I will be attending my first autocross in October...I am already nervous-any tips and hints? I need to know everything that i can-I drive a 4th gen 5 spd SE. THanks in advance for all the help...

 

Think smooth.

 

LOOK AHEAD. THATS ALL THAT COUNTS. If you look ahead and overdrive the car you'll be just fine + a few cones. Which is fine. wack all the cones you want on your first event. My first event 4 years ago I hit enought cones to claim Cone Carnage King for the entire year.

 

Make sure you walk the course a couple of times when you get there, and do whatever you find helpful in remembering it. Some people sketch out the course, others walk the course like they are driving it, looking for the most effective line.

Try over-inflating your tires initially, and putting some white shoe polish on the sidewalls to check for rollover. Check your tire pressures and adjust accordingly.

Make sure everything, and I mean *everything* in your car that is loose is removed or secured down well. A spare tire or jack loose in the trunk and flying around can do a considerable amount of damage.

Like the person before me said, look at where you want to go and drive ahead a couple of cones (i.e., don't drive off the nose of your car).

Last, and probably most important,

When in doubt, ASK!

Hope this helps,

Quack2x

 

If there's a novice walk-through, where an instructor provides commentary as you walk through the course - take it. And for a novice - especially for a first-timer with an admitted case of the jitters, half a dozen walk-throughs wouldn't be too many.

Take advantage of having an instructor ride along with you if it's at all possible.

You'll probably be able to run the entire course in 2nd unless it's unusually fast, so you'll (again, probably) only have to shift just the one time.

Norm

 

All good tips. Also resist the urge to floor it especially on the turns. The Max has ton's of power and spinning the tires is easy. Go very slow around the turns until you get a feel for how the car is moving around.

Oh, and brake early

 

Worth it's weight in gold:

"Secrets of Solo Racing - Expert Techniques For Autocross & Time Trials"

-Author: Henry A. Watts

Paperback: 173 pages
Publisher: Loki Publishing Company
ISBN#: 0962057312
Published: (January 1990)

This is widely regarded as the Solo Racer's Bible & has served novices and experts alike very well for many years. If you buy it, don't worry about "knowing it all" b4 you run your first event. The info's presented in an easy to read approach, but much of it will make more sense after you've had some "seat-time."

(You can probably find it @ www.amazon.com)

Good Luck!
,
-KWheelzSB-


PS: One hot tip 4u: Remove the windshield wiper fuse before your runs & replace it at the end of the day, b4 you get back on the road.*

*With all the steering gymnastics you'll be doing in the cockpit, it's real easy to tag the wiper stalk. Running the course with your wipers going is not only a mildly embarrassing rookie mistake, but can also be a big distraction as you negotiate your way around at speed, trying to find all the corners in that "sea of cones."

 

What about the horn fuse?

 

 

yup yup.. At the last auto X I went to, an old guy in a Miata hit his horn every time he came around a hard right. wonder if it was a shorted wire or something. ;-)