Autocross

[Andrew115]

I am thinking of getting involved in autocross, would love to meet and connect with some other members that are more experienced here.

If you are an active autocrosser and want to give some feedback to a noob please, do leave a comment or a way to contact you.

Thanks

[pkimM3r]

you want to autocross this huge car?!

[CSBM5]

You just missed the SCCA's new Starting Line school as it was held in Charlotte recently. Also, there was just an SCCA event at Z-max Sunday.

Currently, the F80/82 are not classed by the SCCA; I submitted a formal request to the SEB for the car to be classed, but the letter is still in open status. However, for a novice entry that shouldn't be a problem. I would run the car in A-street until the formal class is determined which should be soon.

I've been autocrossing since 1975 and track/time trial/instructor since 1981, etc. The best recommendation I could make is to take an Evolution autocross phase 1 school as soon in your learning path as possible. Since that's not likely this season, contact your local SCCA chapter (SCCA Central Carolinas Region), join, and ask for an experienced instructor to ride along/instruct during your first event.

There is a 24hr autox coming up in a few weeks, so seat time there will be huge. If you can get some good instruction, that would be a great opportunity to come up the learning curve very fast. Here's a link to the schedule for 2014 for the SCCA CCR. After that two more events are coming up at Z-max. It's a great venue (very large) for an event.

Regards,
Chuck

[Andrew115]

Originally Posted by CSBM5

You just missed the SCCA's new Starting Line school as it was held in Charlotte recently. Also, there was just an SCCA event at Z-max Sunday.

Currently, the F80/82 are not classed by the SCCA; I submitted a formal request to the SEB for the car to be classed, but the letter is still in open status. However, for a novice entry that shouldn't be a problem. I would run the car in A-street until the formal class is determined which should be soon.

I've been autocrossing since 1975 and track/time trial/instructor since 1981, etc. The best recommendation I could make is to take an Evolution autocross phase 1 school as soon in your learning path as possible. Since that's not likely this season, contact your local SCCA chapter (SCCA Central Carolinas Region), join, and ask for an experienced instructor to ride along/instruct during your first event.

There is a 24hr autox coming up in a few weeks, so seat time there will be huge. If you can get some good instruction, that would be a great opportunity to come up the learning curve very fast. Here's a link to the schedule for 2014 for the SCCA CCR. After that two more events are coming up at Z-max. It's a great venue (very large) for an event.

Regards,
Chuck

Thanks so much Chuck, I really appreciate this feedback. I would love the 24hr autox your referencing. This would be amazing for someone new like me. Please stay in touch and let me know if you stumble across anything that I could benefit from.

Thanks again.

[Andrew115]

Originally Posted by SlowSaloonM3

you want to autocross this huge car?!

its better than nothing isn't it?

[FTS]

Great response Chuck. I learned how to drive doing autox with BMW CCA and SCCA, attended all of Evolution schools and probably did over 800 SCCA regional and national events. Tremendously fun, a very quick way to learn how to drive. Do not let some of the dynamics of autoxing deter you away (like waiting times, some of the protocols, not being competitive initially, etc.). Stick with it, in the long run you will see the benefits, then try different disciplines as well; such tracking, time trialing, even club racing may be

[pkimM3r]

Originally Posted by Andrew115

its better than nothing isn't it?

i meant, like an hpde.

[JoeFromPA]

Autocrossing is probably a safer pursuit for quite awhile when a novice. Nothing wrong with it, regardless of vehicle, and a very fun activity.

[Andrew115]

Originally Posted by JoeFromPA

Autocrossing is probably a safer pursuit for quite awhile when a novice. Nothing wrong with it, regardless of vehicle, and a very fun activity.

Thanks Joe,
I have racing experience but not with cars, only bikes and snowmobiles. Seems like its a good place to learn car control and also meet some fellow enthusiasts.

[tcpsoft]

Hey, I'm not an experienced AX'er, but I'll have my M3 at z-max this coming Saturday morning (8/16) at the PCA autocross. I have a lot of track time at VIR in a few different cars, but this will be my first AX so I'm looking forward to it.

My only expectation is to have a ton of fun....

