Autocross

[FUN2RIDEFAST]

This Sunday will be my first SCCA autocross. I'm really looking forward to it. I'm there to learn so will be taking it easy and listening to the experienced drivers. The car looks great.

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[ice445]

As someone who has autocrossed, I recommend leaving the assists on for at least half a dozen events, lol. It's tempting to just switch everything off right away, but unless you're already a pro, the car behaves COMPLETELY differently with all the assists off and you'll probably explode some cones or swap ends.

It is a ton of fun though, so enjoy!

 

[WItoTX]

If it's in an open parking lot, I disagree with ICE. Turn all that shit off, and go see what your car can do! Spin it or win it, you decide.

But seriously, AutoX is great for learning the limits of your car. If you don't spin it at least once, you aren't pushing it's limits.

With your SC, be very nice to the throttle. I recommend setting the mag ride and steering into track mode independently, then kill the advancetrak. Setting the car this way gives the throttle a more linear feel. If you put the car into track mode, it seems like 90% of the throttle is in the first 30% of the pedal movement, and makes for a very twitchy car.

Good luck and report back!

 

[NightmareMoon]

If it's in an open parking lot, I disagree with ICE. Turn all that shit off, and go see what your car can do! Spin it or win it, you decide.

But seriously, AutoX is great for learning the limits of your car. If you don't spin it at least once, you aren't pushing it's limits.

With your SC, be very nice to the throttle. I recommend setting the mag ride and steering into track mode independently, then kill the advancetrak. Setting the car this way gives the throttle a more linear feel. If you put the car into track mode, it seems like 90% of the throttle is in the first 30% of the pedal movement, and makes for a very twitchy car.

Good luck and report back!

Truth about the track mode throttle. Its fun, but useless on actual tracks (or autox) where you need the linear control… and the steering you can leave wherever you normally like it.

Enjoy yourself, but manage your initial expectations for world racing dominance. Let the instructors coach you and ask for ride alongs as often as you can. Most people have quite a few lessons to learn before they get quick.

 

[Vertex]

I'm actually super excited for end of October to go visit a friend in Nashville who goes to auto X events very often and has gone to a few tracks as well. However, he has a 22 Supra, not a Stang. Nonetheless I still am looking very forward to going to my first even when I visit him even though it won't be in my car.

 

[FUN2RIDEFAST]

Thanks for all the comments and good information. Will report back next week.

 

[SilverSurfer410]

I've done a few events myself and always have a great time. 1st half of the day I had in track mode to just feel the car out and how it reacts to my inputs.

2nd half I turned advanced track off and let her rip, at that point I realized when all the nannies are off they are not truly off unless you pull a fuse under the hood.

I was on a drift pad with everything switched off and trying to drift the car, I would get a yellow traction light on the dash. Even my instructor noticed the car cutting power when hitting the gas trying to slide it out. He swore my TC was on until I showed him that everything was off. Weird for ford to do that

 

[NightmareMoon]

I've done a few events myself and always have a great time. 1st half of the day I had in track mode to just feel the car out and how it reacts to my inputs.

2nd half I turned advanced track off and let her rip, at that point I realized when all the nannies are off they are not truly off unless you pull a fuse under the hood.

I was on a drift pad with everything switched off and trying to drift the car, I would get a yellow traction light on the dash. Even my instructor noticed the car cutting power when hitting the gas trying to slide it out. He swore my TC was on until I showed him that everything was off. Weird for ford to do that

All I can say is you probably didn't turn it off right. When you do, its off 97.5% of the time. (there's at least one error case where it will turn back on, but you get a dash chime and an pretty obvious error message when it does that). If you have the toggle switches and hold the TC button down for like 7 seconds, it should be off. If you just hit the toggle once, you haven't turned off advancetrak fully. If you turn off or restart the car, of course it will be back on.

Anyway the connector is a reliable way to turn it off, so that's fine of course.

 

[WItoTX]

I've done a few events myself and always have a great time. 1st half of the day I had in track mode to just feel the car out and how it reacts to my inputs.

2nd half I turned advanced track off and let her rip, at that point I realized when all the nannies are off they are not truly off unless you pull a fuse under the hood.

I was on a drift pad with everything switched off and trying to drift the car, I would get a yellow traction light on the dash. Even my instructor noticed the car cutting power when hitting the gas trying to slide it out. He swore my TC was on until I showed him that everything was off. Weird for ford to do that

Did you turn off the the TC, or the Advance Trak? It's two different systems. Hold for 5-10 seconds, everything is off. just push the button, only TC is off.

Also, pulling the dyno plug, each car reacts differently. I've heard stories of braking going to a 50/50 split, among other things. I myself pulled the plug when I was having what I thought was TC issues, but turned out to be a LiPo issue combined with the magride.

It's weird how each car has it's own personality with this stuff.

 

[KingKona]

As someone who has autocrossed, I recommend leaving the assists on for at least half a dozen events, lol. It's tempting to just switch everything off right away, but unless you're already a pro, the car behaves COMPLETELY differently with all the assists off and you'll probably explode some cones or swap ends.

It is a ton of fun though, so enjoy!

And chew the living hell out of your rear brakes.

Unless you pull the dyno plug/fuse, TC/SC is always on, no matter what you do.

 

[KingKona]

Did you turn off the the TC, or the Advance Trak? Hold for 5-10 seconds, everything is off.

It's not. Ford lies about this, it's still on. Just less.

Also, pulling the dyno plug, each car reacts differently. I've heard stories of braking going to a 50/50 split, among other things. I myself pulled the plug when I was having what I thought was TC issues, but turned out to be a LiPo issue combined with the magride.

