Re: The Great Autocross Mega Thread!
 

What do you mean, "if"? I'm going to the school, and every event this season.

But yeah, you can drive my car in fun runs if I can drive yours.

Re: The Great Autocross Mega Thread!
 

You were moved from SM to SI :D

Re: The Great Autocross Mega Thread!
 

Ah, damn. That's not fair!

Re: The Great Autocross Mega Thread!
 

hmm...

Re: The Great Autocross Mega Thread!
 

Registration for MOWOG#1 at Valleyfair opens Thursday:
http://www.myautoevents.com/pls/mae/...sevent_id=9735

Registration for MOWOG#2 at Valleyfair opens Friday:
http://www.myautoevents.com/pls/mae/...sevent_id=9736

Re: The Great Autocross Mega Thread!
 

I'll be a waiting list guy for those. Can't afford registration right now.

Re: The Great Autocross Mega Thread!
 

It's okay to be humbled now and then. If someone is a better driver than you, so be it.

Re: The Great Autocross Mega Thread!
 

I definitely have to try and get out this year. I am sure I will do horrible but it should be alot of fun.

Re: The Great Autocross Mega Thread!
 

I'm registered for MOWOG#1!

Re: The Great Autocross Mega Thread!
 

Doing it at all is more important than how well you do. You'll learn more about you as a driver and the limits of your car than you will at any other time. Hope to see you out there.

Re: The Great Autocross Mega Thread!
 

+10

I'm registered.

Re: The Great Autocross Mega Thread!
 

I just started reading a bit about the safety requirements and didn't find what I was looking for.

Will I need to get a hard top for my car or can I drive it as a convertible? The soft top obviously wouldn't offer any additional protection. The tech info I read didn't talk about it.

Re: The Great Autocross Mega Thread!
 

I never said it wasn't. That's a good part of why I autox, because I know I'm not the best driver, and I want to become better. If someone's faster than me in my own car, that just means I have further to go.

Plus, it's something we can all laugh about later, and you know I'm good for more than a few laughs :D

Re: The Great Autocross Mega Thread!
 

No hardtop or roll-bar needed for local auto-x.

Re: The Great Autocross Mega Thread!
 

Good. Is there a map of what some of the courses have been in the past? Are there many/any straight aways in them or is it pretty much turn, turn, turn?

I know part of the trouble/fun about these is that you have to try and memorize the track before hand. Just want an idea what the courses are like.

Re: The Great Autocross Mega Thread!
 

Most of them are turn, turn, turn, but it depends on the location. For a Viper, I'd suggest the Valley Fair and Canterbury events, since the lots are larger and allow for higher speeds.

There's a guy there who used to drive a Viper, but now runs a Porsche Cayman. If you end up coming to an event, talk to him.

Re: The Great Autocross Mega Thread!
 

Here is the one course map I could find. Normaly maps are not provided, since you could study it a bit and gain an advantage.

http://home.comcast.net/~genericdad/...une_1_2007.bmp
It's for a Test and Tune event, normally the two courses would be linked and make one long one. The two places you see no blue line and a line of orange dots are slaloms. You have to weave in and out of the cones, alternating what side of the car they go down. Since they are optional slaloms there are no lines drawn, you can start on either side. As you can see there are a few small straights. But even though they are there, much of them can be spend setting up for, entering ans exit the turns. Your top speed will be ~60mph +/- depending or the course/car. Some of the bigger courses, 75mph isn't out of the question, smaller courses (Midway Stadium) 45mph tops.

Re: The Great Autocross Mega Thread!
 

ok, thanks. I am thinking it may be quite a battle with my tires and traction everytime I hit the gas coming out of a turn..... My tires are in good shape but they are not anywhere near racing tires. I have a feeling I would come out of the turns, hit the gas, and slide into a long row of cones.

I will head to an event to spectate first and see if I think it would be much fun.

In the meantime I am going to look into Brainerd as I should be able to carry some speed.

Re: The Great Autocross Mega Thread!
 

I know a car with that much power will be tricky, but it shouldn't be THAT bad. Use 2nd gear to eliminate a lot of the mechanical advantage. Most people stay well within the limits of their vehicle. But with a Viper, I'm sure it is easy to venture outside of the limits of the rear tires fairly easy.

Re: The Great Autocross Mega Thread!
 

Spectating autocross isn't that much fun. You don't really have any sense at all of what is going on in the car until you're actually in a car on the course.

Of course there's a point to where there's too much power for autocross, but that's where driver ability comes into play. Kevin Cyr drove his Viper in local autocrosses and did quite well locally before he got his Cayman. There are Corvettes out there as well on a regular basis, so your car isn't as much of a "non-autocross car" as you may think it is.

Re: The Great Autocross Mega Thread!
 

This is John, James logged into my computer and I am having issues logging out.

I definitly think it is possible to do well, just know that I wont at all. I have talked to a few local viper owners about autocross and they pretty much change the topic to saying I should go to Brainerd with them in May.

