AutoX FAQ

[jaged]

This was originally written by AutoX-Fil on CEG and with his permission adapted it to NECO

In an attempt to generate more enthusiasm on NECO for autocross, and get more people in the sport in general, I'm going to give some information to those who might be interested.

For an introduction to the sport, try the Tire Rack Novice Handbook (http://www.tirerack.com/features/solo2/handbook.htm) Tire Rack Novice Handbook. This gives all the information you need to go to your first event.

Autocross is a motorsport where cars are driven around a tight, very twisty course marked by cones (pylons). Cars run solo - thus the SCCA name "Solo". Each run is timed to one one thousandth of a second: xx.xxx seconds. The fastest run is the one that counts. Cars are divided into classes based on modifications and type/performance potential. See http://www.scca.org for details on classing.

There are seven classes the Cougar/Contour is eligible for in streetable form: G Stock (GS), Street Touring S (STS), STX, D Street Prepared (DSP), Street Mod (SM), Street Mod 2 (SM2), E Modified (EM).

GS allows struts, front swaybar, brake pads, cat-back, DOT-legal race tires, and that's about it. This leaves you with a car with a lot of understeer. However, it's still fun, and will teach you a lot about driving to run there.

STS allows springs, swaybars, wheels, chip, intake, A/C removal, battery relocation, and a few other things, but makes you run on "Street Tires", which has a treadwear rating of 140 or greater. The fastest tires are the Falken Azenis, Hankook Z212, Kuhmo MX, Yoko Advan Neova, and BFG KD. Max width is 225, on a 7.5 inch wheel.

STX is like STS but allows an LSD, bigger rotors, one high-flow cat (which means headers for us), and wider wheels/tires: 245s on 8 inch wheels. With the LSD and MSDS headers being popular, this could be a fun place to be. It will take some work to fit a 245 width tire, though.

DSP allows the STS mods, as well as LSD, no cat at all, DOT-legal slicks, and an accusump. If I was to build a Cougar/Contour for track days and autocross, this would be the place to be.

SM allows anything power and suspension-wise without chassis modifications. You can remove more weight, run a turbo, 3.0L, etc. But so can the competition

SM2 is very similar to SM but removing a few more interior items bumps you up to SM2.

XP is for the very extreme autox cars and are basically for autox only cars.


STS is a good place to be. With the exception of the Accusump, slicks, and LSD, it's everything I'd want in a streetable car. If you're not going to the track much, this is the way to go. If you get a nice suspension kit like the Koni or BAT, a rear swaybar, camber plates, and Azenis, you can be very well-prepared, and have a great-handling and riding street car.

So, you want to run. No matter where you are, it'll be fun. Let me alleviate a few misconceptions for the wary:

Oil starvation: I run 6.5 qts and I'm fine. Autocross doesn't have long, hard turns, in general. I have yet to run a course that scares me in the least. Just don't run low on oil, and your engine won't break a sweat.

Tire life: a lot of newbies show up unprepared and kill their tires, never to return. If you go too fast, sliding everywhere, you'll not only burn them up, you'll be slow! Erring on the side of too cautious will give you faster lap times, and no appreciable tire wear. Also, make sure you jack the pressures up to 38-40 psi to keep them from squishing and "rolling over" onto the sidewall. This will keep the wear down, and even it out across the tread, as well as making you faster.

Damage: it is possible to damage the car. If you are really nuts, and the course has a flaw, you could do something stupid and mess it up. But, I've never run a course where that could happen. A good course will require serious driver incompetence to have a problem. This is the safest form of motorsport, or very close, as far as car damage goes. The risk is very, very low.

Yes, Buckshot rolled his car. This was not from cornering forces, but from going way too fast on a poorly-setup track and hitting a tire wall. He admits it was really all his fault that he went off - "cold tires, cold track, hot driver", I think he said.


So, go to www.SCCA.org, find your region, and look for an event! Post up in your regional forum to see if anyone around you want to go too. Read the guide I posted the link too, and have fun!

[jaged]

What class am I in?

