[SFRinNJ]

Since there are a lot of us out there that have great cars and don't know how to do autocross/solo II the South Jersey Region of the SCCA is considering holding a beginners training day sometime in March or April. We are trying to keep the price down to $25-$35. We would like to draw people from outside the geographic area who might be interested. The intent is to have a skid pad, brake course, and an actual course to 'walk' and then drive at the end of the day. We are polling our members and any others to see who is interested. If you would like to participate or be kept informed of what is going on please go to the following site.
http://www.sjr-scca.org and click on the polling link on the left side of the page, or go directly to the poll by using
http://www.sjr-scca.org/autoxpoll.html
It is a really great sport and if some of us beginners could learn on a day just for us we may become the next hotshots of our own clubs. Subaru has been a sponsor of SoloII in our region in the past and is active in the country. It would be great to see more subies out there. WRX's and STi's are certainly made for the challenge, now we just have to train the drivers.
SFRinNJ

[JJ]

Sticky time.

[urabusWRX]

I will seriously consider it. I have been wanting to learn since I got my WRX over a year ago and now that I got the STi I NEED to learn. Just got back from New Hampshire and the drive wasn't too too bad so I might be able to come.

[wewu]

I'm interested, keep us posted

[Xman]

once you start autocrossing, you really should learn about suspension setup and theory. I found some nice references from Longacre at the Racer Parts Wholesale site http://www.racerpartswholesale.com/longtech.htm

and the physics behind racing http://www.racerpartswholesale.com/physics.htm

[sciolist]

Thanks X, I appreciate it. :-)

[vespadaddy]

Do most clubs still hold the Auto-X events in the rain, or do they cancell? Does anyone show up if it rains?

I would guess that the 4 wheel drive would be a big advantage in the rain (though perhaps not the dry?)

Thanks!

[Xman]

most events run rain or shine, but will stop if the water gets too deep or lightning it close. Not many people will show if its raining first thing in the morning and there is little chance of it letting up.

And the AWD is an advantage in both the dry and the wet, but makes a more noticeable difference in the wet.

[WRXRATED7]

Originally Posted by vespadaddy

Do most clubs still hold the Auto-X events in the rain, or do they cancell? Does anyone show up if it rains?

I would guess that the 4 wheel drive would be a big advantage in the rain (though perhaps not the dry?)

Thanks!

We race in the rain unless it's such a downpour it can affect timing or if lightning is present.

VERY fun indeed. I had a chance to run my old '03 WRX in the rain. 8)

[WRX_Mundi]

Originally Posted by vespadaddy

Do most clubs still hold the Auto-X events in the rain, or do they cancell? Does anyone show up if it rains?

Every club I've been to (6 regions) runs in the rain, unless as Xman says there is lightning too close or somebody decides it is just too much. I've even had one event where there was snow on the cars in the morning. Not as many people will show up, generally. Here's a photo from late April last year of Allan's SM2 RX-7 an hour before we started autocrossing after most had already melted:



It did completely melt and mostly dry out when we were autocrossing. I imagine the shifter karts would have had a devil of a time with actual snow.

I would guess that the 4 wheel drive would be a big advantage in the rain (though perhaps not the dry?)

Again Xman is correct. If you go to a road course you will find you can get on the throttle earlier than a lot of cars in the corners, so corner exit is where you gain a bunch of distance on them. Do recall that AWD adds a bunch of weight and entails some extra drivetrain loss. In the dry it is debatable whether that extra weight is made up for by the extra grip under acceleration. It's a complicated thing, but in general it isn't (my opinion).

However, as the surface gets slicker you'll find it helps more and more. At Wendover which is very rough and sticky concrete, the big-tire cars whomp on everyone (e.g. Z06, Camaro) because they can truly use it all and can be sloppy with the throttle. We have some other events which are on much slicker asphalt and my car is much better vs. theirs -- they have to modulate the throttle carefully on corner exit and have to gently feed it in, where I can be really sloppy and still accelerate (and you wouldn't believe how much they pi** and moan about how I gain "a half second" on every corner). Rain just exaggerates this, rewarding smooth inputs. But everywhere you accelerate you'll get a big advantage since you can get on the throttle earlier and harder. It much more than makes up for the weight disadvantage. Do remember you can't stop any faster -- slower in, smoother throughout and don't get greedy.

Another big factor with rain is the tires. I found that out at an event where we had some light rain with a bunch of places with standing water. Tires with no tread (like many race tires) hydroplane really easily. Your steering wheel does nothing when you hydroplane. I, along with many drivers, had "fun" on our first runs as we were going through a slolom and turned our wheel at one point to discover it had no effect at all -- we just sailed right by the cone. The SM2 RX-7 with traction control and full-tread Kumho's kicked our behinds because he could just drive the course (this car/driver went on to win a national tour and trophy at nationals, both in the rain I believe). By being aggressive in most areas and really babying it anywhere with standing water I almost beat him, but there was a big puddle right after the finish lights which meant I sailed right through all the cones at the end (not the only one to do that either). As a side note, the rain stopped and our afternoon runs were all in the dry. Times dropped about 5 seconds (!!) on a 30-40 second course for the top people -- the same two cars on top in the rain (RX-7, STi) also finished in the dry with a 1.5 second PAX lead over the rest of the pack.

[2blue4usti]

Originally Posted by Xman

most events run rain or shine, but will stop if the water gets too deep or lightning it close. Not many people will show if its raining first thing in the morning and there is little chance of it letting up.

And the AWD is an advantage in both the dry and the wet, but makes a more noticeable difference in the wet.

Let it rain!

Blue

[oogster]

Are there any new autox classes still happening?

[Xman]

there are always autoX classes popping up. It really helps to know where you live to help you out.

[grenade]

can someone please let me know where i can get information on autocross classes or events in southern california? thanks.

[Sands]

Start with http://www.scca.org/

SoCal SCCA http://www.calclub.com/

If the Porsche club (PCA), NASA, Mustang, BMWCCA, Audi, etc. are active in your area, they may also sponsor autox events.