I'm going to my first AutoX event.

Any one got any tips to lower my times? Any tricks?

 

Get somebody experienced to ride shotgun with you, and ride with as many experienced people as you can. Walk the course.

As far as driving itself goes, put the car in 2nd and drive smooth. You're not going to rock everyone your first auto-x, so don't expect to.

 

i know that ill be happy if i come in 2nd to last

thanks.

 

"Slower is faster"
"Slow in, fast out"
"Drive the line"
"Be smooth with all your driving inputs"
"Look up & ahead, not down your hood or just in front of it"

pretty basic stuff but it's what I kept in my head when I did my first autox.

 

Look ahead. Look ahead. Look ahead. Look ahead. Look ahead. Look ahead. Look ahead. Look ahead. Look ahead. Look ahead. Look ahead. Look ahead. Look ahead. Look ahead. Look ahead. Look ahead. Look ahead. Look ahead. Look ahead. Look ahead. Look ahead.

Have fun. Have fun. Have fun. Have fun. Have fun. Have fun. Have fun. Have fun. Have fun. Have fun. Have fun. Have fun. Have fun. Have fun. Have fun. Have fun. Have fun. Have fun. Have fun. Have fun. Have fun. Have fun. Have fun. Have fun. Have fun. Have fun.

 

Like rynberg said, put it in 2nd gear and drive smooth, put both hands on the wheel. A lot of people rest their right hand on the shifter even when they aren't going to shift. AX has A LOT of steering inputs, so both hands on the wheel.
Don't push in the clutch around corners (unless you're shifting of course).
Look ahead means looking multiple gates down the road, not just to the next one. For me this is very tough. I've been AX'ing for 5 years and I still don't look far enough ahead.
Getting an experienced person to ride with you would be a big help... they don't even have to know anything about RX7's. Try to get them to ride with you more than once to make sure you are improving. Then at your next event, maybe get someone else.
Have fun!
Good luck

 

I use the rule of "Get the turning done early" what I mean by this is when doing a slalom section, you should be done turning before you get to the cone, already lining up the next one. Think of smooth precise input through the steering, brakes and throttle.

Other than that, get out, drive the car and by run one thousand you'll be getting pretty good. Nothing beats seat time.

My $0.02

 

Move the steering wheel as little as possible.

 

Been auto-xing since 1996, like everyone else said, look ahead. Go slow, be smooth, speed will come.

 

walk the course as many times as you can. If you can't run through it in your head while you're waiting to run again, you didn't walk it enough.

Bring sunblock and water...lots of water. You can't concentrate on driving if your head is all messed-up from heatstroke.

Fo me, the hardest thing is thinking during the run. I know, that sounds funny but it's important to be thinking about where the car is and where it needs to be for this next gate AND where it needs to be on the other side of that gate so you can be in the right place for the next ones... it all seems to happen too fast for me to get all that processed. I'm lucky if I get as far as "oh ****, what am I doing way over here?"

Cory

 

The human mind is an amazing thing but it needs time to learn to process the information from your eyes and backside The sensation of speed for me comes from whether or not my brain can keep up with what's going on. Once it's trained to process everything quickly time really does seem to slow down.

When beginning drive as fast as you can without screwing up, that means forcing yourself to go slower on occasion. You can't really learn to focus, plan and execute each manuever if you are constantly trying to catch the car from snapping sideways. You don't learn anything by driving out of control. Expect yourself to be slow and then grow from there.

Regardless of your driving "talent" if you can learn to look comfortably 2 or 3 turns ahead you will be amazed how everything seems to suddenly get easier and happen all by itself. Best of all you can practice that anytime you are behind the wheel of any car, it pays off.

It takes some time but like anything else some learn it faster than others. If you turn out to be a slow learner don't let that convince you that you suck. If you're willing to commit the time and effort you can make it happen. Driving is not really a physical sport, it's a mental one.

