Autocrossing
aka
Been there -- Spun That!

So, after I built this hot rod for the street, I get a craving for lateral geez.... Decades ago, almost in  a former life, I'd tried my hand at autocross with a `70 Chevy Vega another  car that I owned at the time. I didn't autocross for long as motorcycle roadracing was calling me with its seductive siren song of "Spend your money here. Ruin your credit rating for the rest of your life this way!"

I did a search on autocross and came across http://www.autocross.com/er the site for one of the two local autocross organizations in the Fort Worth DallAss area.
They had an event scheduled for a couple of weekends away so I decided to get ready.

What the heck is an Autocross?

Well, depending on who you ask, it's either the definitive test of a person's skills and abilities to properly prepare and drive their chosen vehicle. Or, It's roadracing for those who don't have the money or the nads for the real thing.

Autocross courses are typically set up in large parking lots. The course is defined with traffic cones and, sometimes, chalked lines. Each car is timed individually through the course on a series of runs. Generally, you'll get three or more runs at the course in a local event, depending on how many entrants there are. Before the  event starts, you will be given the opportunity to walk the course to get an idea of where it goes. This is IMPORTANT! No, not just because walking is good for you, but because each run counts and the course changes from even to event, so you have to be develop the ability to visualize the course quickly. There are no "practice laps" allowing you to get the course down, you've got to go hard from the outset. Click to see a typical run. (Thanks to William Curran and Jason Manning of "The Outlaws" for the video.)

In order to make a more level playing field, cars are divided into classes based on their capabilities and the modifications they have. There are classes for stock cars of all kinds, modified cars and pure race cars. Additionally, there are classes for Novices and separate classes for females who do not choose to compete with males.
For more information on autocross and the classes, go to http://autocross.com/index.htm
Or visit the Autocross FAQ at http://www.sfrscca.com/solo2/faq/

What do you need to autocross?

1. A desire to see what your car can do in a safe and controlled environment.
2. A desire to see what you can do with your car.
3. An ego capable of suffering multiple bruises and a few contusions.
4. Some decent tires.
5. All your lug nuts and wheel studs.
6. A battery that's firmly bolted in place (Bungee cords and zip ties just won't cut it!).
7. The desire to spend a day getting sunburned or frozen or wet with a bunch of gear heads who love cars and performance driving as much as you do.
   (Yep, unlike  some of those sissy racers, autocrossers do it rain or shine, even in the snow...)

You'll notice nowhere in the above requirements do the phrases "sports car" or "performance car" appear. There is a reason for this grasshopper. When you get to a local autocross, you will see everything from a Buick Station Wagon to a Toyota pickup truck to a V-10 Viper to a Honda S2000 to some really ratty MGB's and Triumph Spitfires. Shoot, there's even a small-block-chevy-powered 2nd generation Mazda RX-7 that competes in our region.

 ("Well, Chris, since you ask, the little lady had blowed that little rotary thing-a-ma-bob motor up in her cute little sports car an' I had me this ol' 4-bolt 350 Chebby out in thu garage an', well, we just let nature take `er course.")

What do you bring to an autocross?

1. Sunscreen
2. Tire gauge
3. Sunscreen
4. Enthusiasm
5. Sunscreen
6. Bottled water
7. Sunscreen
8. Your car
Oh, did I mention sunscreen?

At a typical Sunday autocross, you will get four to six runs at the course. There will be two to four heats. You will be required to work the course in one of the heats and you will make your runs in the other heats. This ensures that there are always enough people to cover the corners, man the fire extinguishers, flags and radios as well as attend to the timing and scoring, tech inspection and gridworking chores. If you do not work your appointed heat, your runs will be discarded, your times will be erased, you will be disqualified, your hair will fall out, your dog will leave you, you will have bad breath for decades to come and your expensive 'run-flat' tires will do just that!.

My `96 Eclipse GSX Autocrosser

After I bought my `96 GSX, I set about making it a slightly warmed over street car. Shortly after I did my mods, K&N FIPK (air filter), Buschur Racing Upper Inter cooler pipe with pre `95 BOV, and 2.5" turbo back exhaust system with hi-flow cat, I went to my first autocross. Since I had also added Riken 16"x7.5" wheels with 225/50 Dunlop D40M2 tires, I found myself in the E Street Prepared class. My competition consisted primarily of Z-28 Cameros, 5.0 Mushtangs and a very special Firebird driven by multi-time National Champion Mark Madarash. Hmmmmmmmm. Me- 4 cylinders, maybe 250 horsepower and street tires. Madarash- 8 cylinders, probably 350+ horsepower and, more importantly, a torque curve as long and broad as the Mississippi River. `Course, the fact that I couldn't yet drive my way out of a wet paper bag had nothin' to do with Mark beating me like a drum!

During the 1999 Season, I added Ground Control coil-overs http://www.ground-control.com with Koni Sport adjustable shocks. I also picked up a set of 16"x8.5" wheels and mounted 225/50 BFGoodrich G-Force R1 tires. Then I set out to learn how to drive. THAT process continues.

Behind my GSX, you'll see a neat little trailer from Harbor Freight Company http://www.harborfreight.com/. I use the trailer to haul the mounted race tires to events and added a "Tough Box" from Home Depot for all my other stuff. I keep a small 12 volt compressor, my shock adjusting tools, a floor jack, a sun shade, towel, long-sleeve short, wind pants, wind breaker, torque wrench (for the lug nuts) and a 4-way lug nut wrench in the box.

By the way, the trailer was a birthday gift from my loving wife Anna. Of all the blessings The Lord has given me, Anna is one of the greatest. For Christmas in `99, she got me a two-day autocross driving school from Evolution (nee McKamey).

So how did it all turn out? Well, at the end of 1999 I was third overall in the local club's E Street Prepared class. I was pretty happy, two points out of second, and only four points behind the esteemed Mr. Madarash. I'm looking forward to the 2000 season!

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