Here's a lit of mods and where they put you. Bumping order goes like this:

GS -> STS -> STX -> DSP -> SM ->SM2 -> EM

except where noted. This means that a car with all GS mods and one SM mod is in SM.

Wheels/tires:

Tires - DOT-legal tires with a treadwear of 140 or higher are okay for any class. DOT-legal tires with a rating lower than 140 are okay in any class except STS/STX. STS max width 225 on a 7.5" rim, STX max width 245 on an 8" rim.

Wheels - stock size and offset (fanblades, any stock 16", and ZN,35th ann. 17"), GS. Any diameter up to 7.5" wide STS, up to 8" wide STX. Wider is DSP.

Suspension:

Struts - GS

Springs (incl. coilovers) - STS

Poly suspension bushings/roll resistors - STS

Front swaybar - GS

Rear swaybar - STS

Unrestricted endlinks - STS

Strut tower bars - STS

Camber adjustment plates - STS

Subframe connectors (no lateral connections) - SM

Roll Cage - SM

Power/Drivetrain:

Intake (no TB work) - STS. K&N drop-in GS.

Short Ram intake- STS

Cold Air Intake that cuts into fender (CC CAI, GMK)-SM

Exhaust, cat-back - GS.

Y-pipe w/ stock cat - STS

Y-pipe with non-stock cat - STX

Headers (with any cat) - STX, (without) DSP.

Chip - STS.

3L - SM

Turbo/Supercharger - SM

LSD - STX

Clutch and or flywheel - DSP

Nitrous - not with the SCCA. You may be able to run if you take out the bottle, but ask the Regional Exec first. No bottles on site at all, even if you're spectating.

Brakes:

Brake pads - GS

Stock size rotors slotted/drilled - STS

Bigger brakes (any calipers) - STX, but NOT DSP.

SS hoses - STS

Weight/reduction Other:

CF/Fiberclass hood - SM

Bodykitting - STS

Gauges, comfort and convenience items (no performance savings including any weight loss) - GS

Replace front seats with 15lb versions (not including hardware) - STS. Next year will be 25lbs with hardware.

Replace front seats with anything: DSP

Remove rear seats - SM

Battery relocation - STS

A/C removal - STS

Removal of interior body panels -> EM

[shoult]

Here are some notes from my experience with AutoX.

There are seven classes the Cougar/Contour is eligible for in streetable form: G Stock (GS), Street Touring S (STS), STX, D Street Prepared (DSP), Street Mod (SM), Street Mod 2 (SM2), E Modified (EM).

GS allows struts, front swaybar, brake pads, cat-back, DOT-legal race tires, and that's about it. This leaves you with a car with a lot of understeer. However, it's still fun, and will teach you a lot about driving to run there.


GS is for stock to exremely lightly modded cars. If you haven't autoxd and haven't modded you car you should aim here. ANYbody can autox their stock car. Don't expect to win, DO expect to have fun!

If you decide to continue autoxing, prepare to buy a set of race rims and tires. You WILL cook a set of tires by flatspotting them at some point during the season. No really, you will. And there's NOTHING worse then driving to work everyday going thump, thump, thump.....

BTW, race rims aren't 20" and chrome. Depending on what kind of courses you have in your area you might find that 15" wheels will actually give better times then the 16". If the courses are longer you may find 16" wheels work best. If they're short and REALLY twisty then 15" may work better. Whatever size rim you buy, try to get the LIGHTEST wheel you can afford.

If you're going to stay in GS you can buy race rubber from Hoosier or Kuhmo. Newbies should buy Kuhmo. They are only a tenth or so slower, but WAY more forgiving of both abuse (don't flatspot as easily) and give plenty of warning before giving away. Hoosiers will flat spot if you look at them wrong and they stick to the track until you find yourself going backwards through the sound of your own screeching tires but they are that little nth faster.

BTW, on a ~60 second lap the difference in lap times from stock tires to race rubber can be 5 seconds.