As RatedR1 said don't forget why you're out there: Have a good time. I get frustrated often with what I feel is a poor performance but I would still rather be in the car than somewhere else. Everyone must determine for themselves how serious they are willing to get and still be able to call this a hobby

 

I always thought it was interesting that once I'm on course I have no sensation of lateral forces. It's like that part of my brain shuts off.
"Too much stimulus... input overload... shutting down selected sensors.
I probably couldn't tell you the difference between .8G and 1.3G I can only seem to feel that the tire is either gripping or slipping.
After one of my first runs left foot braking a friend's prepared car, I got out in grid and was taking off my helmet before I realize that I had strained the back of my neck.
I do feel like I'm going slower on the rare occasion that I look far enough ahead.

 

 

I was gunna autoX this morning since I havnt been out there since 1999 but woke up late

Use the dead pedal for your left foot and press on that and not put a deathgrip on the steering wheel to keep yourself from moving around in the seat while in the turns.

Yeah, have fun...everyone sucks during their first few times out

 

I like to use a billiards analogy, looking far ahead helps you set up better for the next turn. It is kind of like setting up your next shot when you are playing pool.

 

Walk the course with someone that is experienced. They can show you how to line up the turns, and where you should try to drive during your run. Make a map of the course. That way you can refresh your memory after the course walk is over.

Try to be smooth while driving. Driving too hard will cause you to mess up, and wind up being slower.

Talk to other drivers. Meet some people. Most of all, have fun. Don't expect to be good at this right away. It doesn't work like that.

Good luck

 

Have fun. Don't pay any attention to anyone elses times, you just want to improve your times from your first to last run. Remember your car is capable of much more than you are, so just relax and enjoy the ride.

 

DRIVE IT LIKE YA STOLE IT !!

Just kidding !

Just have fun, your face will hurt from smiling so hard !

Slow is fast !

 

Lots of good advice in the other posts: 2nd gear, be smooth, and have fun! To which I will add: either accelerate or brake. If you aren't doing one or the other, you are wasting time- i.e. don't coast.

Also, and this is a little more advanced technique: if you have a choice between high speed for a longer distance and slower speed for a shorter distance in a given section of the course (for instance, a wide sweeper turn), the shorter distance will save the most time and is the way to go.

 

Have an instructor drive your car. You will learn a lot from them and your car during that ride.

I had a guy named Steve Brollier drive my TII around a practice course once. He was braking later than I ever dreamed of. He was also turning into turns a lot faster then I was. I learned so much from that 1 ride.

If I ever have the opportunity to get him to drive me around again I will do it in a heartbeat.

Be careful who you pick to drive your car. Hopefully you have a few instructors at your venue. Watch them when they run, are they good? I have seen a few SCCA local instructors that are horrible drivers and have gotten in my car and went slower than I and just looked bad doing it too. Pick wisely.


Try to work for the 1st heat. (sometimes hard to do) I look the course map over real quick and pick a station where there is a tricky set of turns and work right there so I can watch how the fast cars are handling that section. Its good to watch and see who is taking what line. Try to copy them.

Have fun! Thats the most important part. Its a stupid $5 trophy who cares. Just go there to have a good time and learn your car.

 

If you do find somebody to drive your car and there isn't a great driver of your exact model look for somebody who has a car with similar characteristics (i.e. if you have a FD it would be much better to have somebody who normally drives a C4/C5 drive your car than somebody who runs an Integra).

You'll also want to give them at least 2 runs in your car so they can feel the car out. While watching them on the first run (since they'll be still trying to find spots on the course) try to take some time to look at their hand position as they enter turns, how they move the wheel, and where their head is looking as they go.

 

how important is heel toe? ive been trying to practice, but its kinda hard with my bigass feet. i assume not very since you guys are saying youre in 2nd the whole time.

 

It's rare that I ever feel the need to heel toe on an autox course. I do it much more often on roadcourses.

 

I think left foot braking is more useful than heal toe.

 

You won't need it. Put the shifter in second and hold on. Only on the smallest of small courses will you need to downshift back to first gear.