Got a chance to take my G to a local SCCA event this past Sunday. I had a blast. My first time racing in an event in any car, so as far as I know car handled extremely well. Couple of guys I went down there were running WRXs. They ran their cars before but all 3 of us were still newbs basically. I was running 1 and 2 secs faster than them, but it was probably cuz I had more hp. First run I did, I was just happy to drive the crap out of the car without getting a ticket. So I was drifting instead of getting tire to the road through the whole course. I probably good have run a lot faster, probably just need more seat time. Any advice or techniques you guys might suggest?

 

Nice. I need to hit a track soon but I have to take a safety course first. :/

 

Safety course?

 

That's great you've decided to checkout autocrossing.

I had never autocrossed before getting my FX and now have about 90-100 runs on it.
I've also done the track thing and have about 300 track miles on my FX.

You'll find with autocrossing that "smoother" is better.
You can feel it when it happens, and even though it might seem at first as though you're running a little slower, everything just flows.

Try not to be as jerky when accelerating or when braking.
Smooth and steady...

As far as a safety course, I've never heard of one.
It's virtually impossible to hurt yourself or the car while autocrossing.

As on the track:
You should try and not "fight' the car as much as possible. You take the line and "unwind" the wheel as soon as possible coming out of the corner. The sooner you get the wheels pointed straight, the faster you'll be going.

Of course, a little/lot of drifting is all part of the fun of the whole day.

 

Anyone who tracks their car/motorcycle (in all of Colorado I believe) is required to take a safety course first. This is because of some idiots that killed or hit themselves last year while tracking their vehicles. I guess some dude reversed out of the rest stop to get on the track hit some guy who was coming in for a stop from the track. Both died I was told.

 

These SCCA events are extremely well controlled and monitored and you must progress at a controlled rate which essentailly means you get the safety and rules experience as part of this. Are you an SCCA member Hawaiian? I was a member for several years as a road racer and never autocrossed, however the training was very hands-on and no one progressed without getting a sign off from their instructors and lots of hours on the track learning. People still managed to die all the time however, mainly due to driving beyond their personal talents and not becuase they didn't take a safety course.

 

When I autoX I turn off the VDC and the AC , and get in manual mode.

The VDC will take away the power every time it senses a slip or high g's.

So far, on the 4 courses that I have run this car on, I have not had to use any other gear once I got to 2nd. The car held 2nd in manual really well and the range was huge. I could throttle steer and counter steer with ease. There may be a course in my future that will have me down shift to 1st but the speeds at autox are usually slow enough that 2nd in enough. I would love to get some wheels and R comp tires on this thing. I know from doing that with other cars that it is super fun and worth the expense. I trailered wheels and tires on my STi and won SM class last year.

 

I stay in first gear. Also VDC and AC off.
Generally, the cones aren't placed far enough apart to get going past 45 mph or so.
I rely on the engine braking 1st gear supplies, also-

Here's a clip from last summer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-fCCrfMi-Qc

Need speakers-

 

nice video , Your course looks a little tighter than what we usually get here. We have been using cones on a race track so it's prettty fast. I'm not sure I could control the rotation of the car in 1st gear but I will try it.

 

Thanks-

These courses are kind of tough navigating for my FX. They're built for little WRX's, EVO's, and the like.
I hold my own, though.
Out of a 30-34 car field, I'll usually end up in the middle as far as times.
Sometimes there's only one second between say, 7th place and 15th.
I've surprised alot of seasoned SCCA people with the abilities of the FX.

My clearance going through many areas is probably about 24"-30" each side. Like threading a needle with a hurtling 4500 lb mass.

I know the kind of course you mean, however, and 1st gear maybe wouldn't be enough.

I'm going to take a look and see what the gear ratios in the G37 are-


The gears in the 37 are just a bit shorter in 1st 2nd, and 3rd.
3.84 vs 3.54 (FX)
2.35 vs 2.26
1.52 vs 1.47

4th, 5th, and final drive ratio are the same-

The 37 will spool just a bit faster than my FX meaning that although I can hit about 45 mph in 1st to redline---I'm not sure how fast the 37 can go before redline in 1st.
7K redline though, might make up the difference.
The VQ redlines at 6625. I can push it up to 6750 or so before the rev limiter kicks in.

Once again, the spacing of the cones determines the speed that can be attained-

 

Cool, thanks for the info!

 

No not a member, it will save me $5 everytime I go. But I would have to go more than 7 times a year to even out the membership fee.

 

Yea my VDC and AC was off, but they made us run with the windows down so we could hear the speaker just in case they needed to get our attention. I didn't use MM just DS....I was just trying remember the course and probably would have got confused with the MM my first time out there, but I will try MM next time for sure. There was an S2k out there who was just running the course in 1st, but his redline was 10k. I think I could have made it through the course in just 1st as well.

 

Damn, that sucks. No safety course was required for us. Just pay and that was it.

 

Ha ha, that's Guam style for ya.
I'll try makin' it for the next time.