GS (or any STOCK class) is a great place to learn your racecraft. You'll see newbies and old pros in the stock classes. Take the opportunity to get to know the old shoes. Arrive early and walk the course with them and LISTEN to what they say. If you feel the need to open your mouth, use it to ask questions.

Stock classes are not about how fast your car is, it's about how fast YOU are.

BTW, there are some AutoX clubs that are lax about the rules (until there is a protest) and there are some that are very strict right off the bat. Just a rear sway bar (or one poly bushing, etc) could move your otherwise purely stock Cougar from GS into your choise of STS (fairly modded, no race rubber) or DSP (pretty well moded WITH race rubber). Sometimes a little discretion is that better part of valor here. If you're just out to have fun and not looking for points and awards and you only have one non-serious mod on your stock car, don't disclose it. Race with cars that are closer to you then you would be if you bumped up a class. That is until you get protested or start winning to much.

STS allows springs, swaybars, wheels, chip, intake, A/C removal, battery relocation, and a few other things, but makes you run on "Street Tires", which has a treadwear rating of 140 or greater. The fastest tires are the Falken Azenis, Hankook Z212, Kuhmo MX, Yoko Advan Neova, and BFG KD. Max width is 225, on a 7.5 inch wheel.

STX is like STS but allows an LSD, bigger rotors, one high-flow cat (which means headers for us), and wider wheels/tires: 245s on 8 inch wheels. With the LSD and MSDS headers being popular, this could be a fun place to be. It will take some work to fit a 245 width tire, though.

Most of the cars in these classes are daily drivers (or close to it) and can be driven to the track on their race tires. These guys like to have fun with their cars and can be quite serious about racing. Really when I talk about "serious racers" I am talking bout how much each racer is willing to spend of their household budget and free time to go faster each weekend for no monetary award. The more serious, the more money and free time they are willing to give up.

DSP allows the STS mods, as well as LSD, no cat at all, DOT-legal slicks, and an accusump. If I was to build a Cougar/Contour for track days and autocross, this would be the place to be.

Any SP class is going to be filled with SERIOUS racers. Most of these guys spend lots of time searching through the regs to find some little niggle to get another few thousands of a second. These are seriously modified cars. MOST of these cars are either trailered to the track or driven and then seriously modifed before racing. This is where I raced (1989 MR2 Supercharged, #9 ASP). I drove to each track (24 events/year) and changed wheels/tires, suspension settings, alignment, exhaust from headers back as well removed everything allowed that was not tied down (stereo, speakers, spare, jacks, windshield washer bottles, etc. At the end of the day I had to reverse the process and reload the car.

Anything past STX or DSP is a HUGE expense you REALLY need to look at the regs, decide your budget, what class your budget will support (your original budget *2 +10% is what the minimum will really be) and then look at that class to see which cars are kicking tail. Buy one of those cars! Even a GREAT ten year old chassis isn't going to cut it in these upper classes (unless thats the only thing IN that class).

So, go to SCCA Sports Car Club of America (http://www.SCCA.org), find your region, and look for an event! Post up in your regional forum to see if anyone around you want to go too. Read the guide I posted the link too, and have fun!

A couple other hints for newbies deciding to go out for a weekend....

1. Bring lots of cold non-alcoholic beverages of your choice and something to eat/munch. Standing out on blacktop on a 95 degree day takes it out of you. Usually these events are in parking lots with no concession facilities.

2. Tire care for the track.
A. Before you get to the track, air your tires up to 45 lbs.
B. Get your notepad and pencil ready.
C. Get some blackboard chalk. Before you're first run, chalk from the sidewalls of your tires up into the tread.
D. After your first run look at the chalk. If it's worn off the tread completely and still visible on the sidewall, then you have the right air pressure. If it's worn off the sidewall more then 3/4" or so the tire is rolling over and you need more air. If there is still chalk on the outer edges of the tread then you have to much air. Make notes as to run, tire pressure, adjustments, lap time. These notes will help you in the future.

