[Whiskey11]

I just registered for my first AutoX event at the Lincoln Air Park - Nationals field in Lincoln NE. A buddy of mine at work drives an Evo (the newest gen) in SP and has been begging me to get out to an event since I started working with him so I said "Why not."

As for the, what have I done part... well, just what I need is another expensive hobby to go with shooting firearms every week.

Any tips ?

I'll be in F-Stock with my 09 GT. I honestly have no idea what to expect other than it will hopefully be fun.

[Matts]

Trust me my first autocross experience was excruciating. What you need to do is just talk, ask questions and don't shut up. Bring your SA-2010 helmet or just ask around. Be sure to wash your car and get rid of any debris inside your car. Other than that smile, have fun and let loose.

[Whiskey11]

Well, just got back. My only complaint is that sun screen did not protect you from the pain that is Lobsteritis... Dr. Zoidberg and I have a lot in common

I had a few goals today:
1.) Don't break anything
2.) DON'T BREAK ANYTHING
3.) Avoid hitting cones
4.) Do not DNF
5.) Have fun

I met them all. No cones, no breaking of parts, no DNFs, 5 clean runs I DEFINITELY HAD FUN!

Met Don Knop who was running in F-Stock with me and 3 other folks. Don Knop drives a Shelby GT and is a phenomenal person. Met some other good folks and had a blast.

Course was laid out like:


#1 is a standard slalom, nice and tight right off the start
#2 is a expanding slalom, as you made your cuts on the slalom, their where more cones to make the slalom turns bigger (and more difficult).
#3 is a lane change and was fairly quick and easy
#4 is a fast slalom after the big sweep
#5 is the final slalom

Being as this was my first event, and the first time anyone had run the course I really didn't have much of a base line. I did what every driver did on the first run. Took it easy. 91.323 Seconds easy. To put that into perspective, the fastest time of the day was like 62 seconds and Don Knop ran 68.01s as his best.

Second run was 82.773, a reduction of nearly 10 full seconds. After this run I was no longer nervous and was able to have fun out on the course. Got some advice from Don Knop and a few other folks. I sat my goal on breaching in the 70's time wise.

Third run was 81.640 and I felt much more confident in my 09. This course was "fast" but it couldn't have been that fast as I never left second and was not that high in the MPH as far as I could tell.

Fourth run was 81.163 and by now I was very confident in where the edge was at on my 'stang and knew how to play it just right. I also determined that just before Slalom 1, I was having issues with coming in too wide and nearly hitting the cones just before the slalom started.

Fifth run I did a rev and drop and spun a little but coming into the slalom I didn't have to hit my breaks (at all) to avoid coins which was costing me time in the other four runs. I ran the course in 79.877 seconds and made my goal of breaking into the 70's

That said, I was not alone in F-stock. Don Knop ran his Shelby GT which is well known as the king of F-stock. Of course he's got sticky tires and a much better factory suspension and one hell of a driver mod so comparing myself to him is very unfair however there was also a 2011 5.0 Mustang that did very well, running low 70's all day (he had stickier tires) and a GTO that was also in F-stock. There was one other car, but overall I believe the announcer said I finished 3rd in F-Class. I will have to wait for them to post the results before I can confirm that.

Overall, what I learned today is that tires make a huge difference. I didn't have ANY issues with the brakes heating up beyond usability. Infact, I had plenty of braking power but the front tires could not hold enough grip. Several times understeer pulled my car in a near straight line but never for very long. I also learned that I need to add a set of long sleeve under armor to my list of must buys before the next event. Working corners in the morning and then standing outside waiting for others to finish their runs so we could do another was enough to get me very red.

There will be pictures and I believe a few videos posted later on the NE SCCA webpage that I'll try and repost here if I can

[Serlin]

Glad you had fun man.
You can spend as much, or as little on the hobby as you want.

That fact that you finished all 5 runs clean, no cones, no off course, is fantastic!

As far as brakes, you will never cook your brakes on an autox track. Just not enough speed and time for that.

