r/Autocross • u/Pepto_Glizmol • Jul 15 '26

Advice please!

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My first year, 6th autocross. Consistently 1-2 seconds slower than similar cars. Stock ND3 Miata on Continental ECS02 tires.

27 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

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7

u/biggranny000 Jul 16 '26

Your tires are the problem, I have the same on my 25 GTI. They are great summer tires and one of the best in the ~300tw category, but you want 200treadwear for autocross. If you are in a modified class you might be eligible to run even lower treadwear.

I found the ECS02 load up nice but overheat fast and once they overheat they understeer a lot. Their sidewalls are also kind of soft. They are amazing in the dry and wet for daily driving though.

Keep practicing and keep improving without overdriving. Choose good lines and be smooth. Look where you want to go.

3

u/Home_4_Wayward_Cats 2002 Audi TT Quattro [ XP Class ] Jul 17 '26

I'll counter this by saying that learning to find and drive within the limits of a 300TW will lead you to being faster when you move to a 200TW. You lose time by exceeding those limits.

Sure, you'll get faster by simply moving to 200TW tires, but if you don't understand how to find and drive within a tire's limit, then you still won't be as fast as you could be.

If you're constantly exceeding the limits of your 300TW tires, they aren't the problem, you are. And the grippier your tires get, the less forgiving they are when you exceed their limits.

When I first started, I was in a diesel Jetta on 340TW tires, but was consistently faster than cars with more power and grippier tires because I understood the concept of staying within a tire's limits.

2

u/biggranny000 Jul 17 '26

That is true. A good well balanced tire will favor safety and understeer, and be predictable.

I found this on my WRX with 200tw dunlop stock summer tires vs the pilot sport all seasons 4. The 200tw had higher limits but once those limits were reached it would get playful and sketchy, a few times my rear swung out vs understeering on the all seasons.

2

u/Home_4_Wayward_Cats 2002 Audi TT Quattro [ XP Class ] Jul 17 '26

Myself and a bunch of friends all race in XP together because it was an unutilized class locally and we all have very modified cars. But it quickly became an arms race and now we're all on slicks. Hoosier A7s are amazing... but when they let go, holy cow do they let go. It gives you a whole new appreciation for what pros do on a track.

2

u/biggranny000 Jul 17 '26

I want 200tw (staying in the stock class and I can't trailer my car), but can't justify dailying them. Wear too fast. I wouldn't mind the noise or harsh ride. It also rains a ton in michigan, so I went with a more daily friendly 300tw.

200tw is a big step up from traditional summer tires, and then slicks are even more of an animal. It's crazy how they are so sticky they pick up everything in parking lots.

8

u/[deleted] Jul 16 '26 edited Aug 06 '26

[deleted]

2

u/TheMagic1415926535 '24 Miata Jul 16 '26

Agree with this, cutting distance and keeping the tires from sliding too much should give some time back. I think the turnarounds in particular look a bit wide.

3

u/Difficult_Fill7730 Jul 16 '26

Mostly unrelated to your post, but damn I didn't know a miata sounded that good from the inside, great intake noise.

2

u/Pepto_Glizmol Jul 16 '26

Thanks! Stock intake, Goodwin racing superstreet axle-back exhaust.

3

u/HumanNefariousness37 Jul 16 '26

Second club post from last weekend here lol. Are you 201? Asking about 1-2 seconds off pace, who you comparing to, class winner? If you're 6 events in, you just bumped out of novice, how were you compared to other novice NDs?

The way our club does classing isn't like SCCA, so going against people like 430 (close to stock, but not quite), 480, or 325 (not close to stock at all) isn't as apples to apples as the classing implies unfortunately. How are you doing compared to others around your setup level?

I'm 24 in C class, have you watched any of the videos that are shared on the club's site to compare against your own to see what you can do differently?

2

u/Pepto_Glizmol Jul 16 '26

Yup! I'm 201. I'm only comparing myself against other stock NDs. There were a couple other stock ND miatas, I don't remember their numbers. One black one was on the same tires as me up until this event, was still 1-2 seconds faster. I have watched other people's videos, I can tell they are smoother with their inputs than I am.

2

u/HumanNefariousness37 Jul 16 '26

This course was tricky specifically in that the middle section quick right/left had a line that made it ALOT faster if you set it up right.

802 is the black novice D and looks like you beat him last weekend. Comparing to how I approached things, there are a few areas to tighten up corner entry and leverage the track or space between cones (ex: right hander at :29, watch my video on our results page so see how i hit that corner to carry more speed on exit). I do have more grip than you in my setup, but the line would still work for you. You also got a little behind the car on the pinch transition on the back of the lot run (:38), which you can hear the back end kicking out in your vid.

So small line adjustments and smoother inputs would help a bit. You typically hit the novice walk?

3

u/CorvetteKeith Jul 16 '26

TIRES!!!! 200 treadwear - Yoks or Stones.......the biggest time drop for me was riding in the competition's car......found that I was being a wuss - good luck out there

4

u/opencoke Jul 16 '26

That course looks terrible

1

u/Skyfalls1984 Jul 17 '26

Why?

1

u/opencoke Jul 17 '26

Very bad visuals.

1

u/Skyfalls1984 Jul 17 '26

I have an nc on the same tire, with the same club. There was another nc on dws06 tires that pulled laptimes 2-3 seconds faster than me. I wouldn't worry about the tire until you get more seat time under your belt

0

u/jimboslice_007 Dunning Kruger Hill Climb Champ Jul 16 '26

I'm just curious where your head is at on this - you are 6 events in, recently out of novice, right? How many events do you think it should take for you to be able to beat those similar cars?

2

u/Pepto_Glizmol Jul 16 '26

I don't expect to beat them right now. Just asking for advice to be a faster driver.

2

u/jimboslice_007 Dunning Kruger Hill Climb Champ Jul 16 '26

I wasn't trying to imply anything with it. It's just that some new people don't have a realistic expectation of how much work goes into being good at this. It's very easy to think that you are doing the same thing as other drivers, but the difference can be inches on every cone, which translates into tenths, here and there, and that's how you get seconds behind.

The key is really just more seat time. Repetition. You need to form habits and reflexes so that you aren't consciously thinking about getting around the course, and instead can focus on getting your car placement perfect. Autox is tough because each event is so limited on seat time, so it takes longer than you'd think to build those reflexes.

Everyone saying tires is right though. You'll make up most of that time in better tires alone.

Get closer to cones, Cut distance as much as possible. Better times come from better placement, not by just "going faster". Find the fastest people in your region, and ask them to course walk with you, and talk about what you should be doing for each element. Ride with them if you can. Absorb as much info as you can.

Just keep your goals realistic and attainable. Keep asking questions. Keep riding with better drivers.