I'll give my thoughts and exp as a still newbie to auto-x, though have about 10 events or so under my belt. Also did a "introduction to tracking" event a few weeks back.
First off, you'll always leave some time out on the course due to the nature of how the auto tranny works compared to the manual. I'm not a car-technical person so I won't bother trying to explain why. Its simply the damn nature of the torque converter.
I did my 2nd serious event earlier this year in normal drive and sport mode. In my opinion, it simply sucks due to how sport mode works. Every event now, I switch over to manual mode and shift when needed. If you didn't already know, the tranny will never shift up on its own and itll only shift down when it almost reaches stall speed - which is perfect for auto-x.
The paddles forced me to be a "grip turner" than a "shuffle turner" regarding the steering wheel. I used to always hit the damn paddles which caused unwanted downshifts or upshifts, which usually turned out to be a wasted run when it happened. I use the gear selector btw.
Whatever people tell you elsewhere, DO NOT MOD THE CAR!! Especially the tires, I am glad I listened to the wiser minds on this forum and stuck with the tires. They are great to learn on and they break loose very progressively. They also squeal like a baby pig so you'll know the limit between grip and no grip. Looks like your car is a bit older so I dunno if you still have the "prius" tires.
VSC/traction control. I didn't turn that off until probably my 3rd or 4th event, that was because I was still learning how to navigate the sea of cones. Once I started being more comfortable seeing the course and not getting lost, I started to push the car more. That's when traction control kept kicking in and grabbing the car, and if you know how that works, it slows you down so much. I turned it off halfway through an event and gained about 8 seconds. Up to you when you want to decide to turn it off.
Looks like I digressed lots from the original intent of my post so I'll end with this thought: the auto is damn fun to take to competitive driving events. As I said above, I am still a noob in the auto-x world so take it however you wish.
