Autotest in my standard X1/9

I've been invited to do an Auto test event on the 8th December with Hereford motorclub. As my beast is still awaiting its engine, it's looking like using the completely standard Gran Finale. Has anyone had any experience with this? I'd be interested to know about tyre pressures etc.

Hi Rob,

I do autosolos in my GF, as does my daughter Bex. She drove the car to the nationals this year, complete with plaster on the front and cone marks on the wheelarches...

I assume you mean autosolos, they are forward gear only as opposed to autotests which usually involve reverse gear; which as you can imagine is not good for an X1/9!

My car is standard and it's well suited to it; I can give Mx5s a run for their money although they are better at anything more than a 90 Deg turn as they are lighter on the back and can slide the back more easily; especially the ones with LSDs. The exxy excels in slaloms though.

I run 165 tyres at high pressure (45psi ish, slightly less at the front and more at the back). you'll get better times with softer tyres (ie std pressures) but you'll also trash those tyres in one day! Even with the tyres pumped up hard I take a spare set with me (bolted to a spare roof!!) as the tyres are often illegal by the end of the day. I deliberately run skinny tyres as the car slides around more and it's great fun!

Make sure the cooling system is in good shape too, there's a lot of hanging around with the engine idling.

Autosolos are allegedly non-damaging; but expect to clip cones which has the efect of flicking the cone into the wheelarch and removing paint; I now have orange/silver/orange stripes down the side of my car from sliding sideways into cones...

Of course you can always take it gently and avoid the cones; but then when they count you down for 'the off' the red mist descends and the beast takes over...

Martin the Hat