Derex'8

iTrader: (4)

Haha I'm surprised the 2 foot rule hasn't been mentioned yet haha...anyway well looks like I will be attending my 1st Auto X sooner than expected, A friend informed me last night of an event going on this weekend and I'm all over it...Check out the course

416to212

Finally after 3 pages someone mentions tire pressure.... Now I want to know who will mention a heel-toe downshift from 2nd to 1st...

Carrera26

One of the best ways to determine the correct PSI is to "shoe polish" your tires. You put a dot on your tires with shoe polish (which is in good supply as it's used to put numbers on windows) over the edge so that it's on the sidewall and tread. After your run, you will see how far the polish has been rubbed off. If it's right on the shoulder where the tread ends its just right. If it's on the sidewall you need to increase PSI, if it's not reaching the shoulder you need to decrease.

That will get you "optimum grip" PSI for that tire, although you technically only really want that for the front. I might suggest a bit of safe understeer at first just to make things a bit simpler and drive home the Slow-in-fast-out concept of cornering. Learn how to get your front end around the cones first, and then mess with getting more rotation out of the rears later.

RojoOcho

I just recently autocrossed for the first time a few days ago. I'm no expert but the best advice I can give you is to believe in your car because it's actually very good for Autocross.

In the first run I did I ran a 98 sec run but by the time I got to my 5th (final) run I got it down to 84 seconds. Just go for it. It's just cones anyways.

scsi

damn im jealous, we dont see our course at all till the day of when they say its okay to walk it

Derex'8

iTrader: (4)

Yup, well this bites, event was cancelled due to potential flooding of track. Damn you mother nature!!! Well this weekend wasn't all a waste. I did as you all suggested. I drove on site the day prior to the event and received a crash course on Auto X. That had to be damn near one of the most well spent 2 hours of my life. The instructor got behind the wheel of my car & unlocked a secret mod: Skill. I've never seen my car manuever like that.....

Alot was thrown @ me within those 2 hours but some key points were always look ahead and determine the best line, slow in & fast out, smooth transactions, I have brakes use them, and push it, I need to know the limits of my car.

kwescott

Sorry that you'll have to wait another month...I can imagine it is hard to wait. I know a month between races is just too much time for me....

Derex'8

iTrader: (4)

Oh no...no month wait for me, I couldn't bear that. My next event is this sunday . If I was set financially, and had no other obligations I could Auto X just about every weekend of the month in my area/region, brr-scca, odr-scca.org, nasa midatlantic, and TSCC, and VMSC

Oh and SCCA will be having 2 pro solo events @ fedex field this month which is like 2 hours away...Meh, don't think I'm ready for the pros yet, may just go up there and watch though.

kwescott

pros are fun....no need to be scared/nervous about them. Of course the competition is stiffer...but you won't be competitive out of the box anyways, so you might as well get out there and have the fun. I'm sure glad I finally went for my first time this year. This is my second year of autocross....my first full year as I only got a half a season last year.

scsi

lucky guys. our last event was in april, the next one is july 1st ><

HarshJay

First time ever on the track and it's was better than free hookers and blow!!! So much fun. I did a safe lap with a co-pilot to tell me the course, and the first stage of the traction control off. I then completely turned off the computer and did my second..... I came out of the box and the first turn powered a drift for 25 feet.... drifted a few more... and pulled a huger drift but let er go and came around.... so much fun, and what a different car with the computer off... just getting hard on the throttle can make the back end walk. I just fell in love with this car all over again!!!

Check it out ! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5U9f3H_41w

Derex'8

iTrader: (4)

HAHA What a F*@king blast....Just fin my first Auto X about 4 hours ago and my adrenaline is still pumpin...oh man had a great time...It's funny most of those techniques went str8 out the window when I got on course..everything was happening so damn fast haha but I did remeber though to keep looking ahead

I put up some pretty damn good times being a 1st timer, will place results as soon as they become availiable. My next investment is grippier(if tats even a word) tires. Lost lets say 4-5 seconds on these damn SPTs...everytime I would wanna get on the throttle a lil more there goes my tires screaming, "Aw Nawh Hell Nawh You done up and done it". Then another 2-3 on my lines just get these 2 things str8 and I will be up there w/the top dogs in no time ...amazed @ the competition out there ppl bringing full service trailers, air tools, damn nice.

Can I get more grip out of my tires by using good lines and braking?

scsi

congrats, glad u had fun!

yes, you can absolutely get more grip out of your tires using good lines and braking right. i remember the beginning of last season, a colleague in a 300ZX was telling me how excited he was to have picked up some r-compounds and how much faster he could go. unfortunately i still beat him by a good margin on my street tires. im not saying that im some awesome driver or anything, just that too often people upgrade their cars without upgrading their skills

most important things to remember when you first start out is the walk the course at know it, and then look ahead and always knwo whats coming and where you're going. i understand its easy to forget all the other things, but they will slowly start coming to you as you progress.

Derex'8

iTrader: (4)

Yeah I found that out real quick on my 1st run. Wasn't looking ahead and within a second I was off course. I also need to break my habit of using one hand when cornering car.

I outdid myself on my last run. High speed slalom @ end of course, either I wasn't smooth enough and/or asking too much of tires and spun out almost taking the timer down w/me needless to say I got penalized on that as well

I placed 3rd out of 23 drivers in NOV class with a best lap time of 60.85 and PAX of 49.167 alright I guess, Avg lap time for this course running on some decent street tires w/low tread rating was 55 secs. Best time overall was 48.496 some all out track prep car of course.

kwescott

along with better lines and better entry and exit speeds....air pressure can make a difference with grip. Stagger air pressures and this will help you a bit with the "rear walk" you spoke about. Usually a 2-3 pound difference in air pressures will do....with the higher pressure on the front tires......welcome to the addiction.

scsi

personally, i still don't think you need to worry about tire pressures too much. they will be helpful later in tuning your car, but it is more important right now that you adjust your driving habits and learn to best control your car as it is, then you can gain a larger advantage from tuning your car later. it will also help you to be able to do better when your car isnt perfectly tuned.

ULLLOSE

iTrader: (1)

Great newbie info here: http://www.wtfstables.com/rmsoloschool

Bad_Bob

Hook up with the group that uses the Pungo air field. I was there last year and what a great group of people.

Derex'8

iTrader: (4)

Say what!?!...What were you down here for just Auto X? Yeah I was out pungo about 2 weeks ago for an event that ended up getting cancelled because of flooding, yeah go figure. I got to meet the fellas out there and recive some course/driving instruction.

clyde

That's what I did for the first section on my first run Sunday at Devens. When I turned the corner onto the taxiway toward the corner, I thought, "Hmm...why did the slalom turn into just a little juke? Oh, I think I just went off course."

I guess you can look too far ahead.

scsi

part of looking ahead is comprehending what is there...

Derex'8

iTrader: (4)

Well jus had my second event yesterday and it's confirmed I'm getting quicker lap times with the DSC on WTF!?!?! I guess I really need to learn better control of the car as far as countersterring and braking @ the right times.

I also noticed that I was braking all the way through some tight turns causing me to understeer like a **** Slow in fast out!!! I'll get it eventually

scsi

haha i had an event yesteray too, i didnt have a good day

turn your dsc off!!

ideally you shouldnt need to countersteer much. this also means setting up the car so it wont oversteer much also.

definitely must brake before the turn

TeamRX8

iTrader: (25)

don't be the cone, don't be the cone ... nananananananananaaaaaa

mwood

Where you look, is where you go...