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Dogtown
02-27-2004, 01:58 PM
After a little reading his journal and pm'ing him (thanks for the info vtluu) I'm planning on looking into doing some autocross it sounds like a lot of fun and a good way to see how good a driver you are and improve your skills without flying off some random cliff on a mountain road. :lol: I'm just curious if anyone else might be intrested in getting into it at the same time. Its probably a lot more fun if you have a few friends around, especially ones with EVO's. Oh and I forgot to ask are their any rules regarding modded cars in autocross? When I get my stage 1 is there gonna be a problem?

JanSolo
02-27-2004, 02:04 PM
It will bump you to a street modified class.

vtluu
02-27-2004, 02:53 PM
Different mods will bump you to different classes, though this isn't really a problem if you're not serious about competing.

Generally speaking, here's a very brief overview of the classes:
- Stock: basically unmodified. "Wear" parts can be replaced. Allowed mods are minor comfort/convenience/cosmetic mods, catback, drop-in filters, factory-installed options. Evo is in A Stock (prominent A Stock cars include the E36/E46 M3, STi, and non-Z06 Corvette). Compounds and slick tires allowed.
- Street Prepared: basically non-engine mods. Most suspension, drivetrain, intake and exhaust mods are allowed. Evo is currently in ESP (which features most "pony cars") but there's a push under way to re-classify it and the STi, probably to BSP. Compounds and slick tires allowed.
- Street Modified: almost anything goes. Any mod that alters the engine, boost, will land you here. Unlike Stock and SP, there are no subclasses for SM, just SM and SM2. (SM2 includes more powerful cars like Z06, 911 Turbo, etc.) Compounds and slick tires allowed.
- Street Touring (ST, ST2, STX): mod-wise, somewhere between SP and SM. Street tires only. The Evo, STi and E46 M3 are specifically excluded from these classes.
- Street Tire: a class specific to this SCCA region--all Street Tire drivers compete against one another, their times weighted (multiplied) by their car class's PAX number.

Again, your car will fit in some class, and as long as you don't have specific trophy ambitions, it's not that big a deal. If you really want to compete, be aware that 4 of the top 10 SM drivers/cars in the country run in this region.

Also, this SCCA region has Novice classes for some classes, e.g. AS-N, ESP-N, SM-N where novices (basically people with less than a year of auto-x experience) can compete for a separate trophy. I run in AS-N class. R compound tires/slicks are not allowed in Novice class. Also, for all the main classes there is a Ladies' class as well, e.g. AS-L, ESP-L, SM-L.

Dogtown
02-27-2004, 03:34 PM
Hey I'm in it for the fun, and I seriously doubt stock or not I'm a skilled enough driver to snag a trophy. :) If they have top drivers competing that just makes it better I'll hopefully leanr more. Thanks for the input.

chrisw
02-27-2004, 09:42 PM
Check out this website http://www.moutons.org/sccasolo/

There you can figure out what mods put you in which class. If you have questions just ask.

The next event is on March 7th at candlestick park. Come on out. you will need to be a SCCA memeber to participate you can get a member ship by calling the regional office http://www.sfrscca.org for the phone number. They can expidite your membership application.

If your interested, http://www.americanauto-x.com/schedule/ have events that are open to anyone. However, the events are down in atwater (near modesto), a bit of a haul, but not as crowded.

ChrisW
#52 ESP

Dogtown
02-27-2004, 09:53 PM
Hmm maybe I won't go to sac on the 6th I guess I'll just have to see how long the application process takes. By the way before going to an event like this is there gonna be anything i want to do to my Car? Right now its still stock and just had its 7500 service with everything checking out good.

vtluu
02-27-2004, 10:12 PM
By the way before going to an event like this is there gonna be anything i want to do to my Car?
Nah, Evo is great for autocross "out of the box". I've heard you might want to adjust camber (but don't forget to adjust toe-in if you do so) but for someone new to auto-x, it's not really necessary (or even advisable since it makes the car more "twitchy").

The only "adjustment" I'd recommend is you need to up tire pressure +10 psi or so. I usually run with 40 psi in front, 37 in rear, a teeny bit less in the wet. This stiffens the tire sidewalls which will prevent/reduce tire sidewall/shoulder wear as you're going through all those hard turns.

chrisw
02-29-2004, 08:15 AM
Dont' change the car just yet. There is so much to learn about how the car handles.

Just ask Tam (aka Mr Spin) :)

For your first autox, bring sunscreen, a good hat, some chalk (for marking your tires to see how much they roll over) and something to pump up your tires with. Like Tam said, you need to raise the presures.

Then you need to drive like you stole it.

JanSolo
02-29-2004, 10:09 AM
Then you need to drive like you stole it.

See if you steal a car, you want to drive it slowly so you can blend in. The last thing you want is for the stolen vehicle you're driving to stick out so the cops bust you. ;)

vtluu
02-29-2004, 11:40 PM
If I'm Mr. Spin (and I'll admit to having deserved that name), does that make Jan Mr. Non-Sequitur? (Jan, what on earth are you talking aboot? :?)

Incidentally, no spinning today at Atwater. Concrete surface was very grippy and was rather annoyed by the amount of understeer I was getting... Other than that it was a great day for auto-x, five runs on a wide-open (albeing more Corvette-friendly than Evo-friendly) course. Videos to be posted soon...

Evil EV0
03-01-2004, 12:57 AM
Man, I didnt get to go out to Atwater today and check it out. We were there on Saturday from about 10:30 -3:00 or so. Only seen one EVO, is he on this board? Red with big VIII decal on the side? LOL, I would say it was more Vette friendly, last group on Saturday was about 25 Vettes and like 3-4 other cars.

vtluu...did you see a Red 04 Viper run? We were talking to him on Sat and he said he would probably show up on Sun for some fun runs, It was his first time at an autox...very cool guy, he said he's supercharging his Viper...900 hp :shock: