This past weekend featured the first SCCA Autocross event of the new season at FEDEX field. It was a chance to test out my new suspension and tires. During the winter, I picked up some Hankook Ventus Z214 competition tires from Frisby Race Tires. For a while, they had a special on the C50 (medium) compound in 205/50R16 for about the same price as a regular street tire. So I grabbed a set, repainted the white Kosei rims, and had them mounted up. (The new rim color is as close to “brake dust” as I could find, thus saving time from cleaning.)

Sunday turned out to be in the ’90s — very unseasonably warm for April around here. I was worried about overheating the new tires on their first use. They were not heat-cycled so I knew they would be a bit slippery anyway, but I’m very happy with them. I ran with 38-40 lbs in the front and 35-37 lbs in the rear. I can probably drop it down a pound and start off with 35/33 cold instead of 36/34 which I had. The new springs are also a bit softer than the old ones, but once I got used to them I could make them work for me. I dropped 2 seconds over the four runs, with the last two runs being exactly the same down to the thousandth of a second. Odd.

I came away from the event thinking I hadn’t done that well, but ended up placing 6th out of 16 in my class (street mod). I always compare myself to G Stock, which is where I probably should be running, where I would have placed second. One day, maybe I’ll bite the bullet and make my car eligible for that class again.