ABS and autocross

[ThurzNite]

I've never autox'd with an ABS car before... and I find that my stock SE v6 5sp kicks the ABS in pretty often. I have to keep my mind focused and trust in the car when this happens, otherwise, it's very distracting.

Does this affect you? How do you deal with it?

Dr J

[ThatVietGuy]

If you have a good brake, rotor, and tire setup you don't have to worry too much about the ABS kicking in too soon.

[Gibson99]

my miata doesn't have abs so when i first took the camry out to an autox (just for the hell of it) i expected its ABS to be a royal pain.

now i wish my miata had abs. oh, and some torque would be nice too, since my camry has at least 3x as much tq as the miata.

[TMMK Toy]

Gibson, you sound like me. When I go from driving the eight six to the camry its like a mountain of torque is at my command. lol. Course I get sea sick driving the camry after being used to the corolla's stiff ass suspension

[funboy102]

I have nothing else to compare it to, but I think ABS doesn't affect Auto-X that much, if anything, it helps it. The wheels don't lock up while braking hard.

[Eye8Pussies]

abs is going to be a god send....

you should never get to the point on a course where your abs will kick in, but when it does, it lets you know that you're not driving as well as you should.

but more so, it's going to tell you that if you didn't have abs, you would have been put into and uncontrolled slide


if you really don't want abs when on the course, pull your abs fuse or unhook one of the wheel sensors and it'll be deactivated

[Gibson99]

unhooking a wheel sensor will be easier than taking out the fuse, since (at least on my 98) the fuse is bolted in.

for me, wheel lockup just makes me go straight, no matter what i'm driving. trailbraking going into a turn will pitch me into a spin though. sometimes that's actually beneficial in the camry though.

[Eye8Pussies]

lol

yah...I personally like the usual slow down in to hte turn...then tap the brakes hard to shift the weight to the front and then turn and gas and swing the rear out...not much else to do in a heavy fwd

[Gibson99]

i had another miata buddy ride with me in the camry at that event. his words: "It's like you took this big cushy teddy bear... and put sonic the hedgehog's legs under him!!" he had this big dumb grin on his face - it was classic. his car is no slouch - it's a mazdaspeed miata.

my camry would probably be scary at an autox now that i have stock suspension back on it. i can't wait for someone to buy my GCs so i can at least get a set of H&R or Eibachs back under it and make it handle more like a car and less like a BOAT.

my miata has spoiled me for handling (and gear shifters and wind in my hair) forever. My camry has spoiled me for torque and comfort and quietness forever. and yes, i have considered doing a 1mzfe swap into the miata. it'd fit no problem and even n/a would be plenty of power... and follow this logic: 3sgte in mr2 uses same tranny as v6 camry (w/ diff shift linkages). 3sgte is used in some supras, which i think uses the w53 (I think) supra 5spd tranny. therefore, the supra tranny probably bolts right up to the 1mzfe. the supra tranny also has a remote shifter so it wouldn't be too hard to move the shift lever if i had to so it would come up thru the factory opening in the miata. THAT would be a kickass package in a miata, esp since there's always the option of the supercharger!! oh yeah not to mention the fact that the 1mz is an aluminum block that probably weighs about the same as the 1.8L's iron block!

the problem is that on the 1mz, the damn starter is in the wrong place! I can't figure a way to get the starter out next to the block instead of on top of the bellhousing like it is in the camry.

anyway, that's just a pipe dream. i'll never be able to do that unless i win the lottery.

[TMMK Toy]

Ya know, if you want a Toyota powerplant, a 1uz will swap into a miata. It shouldn't weigh much more since it's an all aluminum block

[Gibson99]

yeah i know - there's a guy in austin that did it, and another in NZ. probably more now, but those are the only two i know of from miata.net. there's no s/c for the 1uz though.

[drewcrane]

you should never get to the point on a course where your abs will kick in,
key words very true what he said if you race in to the corners so fast that you are basicaly locking the brakes you are going to fast, remember these words when you auto cross i heard these words in the 80,s from SCCA track teachers "SMOOTH MEANS FAST" AND ITS TRUE HAVE SOME FUN AT THE AUTO X , but dont wreck your car,later Drew

[TMMK Toy]

yeah i know - there's a guy in austin that did it, and another in NZ. probably more now, but those are the only two i know of from miata.net. there's no s/c for the 1uz though.

Guess again. There's a few aussie companies that make SC kits for the 1uz and I thought a few companies in the US that used to as well. I'm still debating if I want to keep the eight six and go the 1uz route or sell it and get a sw20 and swap in a 1mz.