Questions about First Autocross & School
 

I got my car in March and looking to do my first ever Autox event on the 17th. There is also a school the day before called Speedtrain. From what I have been told its like the EVO 1 school, just done locally.

I signed up for C Street as I have the TRD springs and sways. I have no experience. I was told the school should be good for a beginner. What should I expect out of a school like that?

What about for my first event? What vehicle prep should I do before I leave (other than general checking the car over, fluids, etc)? Anything I should bring with me besides water and suncreen? Is there any prep I should do at the track?

Trac/VSC on/Off/ Pedal dance?

Any advice for this newbie would be greatly appreciated!

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Hopefully you get a bunch of seat time with an instructor doing some basic drills finding the limit of grip for your car. Usually a circle/oval/figure 8 skidpad exercise and a slalom and a basic but challenging autocross course. Maybe more of some basics like threshold braking, maybe straight into the full course, can vary wildly depending on the school. Some schools do some classroom learning some don't. If it's like EVO then it's straight into an autocross course. That's not a bad thing, just don't be worried if you feel overwhelmed, this stuff isn't easy, the focus should be learning and having fun.

Be clear if lunch is provided, many sites don't have nearby food. A big floppy sun hat will help keep you cool, dress in layers, you know Colorado better than I do but I suspect the day will start out frigid, warm up, then get frigid again, you'll be out in the elements with your only protection being what you brought with you. You can also bring a chair but I usually just sit in my car, but the chair allows you to be more social and sit with others.

Don't be afraid to let the instructors drive your car, I learned more sitting in the right seat of my own car observing than I ever did with someone shouting at me whilst I was driving.

Keep it simple, traction control off by pressing the button on the left and holding it for 5 seconds, two yellow lights on the dash. Set tire pressures before you go, make sure they're balanced and when setting them make sure one or two tires aren't dramatically hotter than the others (i.e. sitting with one side of the car in the sun). Check the wheel torques and fluids beforehand, you don't want to be scrambling the day of but if you run through a basic checklist a few days before your car shouldn't fall apart by the time you arrive. Other than that I think you've got the basics.

Of the few google returned I liked this one;
http://autox4u.com/file/check.htm

I think @strat61caster covered most of everything.

Bring some basic tools (your spare tire tool kit should probably cover it). Bring whatever else you feel you might realistically need. No need to overpack for your first time. If you need anything special or specific in a pinch just ask around. People will be happy to help.

Finally, when you are actually doing the driving, relax and practice looking further ahead at the track. AutoX can be pretty disorienting the first time since it's just a field of cones. However, they are laid out in a specific way. You can read ahead of time about the basics. They might also teach you in your class how to understand and navigate them.

My first time out, probably the only thing I did "wrong" was set my tire pressure too low. I had some economy/commuter tires, and the aggressive cornering combined with soft sidewalls caused wear on the sidewalls themselves (not good!). Luckily, the tires were already on their last legs.

Good advice from strat61caster!
I won't be able to instruct this year but I have more times than I can count :-)
Please feel free to post questions to the Rocky Mountain Solo facebook page or on rmsolo.org forums, they'll be plenty of people that will be glad to help. Also, a few days before the school, you should get an email from the lead instructor with plenty of information and advice.

Typically we have three exercises in the morning, A "Triangle", a figure 8, and a slalom heavy mini course. At lunch time, the instructors will tie the exercises together, plus a bit more, and make a course to drive all afternoon. You'll get lots of seat time, make sure you have plenty of gas in the car :-)
In the past, we've always had instructors ride with our students. This year, with the dang Covid-19, riding will only happen if both instructor and student are willing. Regardless, they'll be plenty of opportunity to learn. Generally, we'll leave the driving to the students unless something just isn't clicking or the student asks an instructor to drive, so feel free to ask if you'd like. Also, because of Covid-19, lunch at the school won't be provided this year. It will be best if you bring your lunch and plenty to drink throughout the day.

This page has some good information:
https://www.rmsolo.org/getting-started/

I'll miss the school and the next day's event but feel free to look me up at other events, '13 FR-S, white with blue stripes, 196 STX, I'll probably be running "X" class locally.

Barry Ott

Hey, B2B, look for me on the 17th. I'll be driving STX in a WRB BRZ.


This is my first year in this car and running with this club (started with the local BMWCCA chapter a couple years ago), so I can't add a lot on the "what to expect." I started with a similar school, and it was a great help. The first real run the cones were still coming at me a lot quicker than I could reliably process (took a DNF), but it got better quickly. Don't try to smash your first run, try to get quicker each one after that, and enjoy!

Lucky Dawgs!
Still no public gatherings legal here.
We’re just hoping to get some lapping sessions someday soon. But not holding my breath.
Stay Safe!

Look ahead.

