FROM: another source:
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1. As soon as you pass the start line, you are only losing time.
Minimize how much time you lose. It's not just going faster, it's
spending less time on the course.

2. The trick is to drive 10/10ths. A novice will drive 7/10ths and then not realize that they went to 13/10ths. Learn the edge and drive it. That may mean some cones get hit and you spin. It's what teaches you where 10/10ths is.

3. There are fast parts and there are slow parts. Learn the difference.

4. Don't square off the corners and point and shoot drive. A lot of
corners are parts of smooth arcs you can make. It's faster to drive a smooth arc than a short straight and two jerky turns.

5. Be aggressive in chicanes. Attack them, stay in front of the turns and as straight as you can. Getting "behind" in a chicane is a bad thing.

6. Doing this well means being smooth. Being smooth DOES NOT mean you are slow. To drive the car smoothly may require controlled chaos in the car. Fast hand and foot movements do not mean you are not smooth.

7. Know your line you intend on driving. Understand it. Look for it. If you drive such that you are forcing yourself off that line, you made a mistake and need to slow down. The line is everything, unless you are wrong about where the line is...then you need to change your mind.

8. Look ahead to where you want to exit the turn. Adjust your speed into the corner to make sure your car will be on the right spot when your exit the corner.

9. It's better to corner under acceleration than braking. Brake earlier and then get on the throttle as quick as you can. Brake in a straight line whenever possible and technically unless you have the car in trouble

10. The earlier throttle points will be faster. Give up the end of the
straight to make your corner exit faster. That speed coming out of the corner will carry thru the whole straight following the corner.

11. Do not try to save runs. If you get screwed up, go off course or mow down cones. This saves tires.

12. Understeer is often caused by going in to a corner too hot. To
reduce understeer, straighten out the steering and/or reduce throttle input.

13. A lift or quick stab at the brakes can cause the front of the car to weight and allow better turn in.

14. Alignments are important.

15. If you start going slower or are less succesful than you should be, check the car. Sometimes things change and it's hard to notice.

16. Seat time is important.

17. Autocross deliberately. Try to drive deliberately. Not just
reacting...but control the steering and drive the line. Then do it
faster.

18. Don't worry about long lists of tips. Work on one or two things at a time. Don't try to adjust everything, put in a new swaybar and struts, try out Kumho's/Hoosiers etc. and decide to use left foot braking all in one weekend. Make changes one at a time and see how they feel.

19. There are many ways to setup your car and your driving can
accomodate them. Spend more time on your driving than your car setup. Human nature is that it's easier to point to your car, or the classing, or maybe someone else is cheating, or they spent more. But the biggest variable in autocrossing is still always the driver.

20. WALK THE COURSE!!! If your region or event allows walking of the course, DO IT! While you are walking, try to get with a more experienced autocrosser and just listen to him/her. I say listen because if you tell them you want to walk with them for tips etc. they will tell you everything you would otherwise be wondering about. Also ask questions, tell the person you are walking with what kind of car/tires you will be on etc. Don't be suprised if the person you are walking with says this is a 3rd gear turn without a doubt, and then he/she turns to you and says "2nd in your car". This will save you the hassle and confirm what you may have already thought. While w

 

Good advice...especially since I'll be running for the first time on sunday

 

To add to this... look ahead - look where you want to be. The body follows the eyes, and the hands follow the body. Dont worry about where the car is at any given moment because you cannot change that - only worry about whats ahead of you and focus on that - that teaches you to be smooth. You are then acting and driving the course, rather than reacting to what you see.

RJ

 

I don't like this one. It's a little too mad skillz for me. For beginners and intermediate, it's totally unneccessary. Especially if your car suffers from fuel starvation... grumble, grumble...

The rest are awesome, though! Good stuff!

 

Sam Strano came to me after a run I made at a local event where I hit about 4 inside cones, 2 of which I had hit on my previous run. What he said to me blew my mind because it made perfect sense, but had never, ever crossed my mind previously. He told me that if I am mowing down cones on the inside of the turns, I am not going fast enough through that turn. I NEVER hit inside cones more than once anymore

Mike

 

Is that what fuel starvation sounds like? Sounds more like you could use a sandwich or something. For god's sake, take some time away from your computer and grab a bite to eat!

