I did a practice day at Hollywood Park this last Sunday and I have to say that it went a lot different than my first try.

The alignment change helped more than I ever would have guessed. The car was nice and neutral and rotated quite nicely indeed. It didn't feel floaty in the back at all and I'm glad because that'll save me $800 for Konis and installagtion. The car was still slightly pushy in slow corners, probably due to the lack of engine braking in the slow stuff since I took the entire course in second gear, but it was definitely bearable and something I'm happy to drive around.

I was faster than all the Corvettes in my class on my best run, but it seems that the fast guy in SK1 should have been this guy named Derek Brauch who ran in SK2 in the last event for some reason; His car is also BS, so one of us in the wrong class.

I'm still playing with tire pressures, but I think I'm going end up around the 37/34 that Eric recommneded. I lost a lot of time when I went to lower pressures and the car seemed to rotate best at those settings. The S-02's seem to have plenty of grip for street tires, so I'll probably end up staying with them.

I have no idea why anyone would want to change the brake pads or fluids for Autocross. The brakes are fantastic out of the box.

Thanks to everyone that's been giving me advice, especially those that said to wait before I bought a bunch of parts. I'm amazed at the difference the alignment and tire pressure change made. My s2k is already at the point it took me over 6 months to get my Corvette to, as far as handling neutrality.

I'm going to have lots of fun this year! Thanks again to everyone.

Robin.

 

Robin,

what were your before and after alignment specs? (Or did I miss those somewhere else?)

Thanks,

Ted

 

I don't know what the before was: whatever the guys at the dealership set it at. The shop I used (recomended by a racer friend) had a guy that did the alignment manually, so I didn't get a readout of the alignment specs.

My current alignment is -1.7 deg in front with 1/8" total toe out and -1.5 deg in the rear with 0 toe. Worked great for the way I drive, and the wear pattern looks pretty good across the face of the tire.

I'll probably go to something like -2.0/-2.0 when I go to race tires, but for now I'm not going to monkey with anything and I'll see how I do.


Robin.