Well tomorrow will be my first time attempting an autocross. Any good pointers before I go kill some cones?

 

Put a nice coat of wax on your lip & front bumper

Hehe seriously check your tire pressures, not sure what tires your running but I've found in Azenis 43f & 38r work nicely. Make sure you have at least 1/4 tank of gas. Take some water or Gatorade. Ride w/ lots of people (if your chapter allows it) and work corners as much as possible, it does make you faster.

It's gonna be fun

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Chris93Si &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Put a nice coat of wax on your lip & front bumper
</TD></TR></TABLE>

Or that Blue Stunna tape .

My advice.. don't think to hard. You'll know what I mean once you are out there.

Race against yourself ie try to improve on your times, dont' race anyone else.

Get there early, get relaxed, and walk the course until they call you in for drivers meeting.

Like Chris said, bring Gatorade/Water/Snacks/Sunscreen, and ride w/as many people as possible.

MOST IMPORTANT: HAVE A GOOD TIME.

 

be smooth with the gas, I will never forget spinning out on my first sharp turn

Have fun

 

i'm going over to the west coast of FLA today to go watch an auto-X event tomorrow too, should be fun to see what i'll be getting myself into after the hot florida summer is done

 

im running Yokohama AVS ES100s 205/50f, 195/55r...35psi/f, 33 psi/r so i should up the psi a bit eh?

 

Top ten things to do at your first autocrosses:

1) Pre register if possible.

2) Get as good a nights sleep the night before as you can.

3) Pack your car the night before including fueled up and aired up tires. Pack a lunch and drinks (water, keep hydrated), bring a small cooler, paper towel, and garbage bag.

4) Make sure you know where you're going, IE directions/Map and make sure to BRING a copy of your Email confirmation from preregistration as well as your valid Drivers license.

5) Wake up and leave early enough to Arrive early and Before event registration begins, get a good spot in the paddock and unpack your car and get organized and ready for tech.

6) Make it clear upon registering that you are a NOVICE. There is No shame in this, everyone was one at one time and you want to take advantage of any special hints pointers, walkthroughs and incar instruction available to you.

7) Make sure to take the Novice Walk-through and to walk the course as many times as possible with a more experienced driver. Ask questions about throttle, brake, and attitude of the car, AND where you should be looking at different points.

8) Pay close attention to your work assignment, be early for it, when you get to your assignment, let them know you are novice and have never done any of this before and you'd like instruction.

9) When you drive, make sure you are at the best vertical seating position, secured in your car and you have free motion of your hands, feet and head to control and drive the car, you can be tightly fastened in and still do this.

10) Try as many times as possible to take an instructor. Take your time, learn the course. Your first times autocrossing, you will most likely be in sensory overload and maintaining control of your car at speed on the course are first priorities. Take a breathe, Have fun.


And Welcome!


Oh, and take another breathe and have more fun. It is competition but not nearly as much in the beginning, it's a great fun hobby, that is also very serious and can be dangerous. Take all the necessary precautions.


Best of luck,

Anton

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 98cwitr &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">im running Yokohama AVS ES100s 205/50f, 195/55r...35psi/f, 33 psi/r so i should up the psi a bit eh?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Just out of curiosity, why did you choose the staggered tires?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Chris93Si &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Hehe seriously check your tire pressures, not sure what tires your running but I've found in Azenis 43f & 38r work nicely. </TD></TR></TABLE>
for the first time, this might promote the rear end coming out a little too much.

what i found really helps is walk the course as if you were in your car. also, when on the course, look at the exits. if an instructor rides with you, you will definitely know what i am talking about. finally, don't be jerky with the throttle, brakes, or steering. make everything smooth.

btw, don't think you're takumi or speed racer or you'll end up like this.
https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=873861

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by nightrider &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">for the first time, this might promote the rear end coming out a little too much.

what i found really helps is walk the course as if you were in your car. also, when on the course, look at the exits. if an instructor rides with you, you will definitely know what i am talking about. finally, don't be jerky with the throttle, brakes, or steering. make everything smooth.

btw, don't think you're takumi or speed racer or you'll end up like this.
https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=873861</TD></TR></TABLE>

agreed my first autox event i was all over the place...i hit mad cones and spun out...lol its all part of the game...have one of the more experienced doods roll with u the first few laps till u feel the course out

 

Have fun and follow what everyone else has said. But, HAVE FUN!

