I am planning on attending and competeting in my 1st Auto-X event tomorrow morning. I have no clue what to expect. I have never watched one, and I don't know what to do. What would everyone here recommened me doing? What should I bring? HELP HELP HELP! I'm really confused. Also, another big concern is how bad is Auto-Xing on your car? I know it will wear down the tires, but is it really bad on anything else?

Thanks,

Isaac

 

bring a helmet.

you probably need one to race, and you don't want to borrow some sweaty guys helmet.

take the track slow until you are comfortable with it.

I have never autoxed myself, but I have been to a few.

good luck!

 

First thing to do is make sure your car is in good running order - check the oil level, check for leaks in the engine compartment, make sure the brakes are good, inflate your tires to maximum pressure, and don't fill up your gas tank (best to have right at 1/4 tank). As far as personal items to bring make sure you have plenty of water and sunscreen, and bring some food (or money for food). When there, let registration know this is your first time and you should be helped from then on. After you register, you will need to go get your car teched (which is just a safety check to make sure you car is ok to run). For tech inspection and running on the course make sure you remove everthing loose from the interior (including floormats) and trunk. Once your car is inspected, you basically just park it in a 'pit' area and walk around for a little while.

Once you have the car parked it would be a good time to make sure the tires are aired up to about 45 psi front and 42-44 psi rear. If you have adjustable shocks, then set them stiff and adjust down as neccessary after each run - if you are understeering too much then increase rear stiffness and decrease the front stiffness. That should be all that needs adjusting on the car. The people at the event should have a little orientation for all the new or novice racers, where they will tell you more about what to do, what to expect, the rules, work assignments, etc... Then they should take you on a walk of the course and explain what you should be doing on the various stages ( braking here, staying in the middle here, accelerating here, etc....)... then when everyone is ready to go you will either be running the course, or working on the course.

Working the course first is kinda of fun as you get to see the cars going through the course and what not to do and where not to go. When you run just remember to take it easy and learn the course the first 2 runs. Then start getting bold on the last runs. The integra is a very forgiving car on street tires with a major propensity for understeer, so don't fear slinging the car around - learning the limits is good actually as you'll know what the car is capable of and when you are near the limits.

The only real wear you are putting on the car is on the tires and brakes. You really don't do that much shifting either - you probably will stay in 2nd gear for most of the course. That should be pretty much what you should expect at an Auto-X. Just remember you will have a blast and be hooked after the first event. Just warning ya!


[Modified by Vracer111, 4:35 PM 8/18/2001]

 

Wow! Adrenaline Rush after reading that! Haha, sounds so fun. I am way pumped. I'm basically stock w/ Kumho's and AEM Intake, too bad I couldn't have installed my ITR Swaybar yet to test that out. I am so excited to finally be able to legally drive my car how I want to. Thanks for helping me out, I'm going to be checking out SCCA and Auto-X sites to be fully prepared, thanks!