Good for you! Again, glad you had a good time. Thats what enjoying your Mustang is all about.

[Whiskey11]

Originally Posted by Serlin Glad you had fun man. You can spend as much, or as little on the hobby as you want. That fact that you finished all 5 runs clean, no cones, no off course, is fantastic! As far as brakes, you will never cook your brakes on an autox track. Just not enough speed and time for that. Good for you! Again, glad you had a good time. Thats what enjoying your Mustang is all about.

I'm going to make tires a pretty heavy priority for "modding". Since I plan on running F-stock for a while and that is one of the few things I can change. More money to spend

I did just buy a long sleeve T-shirt (to get rid of the sun burn issue!) and Snell 2010 helmet though so small steps

[Serlin]

Thats it! Stick a fork in... your done

Are there any road courses near you?

[Whiskey11]

Originally Posted by Serlin Thats it! Stick a fork in... your done Are there any road courses near you?

There is, but not for long. Mid America Motorplex is the local roadcourse but it's about to be under FEET of water. Thank you South Dakota

[Serlin]

well... when you can, sign up for an open track day.
Guarantee you will have a the time of your life!

And no standing around, fixing cones!

[Whiskey11]

Originally Posted by Serlin well... when you can, sign up for an open track day. Guarantee you will have a the time of your life! And no standing around, fixing cones!

Yeah the corner working was kinda lame especially because of the absence of shade, but it is what it is. It really wasn't that bad. Somehow I got stuck as a corner captain on my first event out =| It was interesting, but I have it figured out now

If MAM gets out of water any time soon, I'll have to spend the 175$ on their track prep course before I can do any racing. Right now the AutoX events are spaced out a month apart and give me the opportunity to go shooting on the off weekends so it all works out

[Whiskey11]

Weeeeeeeelllll.... looks like I didn't make the photo cut.

Here is a link to see some of the other vehicles on the course:
Solo Points #2 album | Jdoctor | Fotki.com, photo and video sharing made easy.

Here is two videos of a BMW Z4 that was about 4 cars ahead of me in the grid:

YouTube - ‪Autocross at Lincoln Air Park‬‏

YouTube - ‪Autocross at Lincoln Air Park‬‏

YouTube - ‪Autocross at Lincoln Air Park‬‏

YouTube - ‪Autocross at Lincoln Air Park‬‏

Here is a video of a 1969 Camaro RS running the first part of the track. He was running consistent mid 70's seconds around the course with a Camaro that sounded like it would eat small children and crap out their bones:




There where other folks taking pictures too so I hope they got some of me, but that is probably wishful thinking

At least I got one of my car!

[SS Ball3r]

I want to try an autos event, but I'm afraid I will get lost in the cones lol...

[Whiskey11]

Originally Posted by SS Ball3r I want to try an autos event, but I'm afraid I will get lost in the cones lol...

I actually felt the same way but I have a suggestion that will help you!

Show up early, even before registration opens and walk the course, walk it two or three times. Most events will have a Novice walk where the course builder and some of the other experts will walk the course with you giving you tips on how to approach a corner etc, go on this too even if you are not a novice. If you are lucky enough to end up in any heat but the first one, there is usually a break between the heats (or you could do this on your lunch break), walk the course. Walk it whenever they allow you to!

Then when it's your first run, take it EASY. Look at my first run time compared to my last, there is like a 12s difference in the runs

I walked that course 4 times, twice before registration closed, during the Novice walk, and on the break between heats. I didn't have any issues when I got my first run in.

EDIT:

Looks like I did make it into the photo roll

[ReverendDexter]

Glad you had fun

+eleventybillion on tires. I can never stress enough how important tires are both on-course and off. Before your next event, I'd recommend picking up a pyrometer, you can get a pocket one for like $30, and read your tire temps after each run. That'll help you get your tire pressures dialed in and show you if your aligment is hurting you (I've got a suspicion that you don't have near enough negative camber).

