Well im auto-crossing next year. I already have some eibach springs installed, some 16" rims with some falken fk 452 (excellent gripping tires) and going to order some eibach anti-roll bars son. Anyone here auto cross too and have some other key items for me to get to help me around the corners?
2001 Chevy Cavalier (Sandrift Metallic) 8 OHV of raw fury!
Quit buying parts and spend the money on a driving school. Your gains will be much, much better.
That's fine and dandy advice guys, but stop being hypocrites, seriously.
I understand the benefits of it completely, but how many people that are good autocrossers now started out by going to driving school? On this board, probably nobody, ever.
Anyways to answer the question that the man asked... a strut tower brace is a a big piece missing from your list of parts, and what are you using for struts? I hope not stockers still... The anti roll bars are a good idea, but I'm not a fan of putting a bigger front bar on a car that has tendencies to plow as it is. I'd just get one for the rear, and combine that with the aforementioned strut tower brace, the new TTR K-brace, and some upgraded struts.
edit: and like they said, driver skill really is the biggest thing. Start out small and don't overdrive the car or push your limits. When you feel like you're pushing it, you're more than likely going to come up with a slower time than if you stay smooth. After you've got a few runs under your belt you'll understand the cars handling dynamics much better. You also have to think atleast 2 - 3 cones ahead of where you're at on the course, plan your lines, set up the corner, apex it, and accelerate out smoothly.
I think it was Sir Sterling Moss who said "It is better to enter a corner slow, and come out fast, than to enter a corner fast, and come out dead." Not that it exactly applies to autocross, but you get the point.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edited Saturday, October 20, 2007 12:28 PM
kflo wrote:
I understand the benefits of it completely, but how many people that are good autocrossers now started out by going to driving school? On this board, probably nobody, ever.
I started out with going with a friend of mine and sharing his car for the day and I had a lot of fun. At that point the season was coming to an end, I went to the last 2 events of the year on my own to make sure it was something I wanted to pursue. The fallowing year I went to the pre season driving school form the SCCA... so yes at least one person (me) has started with a driving school as soon as I decieded to pursue this. Hell I even tried to get out to the Evolution driving school earlier this year but since it was the day before the 4th of July I couldn't get the day off of work. I plan on starting next season with the same SCCA driving school, if they are seperate weekends I'm going to attend 2 different regions driving schools.
Don't start calling people hypocrites because you assume you know something based off ignorant assumptions.
I'm sure you're probably 1 or a tiny hand full of people here that have done that. I wouldn't call it an ignorant assumption, more like an educated one. I've been around JBO long enough to know that a lot of people are talk, and about 2% of them are "do".
I'm not saying you are a talker Ryan, because duh... I don't even need to explain that. Not saying Zach is either, just for the record. But to tell a guy to stop buying parts, that statement rubbed me the wrong way. I didn't think you we're referring to an SCCA driver education day, I thought you meant getting out to Bob Bondurant's driving school or something on that level. Not something very achievable for a lot of us.
It doesn't have to be an expensive school, any school, any event, anything that involves people better then you with more experience that are there strictly for your benefit. The SCCA school was a couple hours in a classroom and then out to a course, every single run (prolly got about 35-40) was with an instructor in the car, giving advise having you try new things, tell you where to push and where to tone it down, help set up the car in terms of basics (tire pressures and strut settings if adjustable etc etc.) It may not be a nationally known famous driving school but it was well worth the money it cost for the day, especally when the fallowing day was the first event so you get to apply what you just learned. The class is run by Jeff Cashmore (if your an SCCA member you get the magazine, if you get the magazine I'm sure you've heard the name) but him and a whole bunch of other drivers who have competed and or won at the Nation championships and people who run in the pro class are the people who put the school on. There is a TON of knowledge to soak up. You can buy all the parts you want but you can not buy skillsand experience with parts.
Spending $100 on a driving school is a FAR better investment into making the car faster then spending $100 on a strut bar.
I totally agree with you about it being worth it. And I wish I would've had the option available to me of taking a class of that sort before I started my racing career. I'm to the point now though where I'm 4 or 5 seasons deep on experience so I'm more than likely not going to be taking one anytime soon. Plus Iowa's SCCA scene is kind of weak, there's 2 divisions, 1 of which I've never raced before... and then the Des Moines region which is always hella packed with cars. I usually run NASA stuff because of that, plus the NASA events occur a lot closer to where I live.
