any faq or should shouldnt while autox'ing?
i know every car drives different and would like to start like a faq for nubs like me who wanna go do autox.

 

do you know where they have it around here?

 

Go to SCCA.com and find your location that way.

 

advice would totally depend on your setup, stock suspension? what tires are you gonna run?

 

X2. These are good points, Tires alone can shed off up to 3 sec's depending on the driver( The tires you have now are Y rated, hard as rock for high speeds and are bad for Autox, trust me I know and learned the hard way). Suspension is a biggy for the corners.

 

Learn not to autox a "cobalt", but learn to autox.

 

well suspension and brakes are stock for me. what can I expect since all cars are different and the car setup ccan change the cars performance.

how about minimum recommendations to get started.

 

If you are absolutely new to the sport, below are some tips:

1) Go to the event early. Help setting up the event. Get your registration done and the car tech'd.

2) By getting all that done early, it gives you much more time to walk the course. Walk the course as much as you can, pay attention to course conditions and debris. Events will usually have a group walk usually lead by an experienced driver and he will help explain the course. Most of the new driver have a tougher time remembering the course, above everything else.

3) Attend the drivers meeting, don't talk and listen. Pay attention to run groups and which one you will be in it. Get work assignment. Pay attention to cone rules and flag rules.

4) When they call your run group, go line up at pre-grid. The trick is to line up as late a possible in a sunny day, but since you are running stock tires, don't worry about it.

5) When it's your time to drive, the first run focus on not getting lost. Go slower if you must to get the first run right and bank a time. Getting your first one right builds confidence for the rest of the runs, and once that happened you can then concentrate on getting better times for the rest of the runs.

6) When you are driving. look up! don't drive with a low eye. The further you see, the more time you will have to anticipate what's coming up. Pay attention on brake zones and your braking. Pay attention to steering, unwind as you accelerate; for now get your threshold braking done in a straight line. As you get more experience you can experiment with trail braking and getting rotation. Avoiding the cones is a given, pay attention to your line and get a good understanding of how wide is your car from the driver's seat.

7) Caution! when you are out at the course working. DO NOT TALK!! PAY ATTENTION! watch and follow the cars to A) make sure they are not going to run you over and B) to see if they hit anything. IF you suspect they hit a cone, go check it, reposition it if you have to and let the timing know if there are any penalties.

8) After your run, spent a few minutes assess your run while they are still fresh in your mind. If you make any mistakes, try to find it; if you didn't, try see where you can find more speed.

9) Have fun.

10) If they have fun runs after the event, go do a few. grab a more experience driver as a passenger to have him/her assess your driving; or even have him/her drive your car and you as the passenger.

11) DON'T LEAVE EARLY! stay and help out packing the event.

 

Well said, RocketPunch! I agree 100%!

 

ty ^_^

 

+1 I'm new here, and autocross a Saabaru now. The hardest thing for me to actually do is a well-known cliche - "slow in, fast out". This means you actually need to use that brake pedal. Failure to do so results in understeer, where your wheels are turned and you keep sliding (while the clock is running). Easy to say, hard to do. Autocrossing is VERY addictive, so watch out for that, too...

Since I'm a "wannabe" SS/TC owner at the moment, I have no car-specific comments, but anything involving driver improvement is usually the best thing to work on first, anyway.

 

rocketpunch pretty much gave you everything you need to know. I've only been to auto-x once and that was in my last car, my first few runs i kept knocking cones over trying to be fast and kept oversteering into a spin-out. After I calmed down and took it slow I started to learn the course and eventually made some really good runs. I actually ordered my ss/tc a few weeks after that night at auto-x because of how good the reviews were on it, almost took an ss/sc lease-takeover till i found out about the ss/tc and made up my order then. I can't wait till i can auto-x next year, i'm definately competing in D-stock and I will be taking home a Trophy!!!!