[CSBM5]

Andy Hollis' infamous tips article is a decent summation of where to begin your thinking about an autocross.

Jumping ahead a bit...having done tons of instructing over the years, the one thing most everyone has issues with in various elements (but especially slaloms) is not focusing on their inside rear wheel location with respect to a cone. If you drive the slalom via the front of the car, you're just wasting time. Instead you need to visualize where that inside rear tire is, and then achieve the angle of exit away from any given cone that you desire (which in many cases would be a very late apex on stuff like turn-around cones, and/or leading onto a long straight, etc), or in the slalom case, a nice, smooth, right-on-the-cones oscillation with that inside rear tire focus paramount.

The second thing to mention is DO NOT overdrive the slow corners. Your goal is to lose the minimum amount of time possible on a course. Slower speed corners can suck up tons of time if you try to kill them. Drive to the limit of the tires, in a balanced way, and NO MORE. Be patient. Slow, tight corners are just that...slow speed turns. Being tight and neat, right on the limits will be vastly faster than the typical participant slamming into a slow turn determined to make it a fast one.

Final tip is to think: "when in doubt, tight is right". This is especially true for those with only track experience who will devise this grand plan to drive a sweeping line on a big turn; in many cases, those plans are just wrong. Speaking from decades of experience that up until about 10 years ago I believed the same until Mike (Jr) Johnson (Evo school owner) and I swapped driving my M5 at an Evo Extreme school where he schooled me and "my line" good.

Have fun!

[Andrew115]

Originally Posted by tcpsoft

Hey, I'm not an experienced AX'er, but I'll have my M3 at z-max this coming Saturday morning (8/16) at the PCA autocross. I have a lot of track time at VIR in a few different cars, but this will be my first AX so I'm looking forward to it.

My only expectation is to have a ton of fun....

I am going to try to make it up there to watch the event. If your open to it please PM me your cell and maybe we can meet up for a bit and I can check out your new ride. Thanks for the heads up.

[Andrew115]

Originally Posted by CSBM5

Andy Hollis' infamous tips article is a decent summation of where to begin your thinking about an autocross.

Jumping ahead a bit...having done tons of instructing over the years, the one thing most everyone has issues with in various elements (but especially slaloms) is not focusing on their inside rear wheel location with respect to a cone. If you drive the slalom via the front of the car, you're just wasting time. Instead you need to visualize where that inside rear tire is, and then achieve the angle of exit away from any given cone that you desire (which in many cases would be a very late apex on stuff like turn-around cones, and/or leading onto a long straight, etc), or in the slalom case, a nice, smooth, right-on-the-cones oscillation with that inside rear tire focus paramount.

The second thing to mention is DO NOT overdrive the slow corners. Your goal is to lose the minimum amount of time possible on a course. Slower speed corners can suck up tons of time if you try to kill them. Drive to the limit of the tires, in a balanced way, and NO MORE. Be patient. Slow, tight corners are just that...slow speed turns. Being tight and neat, right on the limits will be vastly faster than the typical participant slamming into a slow turn determined to make it a fast one.

Final tip is to think: "when in doubt, tight is right". This is especially true for those with only track experience who will devise this grand plan to drive a sweeping line on a big turn; in many cases, those plans are just wrong. Speaking from decades of experience that up until about 10 years ago I believed the same until Mike (Jr) Johnson (Evo school owner) and I swapped driving my M5 at an Evo Extreme school where he schooled me and "my line" good.

Have fun!

Good tips, it bet it's hard not to attack the corners in a car that is tail happy. Smooth is fast as they say, coming from motorcycle racing background this makes complete sense.

Over cooking a corner on a bike to me is much more scary than a car but often yield the same result.

[evanescent03]

to echo others:

- get help as early on as possible, from an instructor or even just experienced drivers

- don't worry about doing x-y-z to your car .. try it out first before you start modding

- when you GoPro your runs it's nice to do some that show you .. it'll tell you more about where you are looking, what your hands are doing etc..

- go as often as possible, walk the courses and be involved in track design and set up if you can to improve your course familiarity

- worry about improving yourself and not what everyone else is doing

- I've done maybe 10 autocrosses and 10 track days so I'm no expert but this is what I've learned along the way

have fun!