Lelystad autoX 03-09-2005

[NoHachi]

Hope this one is in its place here...if not: please move to correct location moderators.
(PS: wouldn't a more general track driving section be better than only a drifters corner? hmm dunno)

I didn't see an earlier post anywhere, so I guess I'll write down a couple of works so you all can keep informed. Before visiting the excellent aeu86 bbq, me Mux and Ivan took the oportunity to grab some seat time at the local autoX/slalom competition.

Due to some delays and traffic jams (on a saturday damn'it) we arrived a lot later then expected at the site..Luckily both cars (AE86 and volvo360) quickly passed the tech inspection, so off to buy some tickets and get behind the wheel..

Sadly though, for me the day didn't deliver the experience that I was used to have during these sorts of days..I decided that I would first try and do a couple of laps on ordinary street tires...still don't know whether it was a problem with the tires or setup of the volvo, but the end result was pretty damn pathetic. No grip, the slightest glance at the accelerator pedal resulted in a frantically chirping and whirring inside wheel. Did one lap and decided that this just wasn't anything near fun.

Back to the parking lot to throw on the slicks. We had been experiencing some clearence problems with these slighlty taller advans, so I hoped that I wouldn't shred the tires in a single lap. Luckily everything turned out ok and the volvo started to perform more like a car instead of a steamship..times dropped from the 1.20s to the 1.14s not a bad time for such an old lady, but there's more to be said about that..

Basically the volvo is a bitch to drive..I would always have either traction or fuel starvation problems coming out of a corner. The front needs a lot of negative camber to work properly..current camber curve is worthless..

Its a nice reassurance that the car just costs 150E to replace, but my mind is already wondering towards some sort of replacement...maybe a trailored mx5 or perhaps even an ae86..something a litte more playfull.

PS: ADVAN 032R SS rule for slalom! heat up real quick and give good grip, even when weared down to the cord. The MX5 would have ruled on these tires..certainly competing up there with the elises and such.