BrianCunningham

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...post1592297009

and people like this are chiming in

DigitalWidgets

Only in OT can you ask a simple question like "how does one get into autocrossing?" and it turns into a giant ***** measuring festival with the OP's sexual orientation being questioned!

I Love This Place!

jesup16

I've tracked and autocrossed. I enjoy both. I enjoy a good car show, too. Too each their own... no need to bash those that like autocrossing like that.

blackozvet

"Holy insecure douche baggery on parade at Off Topic !"

froggy47

That's a pretty weird post by that member, maybe he tried it once and it "didn't go well".

rfn026

I can't believe that the OP doesn't notice the difference between the two types of activities.

An autocross is a competitive event. A track day is a fun day at the track.

No one have ever won at a track day. Every time there is an autocross someone wins and everyone else loses.

Why do I get the feeling that the OP may have been pretty far down the time sheet.

Richard Newton

apex26

Corvettes generally struggle to keep up with slower, lighter cars at AutoX events. It takes MANY runs to get fast. I go, but don't care what class, don't care about winning, just there to learn my car and do things you get arrested for on the street. Being humbled by a Miata or 3 series BMW is a valuable learning experience for a Corvette driver. (maybe learning about himself, too) I've found that crowd helpful, sharing, and generally nice car people. Going postal on them suggests lots of unflattering things about the rant, not the AutoX.

froggy47

In my region the popularity of CAM classes is exploding. If the organizer puts up a "little car" course, YOU compete against other Vettes, Vipers, Cobras etc. No little British/German/Asian cars that have the size/weight advantage.

apex26

You mean no more chasing cones for mosquito-fogging go karts? GREAT!!

wtb-z

A Street (e.g., most recent Corvettes) and STS have PAX factors that are pretty much the same. Not sure how that is "struggling to keep up", especially given all the handling stuff that street touring rules allow fixes for. More like a tie?

Obviously autocross courses only barely get into the capability Corvettes. It is not tons of fun to never really use the motor the car has. But it is competitive motorsports that is almost affordable for normal people. *shrug*

froggy47

I like competition, winners/losers. Been both. I'll take a year of autox (say 14 championship races and an equal # of practices = 28 days) over 1 hpde weekend for the same price. And I DO hpde every so often also.

the kid C6

Threads like this are helpful to "noobs" like me. There is an event coming up that I'm considering, but reading this forum, packed with suggested modifications, is intimidating. I've never been to an autocross, and I thought it might be fun, but otoh, my coupe is a daily driver. I certainly don't expect to win anything.

zwoobah

Get out there and have fun! My first autocross was fifteen years ago, in a bone-stock 115hp VW GTI on awful all-season tires. I had a blast. Your first few events you will just be learning to control the car anyway. No need for modifications until your driving catches up. Autocross is also nearly zero risk for the car and driver.

jesup16

^ This. Just run what you brung! The only thing you really need to do to prep is make sure the battery is properly secured and the lugnuts are tightened. These are the major things they will check at "tech" before an autocross. Obviously if you car is leaking a good amount of fluids or the tires are worn to the cords, then I'd address those before going.

Also, most clubs have helmets for use, so you shouldn't even need to get one of those... although I'd rather not wear someone elses sweaty hat.

BrianCunningham

1st autocross the biggest thing is not getting lost on course

C5 Hardtop

I respect autocross and prefer road course driving. Road tracks are better because the layout stays mostly the same. That allows more time to learn the track, bring up the speed, gain confidence overcoming fears in the big corners to push us even faster and faster.
We can master the line, shift points, braking points, turn in points, where to lay on the throttle, what corners are good to trail brake and so on. Then come back to that same track another day and lay down the power taking corners at speed in a predictable manner in that we know.
With autocross, I don't think that mastery is possible because the layout is changed up and created by different people in different areas. I can't just jump into the autocross coarse and have the same degree of fun as on track.

wtb-z

Well, mastery is figuring out the course in fewer runs than the next guy. Allowing one to win. But at a competitive level it will be hard to get the same dialed-in feeling of a road course that one has extensively practiced.

I definitely wouldn't recommend autocross (at least in the traditional, competitive sense) for learning how to do performance driving. Not much seat time and constantly shifting reference points, as you say.

apex26

Just one opinion: Some of the best drivers out there started with autocross. I just started backfilling my schedule with autocross last spring, and am amazed at how far I have progressed in just over one season. Even though a run might only be 70 seconds or so, it's so intense and challenging that your skills ramp up quickly. SCCA also runs "test and tunes" where you can easily have in excess of 20 runs in a day. The theories above make perfectly rational sense. But, if you go in to autocross with the determination to get through the frustrating part going off course, and being shockingly slow, you will come to appreciate the skills you DON'T have that the rest do, and start approaching their skill level--which is awesome car control. I highly recommend autocross for anyone serious about track days, and would have started there sooner if I had realized the benefits I see now.

Solofast

Well put..

Autocross teaches you to be fast right out of the box, first run, from the get go. The ability to "visualize" the course and know how fast to go at each point without overcooking it is critical. The really good autocross drivers can get down to very near the limits of the car in only two runs, since in the big events you only get 3 runs, you've got to get up to speed with almost no learning. That takes not only skill, but also a lot of confidence. While the speeds on a track are higher I've found that really good autocross drivers very quickly adapt to that and in a couple of laps are going about as fast as the car can go.

The only thing that I've found that autocrossers tend to do when on a road course is that they do tend to overbrake and sometimes lose momentum at first. That generally goes away after a few laps, as comfort grows with the track and they get some confidence with the higher speeds.

I think this is because carrying even a bit too much speed through a corner is death in an autocross. What happens there is that if you carry just a bit too much speed, you go wide and distance is time, so you get hosed. A bit slower and staying tigher in the corners in an autocross and you go a shorter distance and you make it up. Where, on a road course you want to try to carry as much speed through the exit as you can, since the time on the track is in the straights and that's where the payoff is.

rfn026

A Solo run is basically a qualifying lap. It's all out and incredibly intense.

There was an old rule which I'm told still applies. "A good autocross driver will be a good road course driver. Not all good road racers can win at autocrossing.

Richard Newton
Brake Fluid Basics