Went to my first AX (Autocross) Today!

[MPDano]

I went to my first AX at the Qualcomm Stadium (Chargers) and met up with AX Chair for the San Diego PCA. I met a few great guys and there was actually only one 928 there, his was a very nice Red S4. I was invited to ride shotgun in the AX Chairs 944 for all his 5 runs. I'm hooked!

I was able to get my car Tech Inspected and was surprised that I only had a couple faults and they were small and easily fixed. Next month I will be good to go to drive my first Autocross.

1) Upgrade Brake Pads
2) Right Front Wheel Loose (bearing, tighten?)
3) Battery Tye Down

Any suggestions on the brake pads?

[Danglerb]

What was the course like?

[MPDano]

Here's a link to some photos someone took.

SDR PCA Autocross at Qualcomm West

Since I was in a car that was manual, all I can say is that you can get to 3rd gear in some parts. Most of the track was 2nd gear driving. There were few turns but a lot of straights so you could really get some speed going. I'll see if there is a map of it posted somewhere too.

The 944 I was in, his best time was around 1 min 21 sec. I did see the sole 928 do 1 min 19 sec. Track was very fast and it was about 1 mile in total length.

[MPDano]

Here was me as a passenger





Heres that S4

[Craig S.]

Glad to see you are getting the urge to track your car Dano.

Great Photos in you last posts. Come run with the POC... especially our drivers clinic at Streets of Willow. It is like 25% of what you would spend at a driving school with 100% of the knowledge. Next Event this coming weekend at Streets if we don't flood

[RKDinOKC]

Only thing bad about autocrossing is that it will make you spend money on suspension, and tires that don't last very long

Autocross got me active in the local PCA. The local PCA now has Autocross events once a month all year long.

I started with a 944 Turbo S, then a 928 GT, then a BoxsterS, then another 944 Turbo S, and now a 928 GTS.

My first autocross I go second...from last. The only one slower was a girl that kept getting lost in the course. Everyone told me I won the event because I had a smile so big you could see it with my full face helmet on. I was HOOKED.

After about a year of re-learning how to drive fast and smooth I often get FTD. I've even gotten FTD in my BMW X3 SUV! The adrenaline of driving "in the zone" is da bomb. I can't even imagine NOT autocrossing. To me autocrossing is more challenging than DE track events because the turns are tighter and closer together requiring quicker response to drive at the limits of traction.

This year in March and then again in June I am holding a driver training class for PCA members. I am planning lots of seat time with exercises that will teach good habits to be smooth and fast.

[MPDano]

Here's an inside cam view. Although it's in a BMW, they sometimes let other than a Porsche run on a PCA Course. This should answer your question Mike!

[DMRK]

Looks like Great fun!
I will have to try it soon!

[153bigblock]

Originally Posted by RKDinOKC

Only thing bad about autocrossing is that it will make you spend money on suspension, and tires that don't last very long

Autocross got me active in the local PCA. The local PCA now has Autocross events once a month all year long.

I started with a 944 Turbo S, then a 928 GT, then a BoxsterS, then another 944 Turbo S, and now a 928 GTS.

My first autocross I go second...from last. The only one slower was a girl that kept getting lost in the course. Everyone told me I won the event because I had a smile so big you could see it with my full face helmet on. I was HOOKED.

After about a year of re-learning how to drive fast and smooth I often get FTD. I've even gotten FTD in my BMW X3 SUV! The adrenaline of driving "in the zone" is da bomb. I can't even imagine NOT autocrossing. To me autocrossing is more challenging than DE track events because the turns are tighter and closer together requiring quicker response to drive at the limits of traction.

This year in March and then again in June I am holding a driver training class for PCA members. I am planning lots of seat time with exercises that will teach good habits to be smooth and fast.

+1 and the tracks always change. For the money, A/X is the best. Here I am last season at PCAOC, at El Toro in Irvine. I am hoping to AX the 1978 928 Euro this spring.

[MPDano]

Originally Posted by 153bigblock

+1 and the tracks always change. For the money, A/X is the best. Here I am last season at PCAOC, at El Toro in Irvine. I am hoping to AX the 1978 928 Euro this spring.

Then it looks like you, me and the S4 guy at the Qualcomm AX's. 928's really are a dying breed. Saw mega 944's there though.

[153bigblock]

Originally Posted by MPDano

Then it looks like you, me and the S4 guy at the Qualcomm AX's. 928's really are a dying breed. Saw mega 944's there though.

Leo, I look forward to meeting you out there.

I have only seen an early 928 with a 3 speed Auto out at El Toro one time. He did not fair too well, but he wasn't a very good driver.

[MPDano]

Originally Posted by 153bigblock

Leo, I look forward to meeting you out there.

I have only seen an early 928 with a 3 speed Auto out at El Toro one time. He did not fair too well, but he wasn't a very good driver.

Totally Micheal! Will be fun so we can at least have more 928's out there. Mine is also a 3 speed Auto with a 4.5, sure hope I don't do that bad.

Sorted out my right wheel being loose (tightened wheel bearing nut and packed some grease in there). Now I just need to secure my battery better and better front disk pads.

[RKDinOKC]

Don't let those other guys get you down. It takes time and practice to get fast no matter what you are driving. I set FTD in my BMW X3 SUV. Quick times are from being smooth in the corners, not horsepower or acceleration and braking. The X3 had neither fast acceleration or good braking, but it sure cornered fast! Our last autocross it was misting and the course was WET. I was a full 5 seconds faster than anyone else because I was smooth enough I could corner at the limits in the wet much faster than anyone else.

You might want to get an alignment. Stock the 928 pushes quite a bit. It can be balanced out pretty well by adding some front negative camber, -1.5 front and -1 rear seems to work well without tire wear.

A good thing to do is find a big open parking lot and drive around in circles holding the steering in one place slowly accelerating until the tires break loose. Not just squealing, but start sliding. Notice which breaks loose first, the front, the rear, or both. A well balanced car both will lose traction at the same time. The car will feel like it is sliding out away from the center of the turn. If it pushes the front will start going straight. If it is loose, the rear will come around.

Once you learn how your car is balanced, take it up to that point of sliding and get on and off the throttle and see what happens. You can learn to steer the car with the tires squealing and sliding with the throttle. Lift and the front grabs better and it turns tighter, add throttle and it pushes or goes out bigger. Too much throttle and it will spin around if you don't counter steer. This will help you learn to drive the car at the limits of traction which is the fastest way around corners. Make sure it is a big parking lot so you don't hit anything when you screw up.

There is 3 to 5 mph and a lot of time difference between when the tires just start to squeal and when the tires are actually slipping. It takes some practice to drive in that slight slip or drift. The amount the tires are slipping is called the slip angle, it is the angle the wheels are pointed and the direction they are actually traveling. Optimal is about 7 to 15 degrees for maximum corner speed on pavement. The front slip angle is controlled by steering, the rear slip angle is controlled by the angle the car is pointing. The 928 can be a bit deceptive on the feel of the rear slip angle. Because of the Weissach rear end the rear tires turn as they are loaded so the car needs to be rotated a little more than most to maintain a rear slip angle.

You also need to practice braking. It is really important how hard you initially hit the brakes. To hard and fast and the tires will lock up, too soft and they will not reach the threshold soon enough and you have wasted time. You have to kind of feel the weight transfer to the front as you apply the brakes hard, then harder to the point they almost lock up but don't. I rarely ever have ABS kick in.

After you get the basics like above under your belt so that you are pretty much doing them without thinking, then you can go on to learning to late brake and turn into the corner just as you are slowly lifting off the brakes (trail braking). This will start the car rotating into the corner. Then you get back on the gas to balance the car, stop the rear from rotating and set the 4 wheel slip or drift using the throttle to steer the car around the apex of the corner.

You also need to learn to get on the throttle exiting the corner so the car maintains the drift as it goes out wider and you unwind the steering. Too much and the rear tires will spin and you will be counter steering to keep the line (and not spinning) and losing acceleration opportunity.

After you get those fundamentals of car control down so you are not thinking about what you are doing but instead where you want the car to go, THEN you learn to pick the fastest line around the course. Otherwise you will find poor driving habits will dictate your line choices and not what is fastest.