Be smooth.

Slow down for the turns. Floor it when you can.

What tires are you on?

Best thing you can do for a first autocross is drive 5mph slower than you think you need to through every element and make sure you find the course. Focus on looking for the course and envisioning a path through it. Just drive as smoothly as possible, brake early but not super hard.

The first thing most people do when they autocross is go into "connect the dots" mode as I like to call it. Have you ever done one of those connect the dots puzzles? That's how people tend to drive their first autocross and it makes them hit things, miss the course, or just choke off all of their speed. Don't connect the dots... swim through them.

If you're on stock tires you're not going to be able to go that fast anyways so better to just be slow and smooth. Also, don't mash the pedal, roll into throttle.

This. You cannot make a smooth arc without 3 points on paper. Focusing on on point to point will make you jagged and more panicked also

So just did the school event today. Overall had fun, learned some stuff, and realized I stuck at a lot too lol.

One thing I noticed was understeer at turn in and snap oversteer when getting on the throttle. Obviously a large chunk is me but talking with one of the instructors (who ran one in nationals) , he says the factory tires are probably also to blame.

I pumped them all up 2psi over recommended. Maybe I should adjust this? Any tips to help set it up for tomorrow's event?

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Stock tire size should be fine at recommended pressures. A lot of the turn in understeer can be quelled with OEM crash bolts up front to get some more camber. The other half of the equation is probably that you’re going too hot into the corner, being new.

The stock tires are not good at putting power to the ground in corner exit, which is very pronounced at autocross. Be very gentle with the throttle until you’ve completed the corner, then get more aggressive from there.

I autocross on stock tires a lot and find it to be extremely good fun. I’d stick with them for a while, the stock tires are a very good car control teacher.

+1 work on being smooth and not overdriving corner entry, you have to drive the car on its terms. It's annoying and hard but it's something worth learning. Michelin primacy whatever they are are not creating any balance problems, they're just low grip and at this point they're getting old. 37 psi is fine, I like ~32 hot but people will disagree. You can play with pressures but you'll be faster if you just focus on the course, more time to be found be driving well than a few pounds of pressure.

You added air over factory settings to deal with grip problems?! You should be doing the opposite. Factory setting is less contact patch and more MPG. I ran the OEMs at 30 front / 28 rear for the one or two events I did on them.

All the be smooth, brake earlier, brake less talk is spot on.

With that said, I think most people that I've worked with the last few years misinterpret that. They will maintain a relatively constant speed and barely use the brakes all course. As you get comfortable navigating the course and are looking to run better times, focus on being smooth, but also don't be afraid to use the brakes to position the car.

Some new autocrossers seem to get brain lock and try to steer through the course while holding a
constant speed that is too slow on the straights and then end up plowing the cones in the first tight turn.

I'm not really talking about that.

I'm talking about the people that have done it a while, have a decent idea of how they want to mod a car, and have a good feel for car control.... but they'll go around a sweeper 20 feet off the ideal line scrubbing speed the whole way because didn't brake on entry or just brushed the brakes. Their idea of being smooth and keeping momentum hasn't incorporated going slow in the slow stuff.

Nothing to be afraid of.
Nothing but cones to hit.
Start slow and build up speed.

Look how easy this guy makes it look, like he's out for a Sunday afternoon cruise.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6pq30VHSfbY

Questions about First Autocross & School
 

Sounds like you’ve got a good game plan already. Maybe also bring a bag chair. Maybe a pump for the tires. Even a bike pump will do.

Tips. Be ready to walk the course as soon as possible and multiple times if possible. Try to do it with an experienced driver and for sure don’t walk with friends while shooting the shit about cars. I tend to fall for this trap and end up not focusing enough to commit the course to memory.

Long hold TC off without a doubt. Never, NEVER forget to do this before each run. It will wreck the crap out of your runs if you forget to turn it off. You will probably turn the car off between each run so it’s easy to forget to turn it off again. Also keep in mind that you need to get the coolant temp up a bit before VVT is enabled.

Main driving tips I have are, look ahead, look ahead, look ahead. When in a slalom, don’t look at the cone you are about to apex, don’t even look at the next apex... look through the next two apexes. Also, learn to shuffle steer. Do it religiously while daily driving so it’s second nature. You would be amazed at the number of people that are flailing their arms all over the wheel and end up hitting their horns, wipers, headlights even rearview mirror. Hahaha.

Also, look ahead. [emoji3]

Oh yeah and ride along with an experienced driver and if possible, or even better, let one of them drive your car while you ride along them. It’s important to erase the thought that you are getting beet because “they have the better car”. Trust me, it’s not the car, it’s the driver.

Oh also, be prepared to be addicted and meet a lot of really cool people.

Edit: Just realized this is an old thread. Hahaha