And, I'm not as big of a fan of track days. Yes, it's faster, but you don't get your times, so there's no feedback as to if you're actually going faster (or just think you are), and no official competition between drivers. They're a LOT harder on brakes, and if you do overcook a corner, you're a lot more likely to damage yourself or your car. I certainly recommend doing at least one, but I know that I just don't have nearly as much fun.

[Whiskey11]

Originally Posted by ReverendDexter Glad you had fun +eleventybillion on tires. I can never stress enough how important tires are both on-course and off. Before your next event, I'd recommend picking up a pyrometer, you can get a pocket one for like $30, and read your tire temps after each run. That'll help you get your tire pressures dialed in and show you if your aligment is hurting you (I've got a suspicion that you don't have near enough negative camber). And, I'm not as big of a fan of track days. Yes, it's faster, but you don't get your times, so there's no feedback as to if you're actually going faster (or just think you are), and no official competition between drivers. They're a LOT harder on brakes, and if you do overcook a corner, you're a lot more likely to damage yourself or your car. I certainly recommend doing at least one, but I know that I just don't have nearly as much fun.

Yeah, I'm less excited about a standard track day at MAM. I wouldn't mind doing a little traveling to other AutoX events if they didn't require me to travel a long time to get there and back There area few that I could go to, so I'll look into it.

As for the tires, the only bit of advice I ran on was to look where the wear marks where on the tires and the side, was I using all of the tread on the tire's side or was it just the tops and a little bit of the sides. Lower it if I wasn't using it all, raise it if I was over it. First run was at 32 PSI which was actually pretty decent, but dropping to 30 PSI used the majority of the tread on the rounded portion of the BF Goodrich KDWS tires. Not the most scientific method, but my times did improve all day but I suspect that the majority of that comes from just knowing the track better. It makes me wonder if I had ran more if I would have plateaued at a specific time.

Definitely good fun and I can't wait till the 24th of July for the next! I just wish they'd post the results!

[RDY4WAR]

The Focus rapes at autocross but the driver doesn't. lol I'm not so good at following lines and coming out of turns. I let a friend (who is a repeater champion in OK SCCA with his SVT Focus) drive my Focus on a final heat one day and he ran a full 6 seconds faster around the course IN MY CAR WHICH HE HAD NEVER DRIVEN BEFORE THAT DAY! lol The driver makes alot of difference. I've been switching back to drag racing just cause I can't stay away from that 100+mph trap speed.

[94racing]

if you go to road america later on this year if they get the water situation under control then we will be there running the nasa event.

when i find the dates ill let you know. 360 for a weekend of about 2 hours and fourty mins of hard ass driving with a instructor in car with you. its awsome.

[Whiskey11]

Looks like I was right, I placed third of five. Not too bad for my first auto-x event considering I was racing against Don Knop

http://nrscca.com/files/results/1559...12-results.pdf

[RDY4WAR]

Damn those Miatas! lol

[6ER THEN I 8ER!]

and this is why im dropping my money into building my suspension lol...i've been going to auto-x events in TN in the last year or so and watching it is addictive...waiting on a track day so i can take the car out and see what she can do...just need to finish getting my braided lines in to get back to work on my brakes lol

im glad you had fun...drag racing is great fun, but something about auto-x just draws you in.

[Whiskey11]

Originally Posted by 6ER THEN I 8ER and this is why im dropping my money into building my suspension lol...i've been going to auto-x events in TN in the last year or so and watching it is addictive...waiting on a track day so i can take the car out and see what she can do...just need to finish getting my braided lines in to get back to work on my brakes lol im glad you had fun...drag racing is great fun, but something about auto-x just draws you in.

Man I can't imagine jumping straight into one of the upper level courses on my first event out. F-Stock was crazy enough It is a BLAST though. I can't wait till the 10th for the next one to come around. I still thought the best part of the day was during tech inspection, the inspector looked at my tires, you know, 235/50/18" BFG G-Force KDWS and said "You are running these?" In that "What are you smoking?" accent. Funny

Drag racing has gone non-existent around here. We have an 1/8th mile nearby at Mid America Motorplex but no 1/4 mile tracks anymore. Closest one is like 3 hours in any direction.