Power loss following hard cornering

S

stargazer

Member
 Omaha, Nebraska
More experiences from autocrossing... my lifter clatter seems to have gone away after going with a heavier weight oil... however, this last time out... I'm experiencing a loss of power following some hard cornering. At first I thought I was possibly inadvertently hitting the clutch... but not the case. I'll come out of a tight corner and mash the pedal and the power is slower than usual to come in. Wondering if anyone has any experience with this phenomena. In second gear (as is the case through much of these autocross/solo type courses).

One of my runs for fun, in case anyone's not sure exactly what autocrossing is all about...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5DG_6OpGNnc

-Jeff
 
Hazarding a guess here, but could you be low on fuel and it's rushing to one side so you're getting fuel starvation? No idea if the fuel tanks are baffled to prevent this in cars.
 
Stuart's guess is the only thing I could think of as well. Isn't it common in any racing to minimise fuel load to what is needed for the task at hand? The fuel pump and level sensor sits in it's own baffled area, not sure how resistant it is to sloshing. The whole tank is divided in two to accommodate the passage of the prop shaft down the middle. Fuel transfer from the far side to pump side is via some sort of siphon jet arrangement. This also suffices as a pump bypass function so that there is no return required from the fuel rail.
 
I guess that you've done it a few times it becomes a little easier to work out where you've got to go... just looked like a load of confusing cones to me. But fun all the same! :thumbsup:
 
It's actually really easy once you figure out how to 'read the cones'... a downed cone merely pointing to which side of the cone, it accompanies, you're to drive on. One second penalty for knocking one out of it's box or down completely. You walk the course a couple of times before you actually take your car out on it.


As for my problem... yikes... I think I'm figuring out (thanks to google) that I'm experiencing the negative effects of having an open differential. I guess the next cheapest bandaid might be to upgrade to coil over shocks... before spending a few thousand yankee dollars to go to a limited slip differential.
 
I turn off traction control during autocross... it actually works against you in driving circumstances like this... where you actually WANT the throttle to help you 'kick' the rear end through a tight turn, for example. Unfortunately, if you end up with only one wheel spinning with the open axle, it tends to undermine the situation. I don't think the open axle would present nearly as much a problem on a true road course, but in these autocross courses, which are dominated by very tight corners/slaloms/etc, quick braking/accelerating, you can definitely feel it.

I've read a lot of good things about these Quaife LSD's... since most of the people here seem to be from the UK, I assume there are some folks here who have experience with them. :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom