Which autocross clubs give the best seat time, with good course designs?

[hpde_addict]

Which autocross clubs give the best seat time, with good course designs? Ability to double book on the same day is a huge plus. I don't care about timing or competition. Preference for Marina airport.

[strat61caster]

tl;dr Lotus Club

Lotus club, almost always runs at Marina, sign ups for the next event opens this weekend. What do you mean by "good course designs"? That's incredibly subjective, some people want 50 mph slalom and no corner slower than 35 mph, others don't want a straight section longer than 30 feet and get bored if they can just put their foot to the floor past 50 mph.

Lotus club usually has 6 runs in the morning, 6 more in the afternoon, sometimes a few more if things run smooth and some people bail on the afternoon, most I've seen is 14 runs iirc. Their course designs are about as fast as SCCA with maybe one or two more challenging elements putting times closer to ~40s-45s, the notion that Lotus club sets up tight and twisty courses has never been true the ~4 times I've been in the past year and it's been the only time I've hit third gear at Marina. SCCA and AAS have faster courses, closer to ~30s times but only 4-5 runs per group, BMW sets up the tightest courses with times closer to ~50s but average ~7 runs, shame they fill up so quick and charge so much, best first timer program imo, but unless you want to play their points game Lotus is better seat time.

You can pay SCCA to drive both morning and afternoon but it'll be 4+4 or 5+5 runs for the same price as Lotus club, it may be a possibility with American Autocross as well but I didn't look into it that hard. No experience with Porsche club or I guess Corvette club, Porsche club might be as good as Lotus club but you have to email them for 'approval' to go to their events, last event I looked at they only had like 30 cars show up, I think a similar 12-14 runs is possible.

Here's the calendar for NorCal, invaluable imo, checking all the group websites is a pain, there's a digital copy available for download at the bottom of the post so you can import to google calendar or apple calendar.

http://www.baautox.com/forum/index.p...art=0&rid=3270

[AFRichZC6]

I've found it's hard to find organizations that offer both lots of seat time AND good course design.

To piggyback on strat61caster, Golden Gate Lotus Club offers the most amount of seat time, but I don't think their course designs are very good. They don't always flow well, there's not that much variety, and many designs have elements that are way too pinched. I still highly recommend GGLC if you're doing autocross casually and/or new to it and desire seat time. They're also good for the beginning stages of tuning a new setup. It's also a very friendly environment to those new to autocross (snacks, drinks, and instructors provided).

SCCA SFR and AAS (American Autocross Series) offer the best course designs (AAS courses are more open) and have some of the largest turnouts with the more regular and competitive crowd, but you are limited to 4-5 runs per entry (either morning or afternoon). Some AAS events at Crows Landing have a separate test and tune area set up so you can get some practice or tuning in before or after your timed runs are done.

The SpeedSF events at Sonoma and Laguna Seca's paddock/skid pad areas are not timed and non-competitive, but they can be good for seat time, practice, and test and tune. Laguna Seca's paddock is asphalt so it's a less grippy and less abrasive surface than the concrete at Marina Airport or at Crows Landing. I've been to two of the events at Laguna Seca, and I thought the course designs had enough elements to help me get some of the initial setup done on the car.

I haven't had the chance to go to any BMWCCA events, but I hear they also offer lots of seat time with morning and afternoon runs. There is also Porsche Club of America, but I think there's two chapters and one of them primarily uses Alameda while the other uses Marina often. If you can get in, they offer lots of seat time, and the courses are pretty fun. There is also the Corvette Club that has some autocross events from time to time, but I think they are similar to AAS in terms of number of runs and course design.

Overall, pretty much everybody at all of the listed organizations are friendly and most are willing to give ridealongs or answer your questions.

[dchan]

I usually go to the BMWCCA events, and found it to be very good. You get at least 7 timed runs, with more at the end if time is permitting. The courses are pretty good, but I don't have much others to compare with. There's plenty of slaloms, hairpins, sweepers, etc. There are great instructors that provide lots of feedback if you're a beginner, and most people are cool with letting you ride as well. The difficulty is with signing up, since sometimes the spots fill up within 2 hours.

I saw the speedsf one at Laguna once, while I was at track. It's basically self run. No timing, nobody to tell you to start off. To be quite honest, it felt like a giant mess, and quite dangerous. There were fast cars just blowing by the slaloms, coming to a complete stop, making the turn, and just gunning it again. I felt quite unsafe having my car parked nearby. The course looked much larger, and less technical than the BMWCCA ones. Their track events were great though.

[FirstWinter]

Originally Posted by dchan

I saw the speedsf one at Laguna once, while I was at track. It's basically self run. No timing, nobody to tell you to start off. To be quite honest, it felt like a giant mess, and quite dangerous. There were fast cars just blowing by the slaloms, coming to a complete stop, making the turn, and just gunning it again. I felt quite unsafe having my car parked nearby.

Yeah the SpeedSF ones aren't what I would really consider autox. I've only went to the one they had at Sonoma and they didn't have proper cones, but the bigger pole ones attached to a flat base. Definitely don't want to come into contact with those in your car. The courses aren't the best either.

However, they do have unlimited runs and are a great place to practice car control or do a shakedown on your car.

[spike021]

Originally Posted by dchan

I usually go to the BMWCCA events, and found it to be very good. You get at least 7 timed runs, with more at the end if time is permitting. The courses are pretty good, but I don't have much others to compare with. There's plenty of slaloms, hairpins, sweepers, etc. There are great instructors that provide lots of feedback if you're a beginner, and most people are cool with letting you ride as well. The difficulty is with signing up, since sometimes the spots fill up within 2 hours.

My teammate at work has an M2 and keeps trying to get me to go with him to a BMWCCA event, but they usually sell out pretty quickly.

This sounds pretty cool though, might make me want to try it more than I did before.

[hpde_addict]

Thanks all, I've signed up for Lotus, SCCA, and BMW clubs.

[finch1750]

I havent been to a trackmaster event myself but they run paddock autox similar to SpeedSF but they have timing. No idea on course design though.

[strat61caster]

Originally Posted by hpde_addict

Thanks all, I've signed up for Lotus, SCCA, and BMW clubs.

BMW club has a waitlist, if you don't get a confirmation email a few days before the event (wednesday iirc) don't get your ass up to haul down there, I've seen a few people turned away and it always sucks.

The rest should be arrive and drive.

[AFRichZC6]

Originally Posted by hpde_addict

Thanks all, I've signed up for Lotus, SCCA, and BMW clubs.

We should meet up if you are going to either the SCCA SFR event on August 6 and the GGLC event on August 13. There's also an AAS event on August 20 that I should be attending as well.

AAS doesn't require membership - just sign up and pay for the day of the event.

If you're signing up for SCCA membership, many of us are SCCA members and can give you our member IDs for a discount on your membership fee. Your first couple of SCCA SFR autocross events don't require an annual membership, but you can pay for the weekend membership but that payment can apply towards your annual membership. Feel free to PM me if you have more questions about local memberships.

[hpde_addict]

Originally Posted by AFRichZC6

We should meet up if you are going to either the SCCA SFR event on August 6 and the GGLC event on August 13. There's also an AAS event on August 20 that I should be attending as well.

AAS doesn't require membership - just sign up and pay for the day of the event.

If you're signing up for SCCA membership, many of us are SCCA members and can give you our member IDs for a discount on your membership fee. Your first couple of SCCA SFR autocross events don't require an annual membership, but you can pay for the weekend membership but that payment can apply towards your annual membership. Feel free to PM me if you have more questions about local memberships.

I'll be at the SFR event on July 29, can't make August 6. Probably not going to do any events with AAS, unless they allow double booking and the event is at Marina Airport.

[AFRichZC6]

See if you can pre-register for this Saturday's event. Pre-reg usually charges less than on-site registration.

https://www.motorsportreg.com/events...co-solo-760908

[hpde_addict]

Unfortunately only 6 minutes of seat time doing double runs with SCCA