrub them em a bit before your autox day .... dont just put them on the car and the first place you run them is the autox. Go ahead and set your Konis to firm. The tires can take it.

[Unclesams_SVO]

Thanks

[gbeaird]

Do you have a way to fix the limited camber in the front end? If not, I'd probably add a pound, or two to the front tires to start, then see how it goes. We were running around 45F 38-40R on 265 16 Kuhmo V700s, but were running on an otherwise stock suspension.

Gene Beaird,
86 2R SVO, G Stock (Finally home),
Pearland, Texas

[svobud]

I dont recommend using a staggered fr/rr pressure based on Gene's Khumos until you get a figure of how your R1s are going to work for you. I do run a staggered pressure, but not until I make a run and see how the tires are working (tread block usage).

[Unclesams_SVO]

Do you have a way to fix the limited camber in the front end? If not, I'd probably add a pound, or two to the front tires to start, then see how it goes. We were running around 45F 38-40R on 265 16 Kuhmo V700s, but were running on an otherwise stock suspension.

Gene Beaird,
86 2R SVO, G Stock (Finally home),
Pearland, Texas

I have caster camber plates, and I planned on pushing the struts as far as I can towards the center of the car during the Auto-X.

On my street tires I ran a staggered psi, but I'll probally start with 40 psi in the front and rear to start out with and then go from there.

[gbeaird]

You probably know this already, but mark where you start, so you can get the CC plates back to the 'before' location after you're done.

Doing so will have the added bonus of giving you a little toe-out for quicker turn-ins.

Have fun! We have an event Sunday. We're hoping it's not snowed out. It's snowing like mad here in Southeast Texas.

Gene Beaird,
86 2R SVO, G Stock (Finally home),
Pearland, Texas

[Unclesams_SVO]

I had a blast, and had an expirenced driver sit shotgun to help me out a little with my driving and car setup.

At the end of the day I ended up running 30 psi in the front (should have left it at 32-34 psi) and 28 psi in the rear (worked good)

My front koni's were at 1/2 knob from full stiff and my rear koni's were set at full 1/2 turn from full stiff at first. But the car would slide all over the place, so I put the rear shocks to full soft between races and wow what a difference that made. I'm glad I could fit under the car to pull the rear shocks to adjust them out with out using a jack (becuase I did not have one at the, or jack stand for that matter).

I left the camber alone and the new wheels and tires helped with the rubbing issue but I still have a little on the passenger side during a hard turn. After I get a bumpsterr kit I'll probally set the car up with 2-2 1/2 * of camber and hopefully that will help out.

I have stock front and rear sway bars, poly front bushings, tubeular upper and lower control arms and 03 Mach 1 springs.

My final setting at the end of the day:

Front psi: 30
Rear psi: 28

Front shocks: 1/2 turn from full firm
rear shocks: full soft

It was fairly cold out (40*) so I'm sure the car will be a totally different monster when it warms up next season.

[Unclesams_SVO]

Measure the bump steer first before buying a kit or attempting to adjust. Camber changes alone will not change bump steer settings as that does not appreciably change the height of the steering arm while caster changes will change the arm height.

Adjusting the camber to help git rid of the tires rubbing at full compression is what I meant to say.

Since my car is lowered abiout an inch in the front I figured I need a bumpsteer kit, then would just get the car re-aligned all at once.

[Unclesams_SVO]

That will be another thing to do on my car then, thanks for the info.

[svobud]

So this means you'll be coming to the Reunion 2010 and gunning for one of the Fast Four autox trophies?!?!

[Unclesams_SVO]

So this means you'll be coming to the Reunion 2010 and gunning for one of the Fast Four autox trophies?!?!

I really want to go to the next reuniun, I will be auto-xing fo sho. I've got my membership form printed out and will be getting that in the mail next week (I'm outta car stuff monies right now).