Autocross here I come!
 

So I was wondering how many of you guys are into autocross and how you got started?

Saw it on the G37 forums and looked into it and I have done it a couple of times. Its a blast but tears tires up. You have to have some deep pockets if you want to do it on a regular bases.

I was thinking of just doing it a few times a year especially since I have to travel because there are no meets here locally.

Wayyyyy off topic. But I was down in Odessa in December for work and still listen to the radio stations you guys have down there. Much better than the ones up here. The only depressing part is hearing your guys weather forecasts when its still trying to snow here.

haha.

But back on topic,

I am going to try out some AutoX this summer and see how I like it, Part of me hopes I dont like it to to much because then its gonna get $$ like was mentioned above.

I don't think it will be that expensive, from what I heard, way cheaper than tracking.

autoX isn't too bad on your tries unless your going around the cones way too fast and basically sliding half the time.

You came all the way down from Canada? Wow it's a small world, and I didn't think it would be that expensive either. We have a couple of drag strips here but that's about it. I've done that with my Mach that I had and would really like to try something new. I wouldn't even know where to get started now that I think about it.

Isn't that the whole point? :confused:

It seems like it would be pretty easy to wear out tires with all the limit accelerating that goes on in autox. I eat up tires pretty quick just daily driving, so I know they'll go fast if I ever get into autox or get out on the track.

Auto-X isn't that bad on tires if you have a decent alignment. When using street tires I got roughly 14-15 auto-x events out of a set with some other driving and a little track mixed in.

If you end up getting hooked on track, then that gets expensive, sticky DOT slicks only last about 2-3 events, not to mention 20 gallons of fuel burnt on track per day, track fees, hotels etc.

A buddy once told me that if your squealing your tires the entire time, you are probably leaving time on the table-- meaning smoother driving that "sounds" slower is usually faster.

I hate doing it, but got married and can't afford track days anymore

Would you run racing fuel on a autox event? My slick would last about a 15 runs that's with warming up the this every run. About 4-5 runs a night.

It happens:ugh2:

I get about 150 good runs on a set of $1200 Bridgestone, they fall apart for the next 50.

Autocross got expensive for me fast.... lol. I had tires, I had lowering springs, I had fun. Since my first event 3 months ago till now. My spending has been through the roof lol. SPC front and rear camber arms, Powertrix R/T coilovers, new set of Hankook RS3's, Set of hotchkis sway bars, and I just ordered a Quaife LSD with 4.08 gears. All in all, about $5500 in 3 months to further prep my car for competition! Oh yeah, and hawk HP pads. Base model fail so I still need a bbk which I'm sure I can hold off for for sometime for just autocross.

Yes but these are upgrades if someone just wanted to go for the experience and for fun it wouldn't be they expensive. Someone like yourself that actually competes I can see the expenses involved.

Do like I did, go out the first time and just watch. When I did people saw my wife and I watching took me in intorduced me to people. Gave me a discount card for my first event. Once you watch and event you will know what I mean by my previous post. Out here they do 3 different track set ups. This depends on where they do it autox. Smalll Medium and a large track. Thing I like about Autox is it is techincal, and you can go as hard or easy as you want. They will even provide poeple to help guide you and ride with you to get you going. Its really a great community to be involved with. I just wish I didn't work so much so I could do it more often.

That sounds awesome

Such as these

http://imageshack.us/a/img201/6131/dsc5638r.th.jpg

for this

http://imageshack.us/a/img805/6800/priusautox.th.jpg

Lol I don't compete. Hell I live in Hawaii where there is ONE other car in ASP with me. I went mod crazy after seeing what my car could do and realizing how much more it could possibly do! lol I see crazy built cars that I don't expect mine to ever beat but I sure as hell wanna get as close as I can without going full track :tiphat:

I can't wait for my first event just have to wait on a shipment date from GTM.

Got involved via an invite from another car enthusiast at work. Havent participated yet (1st time is may 12 cominng up). Rode along with danegrey forum member and a couple others. Needed Dramamine! Omg. Hot and fast and jerky and fast lol! But omg-hooked! Lots of support from the experienced peeps :tup: basically you can compete against ypur own time or you can spend some time and cash and compete nationally. People in our club at both levels...thats the best part! All levels welcome :tup:

Does one have to join the SCCA?

Nope.you dont have to. People welcome you anyway. I had a blast just riding. Myautoevents.com join and browse. MVSCC (miami valley sports car club) https://sites.google.com/site/mvscctest/ has some links and info...

Done!

You don't have to join the SCCA but if you do plan on Autocrossing on a regular basis it will save you money. If you want to race, you have to pay for a "weekend" pass which is $20 here in Hawaii and then the event fee. If you plan on running in more then 4 events in the year its worth it. I'm still under 25 so it only cost me $35/year but I turn 25 this year so I bought a 2 year membership for $70 :tup:

Nice. I looked into upcoming events and I could not find anything going on in Texas.

Autocross season is over in most places. Will start up again in July. Thats the reason I'm dropping all this money to prep for next season :)

It's just getting started here.

It's only like that in Hawaii. :tup:

The rest of us here in CONUS get to enjoy a regular season. Here in South Carolina it runs from Feb-Dec.

Well I got onto the Texas SCCA and there is weekend passes but you only get one. You have to join after that if you want to keep racing. They are also located about 5 hours away from where I live. :confused:

Go figure......lol. I only had the car for 4 months in Texas so no time when I was there. Here the season only runs July through April :-( I want more events too!

Yea most events are pretty far from Midland....Midland is in the middle of no where. I grew up there with my grandparents every summer lol

Wow really you'll be surprised how many people have either visited or actually live here that are on the forum. With all the work we have down here it's no longer my little West Texas town. It's actually very congested, business's are popping up like blue bonnets everywhere, if you go to a restaurant on a weekend your looking at about an hour and a half wait. But it's a good thing people are making money and spending it. Helps the economy.

A squealing street tire is a happy tire, however it does need to be applied productively. Cranking the wheel more when you have understeer for example usually doesn't help much.

Slicks don't squeal unless you spin, so no, you don't want to be hearing these :)

I was thinking of selling my wheels and tires for a set of 16's for some drag radials

I was told along time ago that, "if your tire ain't squealing, you ain't going fast enough!" :driving:

16" and drag radials.....:shakes head: First thing: Good luck getting 16's to fit over the front brakes..... Secondly, drag radials would be a terrible idea for autocross, as those are made to have sidewall flex in order to get better reaction on launch. You want stiffer sidewalls to have a more rresponsive feel while cornering.

No those would be for the drag strip dogs any one know the smallest wheel we can put on?

Probably 18 and 17 for the sport brakes and 17 16 on the base?

17's sound like a good number

You have the worst automotive ADD of anyone I've ever seen. Good God.

Edit: Also, you're waiting to autocross until you get a twin turbo kit?

You'll probably never even get into boost on a typical SCCA autocross course... And even if you do, you won't have the rubber, brakes, suspension or experience to handle the speed your turbos will be giving you.