Hey all! After much consideration and stalking these threads I decided to give autox a shot, and I'm hooked as everyone promised me lol.

Here's a quick vid of my best run of I believe a :46, anyone have any pointers on what to do to improve my timing? (disregard my random drift in the beginning lol)


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q5nwhJnvbyk

 

Look ahead, be smooth, look ahead, drive flatout...and...get a camera man who hasn't been on crack all day long

 

Get professional help before it's too late to turn back ....

 

I'll make fun of him for that one

and thanks man appreciate it

Wanna elaborate on that? Constructive criticism is always welcome, unless I was just merely flamed... lol

 

I believe Team is saying to get driving instructions from a pro before you start developing bad habits. I agree.
Also, a better cameraman is needed, for sure!

 

no, I was referring to the prior "addiction" comment i.e. joking ...

 

lol my bad

hard to tell the sarcasm in teh interwebz

 

Hard to tell anything from the video, but a good tip:

If you can have an experienced racer ride with you and give you feedback after, it is very helpful.

Even more helpful is riding with an experienced racer. You can see first hand how quick yet gentle the inputs have to be to get the most out of a car.

Everything works in plateaus. You'll figure out one thing - say braking - and you'll make a big jump. Then you'll be stuck there a while, and will one day "see the light" on how to attack a slalom. You'll then nail those every time, and be stuck again until the next aha moment. It's very cool when you get something.

For the most part though, new people need to brake harder, apex later, and LOOK FURTHER AHEAD. Easier to say than learn, fortunately practicing to make perfect is really fun.

 

Actually it's true!

He doesn't want anyone to know he is an addict. That's why he wears a bag over his head.

 

I read the book going faster by skip barber and found it really helped get a better understanding of what is going on with the car and how to drive it quickly.
When autocrossing you should be either accelerating at the limit of the engine, braking at the limit of the brakes or cornering at the limit of the tires.

 

You will rarely miss Team's sarcasm.

 

seat time seat time seat time practice practice practice. i think i just posted this somewhere else but try to get some ride alongs from some experienced drivers if you can. they will be able to see alot more than we can in that video.

 

So im assuming that tire screeching isn't really common at these events considering everyone freaked out on both cars burning rubber on the first turn?

 

id say its very common. i guess it just caught those people off guard for some reason?

 

probably cause not everyone did that in that turn

thanks everyone appreciate it, I'll buy that book by skip barber, I remember seeing that in the autox site

 

you definitely want an experienced autoXer to take the car for a run or two. you will be shocked at how fast your car can be, and I think it's helpful for any novice to have that reference point. often novices think they are driving hard, when in reality they are 110% (i.e., overdriving) at a few points and 70% everywhere else. from what i could tell, you were kind of cruising through the course for the most part, which isn't unusual for a beginner. i sure did that.

glad you had fun; stick with it and seek out good instruction, and you should see some nice improvements. it's that last 1-3% that is really difficult to find.

 

definitely underdriving most of the course it looked like but you will get more comfortable every event
ride with an experienced driver...preferably in your car so you will know its limits and when you should brake, cut, etc.
its addictive man and youve got to pay to play lol

 

yea it definitely felt like i drove hard, but I guess not lol, I still wasn't driving to the extreme limit so it makes sense, I'll definitely have an experienced driver drive my car.

and yea lol but it's so worth it for the money

 

with these cars...brake later and turn later
also if you start to lose it...dont brake!!! just power through
but im sure as you see you get more confident with every lap as you push the car harder your times get better
and yea its worth every dime...best fun $40 can get you...well legally

 

One thing I did that really helped, is we have a novice school on Saturday in Ft. Myers and I got 6 different instructors to drive my car and picked up a little bit from each of them. The biggest difference is braking much harder and always in a straight line, getting the speed down more before the corners so you are accelerating out earlier. Then just generally much smoother though the cones and really close. Apparently the shortest line though the course is always the quickest with autocross.

 

Your car is more stable under acceleration. Don't brake and turn at the same time. Look ahead, walk the course as much as possible and get an experienced driver to ride with you and give you pointers after your run.