[Supras] Autocross experience

[Brian Walker]

Tony, you probably should have left out this sentence: "If you think its
a lost cause, I am also open to that ;)"

You'll likely get a lot of responses supporting that argument. I'm still
in the mindset that the mk3 can be a good competitor and am slowly
trying to prove that but yes, I agree it is outclassed. 5 seconds from
FTD sounds very good, especially for a novice. Where are your events in
Winchester? I run in Richmond and will be doing some tidewater events in
a few weeks but haven't made it up there for an auto-x yet. 

 

I've only been at this for ~ a year and so far found a lot from
different swaybars. I ran the ST combo and now have the Tanabe front bar
which really balanced the car well considering the tokico/eibach combo
I'm using. I recently asked a couple of the regional 'hot shoes' to take
some fun runs in my car and their times varied .1 slower to .2 faster
than mine (~45 sec) but far from the fast times of the day. Since that
day I've gotten rid of the old, hard tires and run a set of 'good'
street tires. I have closed the gap on folks I'm normally 2-3 sec.
behind to .5 or less so it's been a big difference. Keep in mind with
increase grip comes increased wear so check those ball joints/bearings
regularly.

 

Brian W-88T

 

Date: Mon, 6 Nov 2006 20:34:47 -0700

From: "Tony Gutowski" <TD5133 at comcast.net>

Subject: Re: [Supras] Autocross experience

To: "Supras" <supras at supras.com>

Cc: khalida1 at aol.com

Message-ID: <002401c7021d$ad55ffb0$37222a44 at yourw92p4bhlzg>

Content-Type: text/plain;     charset="iso-8859-1"

 

 Hi Supras,

     I just came back from my first Autocross at Winchester Virginia
with the Mercedes Club of America.  I was the only one with a supra (no
MKIVs even).  Overall, I think the car did pretty good.  My best time
was 35.01 seconds.  To put it in perspective, the best time was in the
29 to 30 seconds range, which was set by a Z06 and moded 06 STi (with
experienced drivers).  Most of these cars were purpose tuned for
autocross.  I was using Yokahoma AVS ES 100, which were not that great
in the cold weather (started in low 40's and ended in high 50's by
afternoon).  But I have to say, these tires actually worked very well at
the hyperfest event at Summint Point in July, which was 90 degrees plus
weather.  So these are just not for cold weather.

    I felt that if had better tires, and perhaps with upgraded anti sway
bars, I could have shaved off a couple of seconds from my time.  Also,
with more driving experience,eventually my numbers might get within 1
second of the fastest cars.

     

     I would appreciate suggestions from the group, especially those
with autocross experience, on what I can do to make my MK3 more
autocross capable.  If you think its a lost cause, I am also open to
that ;) 

 

Thanks,

/Khalid

90 T