Printable Version of Topic

Posted by: deloveh Jun 1 2007, 06:45 PM

I think it depends which year of an Elantra you put on an AutoX course. I have done it with both a stock 99 and 01 and they act completely different. The 99 suspension is much stiffer and the engine a bit easier to wind out, but this all comes at the cost of comfort on normal driving. The 01 handled better for late breaking but I could not get a feel when to break to avoid the understeer as well. Since then my 01 is gone and I continue to run my 99 mostly for AutoX in the FSP category. I am in FSP and placed 3rd in the last event in the Washington D.C. Region where it is even competitive to get registered for an event (sadly no joke).
I am in FSP because I have a light weight flywheel. Everything else would keep me in STS. My other mods are I have Motegi Tracklite wheels with Kumho Ecsta v710 R compound tires. My air intake at the moment is a short ram with a K&N filter. And I have Iridium plugs, an upgrade my car seemed fond of at idle speeds.
In regards to someone mentioning the R compound tires earlier, yes they make a noticeable difference. From what I have read it means 1-2 seconds on a 60 second course. My opinion is that it means 2-3 over my stock tires which are not very good. Might mean less on a car where it comes with wider and better tires like a WRX or VDub.
But what really matters, and I say this with certainty, is the driver. You can have the best mods in your class, the coolest company stickers, and a really cool paint job, and get smoked by everyone. Watch any event closely and you will see that the best times are put down by people with good control and smooth action (neither of which are me). Usually they are not even the fun people to watch because they don't slide and drive the car uncontrollably. And to reiterate what I keep hearing from people, you improve by "seat time, seat time, seat time!"
As for RallyX I even did that this year and on my stock tires. I placed upper middle compared to all other drivers, and there were six subies there and a Tiburon GT.
I am only a novice having 2 years of total AutoX experience, and I think the other posts in this thread really have hit the mark on things to know.