This weekend I modified the UCA mounts a bit and took the car out for the first real test.
For the mounts what I decided to do was to cut the bottom weld on the front of the factory mount and bottom of the Chicane mount. I then cut another ~1/4" out and bent the factory mount outward ~1/4". I then welded it all back in place. I took it to the alignment shop and it's still not at the -.5 to -1 degree target but is closer at -1.5 on both sides.
After finishing this up at ~ 730 sat night I cleaned and prepped the car for an autocross the next day.
The autocross was fun and interesting. Day started out very nice but a bit overcast. I was working the 2nd group and running the third (of 3 groups) so I was excited the course would be cleaned up. A total of 169 cars were running so it was a full day.
During the end of the first group a huge storm came in and dumped rain. The course turned into a lake. It was enough to were the 2nd run group was knocking down cones with water splashing instead of actually hitting the cones. Luckily the rain stopped, sun came out and the course dried in most areas by the time I ran. Overall the course was fun and designed by a Vette driver. It was basically a 3 straights with 3 180's tying them together and a tights bend at the beginning and end to slow you down. It was fast and well suited for my car.
First run I went very slow. Fastest speed when the course was dry was ~39 sec and I ran a 48.132. I just wanted to feel the car and how it responded to the turns. I never left 1st and never even touched the brakes.
2nd run match the style of the first but I picked up the pace a tad. Still never left 1st but did touch the brakes. The car had little to no rear grip. I slid through the entire course. It was fun but not what I expected. When using the brakes I realized that I don't have a lot of confidence in them. I ran a 46.396
3rd run I decided it might be good to shift to 2nd gear in order to reduce the torque on the rear wheels. Unfortunately the engine tune wasn’t ready to support this and the car bogged pretty bad and then gave too much power. I ended up spinning in the last 180. I ran a 60.293
4th run I went back to the original plan and decided to begin running the hell out of the car . Luckily the engine has no issue spinning over 7K so I rapped it out pretty good. Basically I drifted 50% of the course. The slaloms did feel nice and I could see a big difference in how the cars takes to transitions. I ran 44.64
5th and final run I decided to really go for it. Basically drifted through 70% of the course and it was actually pretty dry by this time. One thing I did notice was the predictability of the car. I was confident hanging the car out and driving it hard. I used the brakes some but mostly relied on the engine braking. I really need to look into the brakes more. As far as the steering I was getting a bit of a push but the car really responded we’ll to backing off the steering angle and letting the tires grab then inputting a little more. Last run I ran 43.838 and ended up #1 out of 44 novices. Not a bad end to the day...
Changes to be made
Brakes - I have not run a manual setup before so I need to get used to it. I’ll try to bleed the system 1 more time. I also think I need to change from a 5-1 to a 6-1 pedal ratio.
Shocks - I ran the shocks ~75% on the firm side. I spoke to Jay at Speedtech today and he recommended the exact opposite. Next even I'll run them ~25 % firm and see how it changes. He said that’s how they ran the Nova (25-50%) and with the lighter setting I will get more weight transfer and better grip.
Brian Hobaugh SCCA National Tour June 2014
First Hemi 'Cuda Convertible Ever Built
Short clips: Goodguys Pleasanton autocross and pit videos
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