[Houston] Autocross - Drive it like you've always wanted to
 

Less face it, owning an RX8 in Houston is kinda like owning a freezer in Antarctica. You've got all that corning ability, and nothing but miles of flat highway to drive it on.

Sunday, Dec 6th, do yourself and your car a favor, and autocross.

The place is really easy to find, it wont cost you more than a full tank of gas, and the environment is so newbie friendly that they provide you with a helmet, class letters, and numbers FOR FREE!


How to get there:
1 - Get on 45 & head south
2 - Exit #15
3 - Turn right at first light
4 - Look to your left and you will see an enormous parking lot with lots of cones and cars. Can't miss it


How to participate:
1 - Arrive at said destination at 7:45
2 - Go to the big, unmissable, registration booth
3 - Sign a sheet of paper, pay your entry fee, get FREE magnetic numbers
4 - Drive to the big, unmissable, tech area, get FREE class letters
5 - Drive to the big, unmissable, staging area, get a FREE helmet
6 - Drive your car like you've always wanted to :D




Why your excuses suck:
"My car's not ready"
I've competed in rentals before. I've won in a Corolla... twice. I've lost to a $500 rust-bucket with no windows or doors. Any car is "ready".

"I'm no good at driving"
No one is. You know that Corolla I won in? Same day I spun out so badly they had to stop the event for 5 minutes while they hunted down all the cones I obliterated. It was also the same day that someone made their mom drive her Camry. She never got over 25. The pre-teens in their 2hp go-karts churned out better times. You know how many people were mad that day? ZERO.

"I don't want to damage my car"
All autocross courses start off with a bigass turn, so you won't be hurting your clutch with any aggressive launches. Also, you never get over 60, or go under 35, so you'll shift once (from 1st to 2nd) and then spend most of your run @ 6k RPMs, so you won't hurt any part of your drivetrain. And a few zig-zags in a parking lot at ~40mph certainly won't destroy your tires or brakes in a hurry.
Oh yeah, you know what happens when you plow an RX-8 head first into a cone at 60mph?
It makes a *thud* noise.
I'd know - I've done it about 50-60 times.

"I'd rather drive on a track"
Yeah, so would I. But that shit is expensive, plus you need to prep your car, know how to drive well, and it causes a lot of damage. If only there was an alternatOHWAIT

"You're a bit of a dick"
Yep :)

All that makes me want to go!!!! Damn it!!!!

Im down, whats the entrance fee? whats the exact address.

http://www.houscca.com/solo/

Gulf Greyhound Park
1000 Fm 2004 Rd La Marque, TX 77568

Registration fees are as follows:
When registering On-line $25.00
when registering on Site $30.00

You must be a SCCA member to run. (weekend membership as mentioned above)
SCCA event only five day membership* $15.00

Event Information
Registration 7:30-8:30am
Course Walk 7:30-8:45am
Tech 7:45-8:45am
Rookie Walk thru 8:30am
Drivers Mtg 9:00am
First Car out 9:30am

NEW to the sport?
Be thereby 7:30 a.m. or earlier

i wanna go

OK, you've convinced me.

Trying to bring along my dad and friend as well. None of us has ever autocrossed, should be interesting :)

Oh shiet I'm there... $30 is super cheap. How many runs? 4? Double Drivers?

Edit: So its $45 if you're not a SCCA member right?

Here's how you register for the event super-cheap:
1 - goto www.dlbracing.com & set up an account (it's free & simple)
2 - Once you have an account setup, goto the calendar view (main page) and you'll see on Sunday December 6th the option to register for the event.
3 - Register online for the event ($25). Your class will be STB (regardless of mods or lack thereof). Select the "I will 'buy' magnetic numbers" option & register whatever number you want.

