So, I'm gonna hit up an autox for the first time ever and I was wondering what tips and pointers y'all have for a beginner.

1995 M3 -- see sig for mods

What should I bring with me to the course, as well?

Ask for an instructor.

Also, remember that drifting through corners is fun, but is usually not the fastest way around a course. :D

Looks like you'll be in BSP or an associated street tire class if you are at an SCCA event. Probably in AA in BMWCCA.

1.Walk the course.
2.Walk the course again.
3.Walk the course with the novice walk through (most clubs offer them).
4. See if you can work first and then run. Work the course and watch the other drivers
5. Most clubs require novices to ride through with someone first, then take an instructor on their first run. This helps.
6. Most importantly, have fun.

fill up your engine with 1 extra quart of oil. This will prevent the ticking sound. Also pump up your tires to around 40PSI all around and adjust as you see fit.

Hey Ron

Man, should I whip out the standard AutoX nazi canned response? :D

"At your first autocross, n00b, you shouldn't even be considering adjusting your tire pressure, filling your motor with extra oil, or trying to have fun. You n00bs just don't get it. You're going to go out there and get your butt whipped by an experienced master like myself. Best to not even drive. Find an instructor and offer to pay his admission fee so you can get a ride with him."

Just kidding. I agree with all that's been said. I would add to remember to remove the spare, jack, lug wrench, floormats, and anything and everything that could rattle around. I always remove my rearview mirror to increase sightlines (it just twists off).

Most of all, have fun out there. :D

John V (in Regional Forum mode here, sorry :) )

Hahahahahaha.......pretty funny, JohnZ4. :mdrbig

i would definently change tire pressure for your first autox....about 39psi in each was what I ran and it worked out pretty well. good luck

"Noisy tires aren't happy tires."

Erik Lind has offered me this advice on a number of occasions, and hes very right... slow in, fast out. Nothing worse then pushing all the way through a sweeper.

Exit speeds are the most important thing to worry about.

Scratch that, the most important thing is to have fun!

Steve

Well, I'll be damned...Boy, I think you're learning!

Definitely walk the course as many times as you can, and ride with a few other folks, preferably someone experienced, driving a similar car to yours.

Also, don't have high expectations, lots of "slow" cars will likely kick your ass. Remember, they call it "Solo" for a reason. It's all about you. You'll spend the first year figuring that out, and then you can start sorting your car intelligently. It took me the better part of a year to start applying Jim O.'s advice and really understanding what he was saying. He co-drives my car, and now we are almost always within tenths or hundredths of each other.....Earlier we were about 6 seconds apart on average!

Oh yeah...HAVE FUN!!!

here are some useful links

http://www.tunnellracing.com/advice.html

http://www.grmotorsports.com/flysolo.html

http://bimmer.roadfly.org/bmw/forums/e30/forum.php?postid=986728&page=4

http://www.tirerack.com/features/solo2/handbook.htm

http://www.ner.org/soloII/whatis.html

http://www.sdbmwcca.com/Firstautox.html

just be warned, its addicting and once u start u can't STOP :D

remember, Brake - Turn- Accelerate. try to complete ur braking b4 u start the turn.

Good advise, especially since I'm hoping to do my first AutoX on the 16th in B'ham. Just this evening a friend told me to put plastic wrap on the front bumper for when I take out those cones:dunno

After seeing that vid of the M3 crashing at the track (General Forum), I think autox might be where I have to get all my kicks... well, that and the drag strip. :D

Oh, thanks for the advice, everyone!! Keep it coming.

The event is this Sunday. WOOOOOO!!!

Bring plenty of water, sunscreen or at least a hat if you burn, and maybe a snack or two to keep ya going.

I'll have a portable air compressor and sunscreen there if you need it.

If you want to go on a course walk I'll be more than happy to point out some things to watch for and techniques to use, since I don't think they do the novice course walk anymore. As for instructors, the Atlanta region is so hectic that there aren't dedicated instructors. I'll be more than happy to ride along if we're in the same group(I'm the later run group in the morning session in SM, which is a far better class locally in Atl than BSP IMO - just a tidbit of info for when you move up to a "real" class).

I'm not going to sit here and say I'm even really good at autocross, but I've pulverized enough cones to know what is really really bad. Because believe me, if it's bad, it seems I've done it at some point. :)


Most guys are friendly in the region, but the majority of the cars are FWD or just so dissimilar from our cars that you'll get some confusing info as a novice when you can't filter out what won't apply to you. Try to find someone with a RWD car that's got IRS and has an "ok" suspension if you don't want to bother with my arse. That'll probably help you go in the right direction quicker.

Originally posted by Lemming
Just this evening a friend told me to put plastic wrap on the front bumper for when I take out those cones:dunno

cover ur fogs with 3M blue painters tape, or even better remove ur fogs for the autoX, hitting the cones might bust the fogs.

I'd doubt you could bust a fog by hitting a cone, it would have to already have cracks in it for that to happen.