As far as the fuel level, each car differs. I would run the least amount that your car can run comfortably without fuel pick-up issues. It never hurts to practice good techniques, even as a beginner. Plus, every little bit helps in the power to weight ratio!

This one is KEY!!

I can't tell you how many times I've been to an event where the new autocrossers get there late and don't even walk the course ONCE! It is sooooo important to learn the course, especially when this is new to you. If not, your driving skills don't even come into play. You'll be spending your entire run trying to figure out where you are going!!


[Modified by Conemasher, 3:13 PM 3/12/2002]

 

great tips! im gonna try to use them this sunday!

one question:
what is a chicane?




[Modified by illusion, 9:48 PM 3/12/2002]

 

A chicane is a tight set of turns (normally a left then a right, or a right then a left) that is designed to keep your speeds down. You will see them in racing in the middle of a long straight so that as the cars aproach, they have to slow down a lot to navigate the tight series of turns.

 

Awesome list! The most crucial point I find works good for me is to walk the course until time's up and they literally throw me off of it. That means usually 4-6 times for a regional.

 

For nationals, tours, pros - walk the course about 20 times. I'm serious. You will be so f@$@#$!ing bored of walking that course but you WILL know it.

Ryan

 

Yoda, funny you should post this b/c just yesterday I got the following tips off of our local solo II elist. They were written by Andy Hollis, a national level driver and Evolution instructor. As you'll see, these are very consistent with the ones you posted. Now, if it were only as easy to actually execute these concepts/fundamentals as they are to talk about. Bon appetite!

ANDY'S TOP TEN AUTOX DRIVING TIPS

[Just got back from a weekend of teaching Evolution schools and thought I'd share some stuff that I must have said a thousand times. Sure beats talking about rules!]

1) Position first, then speed. Positioning the car perfectly is more important than trying to attain the highest potential speed. For example, you will drop more time by correctly positioning the car nearer to slalom cones than you will by adding 1 or 2 MPH in speed. Same with sweepers (tight line). Same with 90-degree turns (use all of the track). Also, position is a prerequisite for speed. If you are not in the correct place, you will not be able go faster. Or at least not for very long!

2) Turn earlier...and less. To go faster, the arc you are running must be bigger. A bigger arc requires less steering. To make a bigger arc that is centered in the same place, the arc must start sooner (turn earlier).

3) Brake earlier...and less. Waiting until the last possible second approaching a turn and then dropping anchor at precisely the correct place so that the desired entry speed is reached exactly as you come to the turn-in point is quite difficult to execute consistently. Especially when you consider that you get no practice runs on the course, and the surface changes on every run, and you aren't likely to be in exactly the same position with the same approach speed on every run, etc. Better to start braking a little earlier to give some margin of error. And by braking less you can either add or subtract braking effort as you close in on the turn-in point. This will make you consistent and smooth.

4) Lift early instead of braking later. Continuing with the philosophy of #3, when you need to reduce speed only a moderate amount, try an early lift of the throttle instead of a later push of the brake. This is less upsetting to the car, is easier to do and thus more consistent, and allows for more precise placement entering the maneuver (remember #1 above).

5) Easier to add speed in a turn than to get rid of it. If you are under the limit, a slight push of the right foot will get you more speed with no additional side effects. On the other hand, if you are too fast and the tires have begun slipping, you can only reduce throttle and wait until the tires turn enough of that excess energy into smoke and heat. Don't use your tires as brakes!

6) Use your right foot to modulate car position in constant radius turns, not the steering wheel. In a steady state turn, once you have established the correct steering input to maintain that arc, lifting the throttle slightly will let the car tuck in closer to the inside cones. Conversely, slightly increasing the throttle will push the car out a bit farther to avoid inside cones. It is much easier to make small corrections in position with slight variations in the tires' slip angle (that's what you are doing with the throttle) than with the steering wheel.

7) Unwind the wheel, then add power. If the car is using all of the tire's tractive capacity to corner, there is none left for additional acceleration. At corner exit, as you unwind the wheel, you make some available. If you do not unwind the wheel, the tire will start to slide and the car will push out (see #6 above).

8) Attack the back. For slaloms (also applicable to most offsets), getting close to the cones is critical for quick times (see #1). To get close, we must move the car less, which means bigger arcs. Bigger arcs come from less steering and require earlier turning (see #2). Now for the fun part... When you go by a sla