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Autocross Question

5K views 12 replies 10 participants last post by  SPICCIANI 
#1 ·
Yesterday was the first time I did autocross. All I can say is, "Wow!". It's been years since I pushed my car and it was a great experience. My question is for the seasoned veterans, how do you keep your IMA battery charged? I did 3 passes before I had to drive around the area to charge it back up. I know my crappy driving didn't help out, but how can I help slow the battery from draining.
 
#2 ·
ive never autocrossed. just road course. ive been thinking about this myself lately. well u already know the ways your battery will recharge (either off throttle/engine braking with high enough rpm, and of course during braking). So what there is to be considered is, is the gain worth the loss? you will either have to come off throttle early and let the car "coast" to get the briefest of charge as you enter a turn, and/or ever so lightly drag the brakes just enough to charge whilst entering a turn before optimal braking zone. Now obviously this will slow you down earlier than needed or keep you from reaching the highest possible speed you could hit prior to braking. So the question is, is this time lost worth the small charge you might acquire to have some extra hp later on...I dont think I feel to confident in knowing the answer to that question but my gut tellls me no its not worth it.
 
#4 ·
what year is your Z?
CVT or 6MT?

If I was concerned about charge, I'd probably just take a longer path back to the grid after each run. Try and keep the charge level up a bit at a time instead of having to do a large recharge halfway through.

I've noticed the power loss of a low battery on road courses where I get into 3rd and 4th gear, but have yet to notice much/any difference in a 2nd gear autox. Battery gets down to about half toward the end of the day, but my times are generally better in the afternoon.

Are you planning on coming up to the MKE SCCA event next weekend?
 
#9 ·
Rev in neutral for battery. Stay in sport mode when you run... it keeps the RPMs higher for when you come out of turns. Don't run with the AC on, but turn it on when you are in grid as it fires a 2nd cooling fan and cools the engine faster.

Walk the course at least 3 times. It's hard to go fast when you don't know where you are going. Ride with faster drivers... see how they do things. Get them to ride with you and give you pointers.
 
#10 ·
Spot on! This is the method I used, and the battery was at full charge before my next run every time. That was with a run group of 15 drivers. I always take it easy on my first run so I can get my lines down and worry about getting faster as the day goes by.
 
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