JM51526

OK, newbie to Solo2 here. Did my first race last month, and I'm hooked. I even did the first event in auto, just to keep things simple. I did quite well, actually - I'm used to the car moving around, and I'm certain my background roadracing motorcycles helped me a lot in line selection.

Understeer in slow corners cost me - I was almost certainly being too aggressive on the entry to these corners... That said, I couldn't seem to steer on the throttle the way I'd hoped. Likely lack of experience, and the decision to stay in auto instead of shifting myself.

So - those who have experience autocrossing, do you find it generally better with traction control on or off? Should I go whole hog and turn off stability control, as well? I know I'm a novice at this, but I understand weight transfer, countersteer, trail braking, throttle lift oversteer (staying in second gear should help tons) and such. What advice can you give?

Nismo

For autocross, the decision is easy: traction control off... always... without exception.

At the track, the primary factor is whether or not the car is paid off. :-)

For both cases, always keep it in manual mode.

JM51526

Yeah, I know manual is better.. But why traction control off? Is it faster, or just more exciting? Will it help counteract understeer in slow corners by throttle steering, or do I need VSC off as well - or is manual in Sport mode the fastest way around a typical Solo2 course?

Nismo

By "traction control off" I meant Vehicle Stability Control (VSC) off (Lexus' traction control reverts to "on" once you get up to speed anyway). From own autocross times, they were 0 to 1/2 second faster with VSC off than with it on.

As for Manual vs. Automatic, I didn't notice a major difference in times in autocross, although I felt more comfortable in Manual mode. That said, on a full race track (i.e. open-track days), Automatic mode proved woefully inadequate, as it consistently upshifted midcorner during long sweeping corners when it should have held the lower gear. So based on my own experiences, it appears Lexus programmed the shift control to consider speed and throttle & brake position, but they completely discounted lateral G's.

JM51526

Thanks, Nismo - I appreciate your thoughts!

lobuxracer

iTrader: (2)

I too struggled with adapting from road racing bikes to driving cars. You can't throttle steer a car like a bike, especially the F. The first time I turned in and got on the gas as I would on a bike, I ended up in the grass because the car went very straight. I've learned a lot since then. I highly recommend doing an HPDE with an instructor who will help you better understand the dynamics of four wheels, especially one so heavily prone to understeer as the F is.

And to answer your question - turn off the stability controls. You need to understand what the car does without any assistance. As you develop a feel for what the car will do, you can then turn it on and use it as a safety net allowing you to actually get closer to the edge. When you're new at it, you'll do foolish things like flat pedal through a turn where half throttle is the most you could ever use without VDIM. VDIM will take up all the slack and prevent you from understanding what you are doing is foolish. AMHIK.

FSportIS

iTrader: (13)

I don't drive an F but I own both 250 and 350. Yep, I autocross a lot. I would like to share the following findings to you guys here.

All the following are done in SPORT MODE with 2nd gear limiter. My IS350 has F Sport springs/ F Sport shocks and F Sport rear sway bar with F Sport wheel and Hankook v12 summer tires. This car with this set up is VERY TAIL HAPPY and fully capable of DRIFTING with traction control off.

1. NORMAL + TRACTION control ON: Slowest but very easy to drive, great to start out like this to learn the track.

2. POWER + TRACTION control ON: Improved 0.5 seconds driving the same line as in (1), this is because with power mode, you accelerate sooner (RPM kicks in faster) and the engine is more aggressive staying in lower gear than in normal mode. However, it is very hard to modulate the gas pedal so you have to be cautious and always get ready to slightly lift the gas a bit (not full lift) and/or counter steer to avoid spinning out.

3. NORMAL + TRACTION control OFF: FASTEST and MOST FUN TO DRIVE!!! I improved more than 1 second and I set all of the fastest lap time in this mode. The car comes ALIVE like a Gozilla! This car is so so damn fun to control and drive if you know how to modulate the pedal together with some counter steering. Oh my God, I power slide oversteering and drift all over the entire track withOUT spinning out It is also my FIRST time drifting in my IS350 lol.

4. POWER + TRACTION control OFF: Excessive oversteering, and very easy to spin out! I can induce and initiate oversteering very easily but it is hard to sustain the power slide/drift because the gas pedal is so hard to modulate (it is too aggressive), I almost spin out couple times with this.

I have another friend who rarely drives Lexus IS. He is one of the instructor there. I let him drive my IS350 for the first time and DAMNNN he DRIFT the **** out of my car for almost the entire track smoking all over the places lol and he WAS IMPRESSED by the IS350. He asked me is this STOCK CAR REALLY?? I said yeah stock car with some suspension upgrades . He was like damn, I can't believe Lexus IS is THIS FUN to drive!

F Sport spring/shocks/rear sway bar combo with traction control off really really WAKES up the IS350 First time drifting is soooo sooo damn fun man!

Original thread: https://www.clublexus.com/forums/is-...for-fun-4.html