1) is it good on the car to keep it in 1st gear the entire time when racing in autocross?

2) I know a silencer wont effect power, but is there a certain type of silencer that is of higher quality worth buying? its just for autocross so i was thinking an ebay brand will do fine.

thanks

 

1) Not really if you have a good engine and keep it in the safe rpm range.

2) Magnaflow stainless steel straight thru's --> http://www.summitracing.com/parts/MPE-10416/

 

I ride 1st on short courses all the way up to red line sometimes. Perfectly safe. It's when you constantly keep it at redline (drifting *cough*) that you run into problems.

 

the few times that I went to autocross events, i'd go through 1st and into 2nd out of the gate, then I wouldnt touch the clutch again till the end of the run. As jjcobm mentioned, it depends on the track setup though.

On the contrary however, I'd have to say that the throttle being applied and lifted so rapidly in autocross puts a decent amount of stress on your car (more so in 1st gear). This constant switching of accelerating and engine-braking puts the whole rotating driveline through sudden directional torque/stress changes.

I would just try to be more smooth and consistent on the pedal in first gear if your worried about the car. Hell, it might even improve your clocked time for the run.
But hey, I've only gone a handful of times so the other guys might be able to provide better insight. Just my 2 cents though.

 

for autocross it depends a lot on the course. I've frequented a gokart track that's 8 turns and .6miles around, I top out 2nd on that course in my TII. also smoother is better, racing will definitely be hard on the car, but if you treat your inputs like on/off switches your times and car will both suffer.

rotaries NEED stainless packing if there's going to be anything in the exhaust for sound dampening. fiberglass will melt/burn out and it can sound like ****.

 

+1

this is kinda hard to do at first, but eventually your reactions and inputs will flow a bit smoother. In my humble opinion, 2nd is WAY smoother and still have a decent amount of response at the pedal.

There are probably instructors there for the beginners and for those who have questions. They should be able to help you out with this... I remember at my first event, one of the other drivers actually drove my car for one run with me in the passenger seat just to show me the ropes. he went from driving his (sponsored) gutted EG civic hatch with slicks, hopped in my stock T2 and still tore the f%cking track up. Needless to say, I got my advice from him the rest of the day. Helped me shave 10 seconds off my time. So talk to people, theyre usually willing to help.

 

Take an instructor with you for the first few times, or every other run. It will pay off in the end. Also try to ride with as many people as possible to see how they drive. Smoother is always better.

I try not to run a whole course in 1st gear, but sometimes you have to. The last event I went to I was hitting 2nd out of the gate, and it was killing my times. My last two runs I used first through the whole first half of the course, and hit second in the middle. I shaved 2 seconds off of my time.

You need as much seat time as possible. You'll only get better. You have to be able to feel, predict, and react with your car the best that you can.

 

By the way, the silencers I posted have stainless packing, not fiberglass.