phloozy

I am a bit torn and looking for advice on how to improve my skills at autox, not necessarily how to go faster. I started running an 03 z06 at the end of last season on some used rival s and found the car to be a handful (only did like 4 events) so after taking some advice I decided to jump up to hoosiers. I found the car way more fun to drive and have been enjoying it but i think it may be hurting my progress as a driver. I am still very late to turn and still dont think I am looking ahead enough.

Here is my question, would it be a good idea to run street tires for a bit to train myself to have better smoother inputs or should I keep running with hoosiers and just keep trying to improve with those? I added a video of my last event so you guys can see what I mean. I still have jerky inputs and I think the hoosiers may be allowing me to get away with poor mechanics.

These runs had cones, and the first a slide, but i think I drove them decently well. My clean run of the day looked weak because I was just trying to not cone. Thanks for all the input!

Best looking:

Clean run:

c4cruiser

IMHO, there is no real substitute for "seat time" Slicks could potentially cover up small mistakes you could be making. They may also cause you to be overly agressive on the course and could actually slow you down.

Get seat time!! Then start to think about tires and what they can do to improve your times. But get seat time....

phloozy

I'm all about seat time dont worry. I go to every event at multiple regions lol I am at an event every weekend basically. Like I said, not trying to improve times, more trying to work on a good foundation

Conesmacker

My advice is to watch all the results to see who the really fast guys in your area are, then buddy up with them and ask to ride along as a passenger with them. Then watch their lines through the elements, and how they move their hands. One can normally only do this during one's run group.

If you're lucky, your area may have high enough attendance to split into 3 groups (run, work, & off). During your off group, just walk around with your helmet, buddying up & begging for rides.

SCCA rules are that you can't ride until you've taken at least 1 run first, as its an unfair advantage to be a passenger first - especially with a fast driver.

Smoothness is hard to learn. The concept of "turn the steering wheel slower, but earlier" is easy to say but hard to do. It's very related to your choice of line through the elements.

One thing that may help is the line you take through a slalom. I've been told that in a slalom, one should aim to almost hit the backside of the pylon - NOT the front side, and NOT the...side side(?). {Words are failing me.}

Aiming for the backside forces you to turn before you get to the cone..meaning turning earlier, somewhere between the cones.

This 'aim for the backside of the cone' can then be extended to corner cones...but that HIGHLY depends on the specific course design, elements before & after a corner, etc...

jwd

Well?

IMHO?

I ran my first 3+ years in AS on PSSs. Pretty much ran mid-pack in PAX at best.

The two sites our region ran? One, a good sized site, sealed asphalt. Like driving on polished bathroom tile. Crossed the finish line facing backwards a couple of times! The other, a tight postage stamp with loose aggregate with a building right in the middle of it. AWD and FWD cars always seem to have a leg up there.

This year, got a set of 71Rs for my dedicated autocross wheels, and some Carbotech AX6 pads, and in my first two events so far, top 10 in pax, trophy in class. Even managed to trophy on that tight postage stamp site, against some much more experienced drivers in FWD and AWD cars .

Seat time is everything. Riding with others, in their cars, and getting them to ride with you, in test and tune and fun runs helps also!

If there's an Evo School available anywhere nearby, you can't go wrong. Great instructors, most with Vette-driving autocross/track experience. They know, and love, Corvettes.

Did I mention that seat time is everything?

Honestly, I'm not sure I'd be doing as well as I am now, if I'd started out with much higher grip tires. Was it frustrating to get my *** handed to me by Focuses and Miatas the past few years? Of course! But, I learned allot, that I'm not sure I'd have learned about my car, and my bad habits that needed fixing, otherwise?

YMMV, of course. But, this is my experience so far.


Have fun!!!

Sox-Fan

Never heard of this rule. Where is it published?

Kubs

I always tell people starting out that the less grip the tires have the more you will learn. I would run at least a full season on some cheap all seasons. You do not have to be competitive right away. Lear to drive and learn the car first. Once you start changing things you don't know if the change improved the car, or the extra seat time improved the driver. Once you know the limits of the car and can start to feel small changes (air pressure adjustments, alignment changes, etc) then you can start changing parts like tires, springs, bars, etc. Do 1 at a time so you know what works and what doesn't.

jaredtxrx

This is very very very good advice.
Another thing is to try to do an event when it is wet. This slows things down and lets you get even more of a feel of how your car reacts to certain inputs in a slower environment.

Also try to find an instructed HPDE near by. Although not AutoX the instruction always helps.

jwd

Conesmacker

"SCCA rules are published...in SCCA rulebooks." {Quote from Mr. Obvious from Bob & Tom}

Section 4.9, "Conflict of Interest", on page 37 of this year's official SCCA Solo rulebook. Get it for free at:

https://www.scca.com/downloads/20864...duced/download

The rule is enforced mainly at national & divisional level events...and at regional events with guys serious about regional year-end points & regional championships. Some regional events get pretty laid back, and no one may care or know about this rule.

mattastick

You're taking this way too seriously if you're not allowing passengers at the local level. At the national level, you're not allowed to have passengers unless the driver is under 16, and then the person riding is not allowed to be competing. If someone is taking local event serious enough that they won't allow ride alongs, then they're probably not someone you want to be riding along with anyway. Find someone faster (ideally that does national events), because locals are just test and tunes...

Some of the setup/event crew don't get a chance to walk course before they run because they're too busy making sure the event actually happens. You'd force those people to throw away a run to scout the course and drive blind out there? That's not only dumb, but could be dangerous as well.

Conesmacker

????? Not saying that at all. Mattastick....buddy...We're on the same side here. I'm guessing you didn't see my first comment (#4 in this post.) I'M the guy that said,

"My advice is to watch all the results to see who the really fast guys in your area are, then buddy up with them and ask to ride along as a passenger with them."

I'm encouraging ride along passengers...especially for newbies to ride.

I then cautioned with the further advice " SCCA rules are that you can't ride until you've taken at least 1 run first".

My smart-alec-y #10 post was to answer the question in Sox-Fan's #6 post as to where to find SCCA rules.

I have seen folks get worked up at local/regional events for an experienced guy being a passenger before taking a first run - but never at a newbie passenger.

" Locals are just test & tunes ??" That must be the the attitude in your area. Never underestimate the vanity attached to those regional year-end championship $5 trophies/plaques and what a sneaky seasoned competitor will do to win one.

Horsepower has been known to occasionally attract assh0les.

As far as set-up & event crew not getting a chance to walk it first...that doesn't happen in the regions I've ran in. We must be better at cooperation and time management.

When I was chairman of my region's program (for 6 straight years), I made sure the event teams had a buddy system going so course walks got made. Maybe we were just lucky that we had enough cooperating commies who would work together.

I left that role at season's end because I took a job requiring me be be in China for ~250 days a year...I guess working with other commies?

mountainbiker2

Go with whatever tire is more fun for you. Take rides and get pointers.

Sox-Fan

Thank you. I was well aware of where the rules are. In most of the regions that I run in the safety steward will drive before anyone else does, and it's not at all unheard of for the faster people to be running later but instructing earlier. As such, I was unaware of that particular rule and had not seen anything that said they had to run one competitive lap before they can ride. so I asked. Now I know.

the smart alec part was uncalled for, but whatever floats your boat, hero. thanks for the information.

mattastick

Fortunately, regions are still free to modify the book for local events as they see fit. Because what you describe is exactly what happens in my region as well. And if we enforced the "no rides before your first run" rule, we wouldn't have any instructors...