Questions about scca events..

[StarsGarrador]

I'll just start off by saying I'm coming from a 2.5 03 Altima. I have driven my buddies 240s a couple times but never really drove them good. I have been to a few scca events with my friends but only to take pictures. I'm wanting to get into this now that I'll have my BRZ. A few of my concerns are; I know how my friends were to people that didn't really know anything about Auto-X, Kind of embarrassing for me to ask for help, and the inevitable "why did you get the brz then"" he doesn't deserve that car" etc etc.

Any tips on getting started in it or the generally the best way to avoid things like this? (I'd ask my friends for pointers but all are in basic now or moved away, also this car is a surprise only a handful know about it)

Thanks in advance, I also looked on their site to see if I could see a school day but never found one.

[King Tut]

Do the course walk. Don't hit any cones. Go fast.

[StarsGarrador]

Lol, seems simple enough. I guess I'm just more paranoid about what they all will say when I make mistakes because there are no excuses besides driver error

[djfuller]

I'm sorry to put it this way, but your friends kind of sound like asshats. I for one certainly wouldn't treat any of my friends that way.

In response to your original questions though, go to an event and ask. I'm a complete novice to this myself. I was lucky enough to get into an AutoX school last weekend, and I learned quite a bit there. I'm also signed up for my very first event this coming Sunday. All of the people that I have met thus far in my SCCA region have been very helpful and willing to answer questions. Check your SCCA region's website for AutoX contacts. Mine has a Novice coordinator who has been extremely helpful. Yes, you will probably run into some people that will have a stick up their ass, but you will run into that type of person wherever you go. Remember, you are most likely not going to win your first time out. Just go out there to have fun.

-Dave

[lordtakuban]

Show up a little early. It will give you time to walk the course and ask questions about the general flow of the event. Driving the course will be straight forward. You go when they tell you to and don't stop until AFTER you cross the finish cones.

listen at the driver's meeting to see if there are any special rules that club is doing. Also, clean out your car before you drive to the event. It will make getting your car ready for tech inspection much easier and quicker.

Put more air in your tires than you normally run. You will be cornering pretty hard and don't want to roll over onto the wheels. It's easiest to air the tires up before you go and let some air out when you get there to set the pressure to how you want it. However, given that this will be your first time, don't worry about it too much. Just make sure that you have more than usual air pressure. Then lower it back to normal when you're done.

Most people are very friendly at an autocross and will be happy to give you advice and info. That said, there are douchebags everywhere. Hopefully, you don't get unlucky with whom you choose to ask your question.

That's about all of the pointers I can give based on my memory of anxiety of my first event. Once I was familiar with the whole flow of the event, the rest is just concentrating on improving your driving of the course.

[mrazny]

Originally Posted by StarsGarrador

I'll just start off by saying I'm coming from a 2.5 03 Altima. I have driven my buddies 240s a couple times but never really drove them good. I have been to a few scca events with my friends but only to take pictures. I'm wanting to get into this now that I'll have my BRZ. A few of my concerns are; I know how my friends were to people that didn't really know anything about Auto-X, Kind of embarrassing for me to ask for help, and the inevitable "why did you get the brz then"" he doesn't deserve that car" etc etc.

Any tips on getting started in it or the generally the best way to avoid things like this? (I'd ask my friends for pointers but all are in basic now or moved away, also this car is a surprise only a handful know about it)

Thanks in advance, I also looked on their site to see if I could see a school day but never found one.

No Offense, sounds like your friends are part of what's wrong with the club. You should not be afraid to ask questions, and anyone who cares about the health of the sport or the club will gladly help you out. That region may have a "new driver liason", or other novice help. E-mail that region specifically. In Chicago region, and explicitly with our local unaffiliated club, there are no dumb questions. We'd much rather have people ask then have be unsure which leads to unsafe sometimes.

If that region allows ride-alongs, ask other people in your class to hop in your car with you for some of your runs. Also, try to do the same and ask if you can go for rides to see how they are.

With a BRZ, it's possible you'd get a lot of people that want to hop in your car.

It's not as crazy and intimidating as you'd might think.

I'd say the best initial tips are...

Smooth inputs, don't mash the pedals or jerk the wheel. They don't have to be slow as molasses, but engage the inputs, especially the happy pedal on corner exit.

