:. Misc .:. AutoX Newbie guide .:
What is Autocross?
Autocross, also known by the SCCA as "Solo II" is a kind of racing done in parking lots and old airstrips around the country. In short, a course is set up with cones and chalk, and you try to drive that course as quickly as possible. It is only you against the clock. Whoever in your class has the quickest time at the end of the day wins.
Sounds simple, right? ;-)
Autocross is a great sport for entry level racers like yours truly, since it is extremely safe. Rarely do you get above 60mph, and the only thing to hit with your car are cones. Driver skill and car handling is emphasized above flat out horsepower. However, don't mistake Autocross as only "entry level" - being a good autocrosser is very difficult!
Plus, it's just a heckuva lot of fun!
Getting Started
There are endless guides and information about getting started in autocross, and how to start making your car and you ready for autocross. I'll try to keep it specific to helpful information for a Colorado DSM'er trying to get started, and provide all the URL's that will help. While there are many good books out there, probably the single best one for getting to know solo is Henry Watts' Secrets of Solo Racing. Buy it!
In Colorado, we autocross in the Rocky Mountain Division, whose website is at www.rmsolo.org. Visit their website to get signed up, see the schedule, register for events, get directions to the various venues, and see race results. BE SURE to get on one of the two mailing lists, as many important announcements (new events, time changes, cancellations, etc) are made via that medium.
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Classing
The short version is, nearly all of us DSM's are in a class called Street Modified.. I'm going to assume you're running a turbo AWD DSM, since I'm not sure if the FWD(maybe) or NT (definitely) classes are different. Street Mod allows nearly any modification you can think of, and just requires that the car be street legal. (read the rules for how much you can stretch this).
DSM's that are on the stock turbo, and running stock boost (SCCA is somewhat turbo-phobic), that have some suspension work done will be in a class called ESP ("E Street-Prepared"). You run with the big V8 muscle cars in that class.
If you're running a stock DSM (exhaust, bushings, shocks, and a few other things can be changed), then you care in G-Stock.
Q&D Class overview
SCCA Classes break down into a few basic levels. Within each 'level' they are broken down further by letter to help class cars. Letters lower in the alphabet general indicate faster cars (A-Stock cars are faster than H-Stock cars, generally)
Stock (A-H stock, and SuperStock) - stock vehicles, that can replace "wear" (har har) items, like exhaust, shocks, and a few other odds n' ends
Street Prepared (A-F) - essentially stock vehicles with lots of suspension modifications allowed. Coilovers, larger wheels/tires, swaybars, things like that.
Prepared - extremely race prepped cars - shells that resemble their original car...kinda.
Modified - damn near anything goes
one of the three new classes that don't really fit the heirarchy are where DSM's really shine:
Street Modified - SP, plus lots of engine modifications allowed, and other goodies (brakes, etc)
Street Touring - (no DSM's) Street tires required. Lots of suspension mods, other limitations. turbo cars not allowed, with a few exceptions. (1.8L VW/Audis, mostly)
Street Touring X - turbo cars allowed. DSM's will fare quite well here. Similar to STS, but allows for more factory turbo cars and LSDs, etc.
Q&D Terminology overview
Pylon - aka a cone. +2 seconds if you knock one over or knock it out of the box.
Grid - area where you put your car when your run group is running.
Paddock - area where you put your car when you're waiting or done running. Unpack your gear here.
Run Group or 'Heat' - various classes are run together as groups. usually ~30 cars to a run group, each doing their 3-5 runs as a group.
Q&D Preparation Overview
Just a few words here:
- Bring water. It gets hot. Food is generally close by.
- Bring sunscreen. Your neck will thank you
- Get a *good* tire pressure gauge (not the little white-stick thingies)
- Run high tire pressures when racing (40psi is not uncommon, nor is much higher)
Behavior
You are not God's gift to Driving, despite what we all secretly think. Autocrossing is not street racing. When they say go slow, go slow. Nobody gives a crap how much horsepower you have or how loud you can squeal your tires leaving the parking lot after your first DFL finish. We have the venues we have due to the courtesy of the owners, and it only takes one meathead to ruin it for the rest of us. So, PLEASE drive like a responsible, intelligent human being. Doing stupid crap makes you look dumb and makes the club look bad too.
That said, if you're not being a jackass, I've found autocrossers to be one of the most friendly group of people anywhere in the world. Grab as many rides as you can to help learn the course, see how good drivers do their work. It's amazing to see how good drivers can just make a car seem to bend around the cones.
Hope to see you out there - I'm tired of being the only DSM there!
Helpful URL's
Hopefully these should help you get started learning more:
autox.dsm.org - a bit more info on autocrossing DSM's
streetmodified.org - SM homepage. Rules, bit more info.
rmsolo.org - Rocky Mountain solo's homepage
scca.org - the Sports Car Club of America homepage. See what racing is *really* about.
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