Autocross handicap scoring system

IN(H)O … LOL … I think any sort of indexed (math driven) class is a crock of E36 M3 … but then I run with 2 different SCCA regions (med. size) and in a pretty well subscribed class (5 of us in one region and it varies in the other) … we have pretty good "races" each month …

when the results are posted I'll casually check to see how I did in raw time … and even less casually look at PAX …

one of the regions gives out PAX trophies at the end of the yr ( all Street, all Street Touring, all Street Prep, all Street Mod… you get the pic) and base the "winner" on how they scored using their PAX finishing spot each event ….

I wouldn't accept the trophy even if I won it …. I don't "do" PAX

Claff wrote: Keith, I found a way to have fun in a TSD rally. I navigated for a guy who showed up solo in an early XKE roadster (me and my brother, 12 and 13 years old, would occasionally get rented out by my dad). To make a long story short, we got UBER lost. I mean, lost by a consider number of orders of magnitude. What happens after that? You try to make up time, lots of time. That was FUN. Still remember it to this day.

Try TSD rallying with a blind navigator! For years our region did an annual Braille rally. The local School For The Blind printed up instructions in Braille. Then each driver would load the blind navigator (typically a 12 to 20 years old, boy or girl) into the car and proceed as normal. BTW: They did have get home instructions in a sealed envelope. But I don't recall anyone ever needing it.

If you ever get behind on time during a night TSD rally, you won't find that at all boring either!

In reply to Rupert: And for the truly involved, the Night National TSD Rallys, especially those held in the Tidewaters of Virgina or the Low Country of the Carolinas. Maintaining 45mph on unpaved, often unnamed or marked "roads" through the marshland at 2:00A.M. or so was certainly a pretty good challenge.

I know there are ways to make TSD fun. The MG club that runs the venerable Glenwood Rallye doesn't know them, even for an event in the middle of the Colorado mountains surrounded by epic roads. I swear someone had been challenged to come up with the lamest possible driving experience. Although the 15 minute stop at 10,000' sure did make things challenging for the old carbureted cars when it was time to restart.

We did liven things up by showing up in a full-on caged race car with worn RA1s and a rally computer, then proceeding to turn the wrong way as we exited the parking lot.

nocones wrote: The CDC method is interesting. I wonder what there results look like running that. Its different and seems to address most of the apparent diferentiators of autox speed.

CDC use to have an index system that was based an average multiplier from your last three events (like a golf handicap). The biggest issue was that system heavily favored new participants that improved during the season.

Another issue was that CDC ran about 16 events and counted the top 9 (e.g. participants didn't have to show up for all the events or they could drop poor events). The result was that some participants would purposely drive SLOW every 4th event to get a favorable index.

Since then CDC adopted a very simple approach with indexes on weight, tires, and horsepower.

Regarding results, the last 8 CDC champions (more difficult to go back further with just a forum search) were from 8 different people in 8 different cars (one NA Miata, one NB Miata, one NC Miata, two different Honda Civic of different generations, two different WRXs, and one WRX STI).

So I guess one can conclude that the CDC index may favor Miatas, Subarus (also EVOs), and Civics. We did have a participant with his daily driver Saturn. I admit that no matter how good of a driver he was, it was near impossible for him to win the championship with that car.

Yes people can game the index just as people will game any system. Each year we ask our participants how they want to change the index system. Overall, a vast majority like the CDC index system. Over the years some of the index values have changed to reflect changes in tires and other indexes that seems too skewed. However, the simplicity is what seems to be very popular.

Looking at the lists of cars actually participating CDC events, I can see why the general consensus of the system among members and regulars would be positive.