When you arrive on-site, you will only have to pay $15 for the weekend membership (total cost: $40). If you think this seems like a lot of money, just remember what you're getting for that price:
-FIVE runs of driving your car like an absolute maniac.
-As many FREE rides with any instructor and/or friends as you can fit in
-A FREE rental helmet
-FREE snazzy-looking magnetic numbers
-FREE class letters (not-so-snazzy... sorry)
-As many runs as you'd like with an instructor riding shotgun (FREE, again)
...and...
-A $15 discount on an SCCA membership & license

So, if you choose to get an SCCA membership & license after the event, not only will you get a 100% rebate on your weekend membership, but you also totally fucking sweet discounts on track days at MSR Houston!! (no, seriously, it's fucking sweet. Like... $40 for a full day, every Wednesday... forever... it's fucking sweet.)





I've been a member of the SCCA for 2 years now, and I can tell you this about the Houston chapter:
They.
Love.
Newbies.

Seriously. If you're nervous about not doing well, or getting lost, or driving slow, or spinning out, or not having any torque... DON'T BE. The environment at these events is about as competitive as a blacklight techno-bowling alley. The timer is pretty much for beer bets among friends. Other than that, it's just a bunch lead-footed, batshit insane, motor heads cheering one another on in a quest to drive like the biggest nut-job.
Too cautious or too reckless, there's nothing like a good newbie to spur on the crowd. You guys are just too damn unpredictable to be anything shy of greatly entertaining :)









Also, if you REALLY want the extra seat time...

On December 5th (Sat), there's a practice day. 20+ runs for the price of... like... less than 20. More like 10. Maybe less.

Plus, on December 13 (following Sunday), there's an autocross at the Houston Police Academy. It's with the BMW CCA. Might be a little closer for some of you. You usually get 6-7 runs there. Bad news is, they don't allow passengers (unless they are licensed instructors). Good news is, their setups are a lot faster and more "track-like" in configuration.

You can register for all 3 events at www.dlbracing.com

I'll be at all 3 :D

Ok I registered; payed $40 though. It said for a "non-member" which I assume means it added the $25+$15? Oh well, should be fun to get out on a course again...

is the registration for the event closed because i cant find the register for the dec 6 event.

Below where it says "Calendar/Site" you see "November '09". Click the right arrow.

Attachment 268589

cool thanks ross im registering for sunday now.

Sweet, should be a good turnout :D:

will the event still go on if it rains?

hah... nice write up man. I'm actually taking my MSF this weekend but I'm interested. see you one day.

hope it doesnt rain tomorrow.

I hope it does :D:

I got my summer tires on so all those people with R-comps will be pissed :lol:

Just one question OP, why is your name the formula for Kinetic energy?

omg SHEEEIT i missed it, pictures to make me feel worse please! :D

hurry and come back and tell me how it was! aHHHHHHHHHHH i cant believe i missed it

Well, there's always this Sunday at the HPA :)
As to pictures, well... I was too busy not spinning out to think about taking pictures :Eyecrazy:.

I don't think this is quite correct.

MSR Club Days were only from 5 to 7 pm daily and the cost was $100. Doesn't matter because the program is suspended until further notice. :sad:

I work at MSR and will post up info when/if we resume the club days.

Haha me too man. I spun out once and hit the same damn cone 3 times in a row :icon_no2:

I Fail.

Please do :icon_tup:

Can do.

I'd like to do a track day in the spring, but I need to see how many people are willing to cough up the 200-250 for a full track day. 9 to 5 (7 hrs overall track time+1 hr lunch).

PS - Any of you guys coming to the club meeting tomorrow night talk to me and we will discuss options.

if the track day is set up for a weekend i would be down to pay that amount. Looking to get more seat time. Lol Ross's RX8 is a cone magnet. Club meeting? the one at freebirds?

Yes, at Freebird's. :)

Yeah it would be a single day event Saturday or Sunday. We need about 50 people at that price. I was going to speak with the MX-5 and Mazdaspeed guys too... make it an all Mazda day. :) I've already been working on this for a while, just haven't made much noise about it yet.