Trust, Slip Angle, & One Inch

   The weekend of April 14-15 hosted the last El Toro championship autocross before the upcoming SCCA ProSolo event scheduled for the first weekend in May.  The weather was beautiful with sunny skies and mid 60* temperatures.  I bring my 225 Hankooks out to play and snag a co-driver to help heat them up.  STR runs first group and I have not driven the RS3 tires on this El Toro surface for a couple of years; 2010 SCCA ProSolo in my old 1995 STS car to be exact.

Co-driver warming the tires

 


   I take it easy on my first run but I do not fully trust the tires yet, especially under braking.  Lots of grip at this venue and the Hankooks are much sharper than the Toyos.  Without all the magic Toyo slip angle I am turning in too early and nipping apex cones with the back of the car.  Or it could be from the 1/2" wider wheels.  Or I am just not turning the steering wheel enough on this busy transitional course.

 












    Second run was relatively fast, but drifting the sweeper and getting behind at the finish did not help.  Neither did the three cones; two of which were at the start.  By my third run I was feeling really good about the tires and blown away by the grip and responsiveness, especially compared to the R1R, but I needed a clean run so I backed it down a little.  My 4th and final run was much faster mostly due to staying ahead of the course and from fully trusting the directness of the tires, but I am still a little tight to the cones as seen in the video and I knock down 4 cones (two again at the start).

    I can't complain about my times but I can complain about my driving as I am normally not that dirty.  First place finisher Max H. was on 300+ run Dunlops and I finished second in class.   RESULTS