First Autocross this weekend

P

Peter B

Member
:
2008.5 Mazdaspeed 3
Yep. Title says it all. Headed up to Ft Devens to try some AutoX with the MS3 this weekend. Being hosted by a Renegade Miata Club and a local Porsche club. Hoping the car performs well.


Anyhow, I'm looking for any tips or worldly knowledge the group might care to pass along?

-Pete
 
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Here are a few tips from someone who has been autocrossing for almost 20 years and have been a driving coach for 5 years.

Pump your front tires up to 40 psi, rears at 32 psi.

Make sure to walk the course as many times as possible while trying to memorize which way to head coming out of each gate or corner.

Take off and shift to second as soon as possible then stay in second all the way through the course ( unless it is a fast enough course to require third). Don't be tempted to go back into first.

Make sure to judge your braking points so that you can be off the brakes when you are trying to corner.

Go reasonably slow your first run through - navigating the course will be your biggest challenge and going fast will make that task seem impossible.

Try to get an experienced autocrosser to ride along with you to help you find your way through the course.

If you get through the course on the first run without getting lost and are confident you know the course, go ahead and speed things up a bit in the second run. If you are not sure about navigating the course, take it slow again. By slow, I don't mean crawling slow, but the car should not be sliding. You want to be able to focus on navigating, not keeping the car under control.

Once you are confident in navigating the course, you can start working on driving technique to reduce your run times. If your club allows it, let the experienced autocrosser drive your car for a run to show you what the car is capable of and how to drive some good lines on the course.

Ride along with the experienced autocrosser in their car.

That should be enough to get you started!!!
 
turn off dsc!!!!!!!
pull your seat close and seat upright
remove all unnecessary stuff from the trunk
brake in hard and leave out quickly
in turns keep car as straight as possible, less movement in turns equals quicker times

now im no expert but i have autocrossed once and I got a first place finish and third fastest overall time
 
Rix6 said:
Here are a few tips from someone who has been autocrossing for almost 20 years and have been a driving coach for 5 years.

Pump your front tires up to 40 psi, rears at 32 psi.
Click to expand...

Coming from someone who has been doing this a year but with the help of many veterans of auto-x.......

I would not put the fronts at 40 and rears at 32. That is going to continue to make the car push/understeer. I always tend to start around even front to rear and bleed of pressure in the front in order to eliminate as much understeer as possible. On my R-comps I found 34 front and 36 rear to work really well. Just food for thought.
 
H3br3w_Ham3r said:
Coming from someone who has been doing this a year but with the help of many veterans of auto-x.......

I would not put the fronts at 40 and rears at 32. That is going to continue to make the car push/understeer. I always tend to start around even front to rear and bleed of pressure in the front in order to eliminate as much understeer as possible. On my R-comps I found 34 front and 36 rear to work really well. Just food for thought.
Click to expand...

Did you find this out on street tires as well? I know the car has a tendency to understeer, and moreso at higher front psi, but you will also just roll onto the sidewalls on normal street tires at anything in the mid 30s on the fronts. Higher in the back makes sense from at least one point of view because it helps the car rotate.

OP:
My advice is to not worry about tire pressure your first time out. Put it at 38-39 square and just learn how to drive an autocross, focusing on your turn ins and going slow when you are supposed to. It is very easy to have a lead foot in the MS3 and then understeer all day. Get someone more experienced to ride with you, if you can. I'd also ride with someone that knows what they're doing to get an idea of how to approach the course. Keep in mind the differences between your cars, though.
 
Going to watch my first autoX this weekend, may give it a try at the next event. Will hit the road course a couple of times this year though.
 
It is very easy to have a lead foot in the MS3 and then understeer all day.
Click to expand...
QFT!

Leave the tires alone, honestly... pump em up higher than street just in case, but if it's your first day, you will be making so many mistakes that adjusting the handling balance of your car is going to make very little difference. It's only going to distract you.

AutoX is all about where you put your car. It's about where you give up speed and where you get back on the gas. Walk with an experienced driver and pay attention to where he says you should turn.

Concentrate on turning where you're advised you should turn. You will be to turn much earlier than you will be inclined to. Brake enough to make the turn, you can always add speed later.

A great autoX run feels like you just went grocery shopping. There is only light squealing of tires, not loud screeching on every turn. You should be understeering just slightly, not a lot. Driving hard is not driving fast.

Other most important thing: get an instructor for nearly every run. First three times or so you will simply be trying to find the course. Once you find the course, then the instructors are then very useful in telling you how to drive faster. Our local Miata and Porsche clubs have excellent instructors. Use them! They will be happy to help you learn to be a better driver. The weight of the instructor does not matter at your level.

