Auto X tips

[Goku]

I've never auto-xed but I'm planning on racing if I can. I was wondering if anyone has any tips for a newbee!

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ßrªÐL£µ
88' 951
2k VW Golf 1.8L TURBO
Reluctantly crouched at the starting line...

[redNeckarsulm2]

you only need 2.
brake slightly before you think you need too,
and,
look more than two car lengths ahead continuously (don't look at the cones/gates you are about to pass!!).
have fun - don't worry about times for 6 months!!

[PrerYDoG]

Take out the fuse to your windshield wipers. Otherwise, they'll stay on all the way around the course

[White951]

good tip prery. I gotta do that one!

John

[p0r2chby]

take all of the extra junk and stuff out of the car. Tool's CD's whatever, although not heavy (tools as an exception) will move around and distract you.

Items ... out
Floormats
Visors
glove box contents
have pull out stereo, pull it out
amp = weight
stuff in door pockets
etc....

bring.
Tire pressure gauge!!!
positive, good natured attitude
Drinks that have no alcohol. (at the end of the day, do what you want but during the event, stay sharp)
GOOD brain bucket
Sunglasses
Camera and a witness so ya can brag about your times
visa or mastercard (if you need to call the big hook to get home)

did I mention a positive attitude

Most important -> Note book... for keeping track of things that you did so you can have a reference for what works and did not work. (time of day, temperature, diagram of the course and your impressions of each run.) Observe your fellow participants and ask questions. Bum a ride in someone else's car to see how they handle the course...

[1.2gees]

I never remove anything out of the car personally, but taking out loose items is a good idea. Depending on how hard you drive on the street, you may not have anything loose in there anyway. When starting out, I personally recommend having the car as you drive it on the street, and don't bring too much extra stuff with you.

Now, as for the advice:

Be smooth but firm, turn in about .5 to 1 sec before you'd normally think you need to. (Because your car takes a while to respond, the softer the springs/shocks/sidewalls of the tires, etc. the slower your car will actually start turning).

Always look at the next turn, not farther ahead, not closer to you, just the next turn.

Try not to shift as much as you'd like starting out, specially until you get heel/toe right.

As you get more competitive, and experianced, then you can start really worrying about tire pressures etc. To begin with, try going slower through turns, getting on gas early, but not too hard. Always comprimise turns for the one that leads to a straight. The last turn before a straight should be late apexed, etc. I could go on with the advanced tips, but let's get you started first!

Hope this helps.
Ahmet

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It's all the driver...

[p0r2chby]

1.2 I was going for air pressure because, as you already know, most street cars are running an incorrect pressure and are often a mix of different pressures on each tire. The idea was to get into the habbit of establishing a baseline value.

As for removing stuff. Floormat's can move around, visors flop around and generaly junk rattles... all distractions in my book... I do not encourage removing the spare, the jack etc.

and now a question for you... do you drain your window washer res.... It's like a couple pounds on the right nose corner?...

and, how'd the bushings hold up?

[1.2gees]

The reason I don't mess with much is:

Last year, at a 24 hour race, I turned in my fastest time, with ALL the stuff that I brought with me (it was a tad over 120 miles from my house if I remember correctly), and a passanger, in the rain. I had been driving for about 18 hours in the same course, but everything was in the car, including a 3/4ths tank. I haven't had any sleep by then, and on paper it looks like this was possibly the worst time to make a good run. I got second place, and this was regional finals, go figure.

Since then, I haven't taken out anything, even the top, which I keep in the back when auto-xing. All the stuff I bring with me stays behind the passanger seat (with my cd-changer behind the driver's seat).

My windshield washer reservoir? I haven't used my windshield washer reservoir in a while, didn't even have the defroster working until recently.

Now that I've started having the car on track, thing'll be different. I want my car stable for the kinks on the straights, where you're drifting at 80-90+. I'm getting tons of understeer, etc. But alignment was way off. In any case, my approach will likely be very different on track. I'm also going to consider taking aluminum sheets, and bolting them to the underside of the car for less drag/lift at speed. I can go on for a long time about this, but wanna keep this discussion seperate then Goku's auto-x tips. Ditto for the bushings, if you have any questions (you know I enjoy talking about this stuff), let's talk under a seperate tread.

PS: Indeed taking out the floormats can be a good idea, but if they intrude with the operations of the pedals, they should never be in the car! For tire pressures, I'd recommend about 2psi over inflated in the back, and about 4.5psi over inflated in the front, from factory recommendations. (which make the car understeer for safety).
Ahmet

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It's all the driver...

[redNeckarsulm2]

you should NEVER be passed at tech with loose items in your car...

[1.2gees]

redNeckarsulm2, if that comment was about me, you're right, you shouldn't be allowed to run at an auto-x with loose items in your car.

EVERYTHING I brought with me fit in the storage bins to the sides of the spare in the rear, as well as around the spare. I also crammed a blanket behind the CD player, and shoes+etc. behind the pass. seat. I wouldn't consider them loose, but it IS objectionable. Depends on your tech guy. During that run, I also had a passanger in the car (a light female, but still), but they still counted it as my best timed run...
Ahmet

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It's all the driver...

[Z-man]

Get the book: "Secrets of Solo Racing" by Henry Watts. It's the Autox Bible. Available at www.motorbooks.com for $14.95.

Tire pressures: I run 40psi front, 38psi rear (Potenza RE71's). I use a mid-engine car so I use a little less air in the back to compensate for some natural oversteer in my vehicle. For starters, go with even pressure all around. Once you begin to understand how your car handles, you can adjust pressure then.

Save all the handling upgrades (springs, shocks, braces..etc), until you have a good baseline on your car. Besides, IMO, running stock class is more competitive, and there's not too many improvements that are allowed. (And it's cheaper too!)

Braking: on the street, I'm a conservative braker: I brake early. So on the autox course, I have to consiously WAIT longer to brake, otherwise I'm braking way before the proper time. Rednecksarsulm2 says he brakes earlier, I try to brake later than my natural tendency: it's all about personal driving style.

Don't lift off the throttle mid-turn: that can cause a spin. If you are in a spin, then: clutch in, brake-in, hold steering wheel straight, and hang on for the ride! You're number one responsibility at that point is to stop the car, not to try to be a hero and get back on the course.

Remove all loose stuff. It's been said before, but it is very important: you don't want something lodged between the floor and the brake when you need to use the brake. Remember: you're turning more aggressively and more times than on the street.

Log your results: I keep a running excel spreadsheet on my racing: I have columns like: My FTD, my class's FTD, my best/worst time variance, class avg, my percentile, my rank, FTD, avg...etc. as well as information on the track (where, track and weather conditions...etc). Helps to see how you do from race to race throughout the season.

It goes without saying: have fun!
Be sure to post your experiences here!
-Zoltan.

[This message has been edited by Z-man (edited 04-17-2001).]

[redNeckarsulm2]

Oh - BTW, it's not racing - it's "officially" a drivers' skills event.
(I think if they PAXed anything else there'd be an uproar!)
and, it is very easy to have a great time doing it, it is VERY DIFFICULT to do it extremely well, and improvement is unavoidable!
I love it...
(what else can you do by yourself for $20.00 that is legal and that much fun?)

[hoff944]

Drive naked and you save weight.