vid from my first autocross

[vshah]

So a friend and I went out to the Giants stadium in Jersey for autox today, run by Motorsports NE. It was my first time...so much fun, can't wait till next month when I can go again.

I got 7 runs in, first time was very slow and cautious
2nd run was me actually trying, and I got a 1:12

on my last run i brought that down to 1:04, which was my best time:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtEd_c5iV84

I think the hairpin slowed me down a lot, and I could have stayed on the throttle a bit more on the sweeper leading up to it. learned a ton about how my car responds at the limits though.

JCH13 thanks for the tips about tire pressure. I set it to 38/40 to start with and that was pretty much perfect right off the bat.

 

[JCH13]

Sweet, glad the advice helped! Your lines look pretty good, but I can see some of that FWD understeer :awe: (I don't blame you).

 

[thescreensavers]

looks fun, I want to do this so bad

 

[vshah]

Sweet, glad the advice helped! Your lines look pretty good, but I can see some of that FWD understeer :awe: (I don't blame you).

haha yeah, me and my rsx buddy were basically deciding which RWD car to buy next after the event

 

[Fenixgoon]

awesome! i'd love to do autocross...i'm just afraid i'd lose track of the course and forget which way to go

 

[Farmer]

Looks so fun.

 

[RKS]

looks like a lot of fun

 

[vshah]

awesome! i'd love to do autocross...i'm just afraid i'd lose track of the course and forget which way to go

i was pretty worried too, but I walked the course a couple times, and then drove the first run at a leisurely pace (1:30) to get it into my head. It really isn't that difficult! the $ to thrill ratio is off the charts

 

[thedarkwolf]

awesome! i'd love to do autocross...i'm just afraid i'd lose track of the course and forget which way to go

Its a lot more confusing looking in videos than it is in person. Your going to hit cones and go off coarse though. Don't be too worried about it. Nobody cares because we all do it. Its addictive. I ran with one group today and have two more events next weekend, probably only do one though.

That is a nice lot.

 

[vshah]

That is a nice lot.

yeah, it is pretty huge. lots of flexibility for the course designer. some hidden elevation changes though. there was an sti that got all 4 wheels off the ground.

 

[FuzzyDunlop]

do they charge per run? whatsa the cost to attend one of these?

 

[vshah]

do they charge per run? whatsa the cost to attend one of these?

this one was $60, $50 if you pay the membership fee which is $40, so it makes sense if you attend a full summer of events (i'm starting halfway through)

$60 is on the high side, i've seen smaller clubs for as low as $30. this event was very well organized and had a great location though. like i said, $ to thrills ratio is extremely good

 

[natto fire]

awesome! i'd love to do autocross...i'm just afraid i'd lose track of the course and forget which way to go

The trick is to not stare at masses of cones but to look ahead to where you want the car to be not where it is going. That is how it was explained to me, which worked for me, I finished 4th in my class the very first time I did AutoX (G Stock, back in 2001).

I only ended up doing it 2 times but it was a blast for sure.

 

[thedarkwolf]

this one was $60, $50 if you pay the membership fee which is $40, so it makes sense if you attend a full summer of events (i'm starting halfway through)

$60 is on the high side, i've seen smaller clubs for as low as $30. this event was very well organized and had a great location though. like i said, $ to thrills ratio is extremely good

Yeah here the price is $35 for non-members or $20 for members. A yearly membership in the SCCA is I think $70 so its worth it if you end up doing a lot of events. One of the reason the group I'm running with next weekend is doing a two day event to to make some extra cash to bribe er make a donation to the school so we can keep using their lot. That maybe one reason some areas charge more.

With some groups you may only get three runs and some may give you eight +. Just depends on how many people show up and if they have a coarse that can handle more than one car at a time. Around here are lots are tight and all of our coarses are setup for two laps so they can rarely get more than one car out at a time. We only average thirty people though so we still get a lot of runs.