I kind of view the world through my own personally tinted glasses sometimes though. Didn't mean to ruffle your tailfeathers initially.
100 bucks for a driving school? Damn where does this happen or where can I find more information on it? I will still put some money into my car to help with the gay body roll, anything can help haha I know i need practice and thats what next year is going to be for me.
2001 Chevy Cavalier (Sandrift Metallic) 8 OHV of raw fury!
find your local autox region website, and the school will be listed on their schedule. HIGHLY suggest this for anyone...no matter your experience level. Ryan is right, parts mean nothing. If you haven't installed your springs yet, don't You'll move from the stock class into STS. Then you're racing against faster cars, and yet you still aren't much faster because you haven't got the experience to learn to drive smooth yet. All great advice up there
yes, all the parts do help, but keep in mind, they also hide your mistakes, making it harder to learn
Thanks for the advice guys. Yeah I will try to hit up a driving school before the season next year. I am looking into doing this to try to find something different and unique instead of going in straight lines constantly. I do have my springs in yes. That is all for suspension as of now. I do have some falken fk 452's that i am putting on also when my wheels come (hopefully tomorrow). That will be it for mods then until i learn how to drive better. I will wait on the anti-roll bars. I might save up for some nice struts first before anything else. But I will go auto cross next year first before I do anything else so i can get more experience. I have done some more reading too on it but the part where you learn the most is going to be at the track. Again thanks to all for the helpful information. I will let you guys know how I do next racing season
2001 Chevy Cavalier (Sandrift Metallic) 8 OHV of raw fury!
if you already got the springs on you're already up a class. tires will help a ton! give it a few sessions before you really go at it though with the parts. warning...try it once....you'll be addicted forever
Haha I plan on it! I got tires and wheels installed today. Thank god for going to college for mechanics so I can do all this stuff on a lift for free. I can post up pics so far of what I have done. I will order strut tower bars for now and get the sway bars later this winter or early spring.
2001 Chevy Cavalier (Sandrift Metallic) 8 OHV of raw fury!
Best mod you can do for autocross IMHO is......
Sell the cav, purchase an m3/rx8/s2k/350z.....
I kidding, I see plenty of cav's rip it up whur I autocross. I started out probably 6 or 7 seconds behind the next slowest M3, at the end of the summer I am either beating most of them, or within a second. The skillz is what makes ya fast, although a good car helps too!
car helps, but much more reliant on the driver
bmxludwig you forgot miatas, i see tons of those cars around here
lately ive been finding myself wondering about autocrossing or scca events they have a redline time attack at gateway, but i think my rpm band in the cav is alittle to violent for that type of racing
R.I.P. Brian Klocke, you will never be forgotten
run away from mods before you spend your money.
You'll be running in STS against people like me who have:
-Full Coilovers
-Front and Rear Swaybars
-Poly upper and lower engine mounts
-Poly Control arm Bushings
-Header, Intake, exhaust
-Lightweight Wheels
-Dedicated Autocross Tires (Falken Azenis-615)
-Over 5 years autocross experience and 2 Autocross schools (one taught by national champions in DC)
The mod you should be the most scared of is the last one, that made the biggest difference in times over anything else.
Modding your car is nothing compared to drivers skill. I go out and beat fully prepped STI's in my little sunfire. The STI's are better suited but I'm the better driver. As many others say, you gotta tune the nut behind the wheel first.
Next year I'll be in DSP with my balanced engine, full tuning and R-Comps.
If you're ever down in the BRR region, stop by and I'll let you take my car for a spin on the course.
-Chris
What's this autocross you speak of?
Lightweight honDuhs can kiss my fat Crapalier a$$
A new autoX ride for '08.....
AutoXFool wrote:What's this autocross you speak of?
its one of the latest drugs to hit the streets of america. beware of extreme cases of addiction even with as little as a single attempt.
DroptopPaul wrote:AutoXFool wrote:What's this autocross you speak of?
its one of the latest drugs to hit the streets of america. beware of extreme cases of addiction even with as little as a single attempt.
rumor has it you don't even need to try it to get hooked, just being around it and seeing it is enough
I really wanna try this, but I dont think it is very popular where I am at, Canada, Nova Scotia
^^ that sucks, I wouldn't try it either if it wasn't the popular thing to do
I think he means there aren't any events to attend. Whats the SCCA in canada called? lol
