Understeer
 

I'm running into some pretty intense understeer during autocross.

Any easy ways to get the car more neutral without buying parts? I've removed more weight from the rear than the front. That may play a part (I would expect the opposite effect though).

I was running 40 psi all around (street tires), I'm thinking I should try less pressure in the fronts and more in the rear.

Any suggestions?

If you dont have good tires then that will affect it majorly...yes try letting some air out the front.

what gear are you running in most the time?

2nd gear whole course (minus launch).

yeah, ive noticed that my car fc tends to understeer more with the spare out and 1/4 tank than with the spare and a full tank. matbe battery relocation to the passenger side storage bin to move some more weight to the back without puting more weight in altogether.

Aside from changing parts you can:

A) Work on picking up your speed. The car will have less of a tendency to understeer at higher speeds.

B) Hard late braking. Hitting the brakes hard at the last possible second (followed by some gas) will help to transfer weight forward and bring the rear end around (depends on what type of turns you are getting understeer)

C) Lower front tire pressure to help with traction

D) Slight faint (going the opposite way from the turn, then jerking the car back around).

More than likely it has to do with what tires you are running and your driving style :)

Maybe take an instructor out ont he course and have him watch you as you drive? When I first started racing in SCCA events and NASA HDPE I had some issues that I didn't understand. I was paying attention to driving so much that I missed a few simple things, having someone along to point them out and give me some tips, then a little practice, and it's all cleared up.

How are your struts/springs? Sagging rear struts/springs will cause understeer.

Very true...my advice is assuming that your suspension is all stock and in good order...

buy a cheap strut bar for 25 bucks off of ebay.

do you have high or low profile tires?

if you have high (like 15" wheels) try 35 in the front and less in the rear. maybe like 32. A lot a people think you just add air to the rears and they will slide. This is true to a point, and i with my new low profile tires i slide around everwhere if i even have just a little too much air.
But when i ran my 60 series tires, the side that had a few more pounds of air was the side that stuck.
of course theres and exception to this, if you put 60psi in any of your tires, im sure those tires are going to slide.

im pretty much known as the drift king at my autoX, im not proud of it though.

Shouldn't you drop pressure until the tires start to roll over, and then go up in air for more bite and down for less?

When I autocrossed my old Subaru 2.5RS, it liked to understeer at the limit, too.

I found myself regularly running 40psi front and 44psi rear, and that let me oversteer without even having to put effort into it.