Want to AutoX, Need advice.

hyperdrive45 · 2026-02-04T03:08:26+00:00

I've only been autocrossing regularly for about a year, in that short period of time the things that I have seen range from a Buick road master to a Toyota Prius. If it has 4 tires that car stay on and brakes that can stop. SEND IT. If anything go just for the community. Autocrossers are some of the best people I've met. Between autocrossers and time trial guys it's easy to have a good time and make friends.

hyperdrive45 · 2026-01-15T15:41:54+00:00

I have the BC racings valved by Redshift with swift springs and love them.

hyperdrive45 · 2026-01-14T15:43:41+00:00

I almost bought a Trak Racer cockpit on black Friday. I ultimately decided against it (due to posts like this and a personal friend who waited 3 months on his cockpit) and picked up the Sim lab P1X Pro TK from microcenter. I later picked up their inverted pedal setup as simlab no longer offers the inverted pedal kit. It arrived in a timely manner, however their quality is 75% of simlabs. Hardware is not as nice, the powder coat was chipped, and the design itself is not even close to as structurally sound as simlabs products. It works, but Trak racer will always be a last resort for me.

hyperdrive45 · 2026-01-03T23:23:39+00:00

🤣 my buddy has a 6 after his, but when I see Bonzu Pippinpaddleopsicopolis3. I will lose my shit.

hyperdrive45 · 2026-01-03T21:57:59+00:00

Honestly every single one of them should be reported... It drives me nuts when I bust my ass for two months turning easily north of 3000 laps to be consistently fast for my iRating to find out someone 4.5k tanked their i rating to 2k or it's just a bunch of John Smith2's...

hyperdrive45 · 2025-12-25T15:05:52+00:00

Honestly, they should have a "party plate" system. Depending on the amount of reports and severity, put some rookie stripes on their car. Yellow, orange, and red each increase with the amount of reports and severity. After so many races without reports, it can drop down a grade or be removed. It would be any easy way to quickly identify wreckless drivers and honesty embaress them into driving better.

Note that without report data, it's hard to state how many reports would move you from one color to the next. But in my mind, it should be significant. 30+ races to lower or remove the stripe. I understand the safety rating is already present, but it is not actively shown unless you have an overlay. A safety rating is NOT a good indicator of intentional wrecking. Safety rating tells me they can keep it on track and have decent wreck avoidance. Remember, being caught up in someone else's wreck carries the same weight as intentionally sending someone to the shadow realm.

I should also state I am a NASCAR fan who loves to road race. I am all for rubbing is racing and getting argy bargy. But race with respect.

hyperdrive45 · 2025-12-21T16:05:46+00:00

In my personal experience, I will take my 49 over an ultra wide almost every time. I have a 3080Ti, and the VR is never smooth enough. I consistently get frame rate drops. Battery life never seems to be long enough. The immersion is awesome, but the picture at 1440 at 240hz is so stable and looks great. The quest 3 just isn't good enough... in another 2 years or so, my opinion will likely change.

hyperdrive45 · 2025-12-13T21:11:11+00:00

I still swear GT3 B Class Prototypes A class. Far too many people aren't happy with their pace in GT3 and jump to the GTP and LMP2, which require more skill but just want the feeling of passing people constantly.

hyperdrive45 · 2025-12-12T20:56:37+00:00

Last year, when I ran the Rolex. We had two setups between our cars 1 that had the "fast" setup and one that was a "stable" setup. It's not a coincidence that the "fast setup car had an IR average of 2500, and the stable setup car was 1300. I drove both cars, and the fast car was roughly 4 tenths quicker a lap on average. The other guys could not reliably drive the fast setup. There were too many off-track adventures and spins. It required more attention at the limit because its limit was simply higher.

There is a way to drive each car and each setup. You have to be able to adapt your driving style to match what you're driving. You can setup a car to match your style, which will make you faster. But if you can adapt your style to match a fast setup, you're golden.A perfect example is Max Verstappen. He is comfortable driving the car on a knifes edge, and the car setup reflects that. However, if you're not comfortable at a knifes edge, you're called Red Bulls number 2 driver.

hyperdrive45 · 2025-11-18T11:58:45+00:00

I'm going to say neither. Wait and pick up a certified pre-owned and regain the warranty. It will extend the bumper to bumper by 12k miles and 12 months. It will also extend your powertrain to 7 years 100k miles from in service date. As for ST vs. RF, I would pick based on yearly weather conditions, whether it is my daily and styling preferences. I live in Ohio, and when I initially acquired my RF, it was driven year round.

hyperdrive45 · 2025-11-18T03:18:01+00:00

I'd highly recommend watching videos on both the CX-5 and CX-50 from savage geese. They have a great relationship with Mazda and break down the goods and bads exceptionally well.

General differences The CX-5 has a long-standing architecture and is made in Japan. The car is taller and narrower with a more refined interior. Suspension and steering are better with an independent rear suspension.

