Winter Blues Got You Down? Do A Winter Autocross!

By Patrick Morgan - January 18, 2021

For those in the Northern part of the country, winter weather usually results in a parked car. For the brave, winter autocross exists!

Snow is falling, and your battery trickle charger gently hums in the garage as your car sleeps under its car cover. You’re happy, but longing for the days of summer, and high grip. If the need to drive fast is too high, you may be distraught at tracks being closed. But, there’s a wonderful solution to these kinds of winter blues. Snow autocross!

The premise is simple. Autocross on the slippery white stuff. In the midwest, Road America is a track that hosts such an event. And the rules are simple. Bring the car you have, and you’re grouped based on the driven wheels. No rules based on modifications, and no extreme studded tires either. Slap a set of snow tires on your car and you’re ready to be competitive.

Road America had two courses to run. A “high-speed” autocross which ran on Turns 13 and 14, and a more traditional autocross that was held on the go-kart track within turn 10. Each configuration begins on dry pavement to give a fair chance to the cars that don’t have AWD. But a quick transition from dry pavement to snow meant you are quickly tasked with being patient. Make a mistake? All you do is spin out. No big deal.

One think about Road America that is convenient is that you don’t have to wait for a lake to ice over in order to run. on the downside, this means the course changes drastically over the course of the day. As snow is swept away and more pavement exposed, times would eventually become quicker and quicker. But, that means it simply turned into a wet – and fun – autocross event.

And no, you don’t need to have a Civic Type R or even an Si to compete. An older EF hatch and plenty of regular models were also seen competing, too. The hatch in particular was one of the front runners through the day, too! Although as the roads cleared of snow, the Civic Type R picked up the pace considerably. Overall, the FK8 secured a second place finish in the traditional autocross portion. You can tell some folks like the driver in the red Type R came prepared to compete, while others simply wanted to have fun.

Photos for Honda-Tech by Patrick Morgan