&lt;--Auto-X n00b who loves it

 

My adivce to you (if it's at the Ted) is:

1. Once in 2nd gear, don't even think about shifting down to 1st gear until you cross the timing light. There are only a couple course designs @ the Ted that you might need to drop down to 1st, but it's not necessary for a beginner. If you are running at some other location, still try to run in 2nd gear to get a feel of the course.

2. Sun block & lots of water (sandwich or food if you run in the afternoon).

3. If you know how to left-foot break, practice some more at the autoX. If you don't know how to left-foot break, don't sweat it.

4. Take out as much crap out of your car tonight... it'll save you time at the autoX.

5. If at the Ted, watch out for the section where the course goes from asphalt to bricks... your car will try to skip and toss the back end, unless you've got your foot planted on the gas.

Have fun.

 

look ahead...

look ahead...

look ahead...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 1GreyTeg &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Just out of curiosity, why did you choose the staggered tires?</TD></TR></TABLE>

I was wondering the same thing...

I remember my first Auto-X. I had a real proiblem of using the gas and brake pedals like "on-off" switches (i.e.- a lightswitch) instead of treating them like dimmer switches. My instructors liked to harp on me about that. And I always had a problem of braking way to soon before the turn-in point. Just use that time before your heats to walk the course and set-up pre-determined braking and turn-in waypoints. The cones can be your friend.

And last but not least.....

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by SkyeC &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">look ahead...

look ahead...

look ahead...</TD></TR></TABLE>

Have fun, and welcome to Auto-X.

 

Just go and learn about your car....don't worry about times...just have fun.

 

My best advice is to use the brakes hard when you need to. My biggest mistake was braking way too early. Don't be afraid to stomp on those things.

Also, if there is a super sharp pivot cone (hairpin or 180), don't be afraid to downshift to first. It'll give you a hint more torque coming out.

Have fun!!!

 

Look Up

 

wow guys...Sunday was ****** awesome...I DNF'd everytime except once...the course was weird. A lot of people were DNFing but all in all it was great. Pumped the air into the front to 40psi, and the rear to 38psi, should have gone a bit higher but it worked great still. I never lost control of my car and it was the most fun with my car ive every had. I will be going back July 11th to try and improve more. I had a experience guy offer to ride with me on my last 3 runs...he taught me a lot about steering control and said that I went through the slalom and the last turn on the course perfect although on my last run I about took out the black box It was great and i am very pleased. Cant wait to do it again!

and about the staggered tires...i just figure if it does make a difference it would help with countering understeer...jm2c

 

Congrats.
It's a bit of a drive for you, but the next Atlanta event is June 27th. Just in case you can't wait for your next fix.
And welcome to the addiction...

 

ask for your money back and use it as a deposit for a real track event

 

My advice to you is make sure you let us know how much fun you had

&lt;----Who still has no experience with any kind of fun with his car except winding through the local twisties .

 

pay attention to your exits and what's coming up ahead.

EDIT: doh haha glad you had fun

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by kappa &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">pay attention to your exits and what's coming up ahead.

EDIT: doh haha glad you had fun </TD></TR></TABLE>

yeah...around turn 2 they had the pointer cones off set very far from the actual line of the corner itself...therefore I was swinging wide and DNFing. When I finally got the hang of corner two I started messing up on corner 5...it was wider than i expected. I would look ahead and just see a sea of orange cones...I got confused a lot...but it was still great and yes...its becoming an addiction. PM me the info for the atlanta auto-x if you can...thanks

 

Obviously it's already taken place, but here's a writeup we did a while ago for first-timers.

http://www.grassrootsmotorsports.com/flysolo.html

 

when in doubt,
e-brake-dorifto