Autocrossing my NSX last weekend

[NSX2398]

I don't get to NSXPO and run on the big tracks so I decided to try autocrossing my NSX at the local go-kart track which several car clubs do. The track is great for karting but very short, tight, and narrow (about 2 car widths) for cars but it made for a fun experience. With such tight corners and some slalom cones, I got to experience first hand the effects of polar moment of inertia that people always talk about. And I know, I wasn't always hitting the apexes right .. and I didn't have my hands on the steering wheel correctly .. but there's always next time. Course time was under 2 mins .. lowest time was about 7 seconds quicker than me. I was out with a friend and his 911 Turbo; a Skyline; some club cars with racing slicks; an old 3 series; and a current Mustang. The good news is that I beat the 911 Turbo; the bad news is that my son beat me in my old '93 Probe GT by a second .. as did the Mustang .. but they run every second weekend through the summer.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yLomfO6cn_Q
<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/yLomfO6cn_Q&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/yLomfO6cn_Q&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>

 

[EZcarlift Fan]

I couldn't stop laughing during the video! What was your max speed!?!
ezcarlift.com

 

[stuntman]

Glad to see you having fun!


Hand position: 9 and 3 o'clock

When approacing a right hand corner: keep right hand at 3, lower left hand to 7-8 o'clock -for better hand placement/leverage to make the corner. When straightening out, move your left hand back to 9 o'clock

When approaching a left hand corner: keep left hand at 9, lower right hand to 4-5 o'clock. When straightening out, move your right hand back to 3 o'clock.

-you can practice this on the street in any corner, get in the habbit!

Keep having fun, the NSX was meant to be driven!

 

[R13]

You're lucky to have that type of facility for autocross. Most of the venues we run in TN can only accomodate about a 50-60second course (while still getting done before dark...we usually have 60-80 entrants).

We have good designers, so they're almost always fun, if a little on the short side.

 

[NSX2398]

I couldn't stop laughing during the video! What was your max speed!?!

Unfortunately, I was too busy concentrating on what I was doing .. and the video doesn't capture enough of the speedo on the back straight to know for sure. I'm guessing that I was probably in the 45-50 mph max.

Unfortunately, I have difficulty downshifting to first unless I'm going really slow so I had to keep it in 2nd for most of the course and was having trouble getting enough torque in the sharp corners. However, next year I'm thinking of leaving it in first for one full session just to see if the extra power offsets what I'm sure will be redline on the back straight. Unfortunately, they change the course from weekend to weekend so I may never get to do this same course again.

On a previous weekend, the Corvette club was out there and a guy with a $130k race prepped Corvette had his brakes fail on the back straight going into the hairpin and he wound up taking out about 20 ft of chain link fence; thru the ditch; airborne over the access road; and into the field on the other side. Total write-off. Unfortunately, that's the risk you take. Fortunately, the speeds are lower than on the road courses and an off is usually more forgiving

 

[NSX2398]

Glad to see you having fun!

-you can practice this on the street in any corner, get in the habbit!

Keep having fun, the NSX was meant to be driven!

Tks for the advice. I'm not sure why I thought I could do it without both hands on the wheel. On the next session, I completely lost control of the steering wheel in one of the corners and it ended up almost like the car equivalent of a 'tank slapper' (biker term)

 

[stuntman]

Tks for the advice. I'm not sure why I thought I could do it without both hands on the wheel. On the next session, I completely lost control of the steering wheel in one of the corners and it ended up almost like the car equivalent of a 'tank slapper' (biker term)

You DO want to have both hands on the wheel. This was advice was for better hand placement as you approached a corner so while you are cornering, your hands are roughly at the "9 and 3 O'clock" positions. Rather than having your hands at 11 and 1 O'clock and having your whole body lean into the corner -which dosn't give you good leverage on the wheel nor reference of what the car's doing. You want your body as upright as possible, the better hand positioning I recommended would better aid you in finding the limit rather than 'leaning into a corner' (like a bike) with your hands on top of the wheel -which isn't good for feeling what the car is doing.

0.02

 

[nsx2tall]

That looked like a lot of fun! Given that you were on a go-kart track with tiny little corners, I bet the rather tall NSX steering contributed some of the difficulty.