I Maybe I should get the GSX going and get some practice in before trying to take out the viper.

But at the same time, I might aswell just practice in the viper so I can learn to handle the car better.....

Sure looks like a lot of fun.

Re: The Great Autocross Mega Thread!
 

I'd recommend autoXing first. Open tracks are fun, but I learned A LOT more about my car, and car control from AX than I did on open track days. Since the speeds are slower, the potential penalty for any given mistake is much smaller.

I have been to three or four times as many autocrosses as I have track days. The worst I've seen autocrossing is a Subaru going under/threw a fence, scratched paint, bruised ego. Worst I have seen at a track day is a wreaked car with the driver paying a visit to the hospital. I have also seen a few wreaked race cars without any driver injury, mostly due to one dangerous corner catching people pushing things that little be too much. (The Kink at Road America)

With any event (including driving to grandma's house) there is the potential for things to go seriously wrong. The above is just my personal experience, based on having done both types of events

Re: The Great Autocross Mega Thread!
 

Autocrossers make better road racers, not vice versa.

Of course Viper owners are going to talk down on autocross. Most if not all of them have probably never tried it, and they probably all have money to blow on track days and yet don't really learn anything about becoming a better driver. Our local club has instructors that will ride long with you for free, can't ask for anything more than that.

Re: The Great Autocross Mega Thread!
 

How true this is! A few quick words of advice can really make a big difference.

Wasn't there a woman autocrossing a Viper at DCTC last summer?

Re: The Great Autocross Mega Thread!
 

Yeah, she was driving her boy toy's green Viper, and he was in his Ford GT. She whooped his ass.

Re: The Great Autocross Mega Thread!
 

The people I talked to didn't talk down on it really. I know a few who have auto crossed but I guess they have been to the track on several occasions. I am pretty sure I know the owner and driver of the green viper assuming it was a neon-ish green...

I know more than a couple of Salvage titled vipers driving around here that have gone hard into the wall at brainerd. Obviously a concern of mine.

They have a viper day coming up at brainerd which costs ~550 or so. There are going to be actual viper race car drivers there instructing and are holding some kind of class. Would be a great learning experience but not sure if I can foot the money for a day or so of entertainment....

Definitly interested in autocrossing due to the cost, the flexability in attending, and it looks like a lot of fun.

Re: The Great Autocross Mega Thread!
 

Try it out! Worst case scenario is you "wasted" $30 and hate it.

Re: The Great Autocross Mega Thread!
 

The key is the quotes, regardless of how you feel at the end of the day, you'll have learned a lot. Especially since it'll be your first event.

Re: The Great Autocross Mega Thread!
 

I remember both of those from one of the Amery airport events. Very hard to imagine those cars at DCTC.

Re: The Great Autocross Mega Thread!
 

Just picture them spinning in the grass! Ok, only the guy in the GT did it once.

Re: The Great Autocross Mega Thread!
 

To everyone taking the novice school this weekend, pay attention in class today and kill some cones tomorrow! If you're anal about your car I recommend some painters tape or contact paper to cover at least the front corners of your bumper :)

Re: The Great Autocross Mega Thread!
 

My car still bears some cone scuffs from last season. Here's to plans for new paint!

I'm just glad my car passed tech. I need to get those bearings taken care of.

Re: The Great Autocross Mega Thread!
 

I hope my car passes tech!

I thought about driving up in my Cherokee with the 5" lift for tech and seeing what they said. haha

Re: The Great Autocross Mega Thread!
 

I think there would have been a mention of a rollover risk...

Re: The Great Autocross Mega Thread!
 

yes, obviously :)

Re: The Great Autocross Mega Thread!
 

How picky are they going to be about tire tread? I just noticed my rear tires, on the outside is almost down to no tread at all. I suppose they could consider this dangerous? Should I put my other wheels on?

Re: The Great Autocross Mega Thread!
 

Its probably too late now, but your tires should be above the wear indicators.

Re: The Great Autocross Mega Thread!
 

You guys are lucky! I've yet to race in rain.

Re: The Great Autocross Mega Thread!
 

wow. I am hooked. I put on my other shitty wheels/tires. The instructor said shitty tires will make me a better driver :)

What was everyone's best time? I squeaked out a 33.9, I was pretty happy with my improvement throughout the day.

Re: The Great Autocross Mega Thread!
 

33.4 clean, 33.0 dirty. Andrew managed a 32.9 The Exige ran a 32.4, if anyone wants a benchmark. I guess my hypothesis about DSMs being fast in the rain has been proven true.

But yeah, the rain was a great learning experience, and tons of fun. For some reason, my faster runs always involved me being tail-happy and getting sideways during braking, so maybe that's something to look into setup-wise when I fix my wheel bearings and get a long-needed alignment.

I honestly feel the same way about my 520 treadwear all-seasons, but it doesn't stop me from bitching about them every chance I get. As far as today went, they came through surprisingly well, all things considered.