doing my first autox this weekend

[a73formula]

finally found some stuff scheduled in western washington and so I'm taking the chevelle out this sat and sunday to check it out. Its to bad everything is 2-3 hrs from my house but I guess thats life. Theres 4 events left before the end of the season and I plan on making them all. Should be good practice. Any tips for first time out? Its the www.wwscc.org (http://www.wwscc.com) if anyone else in western washington is around and plans on going.

Joel

[Derek69SS]

Sunblock, hat, sunglasses, rain gear, sweatshirt, T-shirt, cooler w/ water & sandwiches, etc.

Add extra air to your tires, and chalk the edges to see if you need to add more or take some out. (I run up to 50psi in front on some surfaces) Don't be afraid to ask others for help "reading" your tire wear.

Walk the course at least twice, and get an instructor to ride with as many runs as they'll let you... take their advice.

And finally...

In Slow, Out Fast
In Fast, Out Backwards

The time you give up by entering an element too slow is usually well under a tenth... the time you lose by entering too fast is usually multiple tenths, sometimes even whole seconds if it results in you flowing into the next transition wrong.

[a73formula]

Thanks for the tips. I'm running nitto 555's in the front and the 555r's in the back. I usually run about 10psi o e the suggested so I'll play with that. Hopefully I'll have some video to post.

[DarkBuddha]

Very cool going to your first auto-x. Derek's list will cover the basics and should keep you from suffering too much.

BTW, when I was living in Seattle, I posted about auto-x in the area and invited folks from PT.com to attend, but got no responses at the time. Ironically, after I moved to Florida last year it seems folks got involved. I noticed you linked to wwsc.org, but you should also check out bscc.net. They run out of Bremerton Motorsports Park, which would only be a couple hours including the 30 minute ferry ride out of Edmonds or Seattle... and who doesn't love a ferry ride? BTW, western Washington has some seriously good drivers, so definitely take advantage of ride-alongs and coaching.

[Mingus]

If you don't have a helmet, make sure they have loaners. They say a Snell 95 or newer (no DOT which is what my quad helmet is) for their events. I think all of the autoxs' I've been to have at least a few loaner helmets. I wouldn't necessarily buy one if it's your first time.

[CamaroAJ]

also whats more important is that you have fun. aslong as your having fun then your times won't really matter.

also 10 psi is way too low. you need to start alot higher than that. the vette i had i ran 28 on slicks and 34 on street tires.

[Mingus]

I'm thinking about going if I don't have to work Saturday. I'm about 3 hours away from the opposite direction.
I have a friend in Tri-Cities, WA and that's where I usually run. It's a long haul too but they have a really good club there.

http://www.ssscc.org

I'd like to run Packwood sometime. It's supposed to be one of the best places on the West coast for autocross.
If you're running about +10 lb. in your tires I'd start with that. You want the lowest pressure that's not rolling over onto the sidewall. The A-bodies are so nose heavy you'll probably end up with at least 5lb. more in the front than the rear. Most likely you'll have to let air out after a run or two because the pressure usually climbs.
Hopefully you'll work first, so you can watch to see where everybody is having trouble and the lines the faster cars are taking. You'll also probably get lost on course at least once if it's your first time.
The main thing is to have fun and not count on setting the course on fire your first time out. I went in with real low expectations the first time I autox'd the Cutlass (especially with my 420 treadwear Kuhmo ASX's) and was pleasantly surprised. It ran way better than I expected. I was just a touch slower than a new Camaro and beat a Bullit Mustang. I also ran my Challenger a couple of weeks ago and expected it to be a nose-heavy pig (which it was) but I outran the same Mustang and even edged out the '10 Camaro and had a blast. There were plenty of other cars that were way faster but there always will be unless you're Mary Pozzi driving Bad Penny. :)

[Mingus]

Now after looking at the posts again I'm not sure if you said you were running 10lb. or +10lb. over the "recommended" pressure. I ran 38lb. front and 34lb. rear in the Cutlass. Different tires like different pressures but your Chevelle should like something similar. You're usually better off erring a little high then coming down rather than roll over (or off) a tire.

[Nessumsar]

Sunblock, hat, sunglasses, rain gear, sweatshirt, T-shirt, cooler w/ water & sandwiches, etc.

Add extra air to your tires, and chalk the edges to see if you need to add more or take some out. (I run up to 50psi in front on some surfaces) Don't be afraid to ask others for help "reading" your tire wear.

Walk the course at least twice, and get an instructor to ride with as many runs as they'll let you... take their advice.

And finally...

In Slow, Out Fast
In Fast, Out Backwards

The time you give up by entering an element too slow is usually well under a tenth... the time you lose by entering too fast is usually multiple tenths, sometimes even whole seconds if it results in you flowing into the next transition wrong.

Pretty much nailed it...

DO get instructors/others to ride along, their knowledge can be priceless.
Tire pressures really depend on your alignment; with that said, I have a pretty street friendly alignment and have been running 30/30 cold on my 555r's.

[silver69camaro]

I'd just go to about 36 or 38 PSI and leave it all day. My opinion is to work on your skills first, without trying to optimize yourself and your car at the same time.

By the way, if there was someplace to autocross closer to Seattle I'd be there every day. Pacific Raceways gets awfully expensive.

[a73formula]

yeah, I haven't been out there yet on a road course and thought I would see how autox goes first before I get into high speed stuff. I think the 555's say 40 psi on them and I usually have them at 45-50 unless I'm down at the drags. I will definately be just focusing on learning the driving this year. You can also register for the bremerton races from the wwscc site so I registered for both days this weekend at sanderson field and then bremerton on the 17th then the next weekend back at sanderson field. So hopefully I'll learn alot before making improvements over the winter. Thanks for all the tips.

Joel

[DarkBuddha]

Just to make you aware, but WWSCC and BSCC are two different organization, though both run at BMP. There are actually lots of organizations that run at BMP on a regular basis... Porsche Club, Alfa Club, drifters, etc. They even do some track days there; BMP is a pretty darn big place. Some of the auto-x courses have been over a mile with FTD being more than 80 seconds. My only point being to make sure you check BMP's master schedule and see who's running, 'cause there's always something going: http://www.bremertonmotorsportspark.com/schedule.htm .

[Type73LT]

Get experience the first time. Each lap try a little faster as you get the feel of the car. You will not set any lap records the first time so learn from any mistakes you make. Make friends and ask for pointers from the others. They will usually help. If you can be a corner worker first session so you can watch the lines others are using in the turns.

HAVE FUN ! ! !

[a73formula]

Thanks again for all the tips. I will look into bremerton on the website, thanks

[Derek69SS]

I'd just go to about 36 or 38 PSI and leave it all day. My opinion is to work on your skills first, without trying to optimize yourself and your car at the same time.
Agreed, but I recommended increasing air pressures mainly to keep from wearing out the edges prematurely. One of the biggest appeals to autocross is it's low-cost at the entry-level. Cording or de-beading tires on the first time out would make it tough to stay enthusiastic about it.

[a73formula]

Just got back and I have to say thats gotta be the funnest thing I've done. Started out with a first run of 77 sec. and ended the day with a best of 62 sec. My huge stock steering wheel and bench seat were definately my biggest enemy as I was all over the place and had to do a lot of work. This outing was with no sway bars and the sc&c stage 2 with just the dual adj. varishocks in the front. I also noticed that the manual discs got really warm by the end of the day and were causing me to come in pretty hot through the timer at the end.

[Derek69SS]

Glad you enjoyed it... 15 seconds is a lot of improvement in one day, you won't see that again, ever. The next 15 seconds doesn't come cheap or easy.

[Mingus]

No it doesn't.
Glad you enjoyed it. Instead of going I ended up doing a bunch of car and quad maintenance. I think you got the better end of the deal. :-)

[a73formula]

The last one of the year is sunday the 24th same place, sanderson field in Shelton. I'll be out there again trying to get into the 50's.

[Blitz]

Shoot some video!

Too bad you're not in the DFW area. Would've loved to see the "correct" year Chevelle run the auto-x here at the GoodGuys event.:smoke:

[Mingus]

The 16th and 17th Sand & Sage http://www.ssscc.org in Tri-Cities is doing a non-points event. Saturday is an enduro. I guess it will be around a 40 sec. course but you run 5 laps, so you'll be driving for 2 1/2 to 3 minutes nonstop. Sounds like a hoot. Then on Sunday they are setting up mirror image courses and you go head to head in grudge matches. I guess it's only open to people who ran 2 or more of their events but it's a cool idea. I'm going to try and make that but if the weather doesn't cooperate or I have to work, I might try to head to Shelton the 24th.
The photos section of the ssscc site has some pics of the Cutlass. Look under the 2010 season Cool Desert Nights section. The 11th & 12th events will have pictures of the Challenger, but they're not up yet.
It's cool that you had a great time. That's what it's all about. Too many people don't go because their car isn't "perfect" yet. Mine probably never will be, but I'll be behind the wheel with a big grin on my face. :)

[a73formula]

I do have one video up and am working on the rest. This is my second run.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elS2a3wi0KA


Tri cities is to far for me right now but maybe next year. I keep meaning to make it to cool dessert nights but it always catches me being at the begining of summer.

[Blitz]

Car looks good! That track is humongous in comparison to what they run here at GG Fort Worth.

[a73formula]

my quickest run of the day. 62 sec.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFxk-ctjF8s

[Blitz]

Kept trying to catch a close-up look (and listen) of your car. Looks likes a lot of fun out there.

[a73formula]

Going again this sunday if anyone else from the area is interested. I saw the official times for the last event and in the novice class I did beat out an 04 z06 by 8 seconds so that was cool.

[a73formula]

I'll try and get better video, they don't let people stand to close.

[Blitz]

Cool! Can't wait.