as the title says guys, how can we keep our daily drivers/auto-x'ers reliable on and off the track?

 

I dont do any autocross(would like to get into it), but I do drive this car hard.

But preventive maintenance is key. That and constant inspections on the key components. (Engine oil(consumption), coolant(consumption), suspension(bushings etc) etc etc etc.

Just my 2 cents.

 

It'd be nice to have an accumulator or a road race pan for autoX. Just to be sure you dont get any oil starvation in cornering.

 

yeah i heard about the ZR1 having that happen and they fixed it
what do they go for? Probably get a road racing pan

 

I don't think you will have any oiling issues during autocross. Especially if you are not running slicks.

Same with the rest of the car. The nice thing about autocross is that it isn't all that hard on the car.

 

enlighten me...

 

Its a short low speed event. You aren't working the brakes or engine all that hard. There is no time for things to overheat. All the turns are short and sharp, not enough time for the oil pump to run dry. Most oil starvation issues are from long high g sweepers.

So you shouldn't have:
brake temp issues
brake fade
oil temp issues
oil starvation
trans temp issues
tire temp issues
diff temp issues

You are talking probably no more than 2 minutes per run. If you were talking open track sessions with 20 minute stints then yeah you should consider all of the above.

 

autocross can be a bit tough on rod and main bearings because of the aggressive high rpm accelleration and decelleration. Otherwise it's not too rough. Mikey the other problem you'll have autocrossing is your fail-matic trans. A stock automatic is horrible for auto-x, and I've not seen 700s live very long under that abuse. Put a real trans in it before you run too many events.

 

I AutoX at least 5 events a season, and run at least 2 track days at different road courses here in the North West. I drive my Firebird to and from events sometimes 150 miles each way. My car has been suprisingly reliable. To be able to drive all out on a road course for four 1/2hr sessions and then cruise 150 miles to get home, your car has to be be very well maintained, and clean so you can easily detect leaks/problems.

The levels of prep for autocross i would reccomend to help maintain a reliable car are,to keep up on replacing the consumables
(Oil/fluids,sprarkplugs,Bearings,Bushings,Brakes/lines,Hoses,tires,shocks/struts,)
with most of our cars being over 20yrs old if you havent replaced most of these parts your bound to have one of these cheap parts fail and can and will come up at the worst time and cut your day short or make your event super stressful.

 

All the usual maintenance still has to be done. Maybe more frequently depending on race use. The extra is to look for stuff failing/breaking. That doesn't usually happen in regular street use. I beg to differ on how hard auto-x is on a car. I think it's extremely brutal. Going from full brakes to full acceleration plus very tight close turns puts large loads on many components. I've seen clutches blown, sway bars and torque arms bent and mounts ripped out. I've never seen an issue with oil control because the oil is never pushed one way for more than a second or two.