1st Autocross with the MSP! WOW!!

[Teamzero]

Guys (and Gals),
I finally had the chance to run my MSP in its first autox on Sunday. It was simply amazing! The grouping of cars went from new Vettes to completely race prepped Neons and Civics. And the drivers went from some of the best in the region to a handful of rookies. Overall, I was the 2nd fastest of anything there and only 1 second away from that time!! Some cars were even on race tires! I just brought the MSP bone stock with the factory air pressures. The car never seemed to run out of grip and the car's balance was great.

Some pics and a small movie:
http://www.haydu.com/stuff/autox031603/msp2.JPG
http://www.haydu.com/stuff/autox031603/msp3.JPG
http://www.haydu.com/stuff/autox031603/msp4.JPG
http://www.haydu.com/stuff/autox031603/msp5.JPG
http://www.haydu.com/stuff/autox031603/msp6.JPG
http://www.haydu.com/stuff/autox031603/msp7.JPG
http://www.haydu.com/stuff/autox031603/msp8.JPG
http://www.haydu.com/stuff/autox031603/msp9.JPG
http://www.haydu.com/stuff/autox031603/msp91.JPG
http://www.haydu.com/stuff/autox031603/msp93.JPG
http://www.haydu.com/stuff/autox031603/mspmovie.MPG

Nice Job Mazda!!
-Chris

 

[Street KingFD]

Damn that was kickass!

 

[MSProject]

now that was nice ..

 

[Caffeine]

Thats awesome man, great movie. My guess is you were hanging in second the majority of the race? Or did you shift any higher then that

 

[AGR]

Excellent Chris! Excellent!!! (thumb)

 

[t3ase]

http://www.haydu.com/stuff/autox031603/msp93.JPG

And I finally have new wallpaper... Very nice run.

How was the handling in the snow/water?

 

[Teamzero]

This was one of the tighter courses that I have run and was mainly 1st gear with the exception of the section furthest away from the camera in the upper right corner and down through the short slalom. Coming from a Civic Si, it took a while to get used to the lower redline of the Mazda and was up against the rev limiter a couple times through the course. So I might have been able to grab 2nd a few more places then I did but decided that it would have been faster to leave it in gear and get the benefit of the engine braking before the corner. The movie was my first run of the day and the car just kept getting faster. By the last run, the short slalom was so fast in 2nd gear that I actually got my clutch leg to shake before the bottom right hander as I did not think the car would stick. But stick it did. And with even more stick in reserve!

 

[Teamzero]

Also... Stayed out of the snow (thankfully) but the water was fine. Even fun. You could really explore the balance of the car with a little water on the track! By the end of the day, I was planning on hitting the puddle, turning in hard, tapping the brake, and getting the back end to come out just enough to send me through the turn. Once again, Nice Job Mazda!

I did not run the MSP at our last event due to a little extra snow on the course but a few brave souls did. Want to laugh? Check out those pics!
http://www.haydu.com/stuff/Autox022303/

 

[scapamouche]

I KNEW there were advantages to being in Norcal!

Welcome to the MSP autox appreciation society

 

[scapamouche]

Interesting course. It's been a long time since I autox on a multi lap course that wasn't an enduro..... In fact, not since the Madison SCC in Madison, WI.

I like the elevation change in that lot: you could have a LOT of fun with off camber turns there.... Just like Candlestick Park in San Francisco....

I don't know about autoxing around piles of snow, though

 

[AGR]

I wanna Autocross!!!!!!! But; doesn't it just kill your stock tires. I guess if your going to do that often, you really need tires and rims for that purpose.

 

[cjstringer]

You took away the fun by plowing! We ran in the snow and used snow tires. Much more fun. Check out cscc-scca.org. There are pics from the february event. There's also another thread around here with pics of my MP3 in the snow autoX. Lots of fun on blizzaks!

