going to my first auto-x.

[J-Man]

yep going to my first auto-x this sunday. its the last event for the year at waterloo greyhound park, im not running but learning for next year. should be fun:)

[jaged]

the best way to learn is to run. you just dont get enough from watching if youve never done it before.

[J-Man]

spectating is free and since im not an scca member the price to run would be rather high. so for now im just watching, possibly riding along.

[Ronrazz]

Um not sure if your groups is the same as our local scca group but for them your first time out cost $5 which is really pretty cheap to me.

[sonza68]

That's up to the region. In St. Louis, it's $20 for SCCA members and $30 for non-members and we don't have intro prices for newbies.

[jaged]

our prices are 15 for scca members and 25 for non members

[EricF]

So let us know how it goes... :)
enjoy... I was too much of a slacker I missed the last autox of the season
last weekend...

[J-Man]

Well my first autocross was excellent except the fact that it was cold and snowing. i learned a lot even though i didnt run, if anyone is nervous about racing in autocross i suggest that you just take a day and attend an event. Spectating helps a lot in letting you know how everything runs. the atmosphere was really laid back and i cant wait till next year to actually start running.

the one thing i should have done was dress warmer. i wore my winter jacket, a zip up sweatshirt, a long sleeve shirt and a tshirt over that. and i must say...that wasnt enough, i still froze my ass off!

[J-Man]

some of my pictures from today.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v232/j99coug/IMG_0515resized.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v232/j99coug/IMG_0518resized.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v232/j99coug/IMG_0520resized.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v232/j99coug/IMG_0532cropandresize.jpg

[sonza68]

That Seven looks pretty mean.

[J-Man]

yea it was, nicest sounding honda motor ive ever heard!

[Moraki]

I like the pexi fenders heh

[azbobbybooshay10]

I spy an SVT 'Tour in one of those pix. I also noticed the S13 coupe between them, but you guys don't give a **** about those.

[J-Man]

yea, i have no idea who the svt owner was. his plates were from blackhawk county iowa, which is where waterloo is. the s13 coupe had an sr20 in it, nice than **** and for sale too.

[stevenee]

man...i love autocrossing...the cougar is perfect for autox because we have a little bit everything, speed, turning, and endurance. I couldn't beleive some of the cars i was beating on the smaller courses. I only have the I4, but I STILL put mustang Gt's, camaros, and even a lotus elise to shame. Its all in how you drive. Oh, and the best investment ever for autox is getting some racing slicks. They'll shave 1-3 seconds off your time because you STICK around corners. Our season just ended, but can't wait till next year.

-steve

[jaged]

i highly doubt the I4 was taking an elise

[sonza68]

The Elise is a much faster car, but since the driver is such a huge factor I could see that happening. At the two events that the Noble M12 GTO 3R showed up I was running a full 1.5-2 sec faster than him on a 50 sec course. The only reason that happened was because he is a novice running a street tires though.

[MrFroge]

Are you guys running with a club of blind drivers being aided by their guide dogs??.. :goofy: .. I'm sorry but the competition there sounds really weak. :crazy: My Cougar and the few Contour SVTs that have run here in the Bay Area just are no competition for cars such as an Impreza, WRX, let alone an Elise (Even with novice drivers). Unless maybe the course would be completely under water.

I don't been to be disparaging or put anyone down. I wouldn't want to give Nubies any idea that they can take their Cougar out to autoX or SOLO 2 and be a winner. But if you go with the idea of having fun, its great; even if you aren't competitive. It is even better if you can go with other Cougars or Contours.

[sonza68]

Nope. There are several very fast cars/drivers in the STL region (including a few past national champions), it's just that the Noble driver isn't one of them. On the other side of the spectrum, I used to get smoked regularly by a GS Oldsmobile Achieva before the guy moved out of town.

[jaged]

at the last event we had i was only 2 sec behind the ladies CP national champ on a 37sec track. I finish in the top half consistantly in raw time and have 2 or 3 top ten finishes. i regularly beat 3/4 of the scubies that show up and even the sti a couple times

[MrFroge]

at the last event we had i was only 2 sec behind the ladies CP national champ on a 37sec track. I finish in the top half consistantly in raw time and have 2 or 3 top ten finishes. i regularly beat 3/4 of the scubies that show up and even the sti a couple times

So what class do you run in? And how many participate? I'm very interested in autoX events in other parts of the country.

Here we typically have between 225 - 350 drivers at an event, with most course layouts being in the 40-65 second times for the top car. Many of the folks participate in Pro-Solo events here on the west cost. I have driven a 2002 WRX in STX and had a great time.. but believe me, it is a much better car for these events than my Cougar (which normally finishes 2.5-4.0 seconds behind it).. I am learning how to coax a little more out of it and know that there would be more there if it wasn't an ATX.. :banghead: Impressa's always end up ahead of the WRX's and at the top of most classes..

And of course, there are some who have cars with great potential but just can't get around the course in a respectiable time.. usually they don't come back.

[jaged]

I run in SM. there is a civic si with an integra motor swap that ive been going round and round with all season, dam light cars. I finally got him at the last event. Im in an ATX as well but i run kuhmo V710's. Next year Ill be in a 3L MTX, should make for and interesting season :biggrin: The biggest event we had was the last one with 50 drivers. There are some regionals around me that im gonna hit up next year and the chicago region has some big races that im gonna hit up as well

Heres the results from the season

http://www.inr-scca.org/solo2/index.html

We havent found out who is winning each of the classes yet but it should be interesting