Loosing My AutoX Virginity

@ Redline on the Flightline @ Cherry Point MCAS (Havelock, NC).

Puttin' the Suzuki SuX4 in HS.

Good luck! No matter what you're driving or how you do, it gets addictive quickly. Remember the following and you'll be fine:

1) You're there to have fun.

2) Slow times are better than no times. Your primary goal at your first event is to get all your runs in the can with no off-course DNRs. Once you get a handle on following the course, then work on pushing harder.

3) Get there early and talk to people. Most will be more than happy to help you succeed with points 1 and 2 above.

Cheers!

Awesome! Good luck.

I agree with the points above. Don't worry about being fast, or feel like a dope for being slower. Your goal should be to stay on course.

Get there early and course walk, course walk again, then when you're done, course walk some more. You should be able to close your eyes and visualize the course in your mind.

Talk to people. You'll get tons of help. Ask for an instructor to help you.

Most of all, HAVE FUN! The winner doesn't get a mega bucks Sprint Cup ride, it's just for fun. Sure, you want to go as fast as you can, but in the end, it's all for fun.

Now that you've lost it I'm no longer interested in you.

Im losing mine on sunday! blood brothers?

fritzsch wrote: Im losing mine on sunday! blood brothers?

Will you be in Rantoul? What car? And will you be at the school too?

To answer your questions after you get back, invest in some sticky tires first, then suspension upgrades, then motor modifications. And a Solo II school will probably shed more time than all of them combined.

phaze1todd wrote: @ Redline on the Flightline @ Cherry Point MCAS (Havelock, NC). Puttin' the Suzuki SuX4 in HS.

I miss Cherry Point. I bet that course will be awesome!

Remember to have fun. You're going to love your new addiction.

Losing your AutoX virginity at cherry point? Nice!

In reply to mtn:

Yeah rantoul with a 2002 honda accord(manual), not going to the school though.

Duke said: 1) You're there to have fun. 2) Slow times are better than no times. Your primary goal at your first event is to get all your runs in the can with no off-course DNRs. Once you get a handle on following the course, then work on pushing harder. 3) Get there early and talk to people. Most will be more than happy to help you succeed with points 1 and 2 above.

Quoted for truth

For your first event, just concentrate on not getting lost - driving the course cleanly from gate to gate. it sounds funny, but that's the biggest learning curve. Prewalk the course until you can close your eyes and drive the entire thing in your head. then walk it again. twice.

and have fun!

I'd recommend getting ahold of the tech inspection checklist if you can. Nothing worse than showing up and not getting to run because your car failed tech.

For tire pressures - just make sure that they're all up to the recommended psi. Don't worry about 'em after that.

Lastly - check to see if they have food/water on site or if you're expected to bring your own. I got bit by that once; my old club provided lunch for $5, my current might bring a case of water on a really hot day.

Ok, I'm hooked.

Course was on the runway usually reserved for UAVs. Plenty of room. So much room that they replicated the previous Nationals course.

Fastest raw time was 73.688 with an SM Evo, 1st place HS was 85.895 with an 04 Jetta, my raw was 91.415. I was in a Novice indexed class and my PAX was 72.309 and I came in 7th out of 22 Novices. Which means. . . I'm not sure what it means. Guess I did ok.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxBzxKn_aQw&feature=youtu.be

best advice at this point is not to get too caught up in where you finish.... compete against yourself as much as against anyone else... try to improve each run and each event.. there'll be plenty time in the coming yrs to "worry" about where you finish..

that said... congrats on a top 1/3 finish

pinchvalve wrote: To answer your questions after you get back, invest in some sticky tires first, then suspension upgrades, then motor modifications. And a Solo II school will probably shed more time than all of them combined.

This is probably not the best advice. Sticky tires on stock suspensions (especially a tall wagon like an SX-4) have been known to cause rollovers. I have seen it happen with an HS Focus.

Invest in seat time, and education. Learn the rulebook, pick a class, and THEN start modifying. Modding before picking a class often gets damned expensive.

phaze1todd wrote: Ok, I'm hooked. Course was on the runway usually reserved for UAVs. Plenty of room. So much room that they replicated the previous Nationals course. Fastest raw time was 73.688 with an SM Evo, 1st place HS was 85.895 with an 04 Jetta, my raw was 91.415. I was in a Novice indexed class and my PAX was 72.309 and I came in 7th out of 22 Novices. Which means. . . I'm not sure what it means. Guess I did ok.

Don't sweat it. Just close your eyes and remember the buzz. Actually doing something with the damn car, instead of decorating & polishing it. Dude, you're no longer a wanna-be..you're a racer. There's plenty of time to find the speed you need, and there's plenty of fun to be had, even if you don't find it (I still run the tires I drove in on in ST!). Enjoy your first time..don't anylize it to death! Trust me, there's plenty of time for that later..

wbjones wrote: best advice at this point is not to get too caught up in where you finish....

This is great advice. My first year autocrossing I had a great time... for the first four or five events. We have a novice class here and you can win a season trophy if you do well in it. I was winning.

Once I realized I had a good shot at it I got all obsessed. I didn't try anything new and was afraid of blowing a run or an event. Took a load of the fun out of it, and my results got worse. Much worse. I ended up winning the Novice class, but I would have won it by a lot more if I hadn't worried about winning it at all.

Since this thread was dug up from the dead, I'm losing my AutoX virginity tomorrow in my '87 320i Convertible

ultraclyde wrote:

Duke said: 1) You're there to have fun. 2) Slow times are better than no times. Your primary goal at your first event is to get all your runs in the can with no off-course DNRs. Once you get a handle on following the course, then work on pushing harder. 3) Get there early and talk to people. Most will be more than happy to help you succeed with points 1 and 2 above.

Quoted for truth For your first event, just concentrate on not getting lost - driving the course cleanly from gate to gate. it sounds funny, but that's the biggest learning curve. Prewalk the course until you can close your eyes and drive the entire thing in your head. then walk it again. twice. and have fun!

I unfortunately could never get past point 2. In which case the game sucks! Too bad because it really is a fun game.

Road courses are a lot easier when it comes to finding the path; you can actually look past the end of the hood and into the next corner so that you can set up!

I always wondered how the Kart guys did this from their lower point of view?

turboHLS30 wrote: Since this thread was dug up from the dead, I'm losing my AutoX virginity tomorrow in my '87 320i Convertible

I hope this is not too late but if you can do one thing before you go, take some time and watch this series of videos.
Autocrossing with Dick Turner:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRhTUf9iaG4&feature=related
The best how-to autocross video ever created from 1985. It may be old but all the info is still100% relevant.

Things didn't go as plnned The fuel pump gave out about 5 minutes after I left my house. But I'm going to one on September 25th for sure.