Slow in equals fast out. Especially while you're learning. Your tires are doing everything. If they're braking still while trying to turn, they won't turn as well so get your braking done before the corner.

Just remember this is fun. Nothing beats seat-time. Nothing. Be bad for awhile. Most people have a *lightbulb* moment eventually where things click in.

[oneday]

Most regions will either have a Novice chief or some other ambassador that can help you out at your first few events...especially if your d-bag friends can't/won't.

Arrive early, ask someone at registration for help...tell them you are new and want to learn. Don't go in acting like you are awesome and you will be fine. Get an instructor for the day...ask to ride with people (if the region allows that)....let an instructor drive your car.

Also, if your region has a forum, post on there and let them know you will need/want help...most autocrossers are going to be very willing to help show you the ropes because if you struggle you won't have fun...if you don't have fun you won't come back...and that is bad for business.

[oneday]

Autocross aficionado, Andy Hollis's Top Ten Autocross Tips:

Originally Posted by AWH

ANDY'S TOP TEN AUTOX DRIVING TIPS

1) Position first, then speed. Positioning the car perfectly is more important than trying to attain the highest potential speed. For example, you will drop more time by correctly positioning the car nearer to slalom cones than you will by adding 1 or 2 MPH in speed. Same with sweepers (tight line). Same with 90-degree turns (use all of the track). Also, position is a prerequisite for speed. If you are not in the correct place, you will not be able go faster. Or at least not for very long!

2) Turn earlier...and less. To go faster, the arc you are running must be bigger. A bigger arc requires less steering. To make a bigger arc that is centered in the same place, the arc must start sooner (turn earlier).

3) Brake earlier...and less. Waiting until the last possible second approaching a turn and then dropping anchor at precisely the correct place so that the desired entry speed is reached exactly as you come to the turn-in point is quite difficult to execute consistently. Especially when you consider that you get no practice runs on the course, and the surface changes on every run, and you aren't likely to be in exactly the same position with the same approach speed on every run, etc. Better to start braking a little earlier to give some margin of error. And by braking less you can either add or subtract braking effort as you close in on the turn-in point. This will make you consistent and smooth.

4) Lift early instead of braking later. Continuing with the philosophy of #3, when you need to reduce speed only a moderate amount, try an early lift of the throttle instead of a later push of the brake. This is less upsetting to the car, is easier to do and thus more consistent, and allows for more precise placement entering the maneuver (remember #1 above).

5) Easier to add speed in a turn than to get rid of it. If you are under the limit, a slight push of the right foot will get you more speed with no additional side effects. On the other hand, if you are too fast and the tires have begun slipping, you can only reduce throttle and wait until the tires turn enough of that excess energy into smoke and heat. Don't use your tires as brakes!

6) Use your right foot to modulate car position in constant radius turns, not the steering wheel. In a steady state turn, once you have established the correct steering input to maintain that arc, lifting the throttle slightly will let the car tuck in closer to the inside cones. Conversely, slightly increasing the throttle will push the car out a bit farther to avoid inside cones. It is much easier to make small corrections in position with slight variations in the tires' slip angle (that's what you are doing with the throttle) than with the steering wheel.

7) Unwind the wheel, then add power. If the car is using all of the tire's tractive capacity to corner, there is none left for additional acceleration. At corner exit, as you unwind the wheel, you make some available. If you do not unwind the wheel, the tire will start to slide and the car will push out (see #6 above).

8) Attack the back. For slaloms (also applicable to most offsets), getting close to the cones is critical for quick times (see #1). To get close, we must move the car less, which means bigger arcs. Bigger arcs come from less steering and require earlier turning (see #2). Now for the fun part... When you go by a slalom cone and start turning the steering wheel back the other way, when does the car start to actually change direction? Answer: When the wheel crosses the center point (Not when you first start turning back!) How long does that take? If you are smooth, it takes .25 - .5 seconds. Now, how long is a typical person's reaction time? Answer: about .5 seconds. Finally, how long does it take to go between slalom cones? Answer: Typically on the order of 1 second. Given all of that, your brain must make the decision to begin turning the steering wheel back the other way just *before* you go by the previous cone!!

Since this is a mental issue, a good visualization technique to get used to this is to think about trying to run over the back side of each slalom cone with the inside rear tire of the car. To hit it with the rear tire (and not the front), the car must be arcing well before the cone and the arc must be shallow. Attack the back!

