Took the Boss out yesterday for its performance driving debut... an end of season NRSCCA Solo (autocross) event. It'd been at least 12 years since I'd last autocrossed, and the thought of doing it after such a long hiatus in a relatively large, high powered car was a bit daunting. But what the hell... this stuff is what our cars are made for, and I figured I'd just take it easy the first several runs and get myself oriented with the car, and re-oriented with the fast-paced rhythm and need for smooth driving dynamics of autocrossing, and not worry about being fast.
It was a bit like riding a bike (the dynamics/rhythm part), and after a few deliberately slow runs to get familiar with the car and its reactions and the track layout, the competitive spirit won out and I decided it was time to romp on it a bit. I was able to put in a few fairly fast runs, albeit with a few cones down... we were allowed 5 timed runs in each run group (there were 2 groups, about 18 cars in each group), and they had 30 minutes of "fun runs" at the very end, which gave me another 6 runs in the Boss.
I am extremely impressed with this car. On my first two runs I left on the electronic nannies, and when I started to push it a bit it was understeering pretty badly. On the 3rd run I disabled both traction control and Advance Trac and voila.... a totally transformed car.
I found it entirely controllable and very neutral, with oversteer easily dialed in by fine throttle inputs. I launched in 2nd gear and just left it in 2nd thru each rune... there's so much torque available at any RPM, and with a 7500PRM redline, there was no need to shift. This really helped with smoothness and allowed me to concentrate on line, trail braking and rotation using small, smooth but deliberate throttle inputs.
It was a fairly cool day - cloudy, low 50s - and the track surface was both asphalt (danged slick!) and some concrete. So things were pretty slippy/slidey with a cold track and tires, but the Boss hung in there commendably well, even on the stock Pirellis. I had the cold pressure set at 35 psi f & r, and the scuffing on the thread was about 1/4" above where the tread meets the sidewall. Oh, and I had the shocks set on 5 all around.
Bottom line: This car rocks! With warmer temps that would have allowed the tires (and track surface) to properly heat up, and with good R compound tires instead of the stock Pirellis, I'm sure with more practice I could get this car down to times right in line with or better than the fastest ESP cars out there (they had me in the RTR class - R comp tires/rear drive... curious 'cause I wasn't running R comps... whatever...).
What a machine this is! Can't wait for next spring to spend more time on an auto-x course and, of course, get out on a road course!
It was a bit like riding a bike (the dynamics/rhythm part), and after a few deliberately slow runs to get familiar with the car and its reactions and the track layout, the competitive spirit won out and I decided it was time to romp on it a bit. I was able to put in a few fairly fast runs, albeit with a few cones down... we were allowed 5 timed runs in each run group (there were 2 groups, about 18 cars in each group), and they had 30 minutes of "fun runs" at the very end, which gave me another 6 runs in the Boss.
I am extremely impressed with this car. On my first two runs I left on the electronic nannies, and when I started to push it a bit it was understeering pretty badly. On the 3rd run I disabled both traction control and Advance Trac and voila.... a totally transformed car.
I found it entirely controllable and very neutral, with oversteer easily dialed in by fine throttle inputs. I launched in 2nd gear and just left it in 2nd thru each rune... there's so much torque available at any RPM, and with a 7500PRM redline, there was no need to shift. This really helped with smoothness and allowed me to concentrate on line, trail braking and rotation using small, smooth but deliberate throttle inputs.
It was a fairly cool day - cloudy, low 50s - and the track surface was both asphalt (danged slick!) and some concrete. So things were pretty slippy/slidey with a cold track and tires, but the Boss hung in there commendably well, even on the stock Pirellis. I had the cold pressure set at 35 psi f & r, and the scuffing on the thread was about 1/4" above where the tread meets the sidewall. Oh, and I had the shocks set on 5 all around.
Bottom line: This car rocks! With warmer temps that would have allowed the tires (and track surface) to properly heat up, and with good R compound tires instead of the stock Pirellis, I'm sure with more practice I could get this car down to times right in line with or better than the fastest ESP cars out there (they had me in the RTR class - R comp tires/rear drive... curious 'cause I wasn't running R comps... whatever...).
What a machine this is! Can't wait for next spring to spend more time on an auto-x course and, of course, get out on a road course!