Exige Autocross / Road Racing?

[renoexige]

Took my 07 Exige (track pack, LSD) out for its first races and found that it isn't exactly ready to race right out of the box. Adjusting the dampeners and having an alignment done helped but I was also told that I need to lower the car and that the Yokos are the "worst autocross tires ever made." But apparently they are good for road racing which I do less often, will probably need to get another set of wheels to keep the car happy at both events. Anyone have suggestions for wheels / tires? The Exige is classed ASP so I get to play with wheel sizes and spacers; has anyone done this? Never did ASP before, have always driven a stock S2000 so I feel very clueless about this and would appreciate any help available.

[yeahiknowiam]

[xtn]

A048 is not designed for autox. In our lightweight cars you will never get enough heat into them in a 60 second run for them to perform at their best. That doesn't mean they are the worst autox tire ever made. Even cold they are stickier than many other tires. I suspect THIS might be the worst autox tire ever made:

[carlover]

^ No, it's probably just you, I use those tires for everything and have found that they work quite well.

Consider getting a second set of rims and affix hoosiers to them. Honestly, I've never personally done this, but there seems to be a lot of folks happy with this. If you do decide to go with slicks, consider getting the RTD brace (http://www.sector111.com/products/pe...s/rtdbrace.cfm). Also consider a slight toe out set up. It will make the car a little more twitchy in road courses, but better in autocross.

I have left the most obvious for last. Track time. This car is likely unlike anything else you've ever driven, and it will take some getting used to. Once you master the car you'll find that it may not require much at all. Honestly, I'd start with the hoosiers and brace. I wouldn't mess with the toe until you've learned the car.

My humble 2c

Good luck

[knucklehead]

For autocrossing don't forget to take the shims out of the front.

[carlover]

^ should he do that if he's going to be tracking the car too?

[knucklehead]

Originally Posted by carlover

^ should he do that if he's going to be tracking the car too?

Don't know so I won't speculate. I do know that the alignment of the car is different. For Autocrossing camber isn't supposed to be touched or the car won't rotate well. While track people like it dialed up.

[sandsmuseum]

I was at the Golden Gate Lotus Club clinic and practice autocross yesterday with the Exige. I took out the shims, lowered it, and set the shocks at the recommended 7 and 8.

I was not impressed. The car suffered from terminal understeer. All the other instructors were making fun of me! Well set up Elises with exceptional drivers were three to four seconds faster on the 45 second course.

I suspect the narrow front wheels, six inches, contribute to the understeer so I have a set of Cup wheels on order. I also do not think the 048s are a great autocross tire.

Finally I am disappointed I cannot go with smaller rims like I did with my Elise. Going to 15, 16 rims was a great way to tighten the car. Unfortunately the AP brake calipers will not clear so I am stuck with 16, 17 rims.

I think the Exige will need a significant amount of development to make it autocross competitive. But that is the fun of these cars!

Michael

[white_turbo]

Originally Posted by knucklehead

For Autocrossing camber isn't supposed to be touched or the car won't rotate well. While track people like it dialed up.

Where did you hear that from? Camber adjustment is a huge factor in autox as you have twice the amount of cornering than road racing.

[FLuXeXigeS]

bottom line...set up for AUTOX is different from Road Coarse/Track Day set ups...even though u can adjust all the same items, the values will probably differ, and dont forget to account your driving preference as well

[ZJChaser]

...alignment alignment alignment....

[Randy Chase]

The car is fast out of the box. Period. The A-48s are not the uber-tire that a Hoosier or Kumho is, but it is still fast and can be within a second of the DOT Rs. Check your alignment.

Track is not that different, car control is car control. A slight nudge towards less understeer and more oversteer is the main difference for me. But I never bother to change the car for track vs autocross.

Alignment, Tire pressures, shock settings. The car is sensitive to small changes. Taking front shims out is good. Most important is driver and learning how to drive the Lotus.

[knucklehead]

Originally Posted by white_turbo

Where did you hear that from? Camber adjustment is a huge factor in autox as you have twice the amount of cornering than road racing.

I've been instructed by a National level Autocrosser that changing the camber in the rear will ruin the car for autocrossing. The car won't rotate. Which is key in autocrossing, while in tracking you would want stability.

[codymac]

Originally Posted by Randy Chase

Most important is driver and learning how to drive the Lotus.

And, of course, learning to blame the car.

[Mag]

I've driven exige on track but haven't ever autocrossed once in my life, but go out on limb to say... the lotus is not a good slow cornering car, in my experience MR cars don't turn unless the balance of weight is brought to frontside, and that is usually achieved with speeds then braking...

widening front track helps. or just max out toe out, camber frontside, and toe in rear side ... jk

the tires that come with the car are special ad048 for lotus, forget the name. but ad048 comes in many other compounds. Not sure if it's available for overseas markets but S compound for soft is better than the lotus standard ones. with time ad050 will come out with the 17 size and we can try that as well.

[xtn]

There are many methods for changing the balance of a car. Tire pressures, compounds, sizes - many alignment settings, front and rear roll rates, spring rates, and damper settings - etc.

But when you boil it all down, there are only two basic scenarios.

1. You reduce the grip on the end that sticks too much, or...
2. You increase the grip on the end that doesn't stick enough.

Let's look at a scenario wherein the rear of the car won't rotate as much as you would like. You can reduce the negative rear camber, toe the rear tires out a bit, firm up the springs or anti-roll bar in the rear, or any other number of things that will reduce rear grip. Such methods represent #1 above.

OR you can do things that will increase front end grip to match or exceed the rear end grip. This represents #2 above, that I humbly submit is the superior choice.

Why is it the superior choice? Well, if you can get the behavior you want by ADDING grip overall, you will be able to go faster than if you achieve the same behavior by lowering grip overall.

Disclaimer: I don't autox. But the autox guru who says that changing the rear camber will ruin the car is full of beans, unless there is no legal way within your class to increase front grip an equal or greater amount. I do know this much: On the couple of slow, tight turns I experience on track, I have no problem getting the car rotated with all shims removed on every corner. I don't do it with power of course; I have to do it with trail braking. It has taken a lot of practice, but it works well.

xtn

[Bavarian Motorist]

Does anybody else find the R888s to be awesome for autocrossing?

With the R888s I'm usually around the lead of my class and my car feels so much more planted. I also have a track alignment, but I had that with the A048s and I performed much worse.


It's worth trying.

[OneFastLotus]

Originally Posted by renoexige

and that the Yokos are the "worst autocross tires ever made."

Sounds like your "region" isn't a very friendly group of people.

While there are better tires for autocrossing,the advans certainly arent the worst autocross tires every made. lol

Next time they rag on the Advans, tell them that Mike "Junior" Johnson ( Evolution autocross school instructor and SCCA National Champion) ran the fastest fendered car time of day in a VERY competative region on those "crappy old advans".

We normally run Hoosiers, but we had been eating up tires like mad during an evo school prior to racing. Mike was co driving the car and didnt want to mess around with switching wheels, wanted to test the limits for ****s and giggles.

Listen to Randy. He's correct.