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a few questions about autox.

2K views 16 replies 11 participants last post by  Oni 
#1 ·
well i wanna start to get into autox next season, and i prettymuch know what the classes are for scaa autox, so my question is this,is it gonna be worth my while to run in the "stock class". or should i justait until i have some suspension stuff done as well then run in stock modified or whatever?
 
#2 ·
start running now if you can. although you are going to be changing your suspension, you can still learn a lot about your car the way it is. plus you will also be getting in the environment and learning tricks all before your new suspension goes on. this way when you mod your suspension you will have some type of driving technique and will know about the best lines, when to brake. you can also develop the left foot braking technique so it cuts down the time it takes for your right foot to move from pedal to pedal. there are many things you can learn now, that will only help you once you mod your car.
 
#3 ·
Man I had a blast running in the stock class with my old ZX3. I say do it! Not only run events but try and get into the instructional classes if offered. The Focus is a contender in HS [thumb]
 
#4 ·
You might check out www.zoomzoomlive.com. It's Mazda's free autocross event for a day at different locations. Yes, free.

Just so you know, you're very limited on what you can modify on a stock car before you have to enter another class, and you might find yourself not as competitive in your class. Run in Novice class if you just want to run for fun. No one's going to knock you for having fun, and a lot of people are starting to get into autocross as well (every event there's someone new).

I just started autocrossing as well. Your base class (G Stock) should be fairly competitive. So far, I've placed second in my base class and fourth (out of four cars both times) at the two events I've run. I get to run against another SVT Focus owner, and it's just good fun.

The best advantage to get and keep your car competitive is to buy stock sized rims and fit a pair of R-Comp tires. This is a better advantage over suspension adjustments, and your car is still considered stock as long as the rims are equal to OEM dimensions. Right now with the usual four competitors I run with, I have the highest treadwear rating (400), and it kills my low speed cornerning abilities. Now if it rained.. I might dominate my class, but that's another story...

It's a blast and not nearly as abusive to your car as circuit racing would be. If you haven't spectated at an event, go and check one out. Otherwise, just run in one. It's fun. Trust us!
 
#6 ·
you could only gain experiance if you run in the stock class, no sence in waiting when you could be learning and having a great time to boot'[thumb] ya could always bump to the next class as you modd., you'll be more ready for the next class with at least some experience under your belt![driving]
enjoy, autocrossing is great!!!!
 
#7 ·
running as your car is now will be a good experience. You will learn how your car reacts and find it's limits. You can build off those. I run in HS and have been doing pretty well. Plus 80% of autocross is the driver. I mean (as an example), There was a Lotus Elise at our last event and I beat him by a few seconds...it's because he was learning and from viewing it was kinda timmid...on the other hand..there was another on there running the best times of the day. Seat time is the best answer before modding for the stuff...
 
#9 ·
Don't wait for anything man. Like they said, it's mostly the driver. I run in G-Stock on street tires, with NO mods, and at the Evo school this weekend I ended up just 4 tenths of a second behind a 2002 modified Corvette, ran right with and sometimes beat WRXs and STIs. I was 1 of just 2 guys there with no mods, but I did really well.
 
#10 ·
One of the fastest stock cars I've ever seen autocross is the Toyota MR2. Holy sh... to give you a comparision of its times vs. the G stock times. Of course, it runs in C stock. My best time was 50.7xx. His fastest time was 44.6xx. The fastest street legal car was 42.xxx, so you can see how it stacks up. He was running on street tires just as I was. Scary, isn't it?
 
#11 · (Edited)
We had a guy with a Diesel Rabbit who was always in the top 10, so anything can be fast. Those MR2s are awesome, but the SVTF isn't as far off as you might think. I was 1.55 sec (29.3 +1 cone him vs. 30.85 no cones me) behind the fastest car on Saturday which was a CSP Miata.
 
#12 ·
ZX3's run in HS, not GS [:)]

Fastest car we have around here (aside from the 15 or so CSP Miata's) is a BMW M3 and a tweaked out RX7. It's fun no matter what you drive.

Suggestions before going...get a good tire pressure gauge and one of those cig lighter air pumps (or one of the air tanks if you want to go for that instead). You have no idea how much tire pressures can change how your car performs!!!
 
#15 ·
You know, another good reason to just start and worry about modding later is because after pushing your car to the limits on the track, you may find that what you wanted to change, you really don't. It's a good way to really get to know the limitations of your car and your dislikes with it before just picking stuff everyone else is doing. You may want to run competitively, and if you're on a tight budget, staying in your stock class may be the funnest route to take.
 
#16 ·
Some of the best drivers in the country run in the stock classes. Because of R-Compoud legality in the Stock class, you can often go faster than the STS/STX guys anyway.

And I agree, you really don't know what you car does/should do/you would like it to do, until you take it out there and push it to the limit. And even then, most of the time you could get what you were looking for with better driving anyway. I see a lot of people spending $$$ on equipment that's just a crutch for their bad driving skills.
 
#17 · (Edited)
Carrera26 said:
I see a lot of people spending $$$ on equipment that's just a crutch for their bad driving skills.
[rofl]

Ain't that the truth. Seriously, you just need to go out there and try it stock for fun. You may not even possibly like autocross (doubtful, but possible), so why spend money loading up your car for no reason? Have fun and don't worry about competition. You need to know where you stand before you even start competing anyway.
 
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