[Autocross] Points Event #4 with TSCC: June 2024
Big MQB showing!
What changed since last time?
No real changes since VIR, though the LCA bushings are back to OEM MK8 bushings to get by for now
Basically nothing. I brought the car back from VIR where I ran OEM MK8 lower control arm (rearward position) bushings. I had to put those back in because of the Whiteline bushing failure at Points Event #3 last month just days before VIR. Since then I just verified no rips or issues with them, looked the car over, changed back to my street pads, and put the autocross set of tires on. I have a hopefully-permanent fix to install soon, but just didn’t feel like dropping the subframe yet again to rush a repair prior to an event. Plus I have some stuff I’d like to measure out again.
Sometimes “good enough” gets the job done
It was a LONG day. Relatively hot out at 85-90F. I wasn’t running until the 4th and final heat (which happened at about 3:00pm). Starting your runs out when you’re already exhausted isn’t the best way to extract your best driving, but it was good enough for the win in XA.
It was a pretty nice day, sun out and 80-85F. The event ran smoothly, and we didn’t have a ton of first-time novices out (but a bunch of returning novices) so I really had very little to worry about with regards to ride-alongs etc. since I’m the novice chief. The downfall of this was that I was running 4th (and final) heat, which let me be pretty lazy most of the day. It was also a much slower pace day because my codriver wasn’t able to make this event, so we’re usually discussing lines, car setup, etc throughout the day as well.
Run 1 - 32.798 +2
Anyway, when about 3:00 rolled around I hopped in the car and made the most of it. My very first run right out of the gate was a 32.798+2. Pretty respectable compared to what some of STU and STR were running the heat prior. Just had to clean it up… which was far easier said than done.
Run 2 - 33.017
Run two I was able to clean it up, and took it a bit more conservatively with more distance off the cones to put a 33.017 down, which I felt was pretty good with a decent chance of standing against the others in XA. My biggest struggle was launching the car. I have an APR DSG tune and I’ve been playing with launch control on the ECU side of things (via Switchpatch/Simostools) and it seems like the ECU LC basically fights with the TCU LC. It results in slipping the clutches a bit longer than is ideal and leaving the line really lazily.
Run 3 - 36.950
My third run I decided to just go for it. The RE71RS decided they did not like that and I blew the run pretty early on, and rather than plowing more cones for no reason, just took the course at a slower pace to try and not put even more heat into the tires for the next run.
Run 4 - 32.655 +1
It absolutely killed me on this run… I had a passenger (which I’m beginning to wonder if it may help out… because most of my fastest runs have been with a passenger this year…) and was going really well up until the very last cone, which I hit right before going through the finish beams. The tires were getting greasier towards the end of this run and I was just a bit too optimistic as to how well the front end would grip.
Run 5 - 32.931 +3
I sprayed the tires and made some pressure adjustments (35 up front, 37 out back) which made the car VERY loose, yet still lacking in front end bite. The car got loose in all the slaloms where I tapped a few cones and then pushed wildly at the end, center-punching the last cone.
Run 6 - 33.000
I managed to put together a decent run at the very end, and was SO close to a 32.xxx. It was at least still an improvement over run #2, though not by much.
Car/Driver Summary:
If nothing else - I was consistent. Not counting Run 3 where I backed off partway through, every one of my runs were within 0.4 seconds of each other. I wish I could have had a clean run in the 32s to place a bit higher overall, but it was good enough to win XA. I’m typically not hitting ALL the cones but that was just how it was this time.
As far as the car’s needs go: I need to get launch control figured out. There are some easy tenths just in launching the car better. I have since done a little bit of testing w/ turning the Switchpatch LC off and just relying on the APR DSG tune launch control to do it’s thing…
As for the lack of front end bite: I’ve got some JXB spherical bearings waiting to go on which will add a bit of caster back which I lost from the Whiteline ball joints, plus no longer have to worry about tearing bushings in that location. The OEM MK8 bushings held up fine, but due to the lack of caster and wheels being pushed WAY backwards in the wheel well… I need a caster correcting option.
Looking at some of the photos from the event (thanks to @SixthMediaGroup), the car still has more body roll than would be preferred. More camber of course would be welcome, but at some point the car will have a hard time putting power down as well. Right now the thing is a rocket out of corners so we’ll see how well it works after adding caster back in to hopefully help reduce mid-corner push.
Event Results Summary
1st (of 8) in XA
2nd (of 15) in the Provisional Class (PAX based vs all CAM classes and XB as well) - lost out to a VERY well-driven Tesla in EVX
15th (of 84) in overall PAX - The XA class PAX modifier was definitely not doing me any favors, plus we had a LOT of really talented drivers in the mix at this event.
11th (of 84) in raw time - and again the fastest FWD car in raw time… barely. The new Civic Type Rs are REALLY good out of the box, especially with a good driver.
Future Side Quest: Find out why the Full Retrofit didn’t fix this GTI
I recently met up with the owner of this 2015 GTI. He has had issues for quite a while autocrossing with the OEM MK7 system, and so retrofitted the MK8 with the Venturi and all. He came over to make sure it was installed correctly. We put my gauge on the car prior to this event to ensure vacuum on the crankcase was what we would expect. Obviously we don’t have the same datalogging capabilities as my car, but we did some basic gauge testing to make sure there wasn’t anything blatantly obvious.
This car will likely be the subject of future article(s) since I’ve finally got a local(ish) car to try and figure out what the issue is. Some key notes about the car:
130k miles - it’s a lot and might just have a ton of blow-by, or maybe failed valve seals
Had existing issues with the stock PCV as well
EQT Stage 2 tuned ECU/DSG, running near identical boost/timing curves as my car which is self tuned
Has the MK8 full retrofit w/ Venturi and 034 TMD, identical to my own car
Plans for it include (as necessary):
Start w/ a leakdown/compression test
Install a BMS catch can inline between the Venturi and TIP (like I did)
Check for failed valve stem seals
Possibly drop the pan to check for the oil baffle version # (should be 06K-103-138P), potentially change it out for the newer 06K-103-138Q as previously discussed here. This is still just a hunch, and more verification across other cars might be done first as I’m skeptical this would solve the problem.
Some other interesting PCV-related tidbits that happened at this event:
Rick’s Alltrack (that we just swapped a Golf R steering rack into) was also on the MK8 Full Retrofit, with zero problems.
An Audi S3 had the 034 catch can and had smoke on one of his runs, which was odd.
Other photos from the event:
Once again, thanks to Josh with @SixthMediaGroup for the shots!
