So I signed up for the autocross at the the Kentucky Expo Center in Louisville this Sunday. I finally have my helmet and the Mustang is good enough for my no experience having self I think. Any tips so I don't make a complete fool of myself when I show up and make everyone's day difficult? I plan on showing up early, paying attention, and asking lots of silly questions.
Watch this 12 part series of videos in this link: https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/grm/video-training-autocrossing-with-dick-turner/33988/page1/
The segments are taken from an old autox teaching video named "Autox'ing with Dick Turner."
Get registered, get your car through Tech Inspection, then walk the course, then walk the course, then walk the course, then walk the course. Did I mention, walk the course?
Think about driving a winding mountain road. You can go fast if you know all the turns. If you don't 
.
Seriously, while you're walking the course ask someone to help you. How do you drive this course with a bazillion orange things sticking up everywhere? What is important to look for and what can be omitted?
Most important thing of all: Have FUN!!!!!!!
All that, and make sure you sunblock and have lots of water.
If you're exceptional, you'll be pleasantly surprised with how well you do.
If you're like the rest of us, you'll think "man, I thought I'd do better than that!".
Get there early and walk the course a bunch. I still have a course deviation/dnf from time to time; more walks help.
Know that you'll have ridiculous fun, and enjoy it all!
There is no ego here. Between me never doing this before and the car being an SN95 on worn out stock suspension and 400 treadwear tires, proceedings will be slow and sloppy. If the last run of the day looks slightly less awful than the first it'll be a win in my book.
But yes largest concern is the obvious getting lost on the course.
My goal here is trying to make sure my first autocross isn't the Challenge. Going to attempt to make it to at least one more before October. Hopefully with the challenge car that time of course.
Get there EARLY.
Look for the person with the biggest hat, tell them you’re a first-timer, then follow their advice (my standard response to the question).
Take an instructor on every run. A slow time is better than no time. Jobs 1, 2, and 3 are to learn how to navigate the course. Worry about speed later.
Stay afterwards and help pick up.
What everyone else said above, especially the bit about having fun, is all good advice.
With about 14 months and 22 or so events, I call myself an experienced novice. I've checked off almost every novice mistake, except for running over the timers (planning on not having that happen).
There's already lots of good advice here, but I'll add this: I was late to my first event, and missed the course walk because I couldn't find the place.
I've been lost on course several times, but driving around the Orange county convention center for an hour was frustrating, especially when I saw a Miata pulling a tire trailer go through an intersection and I couldn't follow it.
In reply to Floating Doc :
Luckily I've driven by this venue and it appears to be quite hard to miss. I'll definitely make a good effort to be there early though.
Remember it's not a cars and coffee so try to avoid running over people.
Fellow noob here. The best thing I've heard is to look REALLY far ahead, like rwdsport said. Like you should be looking at the exit of the corner just as you enter it. Still feels really weird but I'm getting used to it.
In reply to Stampie :
Sadly I don't have the picture handy of the silver S197 a friend saw in Indy with "SCCA CROWD CONTROL" across the back bumper.
I always ask for a navigator. I find that no matter how many times i walk the course, i get lost. Usually my last run ill have a good enough feel of it to not need him as much.
Wear comfortable shoes and clothes. Its freaking hot in a asphalt lot in thesun, and your feet start to hurt.
Dont forget lunch/drinks/munchies
Check fluids before the event. Not after the oil pressure light comes on
Clean all the crap out of the car Friday. Trunk, glove compartment, under the seats, etc. E36 M3 rolling around is dangerous and distracting.
Check your lug nuts before leaving the house.
This next event, im taking my bicycle. Wondering if riding the course will help me learn it.
In reply to Dusterbd13-michael :
Some events expressly forbid bikes/scooters for the course walk due to the advantage.
Don't feel bad if your first few laps are slow. Honestly, don't feel bad if you drive them slowly on purpose. Some people take a car out and just go balls to the wall; if they're lucky, it works. 95% of the time, it doesn't. Listen to what your car is telling you. My last lap is usually my fastest.
When I autocrossed my Caprice wagon, I never hit a cone. Seriously. But I knew that car like the back of my hand. I knew what it would do if I hit the brakes too hard, or if I tapped them lightly to modulate the rear end. Get familiar with your car, because with autocross, the track is of course never the same again. You and your car are the only constant, so to speak.
