fiatlux

Took mine to an Auto-X yesterday. The wild thing is that the even was very empty, so we were able to go non stop all day.

That said, after about 15 straight runs the brakes would start smoking and I would have to wait a while to let them cool. I'm not surprised because even at 6/10ths driving in the backroads I was able to cook the brakes. The car is under-braked for sure; it's a shame the only way to get better pads on it is to do a BBK swap.

Some general thoughts:

Steering feel is great, turn-in is very quick and sharp, and the chassis is very stable through chicanes.

Power is...not great. I'm even on a 19psi tune (any higher and the clutch slips) and it just feels like it needs more oomph on the straights. I never got past 50mph, and was able to stay in 2nd gear through the entire course.

The LSD works well through the sweeping turns and 90 degree corners. However, on the hairpins the VSA cuts power and bogs the car, essentially nullifying the LSD. I wish I had figured out the "pedal dance" to fully turn off VSA. Ideally coming out of the hairpins I'd be able to get a bit more wheelspin past the apex to start building boost so that when I straighten the wheel, the motor is already in boost and making power. Instead VSA cuts the power, and by the time it finally feeds power back in I'm at a lower RPM and also have to wait for the turbos to spool up.

I'm running Pirelli P-Zeros in 235/35R19 because the stock all-season Goodyears are utter trash. I was able to pick up the PZs (not PZ4s) for about $170 a pop (almost half the price of a PS4S). I pity whoever pays full price for the PZs because they're pretty mediocre. Terrible when cold, and only good but not great when hot. Well well behind the ECS and PS4 which I contend are still the two best non-200TW summer tires.

This was my first time running a FWD car at an auto-x; previous events have all been with RWD and AWD cars. What I did appreciate is that I could progressively push the car harder and harder and not worry about spinning out. It was also nice being able to get in so many runs (got about 80 runs in) to experiment with different lines, entry speeds, and tire pressures. It's definitely a different experience; in all honesty I felt RWD is still more "fun", but that's not to say FWD isn't fun, just not as fun.

There were a bunch of Miatas, and I'm happy to say I could at least catch up to the NC guys. However, the ND Miatas were no joke. On the tight course one of the RFs was cracking off runs faster than the C8 Corvette guys. Super impressive. Incidently, there was also an Si that I followed behind that was just all over the place. Thought maybe it was on all-seasons; turns out they were running some Chinese tire I've never heard of...

JM2010 SH-AWD

Looks like a lot of fun. Your car came stock with Goodyears? Ours came with Contis. They're OK, but I wish I could have worked a deal to swap out for Michelins.

fiatlux

Oops sorry, meant ContiProContacts. They're pretty horrid in terms of grip, but I'll concede that they are a lot quiter than summers.

It's a damn shame you can't option these with summers like you can with the Si.

FLIX_21

Adding to this thread. Yes. A few months ago I tried autox in my stock ILX with some sticky 245/40/17 Kumho V730 tires. I found the Sport setting to handle better than my ILX that was on coilovers and rear swaybar.
I’m surprised with the CVT as it would respond to my requests. Overall a well balanced car right from the factory. Very pleased!