Stan944

I took my 1983 944 to a local autoX event last Sunday. It was my first time ever. Mostly Japanese imports showed up, a few Mustangs, VW's, a BMW. Although I had lots of fun, my time sucked: second last out of 52 cars, and the last after including the "factor"...
I'm pretty discouraged, especially that I thought I was driving at the limits of the car - slipping or almost slipping sideways at most turns.
Obviously I should improve my driving, but is my 944 competitive in autoX with the currently produced cars? Everybody says that 944 is a very well balanced car, etc., but is it enough for autoX?
My 944 is basically stock, 147hp NA motor, with 15" rims & Bridgestone Potenza RE950 tyres (P215/60R15), Billstein shocks. I was placed in the A2 class.
What do you guys think, and how do your 944's do compared to other cars?
Thanks, Stan

icat

For what it's worth, most everyone's first attempt at an autocross results in a last place finish. Autocrossing is a very easy sport to get involved in, but a difficult sport to master. I've seen an old 356 driven by an experience pilot walk away from a 951 driven by a newbie. What you have to remember is that most autocross courses are designed to downplay power and highlight driving skill. It is VERY easy to overpower a course. Try driving slower and I'll bet your times improve.

W88951

Autocrossing is a very challenging motorsport. While the 944 is a fantastic car, it is not the car of choice of top competitors. This does not mean that it is not a competative car. First, A2 is not a nationally recognized class and only has meaning at your local club. For nationally recognized classes go to http://www.scca.org and look under SOLO II. Second, you were on street tires and not performance street tires at that. Good tires make a huge difference. You will usually gain 2 seconds from street tires to DOT Race Tires. Third, it was your first event. You will improve. One of the biggest keys to autocrossing is seat time. Since you usually do not drive more than 5-10 minutes at an autocross, riding with other drivers is critical to your learning curve. Ride with as many people as possible in as many different cars as possible and watch what they do. But, most of all, have fun.

Dave951M

Your times will drop dramatically with experience. The 944 is a great car, but it is going up against cars that are nearly 20 years newer in technology. Ditto on the tires. Keep at it, listen to other drivers who are fast, ask their advice.

RSflared72e

While those newer cars have newer technology, you will be hard pressed to find a better handler than a 944 piloted by a good driver, bar none. As previously stated, humbler vehicles can embarass much higher-powered and higher-tech ones in the right hands.

To put it another way, your excellent-handling 944 isn't going to make you a great driver right away, so stick with it! You've got the right car - 83 944s are light and very maneuverable, and the non-power steering is much better and has more feel, IMHO. YMMV Al

Bryans951

I'm glad to see I'm not the only one that came in last. At least you finshed 52nd. I finished 64th. The only car that I beat died at the line and had to be pushed back to its trailer.

Ben Plaisted

My first autox was this sunday also. I was dissapointed in my times. My worst run I went off course twice and hit 2 cones. It might be me but the colors of the cones were so close that I kept getting lost. We had 87 cars running. Most were BMW's and VW GTI's I was impressed by the GTI's There was one audi 5000 quattro putting down some serious power. He came around one corner and lit up all four tires.

Ben Plaisted

One other thing I learned. Walk the track many many times before.

Dave951M

I cannot overemphasize walking the track, several times before the event, visualizing the line and apex for each turn.

M758

944-spec prepared cars are quite quick and around here are amoing the top 5 fast cars overall at all PCA autocrosses. Most of us don't do SCCA since their courses are tighter and we get less run time.

Now, based on SCCA rules 944 get the short end of the stick and will have hard time in class, but they can be fun anyway and reasonable fast. A nicely prepared and well driven 944 can be very strong at any autocross although probably never the top dog.

Z-man

Stan944 and all the autox newbies:
The 944 is a wonderful platform for autocrossing. Though it is an old car, it still can do very well. You may not go home with an FTD (Fastest time of the day), but you can be competitive within your class. Heck, a good driver in a Yugo can be a competitive driver!

As for your progression: the key is to be patient! Keep your car as much stock as long as you can bear it! Stay in stock classes! Once you start upgrading, you will be bumped into improved, prepared, or modified classes, where typically the winners are the ones with the most upgrades and the deepest pockets! Don't get R-compounds just yet: I waited until my 4th season of autox, and still feel I could have stuck with the street tires and remained competitive.

Treat autocross as a learning experience: if you just look at it as a competition only, you will never progress. Keep track of how you are doing. Since my classification for PCA autox is typically small (2-4 cars in my run group), I gauge my progress against the rest of the grid. (With more cars to compare your times against, the percentile is more accurate.). See here for my autox stats. The "My PCT" column clearly shows that I've improved over the years more than any other column in my (over-complicated) spreadsheet!

Also: keep a log of other aspects of the day: weather, temps, tire pressures, course layout, surface conditions...etc. That will help you know how different conditions effect your driving.

Ok, sorry for rambling,
-Z.

PS: One more thing: just remember to have fun doing this!

ilikemy944

Here in ATL I have seen an '84 with only suspension mods and on Hoosiers (car was setup for road courses), but everything else was stock... Took FTD.

And yeh, I sucked first time... Now I'm doing pretty good Its fun. I can't wait for the next one.

wjk_glynn

Hi Stan,

It really takes time. IMO, it takes 2 seasons for you to start posting very competitive class times. For example, smoothness is key and if you're squeeling tires, that means you're going slow.

As regards competitiveness, the 944S2 has won the SCCA nationals a few times a few years back. A 951 has not won as its better suited to tracks than AutoX's.

The best upgrade to invest in right now is the driver. Lots of seat time. Also, try and get experienced AutoX'ers to ride along or bum rides off of them during their runs if they're willing.

Karl.

Stan944

Thanks for the encouragement guys! I'll try riding with good drivers and learn.
Andrew and others,
what would be the generally recognized category for my stock 1983 944 ?
The event was organized by Western Ontario Sports Car Association (in Canada), and I would think the classes are same as for US-sanctioned SoloII events (this was in fact Solo II). The organizer didn't know what to do at first, and he placed the car in A2 category after consulting a book.

Bret 944

My guess is E Stock, since that is what my stock '88 944 is in, and Sunday a stock '84 944 was in there. Just FYI, the guy with the '84 is leading in points right now, and I'm almost positive he won Sunday's event too (I only saw 3 cars in ES, me, Josh (stolarzj on this list), and the guy with the '84), and he beat me by .6 seconds, so I think he got first. Right now he's ahead of a Miata and a Dodge Charger Shelby in points standings (only three cars listed).

Bret