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Autocross Driver Mod Help (Videos)

carpenj

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With the virus/safety issue lingering, I've only been allowed to have one experienced driver ride with me for one run, and I've been able to ride with someone else for one run. I'm hoping some of you will be bored enough to watch the two videos below of my first two autocross events and give me any tips for hustling the Mustang around the course faster. I didn't have the worst PAX or time of the day at either event (and did much better at the second one), but I'd love to learn more and get closer to what the car is capable of. Worst case scenario, you can enjoy the great sounds the car makes.

The car is stock, on PS4S tires, which is likely what I'll always run. Thanks!



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jgilkey

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Thank you for this! I haven't owned a Mustang for a while, and I've been itching to get into Autocross. When I saw the Mach 1 in my news feed, I figured it was time to dive in. Good luck with your Autocrossing!
 
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carpenj

carpenj

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Nice job! Autocross in these cars can be really fun.

The 2nd video was much better. The Grissom course is obviously more challenging mentally because it comes back on itself several times.

First thing I could tell from the first video was that you didn't seem to be looking far enough ahead: your inputs were more reactions to what was happening rather than guiding the car through the line. Keep your eyes past the corner you're in at all times. The second thing is that you want to focus on making corners two-phase as much as possible. What I mean by that is, make it turn-in and exit, with minimal 'mid-corner'. Mid-corner for most autocross courses exists when you're on maintenance throttle and a constant arc. You want to try to go as late and as deep into corners as possible, with trail braking, and as early as possible get on the gas. That torsen differential works wonders when you're on the gas, but can fight you a little bit when you're just coasting. On most courses, there should be zero or nearly zero amounts of time where you are on neither gas or brake (coasting).
Thanks, great tips! I'm gonna read over this and go back through the video of these runs. Hopefully I can erase the shame I've brought to the Mustang emblem haha.
 

SteveW

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As you look father ahead you'll be able to carry more speed mid corner and exit to where you'll hear more and longer squeal from (all) the tires and be smoother with the throttle.

Try to be tighter on the cones in the longer turns but hard to tell actually how close to them you were in the video with where the camera is on the car. It seemed like there were multiple feet of distance at times, especially on right hand sweepers. Extra real estate = lost time on the clock.

In the second video the beginning of the course has those silly "Chicago Boxes" where the element consists of a large rectangle open on one side but with a cone in the middle. Those trip people up sometimes. It's best to approach them from a steeper angle so you only have to make one steering input to negotiate it instead of three. Take the first one for example: you entered on passenger side and since you had a shallow angle of approach you first turned right to get in it, then immediately left around the middle cone, and right again to exit.

Next time try coming in at a steeper angle so you drive straight into it, stab the brakes to load the front tires, turn left around the middle cone and as the ass-end starts coming around feed in throttle and blast outta there :-)

Thanks for sharing! It's fun to do a little coaching sometimes.
 

ModularKid21

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Watching other people run is always fun for me. Kinda like looking at something through another person’s eyes. All in all, looked pretty good for a stock suspension car!
 

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TeeLew

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Rule #1: Hit every apex. Going fast in an autocross is more about discipline than bravado. If you overcharge the entry, can't get the car rotated and have to wait for the front to recover & turn before going to throttle, you're gonna be slow.

My style is a little different from Brian's. I have a significant amount of time with zero throttle. I have very little partial throttle. Between braking & trying to go full throttle, I'll have a moment where I'm just waiting. This patience allows the car to do its turning & allows me to reduce time at partial throttle. I avoid partial throttle like the plague in low speed corners. In high speed corners, the stability of putting some weight on the rear of the car is beneficial, but, at low speeds, it generally just makes understeer.
 

rebellovw

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Very nice - thanks for the videos - man I want to get out and do that - damn virus.
 

TeeLew

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Everyone does it a little different :)
Exactly, there are lots of spices in any soup.

I particularly dislike oversteer. It's not that it scares me or anything, I enjoy drifting around, I just can't make a car go around a track quickly while doing it.

In general, when I'm happy with a car, I'll have to keep the weight forward early in the corner with the brakes to make the front work. Later in the corner, the addition of throttle will produce understeer. I end up sacrificing mid-corner speed to get better rear grip on power down. Keep in mind, this is just personal preference.

Regardless, I think everyone will agree that making every single apex is essential.
 

SteveW

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Exactly, there are lots of spices in any soup.

I particularly dislike oversteer. It's not that it scares me or anything, I enjoy drifting around, I just can't make a car go around a track quickly while doing it.

In general, when I'm happy with a car, I'll have to keep the weight forward early in the corner with the brakes to make the front work. Later in the corner, the addition of throttle will produce understeer. I end up sacrificing mid-corner speed to get better rear grip on power down. Keep in mind, this is just personal preference.

Regardless, I think everyone will agree that making every single apex is essential.
With a GT the right amount of throttle eliminates understeer everytime, haha.

(sorry had to say it cuz looks like you have an EB)
 

TeeLew

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With a GT the right amount of throttle eliminates understeer everytime, haha.

(sorry had to say it cuz looks like you have an EB)
Take that boat anchor off the front end of the car and you don't have it in the first place.
 

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Hack

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There's a lot of technique in autocross that I really stink at, but in my opinion you want to do different things in different corners. It depends on what the track has before and after the corner. If you have a long straight followed by a bunch of tight corners, it's ok to overcook the first of the tight corners and if you have a bunch of corners with a long straight afterwards, it's very important to enter that last corner early and get onto the gas early. Maximize the straights.

My biggest foible is that just because the car is understeering doesn't mean you can't give it more steering input. I always tend to slow up once the car starts to understeer rather than giving it more steering angle.
 

Rose City R

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Backsiding is an excellent technique for slalom sections.

This concept involves trying to place the INSIDE, REAR wheel as close to the backside of the cone you are coming to. This does some important things.

It gives your car the maximum distance between the cones to make your arc. This will decrease the radius of the arc, which means you need less steering to make it around the next cone. Notice that the farther you are from the backside of the cone, the sharper your turn will need to be to make it around the next cone. This will cause you to reduce your speed to make the turn. The goal is to keep your speed as high as possible through a slalom.

It also teaches you to look ahead and prepare for the next cone BEFORE you have come to the cone you are attempting to backside. Your steering inputs need to be EARLY and well-ahead of the cone you are coming to.

For evenly-spaced slalom runs, your throttle position should be steady. Adding or subtracting throttle through an evenly-spaced slalom run will transfer the weight of the car and can induce oversteer or understeer. The quickest autocrossers have it on cruise control through an evenly-spaced slalom.
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