I have had my car for about 8 months and done the drag race thing but since my car is not the fastest there is not much I can do to improve it without spending lots of money. Autocross has a lot more to do with skill and looks like tons of fun. Any pointers for someone just begining??? I live in Northern VA so does anyone know of races around where I live???

Thanx

 

i dont know if myautoevents.com will work for you up there, but thats how we find out about events down here in atlanta.

i would find a novice school to go to if possible. i just started autoxing recently and thats how i started. i also hung out with steve and others and learned a lot that way, but i got the experience with the school. i highly recomend it. i may even take another school when it comes around.

youll prolly like autoxing better simply because the biggest improvement you can make is to your driving. youve got a lot to work with on a stock car and with experience you can do well. the parts arent that expensive and with me i didnt feel this need to constantly get more power out of my car. i felt like i needed to drive better and still do. besides your out there for maybe a minute or more. drag racing gets old simply because it doesnt last long at all. have fun. Trey

 

Thanx a lot man.

 

Sorry if I'm jumping to conclusions, but it sounds like you haven't actually tried autocross yet.

For your first time, bump your tires up to maybe 45f/32r the night before. Get there as soon as the site opens, and tell the people at the registration table that you've never done this before. They'll probably be able to point you to someone who can help show you the ropes.

Clean EVERYTHING out of your car, including the trunk and floormats (but I leave the spare stowed). You can probably do some of this the night before.

You will also need some tape or magnetic material to put numbers on your car.

After you've registered and gone through tech, walk the course as many times as possible. There may be a guided novice walkthrough also.

Shortly before your first run, drop your tire pressure to 42f/30r. That may not be perfect, but it's in the ballpark for street tires. DO NOT let anyone tell you to bump the rear pressure up to match the front - it doesn't work on our cars. Check the pressure again before each run, because it will rise as the tires get hot. Keep it the same for each run.

By the end, your rear tires will be at 30 and hot, which means that after they cool off they'll be too low, so stop for air at the first gas station on the way home.

While on course, NEVER coast to slow down. You should be either on the gas or on the brakes. That does NOT always mean full throttle (it's not a lightswitch), but engine braking is VERY slow.

OTOH, if you find yourself plowing to the outside of the turns (instead of turning) you are going in too fast. Brake sooner. If it still plows, brake even sooner.

The most common novice mistakes is not using the brakes enough (hard enough or soon enough). The other big one is trying to "drive off the hood". In normal driving you look far ahead, but for some reason the cones will make you want to watch the nose. Don't. It's just like driving on the street. If you don't look ahead everything will be a surprise.

Also, it's often "faster" to take the shortest path (even though it means slowing down) instead of trying to go wider and faster.

 

Go here.... http://www.crystalridge.net/cars/autocross.htm

 

Ahhhh.... autocrossing a 3rd gen. I loved my old IROC....

Sorry. Just taking a stroll down memory lane.

http://community.webshots.com/album/57416199qPYKqL

Find a Camaro/Firebird/Mustang driver at your first event, introduce yourself, tell him you've never done this before. It would be an extremely rare situation if this guy didn't tell you everything he knows. Autocrossing is different than drag racing when it comes to help (in my experience, at least).

 

You guys are a big help. I'll just have to find an autox event in my area. How much does it usually cost and how many runs do u get?

 

http://www.wdcr-scca.org/

http://solo.wdcr-scca.org/

The 2nd one is the one you need...but I'll send both. A friend of mine runs with them.

Have fun!

 

Good luck with that. I'm sure once you get the hang of it you'll have tons of fun. Check this site out. It's a good guide to stuff you should know before beginning. Late.

 

Sorry I havent been on the boards in a while. Im also in Northen VA and here is the website: http://www.autocrossers.org/
We use FedEx field for the large events (thats where we hosted Nationals last year). There are about 8 events or so there, and about the same number usually at Rosecroft Raceway (Horse racing track). I for some reason really do well at rosecroft. Its a crappy lot in comparison to FedEx, but I know it well and I was at one point 7th in overall PAX scores in the DC area near the end of the season on that track, and I run in an unlimited class too (Street Modified, stupid subframe connectors...). Cant say that about FedEx heehee. They are currently selling numbers for the year if you want to be in all the events, otherwise you need to sign up for each event about 6 weeks in advance. They ususally fill up pretty quickly, as in sign up starts at 8pm on Sunday, and there are a few numbers left Monday morning. Also, Brian Garfield (who races a Mini in Nationals, and usually places as well) teaches an autocross school. I've gone to about 3-4 of them and my times have dropped quite a bit. For $120 or so you get to run the same course about 20 times, plus a few other courses to work on other skills as well. All of the instrustors he has run in Nationals in various classes. I had them drive my Z28 and helped me determine that my diff was gone, it was so gradual that I didnt really notice my inside tire spinning comming out of turns.

You can also check out http://www.autocrossers.com/ as well for some info, they overlap quite a bit, but the first URL is a better one to use really.

Let me know if you have any questions!

--Kevin Pisz

 

What do I need to do to sign up and how much money is it gonna cost me. I am only 17 and don't have a lot of cash.

 

AFAIK, you just show up, sign a waiver, give em proof of drivers license, and pay just about 15-20 bucks each time you go
you could probably ask to join a club at the actual autocross, i'm sure they'd love to take your money
but if you go often enough, it costs less to get in each time with a membership so, you'll be saving money
yea, i'm getting into it to maybe
whenever i get a z28 hopefully by the end of this month

 

Actually the price went up this year. Insurance costs for them to rent FedEx has driven the price up to I think $35 for non-SCCA members, $25 is if are. They expected this hike last year but it didnt happen. Its actually a ripple effect from 9-11.