Besides, you shouldn't ever have them that far inside your wheels in the first place. :D

I just did one a couple weeks ago and I'm going to do another one next weekend (last event of the year). A few things I didn't bring the first time:

Folding chair
Book
More to eat besides a bag of peanuts

I brought an air gauge and filled up to 41F48R ( I have a cab ) and that worked out ok. I had a blast and can't wait to rull a full season next year. I run in DSP by the way. :)

Originally posted by Def
I'd doubt you could bust a fog by hitting a cone, it would have to already have cracks in it for that to happen.

Besides, you shouldn't ever have them that far inside your wheels in the first place. :D

when cones hit the foglight at 50+ mph, they tend to pop the foglight out and then you drag them all over the place. as me how i know.

Most people say walk the course a lot, but I've found that you can walk it too much. A key thing is to look ahead... WAY FAR AHEAD. It is easier to *make* yourself look ahead by not walking the course too much, so you NEED to look ahead to know where you need to go.

Oh, bring a coke and a smile :D

And we (team.BAR) bring our own tent.... and I wore a purple wig last time:dunno

Jacob, do you have a tent and a purple wig?

If not, I'm moving to Maryland. They really know how to do it up right! ;)

Look ahead, and drive slow.

My biggest problem was getting a little straight away and NAILING it, which just made the approaching corner all but impossible.

Originally posted by OPTIMO
I just did one a couple weeks ago and I'm going to do another one next weekend (last event of the year). A few things I didn't bring the first time:

Folding chair
Book
More to eat besides a bag of peanuts

I brought an air gauge and filled up to 41F48R ( I have a cab ) and that worked out ok. I had a blast and can't wait to rull a full season next year. I run in DSP by the way. :)

Yikes! 48psi in the rear tires! I hope that's a typo :)

I'd start with 42psi all around, and bleed off the rears to get the car to rotate, if needed.

John V

Three things you will almost assuredly see:

1. slalom
2. chicago box
3. decreasing radius turn

The slalom is all about rythym and turn-in. You turn before the cone so you are turning as you pass it. You should be right on the cone without clipping it.

Chicago box, dunno, I found it pretty easy, it's just a left/right and that's it.

Decreasing radius, well, you understand the problem there. Late apex and late on the power?

a chicago box is essentially a 3 cone slalom with alot of BS cones to throw you off.

Jim Craft designed this course, looks to be a good one - but his usually are a blast to drive. I need to go ahead and register.

I'll rustle up a pic.

http://www.apexbenefits.biz/0311093.jpg

Looks pretty open, but with some good elements in there.

The middle part will probably be top of 2nd gear pretty easily, and the last slalom will probably have half the locals spinning. Good stuff, I love Jim Craft's course designs. :D

How would you set up and tackle that last big 180 turn along "the third base line"?

Also, I'm gonna go ahead and bring a 6-pack of humility, because that's probably a good idea to wash down the results I'm gonna get. :stickoutt

Wow, that's like like 3 times longer than the short novice track I did.

I may have to look into this. I see several places to spin out and come to a grinding halt.

Like the magical cooker thing....

Once in 2nd gear, "Set it and forget it"

This season was my first. I found the most important things for me were:

1) Know the course.
I found that coming early and watching the event from one or more vantage points helped immensely. If at all possible, work the course before you run.

2) Look ahead.
As stated by John and others above, this is very important. It helps you make the transistion from corner to corner, and helps prevent getting lost.

3) Go slow when you need to.
This took a while for me to learn. My car understeers quite a bit, so skidpads and sweepers, as well as every turn entry, are an exercise in patience. I found if I slow down and stick to the right line, while on the edge of the tires maximum grip but not beyond it, was the faster way through for sure.

4) Get some help.
John V rides with me a lot, and he taught me a lot of the finer details. He continues to do so, and it helps greatly!

Have fun!
Ken

Try to be smooooooth. Smooth=fast.

Originally posted by Ron17
How would you set up and tackle that last big 180 turn along "the third base line"?

Also, I'm gonna go ahead and bring a 6-pack of humility, because that's probably a good idea to wash down the results I'm gonna get. :stickoutt

Are you coming in the morning? I'll walk the course with you and point out a few things. It'll be much easier seeing it rather than me typing it online.

AutoX is all about picking out a few key cones in the course and basically having in mind what you want to do at each cone(i.e. get next to this cone, start braking for corner, apex a little past this cone, get back over for that cone etc.). It all sounds complicated, but if you just look where you want to go, usually you'll end up there. That's a good first step to getting smoother and faster.

Bah, just come in the morning session and I'll give you a quick rundown of what some good things are to work on out there.



BTW - no I don't have purple hair, and I'm too poor to own a tent. I definitely steal tent space when I go to Road Atlanta though! :D

Oh yea, Atl events are too crowded for people to have tents usually. Some days over 200-250+ cars will run. That's alot of 60 sec runs when you each get 4!