9) Hands follow the eyes, car follows the hands. 'Nuf said.

10) Scan ahead, don't stare. Keep the eyes moving. Looking ahead does not mean staring ahead. Your eyes must be constantly moving forward and back, and sometimes left and right. Glance forward, glance back. Your brain can only operate on the information you give it.

Bonus Tip: Don't forget the stuff in between the marked maneuvers! Too often we think of a course as series of discrete maneuvers. There is typically more to be gained or lost in the areas that are in between. Pay special attention to the places where there are no cones.

[Sccabrz192]

Sounds like your friends are VERY UNLIKE the majority of the SCCA members, and act very much against the way the SCCA aims to provide their product.

SCCA, particularly the autocrossing community is (at least typically of all the places I've been to) very welcoming to new people getting into the sport and are extremely helpful. I'd start off by introducing yourself on the local SCCA web forum, ask any questions you may have of them. It looks like from your profile you are from Franklin, TN which I would assume the Tennessee region is your closest... http://www.trscca.org/index.html Forums: http://www.trscca.org/phpBB3/index.php

Typically the morning of events most regions provide a novice walk, go on that and listen to what the person has to say about the course, the flow, where to look etc... from there you may want to ask if the region allows, and offers ride-a-longs for first time drivers, those can be very beneficial for someone just starting out.

Don't ever feel you are "undeserving" of the car you own, You worked hard to get it, you made a fantastic choice of vehicle, and you will become highly addicted to this sport fueled by that choice. This is a FANTASTIC car to learn to autocross in because it is playful but not overpowered, it warns you of its limits, but doesn't damn you for pushing them.

Welcome not only to the FT-86 family, but also the SCCA autocross family. I've been a member for 7 years now and that is exactly what it feels like, and what many, many people treat it as.

[MTeator]

Originally Posted by StarsGarrador

I know how my friends were to people that didn't really know anything about Auto-X, Kind of embarrassing for me to ask for help, and the inevitable "why did you get the brz then"" he doesn't deserve that car" etc etc.

Sounds like they deserve a kick in the nuts.

We have a few people like that. They're generally shunned, good driver or not. It's a poison to a club like the SCCA that lives or dies by recruiting new blood.

[djfuller]

To piggy back on what a couple of the other guys were saying about finding an instructor to ride along with you, I found during the school that I took, there was no shortage of people wanting to ride in or drive my BRZ! It just has that effect right now because it is so new.

-Dave

[StarsGarrador]

Thanks everyone, I might have worded it a little bad in the first post, my friends don't walk up and start bashing on people. They just stick in our little group and comment to each other about other people's driving. But they are Douchebags a lot of the time at car meets and shows hahaha. I appreciate all the help.

[AlanLGuy]

I would bet your region has a similar section, but here is a link to the novice guide for my region.

http://www.ovr-scca.org/_ovrclub/nov...utocross.asp#1

and for some quick novice driving tips check out this link:
http://www.rmsolo.org/rmsoloschool/index.html

I went to my first SCCA race early this year, I was not new to autocross but had never run with the SCCA before. I found that my own shyness was my worst enemy. Most of the people at our events are extremely friendly, but often it will be up to you to initialize the conversation. With a BRZ, you'll probably get quite a few guys asking how you like the car though. It's a very popular/controversial car right now.

Be friendly, acknowledge you inexperience, but don't let it hold you back or make you think you don't belong. Everyone has to start at some point. Most people will be happy to give you tips and advice on the fastest line you ask. Your region should have a Novice Chair or similar position who will give you a walk through the course, explain the rules, and generally offer help.

If you get lost your first run, don't sweat it, just ask one of the more experienced people to ride along with you next time and they can help you out.

[AlanLGuy]

Originally Posted by StarsGarrador

Thanks everyone, I might have worded it a little bad in the first post, my friends don't walk up and start bashing on people. They just stick in our little group and comment to each other about other people's driving. But they are Douchebags a lot of the time at car meets and shows hahaha. I appreciate all the help.

You get those types every now and then, but I can tell you that the guys who are the quickest, who consistently finish at the tops of their class are almost always the friendly ones who talk with everyone and who don't stick with one group.

The guys who refuse to interact with others outside a small friend circle usually run midpack at best. The best drivers learned from others and they are usually more than willing to pass that knowledge on as well.