Hi Carson,

We use the Big-O in Folsom, and sometimes the one in Rancho Cordova. With the Type-R only toe is settable, so it's not rocket science. With the Miata, finding someone to let us sit in the car, and curse while making minute adjustments for camber is tougher :-)

With the MP3, I'm assuming it's like my ES - I've turned the strut bearing, and loosened everything to get what little camber there is. I'm waiting till if/when I do springs before I put a crash bolt in. (of course, in stock, you can do the strut bearing turn since it is in the factory manual, but not crash bolts).

Kevin

 

What if I just get into a crash?

 

As far as Left Foot Braking (LFB) all I can say is practice, practice, practice.

I'll take the car out of gear when approaching a stop sign/light and brake using my left foot - can I get a smooth stop, or does the car nosedive etc.

For practicing 'controlled release' of accelleration, on, say, 90 deg. turns (right at a green light, free way on ramp) I'll:

- make sure I'm in the right gear, use the LFB to slow the car down
- before the apex start applying power while releasing the brakes.
- You can feel the car load up and 'store' the energy and then release it smoothly.

I'll Also practice heal/toe downshifting, and then transfering my left foot from the clutch to covering the brake.

Of course, other have thought (and I agree) that I tend to use LFB'ing _too_ much. You can tell by the tail lights being on too much :-) Sometimes a throttle lift works better than a drag of the brakes.

Pratice safely, of course.

Kevin

 

I suppose one could protest that your frame is not 'stock' anymore and have it 'pinned' at a body shop to check the factory measurements. :-) Locally no big deal :-)

Certainly I've heard of cars being stretched, pulled, prodded and tortured to get better alignments.

As Jesse pointed out, much better to work on the nut behind the wheel, rather than focus on .2 of a deg of camber.

Kevin

 

I hear you on the driving improvement thing and I know I can beat the best guy in GS in Sacramento now, so I'm not worrying too much about these adjustments and equipment issues as much as I was in the past. Besides, the MP3 has equipment that other cars in the class don't or can't have legally so there's some advantage there.
At Skip Barber they were just having us lift a little to keep the momentum going in turns that didn't necessarily need braking. But I still think the LFB can be very useful in situations where you need some braking.
I'll practice.