 

[Fenixgoon]

Its a lot more confusing looking in videos than it is in person. Your going to hit cones and go off coarse though. Don't be too worried about it. Nobody cares because we all do it. Its addictive. I ran with one group today and have two more events next weekend, probably only do one though.

That is a nice lot.

i take it you burn through a few sets of tires a year, eh?

 

[JCH13]

i take it you burn through a few sets of tires a year, eh?

It's remarkably easy on tires, as far as racing goes. Probably 15-20 events out of one decent set of low tread-wear tires, maybe even more.

 

[thedarkwolf]

i take it you burn through a few sets of tires a year, eh?

I run in a street tire class 140 tread wear rating or higher so it isn't too bad. I'm on my second year and around 15 events on my current tires and I think I'll get another year or so out of them. The r-comp, race tires, classes go through tires a lot quicker. Some lots and drivers are a lot harder on tires than others too. There was a guy yesterday in a civic that was under steering like crazy and you could just watch rubber dust flying off his tires in one of the tight 180 turns.

 

[JCH13]

haha yeah, me and my rsx buddy were basically deciding which RWD car to buy next after the event

Are we going to have another Miata convert on the AT boards? :awe:

My first Miata was in rough shape, but had all of the goodies: lowering springs, Koni sports, cold air intake, borla exhaust, and a race radiator, and spec miata wheels, basically the "auto-x kids meal" for $2100.

 

[thedarkwolf]

miata here too. Being light probably helps the tires last a bit longer too . Think miatas are starting to pick up in popularity around here. Had 3 at the event yesterday out of 20 cars and all of us were in the STR class too which was fun. I'm usually the only miata that shows up. Vettes, hondas, and subarus are the popular autox cars around here. One of the vette guys just sold his vette and is on the search for a miata too.

 

[MrWizzard]

i take it you burn through a few sets of tires a year, eh?

For record breaking tire wear do autocross on a commercial airstrip. Those surfaces will kill your tires in minutes but give tons of grip! heh

 

[thescreensavers]

looks fun, I want to do this so bad

heh looks like Ill be doing it this weekend, anyone know what tire pressure I should be at? And Lol my Tires are Tread rating of 500 and All Seasons(conti DWS), its not going to be pretty but it still going to be fun. I am thinking higher so that there is less sidewall flex?

 

[JCH13]

heh looks like Ill be doing it this weekend, anyone know what tire pressure I should be at? And Lol my Tires are Tread rating of 500 and All Seasons(conti DWS), its not going to be pretty but it still going to be fun. I am thinking higher so that there is less sidewall flex?

What car/drive type? Estimated weight distribution? Tire size?

Whoops, G35 Infinity, front engine, rwd, right?

 

[JCH13]

One of the vette guys just sold his vette and is on the search for a miata too.

That is some mighty high praise.

 

[vshah]

Are we going to have another Miata convert on the AT boards? :awe:

My first Miata was in rough shape, but had all of the goodies: lowering springs, Koni sports, cold air intake, borla exhaust, and a race radiator, and spec miata wheels, basically the "auto-x kids meal" for $2100.

i'm torn between saving up for a nice NSX or just buying a track toy miata in a couple years :-/

 

[JCH13]

i'm torn between saving up for a nice NSX or just buying a track toy miata in a couple years :-/

An NSX would be wild overkill for an auto-x car. It weighs about 1,000lbs more than a Miata, and frankly I'd be amazed if the aftermarket and tuning support was half as good as the Miata's. For the money ($20k, being the cheapest NSX I found on auto-trader) you could buy a Miata for $10k in nice shape, put $5k into an FMII turbo setup with Hydra standalone (250whp, easy), and $5k into suspension/chassis/wheels/tires and drive circles around the NSX.

If you had your heart set on mid-engine I'd look at a MK1 or MK2 naturally aspirated MR2 (or MK3 if you want to spend a little more).