Autocross and the BRZ: A Novice Run (photos)

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I attended my first autocross event as a driver this past September in South Portland, ME and had an authentic motorhead experience. I’ve spectated autocross events before, not realizing the exhilaration that was actually happening in the cockpit.

I will admit this: it’s not easy to make a fantastic car like the BRZ go fast around a set of cones. I have new appreciation for the talent and dedication of the regulars at Cumberland Motor Club events.

While it was shocking to find out I wasn’t as quick a driver as I imagined, the event whetted my appetite for more! Just recalling the day’s events are making me excited for the 2013 season (hush, everyone from warmer climates).



This write-up is long overdue, but I promised @mpicher I would write a piece promoting New England autocross. Here it is!

I got to the Portland Jetport Annex with dew still on the ground after leaving MetroWest Massachusetts pretty early:



I met a few of the event organizers, introduced myself, and offered to help with anything I could. There wasn’t anything to do right away so they asked me to prep my car for the event. This isn’t news to anyone who’s been to an event before, but even the nicely-secured trunk contents in the BRZ/FR-S should be removed for safety before the event. Plus it saves weight!

After a few others showed up and I finished registering, someone came down to do the tech inspection on my car. Knowing how new the car is, they didn’t need to review much. After that, we did course walks and work assignments. A guy who had brought an awesome and rare Mazdaspeed Miata gave out some nice tips while we did the course walk.

I was scheduled to work for part of the morning. I helped with the scoreboard. It was a little crazy with how quickly the runs went. I’m pretty sure everyone got 8 runs in that day. We had just over 40 entrants.

The weather was perfect for a fall day:



The course was very technical: the constraints of the parking lot and the hazards in it required a layout that reduced speeds with short-radius turns. The start consisted of a small left turn into the timing lights and almost directly proceeded left into a long Chicago box. This was followed by a sweeping 180 degree right turn into another Chicago box adjacent to the first. A short 90 degree left turn lead into a series of alternating turns that were my favorite part of the course: pretty much a straight line for a BRZ. The course ended with a sharp left turn into a 4 cone, driver’s choice slalom. At the end of the slalom, a driver on his or her first lap would cut back to repeat the course from the second Chicago box. The rest of the course would then be finished to complete anywhere from a 45 to 70 second run.

The BRZ was always responsive. I turned off all the traction and stability control and let the natural balance of the car work the course. I had way too much fun screeching the tires around corners, despite knowing it was slowing my lap.

My runs started out pretty slow, but I dropped 8 seconds over the course of the day. I spent my first four runs puttering around the course in 1st gear; the next four in 2nd gear helped increase the speed I could pick up in the slalom and in the short straights. The BRZ was a popular car for spectators and drivers—I had a passenger for 6 out of my 8 runs.

I will definitely be bringing a new set of tires for the next event. I don’t blame the tires for being slow, but I would like to see what I could do with more adhesion.

A little dive from this angle:



Quite a bit of body roll but no lifting:





This looks like I’m about to eat cone, but I’m starting to cut into the gap just after the line of green cones:



The only time I scared myself was heading into the slalom on my third or fourth run. I tried upshifting to 2nd during the run here…



…which almost ended up with me sideways.



The other drivers were a blast to watch. There was the Tale of Two Mustangs: a Shelby Mustang driven very conservatively and a Laguna Seca that managed to hang the tail end out in almost every corner. We HEARD and saw a Pontiac Solstice with a supercharger installed. I saw 4 guys pile into an old Saturn SC2 and bomb around the course. I rode along in a well-prepped Jetta TDI as it lifted wheels and slammed around corners to win its stock class. There were also 5 or 6 karts competing:



TL;DR

I had a great day and got to hang out with my family from Maine (who were responsible for these pictures). Cumberland Motor Club was very welcoming, and my first autocross event turned out to be easy and informative. I pretty much followed all the prep listed here and then listened for any instructions and tips along the way.

I encourage anyone who’s enthusiastic about driving to try autocross. I hope I’ve communicated here what a good time I had for my first event. The BRZ/FR-S is a strong performer in this area, and I want to see more of them compete.