On a front drive car you'll probably end up with higher air pressure in the fronts then the rears. If you find another Cougar owner in your same class, ask them what they're using for tire pressure. Use that as a baseline and adjust as the chalk tells you. Of course if you have more money then you need you can always buy a laser thermograph which is WAY more accurate.

3. For newbies, remember these two mantras.
A. Slower into the corners = faster out of the corners (and into the straight)
B. The biggest performance adjustment you can make to your car is adusting the nut behind the wheel.

Safety FAST! Have FUN!

[wadespencer99]

So I'd love to run an autocross sometime, and this FAQ is really helpful as I've never been to one, and I know nothing about it.

Now of course, no novice should expect to win or do well their first few times out, but what would your advice be to someone like me whose car has been modded all to the hell and back, putting me in the SM class right from the start? Run it and learn it anyway with my car as it is?

Do you see this a lot? Newbies showing up with highly modded cars?

[jaged]

yes, we had a whole pack of "bumble bees" and someone called them show up. they got their arses handed to them cause they thought they were fast.

if you take the first run easy so you can learn the track youll be all right the rest of them.

i would run your car as is, its not as far out of the running as you think it is

[wadespencer99]

No, the car probably isn't, but I am :)

[tnkgurl]

Some of the smaller regions have a Novice class that isn't quite as intimidating as going to the open class. The theory is that everybody is learning so it's more about camraderie than anything else.

[wadespencer99]

And you can enter a novice class with a car as modded as mine?

[jaged]

yup even more modded. we run a novice class and it is run as a PAX class where everyones time is adjusted according to their class PAX time. for the record SM's pax time sucks

[Terec]

yup even more modded. we run a novice class and it is run as a PAX class where everyones time is adjusted according to their class PAX time. for the record SM's pax time sucks

you think SM is bad, try SM2's

[CincyZetec]

does adding roush parts or equivelent still change your class even though they were available on a stock roush cougar? i've got eibach springs (which are pretty much the same as the roush springs) and a sway bar that's not yet installed. other than those 2 things, i fit in the g-stock class. since they are technically "stock options" can i still b considered in the g-stock class or am i bumped into the sts?

[sonza68]

You are bumped to STS. The Roush Cougar was not built in sufficient numbers to be properly classed, so even a real on would be treated as a modified car.

[jaged]

dont you still have your CAI in anyway? that puts you in SM the way its intalled

[shoult]

does adding roush parts or equivelent still change your class even though they were available on a stock roush cougar? i've got eibach springs (which are pretty much the same as the roush springs) and a sway bar that's not yet installed. other than those 2 things, i fit in the g-stock class. since they are technically "stock options" can i still b considered in the g-stock class or am i bumped into the sts?

From my experience, there are several determining factors.

1. How serious your local SCCA organizing group is.
2. How serious your local competitors are.
3. How serious you are.

Much of this takes some time to understand, usually by walking up and down the pits and talking with the other competitors and seeing how well their cars fit to the letter of the law.

I've raced under three different SCCA regional groups. One was a stickler for the letter and LOTS of their guys raced nationally. One was very open. Few of their guys went on to bigger SCCA stuff cause it was to much work to convert their cars to fit the regs. The last was sort of a mix. There were a bunch that were serious racers going for season points and there were others that didn't care about points or trophies, they just wanted to race with cars similar to theirs. This group also sent lots of the serious guys to the nationals who did fairly well as a whole.

With the first group anytime someone thought ANYONEs cars was out of spec it was protested. When a car is protested it is guilty until proven innocent. They have the right to tear your car down. This becomes NOT fun.

The second group hardly had ANY protests and almost everybody was running SOMETHING illegal.

The third group was a lot of fun. The serious guys would protest each other if nessecary, but left the others alone unless they started doing TOO well during a season.

So as far as you original question? Body kits CAN move you out of a class. Also, be aware if a "Rousch" Cougar existed, then in order to claim you are one you must also have ALL of the options from that car installed UNLESS the regs SPECIFICALY say they may be removed.

Remember that the SCCA regs book has a hook clause. "If it isn't EXPLICILY said that it may be done, it may not be done".