I've been auto-x'ing for 11 years and my laps are still slow.
One thing I haven't seen mentioned yet: Ride along with an experienced driver. Preferably in a slower car than yours, and a faster car than yours. I'll never forget how much my eyes were opened when I first rode along with someone. I never ever would have seen the course like I did after that, or believed in my tires as much.
If you're ain't lookin' at the finish line when you're at the starting line, then you ain't lookin' ahead enuf.
In reply to Daylan C :
Sounds like you’ve got the right attitude!!!
For your first event: CLEAN your car out. No floor mats, no radar detector, no Techmaster PEB CD’s dangling from the rear-view mirror.
Walk the course as many times as possible. You don’t have to “memorize the course.” You just need to memorize a few cones/points where your head/eyes should be aimed.
If possible, whether before or after your runs (typically “before” is a no-no, but as a novice, it should be fine) - try to do a ride-along with someone. Bonus points if it’s a fellow Mustang driver.
Last, as my wife (and now kids) say: GO FAST! DON’T HIT STUFF!!!
Haven't seen this listed yet, but PAY ATTENTION DURING THE DRIVERS MEETING!
I see this time and time again for most all newcomers. They show up with some friends, which is totally cool, but they completely ignore how to call in cones, put them back, throw a red flag, etc. during the meeting. I wish our local clubs would pull the new guys aside and show them this stuff, but time isn't on their side. I get it. Not complaining, just pointing out it's important to listen to those driver's meetings. It's paramount to everyone staying safe and keeping the facility you get to play on.
If they do novice course walks, make sure you show up to that. Usually one of the local hot shoes will explain the stuff you want to hear while walking the course.
Dusterbd13-michael said:I always ask for a navigator. I find that no matter how many times i walk the course, i get lost. Usually my last run ill have a good enough feel of it to not need him as much.
Wear comfortable shoes and clothes. Its freaking hot in a asphalt lot in thesun, and your feet start to hurt.
Dont forget lunch/drinks/munchies
Check fluids before the event. Not after the oil pressure light comes on
Clean all the crap out of the car Friday. Trunk, glove compartment, under the seats, etc. E36 M3 rolling around is dangerous and distracting.
Check your lug nuts before leaving the house.
This next event, im taking my bicycle. Wondering if riding the course will help me learn it.
Next time see if you can tag along with the local hot-shoes on the course-walk. Pipe up and ask them “where are you looking right now?”
Chances are, it’s not even a cone. It’s a branch on a tree, or a lamp-post, or something.
You don’t need to “memorize the course.” You probably COULDN’T “memorize the course” if you walked it 100 times. You need a literal handful of points that your head should be pointed at.
Also, keep in mind, while walking the course, your head is a couple feet above where it’ll be when you’re driving. Squat down when you find those spots your head should be pointed toward.
I’m certainly no national champ. Just trying to share wisdom from national champs that helped me shave seconds.
Bring plenty of sunscreen and water, like way more water than you think you'll need. Ask lots of questions and don't worry about sounding like an idiot, autocrossers are a very GRM crowd and most will go out of their way to help out a novice, or anyone for that matter. Aside from just cleaning the interior out, make sure everything under the hood and outside the car is secure as well - battery tie downs, exhaust hangers, underbody panels, ect.
At the end of an event, some clubs do fun runs. Take advantage of that. You can learn a lot during them, and you should have a better chance for a ride along.
Poopy has it right. On any given course, I'd imagine that less than 10% of the cones actually matter.
God I miss autocrossing. And I just sold the car I could autocross too. Anyone in Chicago want a codriver anytime this year?
We did our first event two weekends ago - I say we because my wife drove as well (I quickly learned she has a competitive streak I did not know about). We are doing our second event tomorrow. Our first event was a huge learning curve, but everyone was very helpful.
Take advantage of any of the 'novice' programs they offer - we got to walk the course with everyone else, plus they also did a specific walk through for the novices. The novices also got to do a slow drive through of the course before the first heat. Lastly they assigned two drivers to all of the novices so we had a person we could approach at any time if we had questions.
As others have said, go with a mindset to have fun first and foremost and don't try to be the fastest car out there - it's not going to happen even if you turn up with a very capable vehicle. Go for clean runs and gradual time reductions over the course of the day.
You'll need to log in to post.