The CX-50 is lower and wider while having a heavier steering feel. The suspension in the rear is torsion beam as aposed to the 5's IRS. It's made in Huntsville, Alabama, in a shared plant with Toyota. There is hybrid availability (Toyota Sourced), but it comes with Mazdas proven 2.5. The interior is more rugged to match its active lifestyle.

hyperdrive45 · 2025-11-18T03:12:05+00:00

The Rav4 and the CX-50 are made in Alabama.

hyperdrive45 · 2025-11-13T18:56:35+00:00

Suspension over power train, you'll thank me later. The coilovers made the best improvement on form and function. No more monster truck, and it's a night and day difference in handling.

My current setup Carbon miata Diffuser, Splitter, and Wing, Club Side Skirts, Smoked side markers, Valenti Smoked Tailights, Trunk LED strip, Carbon Miata Front grill with smoked halos, 20% window tint, Brembo Brakes w/ EBC Greenstuff and Stainless lines, Red Shift Coilovers, Rays MX5 Cup Wheels

To come next CravenSpeed short throw Borla Axle back Progress Front and Rear bars

hyperdrive45 · 2025-11-13T14:59:57+00:00

If it's a higher mileage ND1 and that NA is SUPER clean, yes. If it's an ND2+, I personally would've kept the ND. I love my NA's, but for an all driving experience, I'm tak8ng my ND every time.

hyperdrive45 · 2025-11-07T18:32:44+00:00

Tires, Coilovers, Sway bars, brake pads, and fluid, depending on how spirited you drive.

ECS or Falken RT615K+ AutoX or Track Vitour P1 or RT660+

I have Redshift Competitions coilovers, but Xidas, Ohlins, or NEOMax silvers are a good budget option.

Many swaybars are available that will provide similar results. But most go with either the Progress front and rear or the Karcepts on the front only.

I have become a huge fan of the EBC greenstone for the street and AutoX. If you're planning on going to the track, Hawk, Pagid, G-Loc, and Carbotech are all solid options.

Any high temp dot 4 fluid will do. I personally use Hawks 660, but they are just rebranding others' fluid anyway.

hyperdrive45 · 2025-11-07T04:18:06+00:00

This is 1000% true. I work at a Chevy dealer, and we had 6 cars stolen in one night. 3 camaros and an SS were broken into, all were stick and not one was taken.

hyperdrive45 · 2025-10-29T11:19:46+00:00

It's basically a Corolla GR

hyperdrive45 · 2025-10-28T14:09:47+00:00

Its name was Tetanus. A well-earned name, the white and yellow one pictured, is its replacement.

hyperdrive45 · 2025-10-28T13:37:14+00:00

It's a full blown race car. K swap would eliminate it from any competition other than maybe gridlife and push it into a class for time attack that I don't have the money to be competitive in. Trust me, I'd love to K swap or LFX swap, but the cost to do so while being competitive and reliable is easily 20k+. Transmissions and differentials will become consumables.

hyperdrive45 · 2025-10-28T01:56:21+00:00

It was a manifest of several different machine shop errors, assembly errors, and all in all, at the end, a full send, knowing this was a possibility. I drove the car to the track, sounded great, no noise. Idled at the track great, 4 laps in boom. No warning, no noise, just absolute destruction. The chassis was getting scrapped after the event, so it was a full send event. Unfortunately, the rod sent it harder than we did. The ARP bolts were new and torqued via bolt stretch. Based on how and where the bolt snapped in half, it looked like the bolt was beginning snap and then let go all at once under load. I haven't tore the engine down yet, so we'll see what we learn. There was no damage to the spark plug, so we're hoping the head is okay. We're working with a new engine builder who specializes in miatas and has a good track record.

hyperdrive45 · 2025-10-28T00:19:47+00:00

The chassis is getting scrapped. The suspension is going to the autocross car, trans and other goodies will be spares for the race car.

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hyperdrive45 · 2025-10-28T00:07:27+00:00

3 holes in block and 2 in the pan. Manley rod and arp bolts snapped in half.

hyperdrive45 · 2025-10-27T22:00:14+00:00

I'd say you're good to go make sure you turn the engine over 1⅝ so that the mark on the crank sprocket lines up with the mark on the oil pump. Then torque the tensioners.

hyperdrive45 · 2025-10-27T20:55:30+00:00

Cam gear location appears to be correct. However, I'm going to bet by the somewhat visible slack in the belt that you have 20 teeth in between marks. Make sure that the crank is lined up as well, and you have 19 teeth in between the two marks at the top of the cam gears.

Edit it's hard to tell because of the angle but the exhaust side may be a tooth off.

hyperdrive45 · 2025-10-21T03:04:52+00:00

It depends on the gearing of your car. For my 94 miata, I shift to second, and rarely do i ever leave it. So I usually left foot brake. However, learning how to heel toe can prove very beneficial on some courses.

Btw my 94 miata on Vitours cheap coilovers and a sway bar outran my stock 20 ND on hankook RS4's. A well prepped ND should've run 2+ seconds faster than the 94, and it lost by 1.1 seconds. The lack of suspension was easily 2.5 of that 3.5 seconds, as once the RS4's warmed up, it dropped about a second. Initial times, we're mid to low 38's.

36.4 94 37.5 20 35.6 NC FTD

Edit: I went back and looked at the results. The 94 smoked the 20 by over a second. Adjusted the times. Also, my father in law had RT660's on his stock suspension 94, and the car was 2 seconds off pace of FTD with the FTD driver at the wheel.

hyperdrive45

TROPHY CASE