This is a public service annoucement.....
 

....with Racecomp Engineering.



GO TO AN AUTO-X.

Even if you don't plan on doing it ever again, do it once. Before you throw on a 25mm rear swaybar, add some toe out, max out your front camber, throw on short travel coilovers with 6k/10k rates, on your daily driver canyon carver....take your car to an auto-x and get a feel for what happens when you drive a RWD car hard. Understeer has been the enemy for Subaru and Scion guys for a long time and although it's still there in some form, the story has changed dramatically. This is not an understeering AWD or FWD pig...this car can turn and it can bite you. Have fun but don't drive beyond your abilities on the street. Enjoy it but respect it. Go learn!

And if/when you modify your suspension...learn what the parts are actually doing and how they change things. You can improve things....or not. Suspension and brakes are complicated topics but it is not a mystery science. Go learn!



- Andrew

I just signed up for Auto-X school. Looking forward to it too!

What the OP said! Not just if you have this car. Knowing my car bumper to bumper helped me keep the car in one piece in bad situations many times.

Learn your car. Dont make my incoming BRZ's insurance go up!

I'll attest to this - Autox and Ice Racing saved my ass when I got run off the road by a truck and had to be 2 wheels off. Just kept it straight and kept throttle on, regardless of my instinct to brake. if that didn't happen I might have lost it and ended up getting hit in oncoming traffic.

Also beating the fuck out of your car without getting a ticket is always a good time :)

Many of your local sports car clubs sponsor drivers schools which are a great value. Track time with an experienced driver as a coach can teach you a great deal. Not to mention low cost track time!

AutoX is where I first learned how to REALLY drive, and I'd been driving for 6 years before that.

Sure, the bug bit and I 'graduated' to track stuff (yay, 20 minutes sessions) but you quickly hit a wall of diminishing returns there if you're not careful with your ego and your checkbook.

I still keep coming back to AutoX. I've heaved every car I've ever owned around the cones - fast & slow, stock & modified, AWD, RWD & FWD. It may only last a minute at a time or so, and I'd never claim to be really really good at it, but the balance between memory, car control and beating the clock teaches you whole ton of of stuff in those few seconds. Taps into some weird primitive speed craving centre behind your brain.

Oh yeah, and it doesn't break the bank either. :)

I totally agree. Learn and find out how the car behaves. Only then can you even think about making adjustments. And leave those shitty stock tires on for it too. Get fast on slow tires and stock suspension then make adjustments. You'll find tires are really all you need to go fast.

I agree.

But, for a moment, forget about learning the car, and how to handle it at the limit. Forget about spin correction and line choice. Forget about all that learning stuff.

AutoX is FUN!!! You will have a blast!

You'll meet great people that love to help new drivers. People that know what it means for a car to handle, and won't look down their nose at you for only having 200hp (lots of them will have even less!) You'll see all sorts of interesting cars and meet the people that own them. AutoX and RallyX are fantastic amateur events that are easy to get started in and offer worlds of rewards, both tangible and intangible.

You'll also likely see a Miata or Civic hand a Corvette it's tailpipes. :D

So go to an AutoX. It's a lot of FUN!

Feel free to PM me with questions.

Not just a Miata or Civic. Also a determined fat guy in a shortbus Mazda3. :D

Out of curiosity, are helmets required at Auto-X's? I can't fit in my car with one (without swapping in a Bride seat, that is).

Yes. If it's a SCCA event it can be either a SA2000 or M2000 rated helmet.

As for fitting, scoot your seat forward one click and lean the back one or two clicks. That should get you enough headroom.

Most clubs offer loaner helmets too and they typically just hold your driver's license. If you buy a new helmet now, it will likely be Snell SA2010 or M2010. But like Draco-REX posted, the minimum allowed will be the 2000 rating if you get your hands on a used one. And the Snell rating is NOT the same as DOT. Make sure there is a Snell sticker inside the helmet. You will see it if it exists.

You can also reverse your headrest for a little more helmet room. Helps a bit.

maybe someone could start a thread on all autox school in certain states/cities?