It's weird how each car has it's own personality with this stuff.

I'm trying to understand what you mean here.

I don't think these cars would have different personalities after pulling the dyno plug. These cars should all behave the same after pulling it. AFAIK, pulling the dyno plug isn't going to change the brake bias. It shuts the ABS off so that the brake bias that's always exists, suddenly matters. With ABS on, brake bias is completely over-ridden.

Am I missing something with that line of thought?

90% of drivers have never driven without ABS, so they don't even know what brake bias means. Much less what happens when you shut ABS off.

 

[mavisky]

With your SC, be very nice to the throttle. I recommend setting the mag ride and steering into track mode independently, then kill the advancetrak. Setting the car this way gives the throttle a more linear feel. If you put the car into track mode, it seems like 90% of the throttle is in the first 30% of the pedal movement, and makes for a very twitchy car.

That's odd as all of the GT350 information i've been able to obtain claims a linear throttle map for Normal and Track while Sport has an exaggerated throttle response while weather has a weakened throttle response. Also, unsure how you're accessing "track mode" for the magride suspension independently. May be possible on the GT's, but in my GT350, track mode is the only way i'm able to access Track settings for Mag-Ride. Once in Track mode I have the option of Track or Sport for my suspension. If I go to Sport, I only have sport and normal for the magride. Same for Normal mode where I again only have normal or sport for the magride settings.

When I had my car tuned we tweaked the throttle map and delay on the road and helps a lot.

I autocross with a guy who occasionally brings out his S550 with a Whipple on it and I agree that you'll want to be calm with the inputs until you get to terms with your tires and hp level.

 

[WItoTX]

It's not. Ford lies about this, it's still on. Just less.

This has not been my experience. Fully holding it down, there is no retarded timing, no power drop, no TC kicking in, nothing. Maybe I have not noticed, but two other guys in S550's in our local group have the same experience.

Do you know what is still running? The car has been in a four wheel slide and nothing kicked on for me. I have an event this weekend, and so if I can pay attention to what you think is still engaged, I will report back myself. I may just be totally off base. Won't be the first, or last time.

I don't think these cars would have different personalities after pulling the dyno plug. These cars should all behave the same after pulling it. AFAIK, pulling the dyno plug isn't going to change the brake bias. It shuts the ABS off so that the brake bias that's always exists, suddenly matters. With ABS on, brake bias is completely over-ridden.

I pulled the dyno plug on mine because I thought I had an ABS/TC/AT/PS/Magride issue. Turns out, the battery didn't have enough juice to power all items at once. So my workaround was to pull the dyno plug. Once I did this, the ABS still worked, and the car still functioned basically as normal, up until there was too much electrical demand and the car went into limp mode.

One of the aforementioned local guys pulled his dyno plug. His ABS stopped working. I've read a couple stories, and talked to at least one guy with a GT350 that said his brake bias changed. The ABS still worked on mine, but on my buddies 2019, it stopped working. Also read that PS stopped working for some one. Can't confirm any other stories apart from what I was told.

Also, unsure how you're accessing "track mode" for the magride suspension independently. May be possible on the GT's, but in my GT350, track mode is the only way i'm able to access Track settings for Mag-Ride.

Ahh, good point. I have my DSC set up so that Sport and Track are the same. You are right, track mode won't be accessible. But yes, the throttle mapping on mine (2017) was not linear in track, and it was brutal. I hopped in a 6G Camaro one event, and it was like a different world getting onto the throttle. I know Ford changed the mapping somewhere along the way, because even the M1 is different.

 

[KingKona]

This has not been my experience. Fully holding it down, there is no retarded timing, no power drop, no TC kicking in, nothing. Maybe I have not noticed, but two other guys in S550's in our local group have the same experience.

I've held for 10 seconds (got the dash light and everything) to get going on sheet ice, supposedly shutting off AdvanceTrac. And it still kicked in.

Do you know what is still running? The car has been in a four wheel slide and nothing kicked on for me. I have an event this weekend, and so if I can pay attention to what you think is still engaged, I will report back myself. I may just be totally off base. Won't be the first, or last time.

I think AdvanceTrac is still on, just at a very low level. And I think it ramps us as it senses wheel spin.

..... my workaround was to pull the dyno plug. Once I did this, the ABS still worked, and the car still functioned basically as normal, up until there was too much electrical demand and the car went into limp mode.

I always thought it disabled ABS. I see I'm wrong on that.

One of the aforementioned local guys pulled his dyno plug. His ABS stopped working. I've read a couple stories, and talked to at least one guy with a GT350 that said his brake bias changed. The ABS still worked on mine, but on my buddies 2019, it stopped working. Also read that PS stopped working for some one. Can't confirm any other stories apart from what I was told.

Well hell, now I'm just all sorts of confused. Too many examples that counter each other.

 

[WItoTX]

I've held for 10 seconds (got the dash light and everything) to get going on sheet ice, supposedly shutting off AdvanceTrac. And it still kicked in.



I think AdvanceTrac is still on, just at a very low level. And I think it ramps us as it senses wheel spin.



I always thought it disabled ABS. I see I'm wrong on that.



Well hell, now I'm just all sorts of confused. Too many examples that counter each other.

I'm telling you, the cars have a personality!

I suspect it has to do with little upgrades from year to year. Heck even mid 2017, they made some minor tweaks to the GT350, including the revised oil filter. Then if someone plays with forscan, and doesn't tell the next owner, you get to deal with that.

I am going to pay more attention this weekend to see if anything kicks on though, because you are not the first person who I've heard say the same thing. I've just never experienced it, and I have thrown my car into some corners at a test n tune where I would have expected some TC to engage.

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