 

[Teamzero]

Cjstringer,
Well, I can't say that you aren't going to eat a little rubber runnning an autox course but like I always say:
Pick One:
100,000 Miles or 100,000 smiles. You can't have both though!

The two competitive classes for the MSP in the SCCA is DS and STX. DS requires you to use rims that are pretty much identical in size to the stock rims but you can use a sticky race tire. STX requires you to use a street tire but you could change you rim size. If you plan on autocrossing and running on something other then your stock wheels and tires, make sure you decide beforehand on what class you are going to run. Would really stink to buy a set of rims and tires to run in the D-stock class only to find that you are forced into some other class. Myself, and from what the rest of the coneheads on this board say, looks like most of us are going to run STX this year.

-Chris

 

[Teamzero]

Oops Sorry...
Got you two guys confused.

This one to cjstringer!
Our January event we did that. Snow tires and no plowing. Unfortunately we did not even get enough entrants to pay for the gas to bring the club truck to the event. Lots of low cars in our region and of the few that ran, they ended up losing most of their plastic from under the car. Plowing helped get a few more entrants at least. It was fun though. Still had my Civic back then and I beat the heck out of it!

 

[AGR]

okay Chris.....approximately how much money, and brand of tires and wheels?

 

[nattyboy513]

chris... you dont care if i post the video on my web site do you?

 

[low_psi]

i say get a set of light 16's. rotas are good wheels and you can find them for ~$500. any wheel that is light and wide is good enough. if you run in a stock class(17" wheels), get some good r-compounds like kuhmo victoracers, hoosiers or yok's.

if you plan to run in a street tire class, get a set of falken azenis.

the slicks will cost more and wear out quicker, but since you'll be stock, you will have more money to invest in new sets since you won't be making any other large modifications to the car.

enjoy!

 

[cjstringer]

okay Chris.....approximately how much money, and brand of tires and wheels?

Well, if the MSP is anything like the MP3, which I'm guessing it is, the stock wheels are a 55 offset, which means you need a 49+ offset to stay in stock. (within .25 in) I bought the ASA JS1 rims (on another board members recommendation) and put on 205 40/17 Kuhmo Ecsta V700s. You won't be able to run Hoosiers because we can't get enough stock camber (they require 2.5deg negative or more). My cost from Tire Rack, to the door, was a little over $1200. Kinda pricey, but worth every penny.
Now, if you're gonna go for STX, get a 7.5in rim. I'd also go for a 16" instead of 17. Cheaper rims and tires both, and you have a better selection of Azenis in that size also.
Just my thoughts! Good luck. Nothing better than a good day at the autoX! (unless of course I end up racing a factory mazda or something. )

 

[KBicknel]

I wanna Autocross!!!!!!! But; doesn't it just kill your stock tires. I guess if your going to do that often, you really need tires and rims for that purpose.

If you are going to be in D-stock which is the only option for a stock MSP, them you have a variety of options. We are buying race rubber which costs a bit more but is more competitive. We are looking at around $150 per tire. We are getting Kumho Ecsta V7000's. And then if you are buying new wheels for D-stock your offset has to within about 6 mm of the original offset. Our wheels have a 55 offset and staying within 6mm of that isnt so easy. But on tirerack.com we did find some ASA wheels that are a 51 offset and the right size 17x7. Thereare two types of the ASA wheels. We are getting the $239 ea ones but there is a set of less attractive ones for $119 each. Of course you do not have to have race quality tires so you could find some for less than $100 each.

 

[cjstringer]

Looks like I got the "less attractive" $119 rims and the V700. I think the rims are pretty badass myself, and they are 5 pounds lighter than stock, but still 19.5 pounds. V700's are about $130 each, but mounted and shipped your looking about $1200+ a set. Very good investment. If you want the "more attractive" $239 rims, check the weight to see if they would have a considerable advantage. For double the price, I'd hope they are under 15lbs. I doubt it on a 17" rim though.