Today I autocrossed my xB for the first time. I've autocrossed various other cars in the past; a Nissan Sentra, Civics, Focus and now the xB. This was my first autocross in three years, and I forgot how fun it was!

My mods are 16x7 wheels w/205/50/16 Yokohama AVS ES100s, 15mm rear H&R spacers, Tein S-techs, Progress rear bar and the Espelir JGT500 exhaust.

I wasn't sure how the xB would stand up on an autocross course, but I will have to say it did better then I expected.

I ran with the traction control off, and it handled very well. Understeer was pretty heavy, but it was controllable. Thanks to the Progress bar, roatation seemed pretty good.

There was only one time in the six runs that I thought it felt slightly uneasy. I entered a big sweeper corner pretty fast, and the body lean came into play. Nothing bad really happened, it was just a bit uneasy; I think I ran out of suspension travel, and started to hop a bit. However, I turned my fastest time on that run!

I can't wait to do another event. I would like to upgrade the brake pads, and possibly get new lines. I might to the pads, but I'm still not sure about the lines.

I think when I ran, everyone watched, too. I suppose it's a pretty uncommon site to see an xB running an autocross. Although, just about everyone was pretty cool about it. I figured I'd get some flack. Only one dude was like, "How do you not roll that thing?" I just said looks can be deceiving. Some of the people I talked to said they were pretty amazed at how well it did for what it was. I ran STS, and managed a 13 out of 14, but it doesn't matter -- I just wanted to have fun! I certainly wasn't the slowest vehicle out there, though.

I don't have any pics at the moment; there might be some online later.

 

Ah finally — a picture!



Leeeeeeaaaaaan into it!

 

I'd say get coilovers! That'd bump your times down a notch, and get rid of that lean^

 

Well, 99% of this vehicle's usage is commuting to and from work, so I don't know how crazy I want to get with the suspension. And not matter what kind of suspension I put on it, it's still going to lean a lot.

I am thinking about getting the Koni Yellows, though as I'm currently using the stock shocks. I don't think S-Techs are terribly stiff, either. Then again, like I said, this car is used mostly for daily driving. However, it's good to know it can survive the occational autocross.

 

Yeah, true about the S-techs, not the stiffest springs out there...

But the beauty of coils, is the adjustable dampening, so you can soften it up when DD'ing, and stiffen it up when autocrossing.

 

No, that's the beauty of adjustable shocks. Koni Yellows will do the same thing. I don't care about changing the car's height, so I'll probably shy away from the coilovers.

What does interest me is your H&R Race Springs. I wish I knew the spring rates compared to my S-Techs. I assume they're stiffer. Then again, I'm not sure of the spring rates on the S-Techs.

 

Your story is inspiring me to seek out a Autocross near me. I've been wanting to do this for some time now.

I've got the yellows and up front they are adjustable without having to jack up the car or remove any bolts (and boy do they get stiff at max dampening!). The backs however, require you to jack up the car, remove the lower bolts holding them to the torsion beam then adjust and reassemble.

I want to get the progress bar too. Do you know of any sites to locate autocross/track events?

 

Sure do: www.scca.org. SCCA's brandname for autocross is "Solo," so look for that.

EDIT: The SCCA site can be a bit difficult to navigate. Try this link:
http://www.scca.com/Inside/Index.asp?IdS=0B8E14-FEA9C70&x=080|090&~=


I didn't know the rear Koni Yellows were such a PITA to adjust. How long would you say it takes to adjust the rears?

 

yeah, I believe they're alot stiffer than S-techs. I've rode in xB's with s-techs on it, and it seems like riding on a cloud compared to my race springs.

 

Thanks for the info! I'm looking now...

 

www.erscc.com

or just pm me.. i autoX almost every weekend locally

~joel