Frenchican

I have never been or even seen an autocross. But I'm going to one later this month at a regional airport. As to not embarrass the entire Corvette community, I'd like to get some tips on the following:

Tire pressures: outside ambient should be 70 to 80F with 30 -40% humidity.

Suspension set up: I have adjustable coil over shocks and sway bars that are adjustable.

Alignment: ?

Fuel: Half or full tank?

I have had my car on several road course tracks and it works fine in that arena, but have no idea what to expect at an autocross with speeds less than 70 mph. I expect that there won't be much shifting so with 600 flywheel horse power I expect one of my biggest challenges will be throddle control.

edit: List of major mods:
600hp Katech Street Attack LS7
Centerforce clutch
Ron Davis radiator w/integrated oil cooler
Halltech Killer Bee AAIS
RPM Level 5 transmission
Quaife differential
Moton 2 way adjustable coil over shocks w/Eibach springs
Phadt Competition sway bars
Brembo GT monoblock 6 pot fronts, 4 pot rears
OEM tires

waktasz

Walk the course as much as you can. Three times or more if possible.

Ride along with as many people as you can before your runs. It will give you an idea where to be and what to expect at speed.

Have an instructor ride with you or even drive your car to show you what it can do.

Expect to get raw timed by a Mini or 89 Civic.

VetteDrmr

You *will* get schooled by virtually everyone there. Don't worry about the corvette community; those that care have been where you are and understand, the others don't care any about you anyway.

At our last autocross a newbie showed up with a Ariel Atom. He was ninth from last out of 60 cars.

Drop your ego out the car door when you get to the course. Get there early, ask for help, get an instructor to ride with you, ride with someone else, etc. AND DRIVE THE CAR SLOWLY AND SMOOTHLY.

While you're waiting for the event read the sticky at the top of this forum.

HTH, and have a good one,
Mike

vettehardt

Don't worry about being new or slow your first time out. Everybody has been there and will understand. If they don't, they aren't someone you want to hang around anyways. For me I am always welcome to have new people, especially ones who may become regulars.

Smooth is fast. Don't just jab the throttle or brakes or jerk the stearing wheel. To help with the smoothness, keep the car in the highest gear you can still get off the corners without bogging down. If you have it in low 3rd gear vs high 2nd gear, the tires won't be as easy to light up.

Frenchican

Wow, all this is excellent advice. Thanks guys!

1991Z07

Smooth is fast...just like a road course.

with the throttle application...smooooth...let the torque pull you out of the hole.

Watch (and listen) to others while you are waiting. You'll be able to hear them applying accelerator and see the lines they are running. Walking the course as many times as you can and "seeing" your preferred line goes a LONG way. Walking the course with someone who is knowledgeable and will SHOW you what to look for is even better! We all want to do well out of the box, but concentrate on the basics, the rest will come.

If you have as much "track" seat time as I think, you'll pick it up quick. It's a completely different dynamic of handling on your car...but the principles are the same.

Just go and have fun...speed will come to you.

AverageVetteNut

Beyond all the rest of the advice...

Turn your hud off... That way you're not worrying about seeing how fast you're going.

Look ahead ( not off the nose of the car ) as much as you can.

Also... you might find a different seating position than what you might do @ the track will help too... sit closer,etc... but your setup might be just fine

After the event... if they have "fun runs" see if you can ride along in cars more, and if you can get the fast guys to ride in yours, or even if they will DRIVE your car so you can see what they do in it.

take notes... and just focus on learning and have FUN.

GOOD LUCK!

rfn026

Fold all your mirrors in. Move them so you can't possibly use them. Newbies have a real tendency to want to look back and see if they hit a cone. If it's behind you it doesn't matter. Keep looking forward.

Richard Newton
Autocross Handbook

1991Z07

Excellent advise...forgot about that one.

Frenchican

All good stuff here. Thanks everyone.

ps. Handbook ordered!

damenh85

One of the things that helped me cut the most time was the advice to look ahead while on course. Try to see the corner after the one you are entering- this will help with your line and the ability to be smooth. Don't forget to stay hydrated and have fun!!

clubracer6

The best advise I can give you is, don't go!

It will only send you down a painful road of a life long and very expensive addiction... One that will be life and time consuming. The worst part of it is, you will make friends with other addicts you will only encourage and support do more and buy more stuff that you don't need.. That group of friends will grow and you will alienate your non-racing friends at parties, because they will get tired of standing around listening to a group of people not happy with their current race/track car, planning on what they are going to get next and what they are going to do to that car (because nothing short of an F1 car comes exactly as we want)... Not to mention, they will get tired of watching all the in care videos that you (and us here) think are just so cool.

But like the rest of us, you won't listen and you are still going to go.

Great info up until this point - staying hydrated and just being organized are two of the most important points made and of course just have fun!

JiminVirginia

Realize that your performance, or lack thereof, will be almost entirely a function of how well you have the course burned into your brain. Nothing else is going to matter very much.

Execute a fairly early shift into second and run the entire course that way (unless it is an unusually fast setup that demands third here or there). This helps you focus on placing the car appropriately.