First event of 2022 season today and it was a bit of a challenge. Ambient temperature was 20° F when I left home. By the time the first car went out, it was around 36° F and traction was obviously an issue for the RWD guys. It was a surely a limiting factor for me as I have no TCS or ABS and cheap 200tw tires.
Nonetheless, I tried to be more aggressive but that just exposed a new issue. The electric power steering, in its current state, has proven to be a severe handicap. The pump has nothing that speeds it up when it requires more line pressure such as simultaneous hard braking and steering. What happens is basically a sudden “dead spot” in the steering that feels exactly like when the car stalls and the steering gets super hard to turn. It works great on the street, not a huge issue on the open track or even the larger, fast Autocross layouts but it’s no good for smaller course layouts. It has to go.
Soo.. Back to the drawing board. Anyway, here are a few videos from the day. The sunlight washed it out somewhat but you can plainly see the steering issues.
Here are some candid pictures from the day:
