Now THIS is an autocross..

[Steve1968LS2]

I know some road race guys scoff at autocross and act like they are all the Goodguys peanut, but a real autocross course can be pretty fast and certainly challenging.

Went to the Porsche Club El Toro event and had some fun.. it was a great day and did did a lot of tuning, eventually Doug at Global West came to the conclusion we need more front bar to help ditch the push. Turn in was great as was corner exit.

Course was about 1.5 miles long and we were hitting between 80 and 90 mph in spots. We ended up getting around 12-14 runs.. which was a lot. I was beat by the time I drove home.

BP got an extra workout since I let wheelman Bill Chin drive here since his Camaro had an oiling issue.

The video is better if you go to youtube and full screen it..

dAvHeVzeK0k

[Nessumsar]

It was good to see you out there. Looked like a really good event.

[Steve1968LS2]

It was good to see you out there. Looked like a really good event.

Hopefully you can bring your car to the next one.. would be fun to watch you woop on some german cars! :)

Good seeing you.

[Ron.in.SoCal]

Oh yeah Steve. That looked like fun!!!

[Scott Parkhurst]

killer course! nice video too!

[GeoffP]

Wow that's a long course! I'm surprised you got in so many runs.

[parsonsj]

Oh hell yeah! That is an autoX! Very nice.

[Steve1968LS2]

Wow that's a long course! I'm surprised you got in so many runs.

I think they had 4 cars on track at a time.. it becomes like an assembly line.

[GeoffP]

How'd they break up the course to keep cars from being a hazard to each other in the event of a spinout? Even so, 12-14 runs is great! I'd love to get that many runs in a day. I'm lucky to get to go to one or two events a year due to my location.

[shmoov69]

MY GOSH!! that is a big course!!! LOL! Looks good!

[Zanie]

Wow! that was a big course! and fast.
sheesh 12 runs! dang!
Nice driving to boot!

[moreHP]

Thats a great vid! I guess its hard to tell just seeing one side, but how the heck do you know where to go? I have never run an autocross so I am a total newb on that front. Whenever I see them there is just cones everywhere that looks like it would be tough to read where to turn and which ones to slalom threw.

[Derek69SS]

Now THIS is an autocross..

Not according to the SCCA. :doh:



A. Courses must be tight enough so that cars run the entire course in their lower gears. Speeds on straight stredches should not normally exceed the low 60s (mph) for the fastest Stock, Street Touring, and Street Prepared category cars. The fastest portions of the course shall be those most remote from spectators and property. Turns should not normally allow speeds in excess of 45mph in unprepared cars....

I wish I had some opportunities to drive on courses like that though... we don't have any decent autocross sites in MN.

[Z06vet]

I was thinking the exact same thing- i was clueless as to where he was going. My first time thru an autocross i missed cones. Came around a 180 hairpin and all i saw was cones. I saw a couple vids from one of the goodguys courses where they had white lines on the edges along with the cones- i think it was nasville this year. I watched the in car & it was night & day for me. When the lines are there, i'm right at home and don't have to worry about where i'm going and can just drive. That motor sounds awesome. Scott

[Steve1968LS2]

How'd they break up the course to keep cars from being a hazard to each other in the event of a spinout? Even so, 12-14 runs is great! I'd love to get that many runs in a day. I'm lucky to get to go to one or two events a year due to my location.

They just sent out cars in 20-30 second intervals.. if a fast car was sent then a slower car was sent sooner.. if a slow car was sent they waited longer. Course workers had flags to warn of problems ahead. If you caught someone you got a rerun.. it was very organized.

People have to work only once but it's for an hour or so.. It's all very civilized.. :)

[Steve1968LS2]

I was thinking the exact same thing- i was clueless as to where he was going. My first time thru an autocross i missed cones. Came around a 180 hairpin and all i saw was cones. I saw a couple vids from one of the goodguys courses where they had white lines on the edges along with the cones- i think it was nasville this year. I watched the in car & it was night & day for me. When the lines are there, i'm right at home and don't have to worry about where i'm going and can just drive. That motor sounds awesome. Scott

This one had fewer cones than most but it was easier than I thought it would be.. when you went through a gate you could see the next gate or pointer cone up ahead.. Since it didn't really double back on itself it was a bit easier as well.

[maxgee]

Awesome course, looks just as fun as a road course.

[Gitter Dun]

Awesome course, looks just as fun as a road course.

I agree, the driving thing tends to be a bit more exciting when your hitting speeds of 80-90 mph and that course certainly looked like fun.

Only thing is, your done in a couple minutes and then you gotta wait in line again, as opposed to spending 20-25 minutes on a road course and then getting a good hour to look you car over, do a little tuning, and take a nice water brake before the next session.

Either way, that was a cool looking run and wouldn't mind trying something like that sometime.

[jerhofer]

I have been in the Porsche Club since 1978 and used to do a lot of autocrossing back in the '80's. I also used to set up the courses. We used to get big turnouts because we did not set up rinky dink first gear courses like SCCA. For awhile, we used a high school parking lot where we touched third gear on a course I set up. It was a great venue for an autocross. We also ran on some airports and, believe it or not, short paved ovals where we used both the oval and the infield to create a course. Those were fun days. Eventually, though, track days took over because you got so much more seat time. However, autocrossing is a great way to become familiar with the handling traits of your car.

[Larry Callahan]

Now that is something I could really get into. The short 30 second real tight autocross is not my favorite thing but I still have fun. Running out on a big track at some big speeds also concerns me at my skill level. Now that I would pay big bucks to run.

After I swap my intake I will hit you up and see if I can sneak my way in and join you. That looks like fun squared!

[Oldskool442]

Wow, what a spectacular course!! I'd love to get my car out @ El Toro. Can ya post some links of events there? I've lived in Irvine for almost 2 years now and I've yet to go there.

[Kenova]

Now that is something I could really get into. The short 30 second real tight autocross is not my favorite thing but I still have fun. Running out on a big track at some big speeds also concerns me at my skill level. Now that I would pay big bucks to run.

After I swap my intake I will hit you up and see if I can sneak my way in and join you. That looks like fun squared!
I was just thinking about Bill H.'s thread expressing concern over the type of courses and the various abilities of the participants and the safety equipment needed to participate.
Seems like this type of autocross course would be the " in between " that could be used as a stepping stone to full road courses as one's abilities and safety equipment increased.

Ken

[YancyJohns]

Great Video Steve!! This get's me pumped for tomorrows autocross here in Georgia for Peach State..


Running out on a big track at some big speeds also concerns me at my skill level. !
That's never stopped me Larry......hehe

[Larry Callahan]

Great Video Steve!! This get's me pumped for tomorrows autocross here in Georgia for Peach State..


That's never stopped me Larry......hehe

Had I known that I never would have asked for a ride at the Faceoff event. LOL!