Hey Race Car Tech's! I've been browsing the new Race Car forum and seen a TON of acronyms thrown about. We all know what "Drag Racing" is, but I'm not sure about the other types of racing that can be done and was wondering if you guys could list the types of racing or possibly clarify the acronyms(since some of us are Race Car Illiterate )

These are a few examples of acronyms/racing that I have seen and have NO idea what they entail:

CACC
Road Racing
SCCA
GT Racing
Solo 2 CSP
ITS
CSP-Novice
NASA Pro 7
ASP
Autocrossing

Please help out the un-educated Race Car Guy/Gal!!!

 

I will fill in as many as possible.
CACC-- sanctioning body(group that puts on race)
Road Racing-- or sports car racing. typically racing wheel to wheel on a closed purpose built track.
SCCA--most well known sanctioning body in US
GT Racing-- usually refering to endurance racing like LeMans or Daytona. in these races there is a class of cars called GT. these are modified road cars.
Solo 2 CSP-- solo 2 is timed racing through a temporary coarse marked out with cones on a parking lot or other large concrete or asphalt surface and CSP is a class in the SCCA
ITS--is another SCCA race class for slightly modified road cars
CSP-Novice-- new to the CSP class and on a type of probation
NASA Pro 7-- also a class of race cars. first gen RX7's prepped the same and NASA is another sanctioning body
ASP-- is also a race class in SCCA solo 1 or 2
Autocrossing-- same a solo 2

 

Can anyone explain:

Gran Prix
Dirt Track

 

Grand Prix is French for "big prize"...it's the term used for high-end road racing (Formula 1)

Dirt Track is simply an asphalt oval with clay packed over top of the asphalt to make the racing surface slippery...

 

I thougth i explain some stuff for some newbies since I needed some explainig myself.

Oversteer: When the back of the car gets loose and comes around. RX-7's tend to oversteer when they are stock.

Understeer: When the front end can't turn anymore doesn't matter how much you turn the steering. This is bad since it is hard to recover from. But mostly stock FWD cars understeer.

Both of the above "steering problems" can be fixed by playing with tire pressure / changing sway-bars / combination of above and shocks/springs. U want a race car to be balanced with a slight tendency to understeer.

Camber: it's the difference in position of top of the wheel/tire to the center of the wheel (it's not the precise definition, but it's easy to pictures). Negative camber is when the top of the tire is closer to the car than the bottom (again not precise, but does the job). U want negative camber for racing since when you turn if the tire is totally straight it tends to ride on one corner, but if you have a neg. camber, it will have a full contact patch while u turn (see in the following figure)


I will post more newbie stuff up when i'm not tired

Omid

 

SCCA = Sports Car Club of America
GT= Grand Touring
CSP= "C" Street Prepared
ITS= Improved Touring "S"
ASP= "A" Street Prepared

I almost forgot the most important...hehe

FP= "F" Prepared


http://members.cardomain.com/7heaven

 

Don't forget the SCCA GT classes... you have your Improved Touring (ITx), then your Production (xP), then your GT (GTn) classes. (x = letter, n = number)

I know 1st-gens are generally ITA/ITS, EP, and GT3...

 

I've found that the most effective ways to combat understeer and oversteer is alignment. Adjusting toe, camber, and caster will all significantly (maybe not so much caster) affect steering response.

Camber is pretty well described by that picture. By increasing negative camber, you will increase the contact patch of rubber from the tire, thereby increasing grip.

Toe is easier to understand by looking over top the tire. Look from above the fender. Factory condition is usually zero toe, or (provided you don't have a weird fender flare) even with the fender. Toe out is when the front of the tire points outward; so that the front of the tire peeks out from under the fender. Toe in is the opposite; when the back of the tire peeks out from under the fender. Increasing toe out makes the car more responsive to steering input; however, too much can cause heavy oversteer, making the car difficult to control. Decreasing toe out and/or increasing toe in makes the car less responsive to steering input, but increases straightline stability. Too much toe in causes heavy understeer, making the car difficult to turn.

Caster is easier to understand by looking directly at the front tire. It's difficult to directly see, but you can visualize it. If the center of the wheel was directly under the shock mounting perches, that would be 0 degrees of caster. Positive caster is advancing the angle so that the wheel is closer to the front of the car; with respect to the mounting perches. Increasing positive caster, helps increase grip during turn-in. I don't know if you can adjust in negative caster.

Now adjusting alignment is difficult when you're actually at the track. That's where shock settings and tire pressure can be played with. As far what you should dial in your car to, that depends on your driving style and environment.

There's my two cents for racing newbies. And the racing community generally uses the terms "Solo II" and "autocross" interchangeably.

 

Actually MOST "Dirt" Tracks are just that - oval or circle tracks graded out of plain old Dirt (no paving) some paved tracks do stage "DIRT" events by covering their pavement with dirt. Dirt tracks grew out of the fact that many early automobile races were staged at horse race tracks.

 

Some more racing terms:

pranged=wrecked
bent=wrecked
balled up=wrecked
ran out of talent=wrecked
lost the car=wrecked
had a racing incident=wrecked
car is a pig=will wreck shortly
car is pushing=will hit wall shortly
car is evil=scared enough I will wreck car on purpose shortly

 

Lets not forget:
Shunt=wrecked
Wadded up=wrecked
Diabolical oversteer=I spun

 

I use this one usually..

wrecked=wrecked

:P

 

You guys are freakin' awesome!!!! Keep the knowledge rollin' gentlemen...by the end of the year, I want to know it ALL...

 

donated paint=wrecked