Pete, there's a 70% chance I'll make Saturday's Renegade Miata AutoX, and if I do, I'll be sure to look you up and help you out.
 
gonerogue said:
Did you find this out on street tires as well? I know the car has a tendency to understeer, and moreso at higher front psi, but you will also just roll onto the sidewalls on normal street tires at anything in the mid 30s on the fronts. Higher in the back makes sense from at least one point of view because it helps the car rotate.

OP:
My advice is to not worry about tire pressure your first time out. Put it at 38-39 square and just learn how to drive an autocross, focusing on your turn ins and going slow when you are supposed to. It is very easy to have a lead foot in the MS3 and then understeer all day. Get someone more experienced to ride with you, if you can. I'd also ride with someone that knows what they're doing to get an idea of how to approach the course. Keep in mind the differences between your cars, though.
Click to expand...

Street tires I run 35 front 38 rear. I run in STU when no one shows up for DSP.
 
As a wise old veteran told me, " slow to go fast"......hook up with one of the veteran drivers, someone who drives a FWD car and ask questions....while you are working or waiting to run, pay attention to the line that the drivers are taking, braking points, etc.

use your first run as a recon lap to familiarize yourself with the course and then try to stay smooth and consistent.
 
Few tips as well, doing this for a few years

1. Chalk the tires (put some marks on the sidewall) after your navigation runs check the marks, they should be worn off only where the tread is, if your sidewall has been rubbed, add air, conversely if the edge tread hasnt been touched, let some out.

2. LOOK AHEAD! I cant stress this enough. first time drivers get so focused on the gate in front of them, they dont realize they should be turning as they go thru, or setting themselves up for the next gate.

3. Smooth imputs. Dont hammer the gas, wheelspin, while cool, is a waste of time and will cost you valuable 10ths. slower and smoother will yeild faster runs

4. DONT cross your arms while turning, it leaves you in an awkward position.

5. Get as close to the cones as possible. taking turns wide will add time. dont worry about smashing a few cones, everyone does and they buff out

6. Sit upright and close to the wheel, there are going to be some serious lateral forces and if your arms are stretched, your gonna have a tough time controling the car. on the same token, make sure your strapped in tight. I give the seatbelt a yank before the run to lock me in place

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zY7h2MSoCXY&feature=related

^^too far from cones

http://s42.photobucket.com/albums/e320/Kinavo/?action=view&current=BMWOct11Lastruned.flv

^^close to cones

Note: sometimes when picking the best line, you need to go a bit wide, thats ok

Also, tire pressure is dependent on the car and its setup. for example. I require less air in the back because of my swaybars, so the car can rotate no problem. stock swaybars will give the car a tendency to understeer, so some drivers add pressure in the rear to get more rotation.
 
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Here is my first time at Devens: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNpK-AdkSzE

I got a instructor the first few times out, and they really help you out. I ended the day without one but turned out to be the best run of the day, which is that video. I started out with a snail pace at like 2:13, and ended the day with 1:38.871. Top cars were in the low 1:20s for that day.

I left DSC on, and I even forgot to turn off AC since it was like 100 degrees that day. Pumped the tires to 36/36 and just left them that way throughout the day.

But as Astral told me that day, I didn't hit a cone so that means I wasn't driving fast enough. haha.

Edit: also I feel that the forge bpv actually made the car a bit slower, it would just dump at any degree of lift off. I have swapped back to stock and will be going out there soon at Devens, just have to pack for Jamaica this weekend and can't spend the whole day there.
 
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chief_wiggum said:
Seems like most have forgotten the main thing; have fun!
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I was gonna say that! The last autocrossing I did was in a '72 Celica. Fronts at 45, rears at 27. Set up like that, I could steer it with the throttle. Beaucoup trophies (cabpatch) and one stretched timing chain. :mad:
 
Not so much related to the actual autoX part of the day, but more the time spent at the car. I was going to bring a beach umbrella and something to stand it up with since Imagine we will parked on pavement. Either that or I'll be poppin the hatch and camping out under that.

-Pete
 
I'll actually be going to Devens tomorrow too. Never autocrossed before either, should be a good time. Just happened to have a conversation with a coworker who is part of the Renegade club and told me about it. Pete, I'll probably be able to find you there since last I heard there were only around 40 cars registered for it. If I dont find you, good luck with it.
 
One last word of advice (20+ years experience here too), take your seatbelt, put the ltach close to the receiver then twist the latch (& belt) around once or twice. Then lock it into the reciever. The idea is to get it tight to hold you in your seat well.

It's better to focus your attention to what the car is doing then trying to adjust for where your but is going in the seat. Honsetly a good set of 5 point belts is one of the best investments you can make if you plan to do auto-x even semi-seriously.
 
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