cobalt

Practice makes perfect, I believe RKD will agree on a few basic elements, enter slow exit fast, always look ahead and never try to overpower the car and you will do fine. That is a good starting point the rest comes with practice and experience. No extinguisher needed. Novices are required to run on street tires and build from there so just bring yourself and some food/liquids, helmet if you have one or use one of the loaners if you dare.. No PCA membership required although it s $5 more for non PCA members. We have a car control clinic in May that you need to be a PCA memeber for and early registration required. Counter and clockwise skid pads, braking exercise and slalom course. If your interested. Helps for overall understanding of the cars characteristics.

We do have an X class for non Porsche's most of these guys are hard core SCCA AX nuts. Amazing skill levels and many events come down to 0.01x sometimes even 0.00x seconds difference to compete for FVD but it is all about the fun factor which is the best for the $$.

RKD looks like you have a fun program.

RKD in OKC

I always start with...

Adjusting your seat, knees bent and thigh off seat at full pedal travel, arm straight forward, back against seat, you can rest your wrist on the top of the steering wheel.
Cam locking your seat belt.
Proper grip and handling of the steering wheel. 9 and 3 with hand over after 180 degrees rotation. Taught with 8 and 4 shuffle for street and air bag cars.

I tell my students to focus on technique and NOT how fast they are going. The idea is to develop good habits and to react without thinking. This is so once they learn to control the car without thinking they can think about where they want the car to go instead of how they are getting it there.

I don't teach "enter slow, exit fast". It is typically good place for novices to start because they tend to understeer on turn in you also tell them to brake in a straight line, but is more of a older 911/911 turbo thing because of the rear weight bias of the car. I teach my students to let turn in simple oversteer do some of the braking so you can brake as late as possible. That's why I really stress using the skid pad for getting used to handling the car in a drift.

RKD in OKC

I autocrossed my stock BMW X3 and beat a 914-6 on competition slicks by .003 for FTD. The X3 did not accelerate very quick, and braking sucked, but MAN that thing could corner like nobody's business. My speed through the slalom part of the course was a full 10 mph faster than any my Porsches. I was more surprised than anyone at my times. The guy in the 914 got really pissed off and hasn't been back.

cobalt

Slow is relative to your skill level I guess. Novices always have a tendency to push too hard and slow/fast always seems to help them learn control much quicker we have found. Whatever method works for the individual i guess. Just learning how to follow 20-30 turns in less than a mile of course in a lot is enough of a challenge for novices to begin with. I love some of the young novices I have instructed that brag about all the HP they have and try to power through the gates missing most of them. They learn what undertseer is about very quickly. That is one reason I stress the Car Control Clinic for novices that want to get serious.

cobalt

We have had Cayenne GTS's blow away some well prepped AX cars. I have found a skilled AX driver can do amazing things no matter what they are driving. Too many get so involved in the car and loose sight of the skills required.

One of our best AX's is a petite young lady that has taken 1st place at the Nationals. It doesn't matter what car she is behind the wheel of she is routinely fast and amazing to watch.

RKD in OKC

Our autocross events are more about fun and driver education than competition. We always have 4 or 5 good instructors available to jump in and take a ride when we see someone struggling or pushing too much.

RKD in OKC

I wish I could learn to left foot brake without smashing my head on the windshield on the first upshift after the corner.

Marine Blue

I'm also considering making my first appearance at an AutoX although I intend to use my DD (Speed3) which is FWD. The goal for me is to learn the cars capabilities, have fun and most importantly learn car control. I'm nervous about how much extra wear I will be putting on the brakes/tires but I've resigned myself to the fact that I'll need to replace these items more often.

Richard thank you for posting the proper seating position, this has always been a question for me since I matured enough to realize that sitting as far as possible from the steering wheel doesn't help with car control. I will have to adjust my seating position in both of my cars using your description.

Regarding the hand position on the steering, I have been using 10 and 4 for years now and I find it awkward when I try to switch. Any advice on this or do I just need to push myself to make the change? Note that I often drive with one hand when I'm not pushing the car, I realize this is a big no no.

mark kibort

Nice job!

By the way, there are no sections of any race track that I visit where the 928 is at a disadvantage, except with radical side to side high speed "S" transisitions. most all slow parts of the track, the 928 hands with just about anyone. When you see the video of the 928 lemons racer in the turn 7 area of sears. Like an autox, you can see thats where it really shines. (slow speed, hard braking hard exit areas.. kind of like an auto x)

RKD in OKC

Hand position...

Without air bags the proper hand placement is at 9 and 3. This lets you rotate the steering wheel a full 180 degrees without having to re-grip the wheel. It is plenty of turning for most corners. For tighter corners you move the hand that is loosing grip to the just above the other hand and continue turning. The thing to practice is getting the hand you moved back to the original position as you unwind the wheel. This method also lets you know exactly how much steering input you have and when your wheels are pointed straight ahead.

For air bag cars a 8 and 4 or 7 and 5 position is recommended. When turning you move BOTH hands up gripping with only the hand that moves the wheel in the desired direction. When both hands reach the top of the wheel, you re-grip with the other hand and move both hands down. When both hands reach the bottom, re-grip and move them up again. This is called shuffle steering. The goal of this technique is to keep your arms from ever getting between your face and the air bag. If the air bag deploys and your hand is past the 12 o'clock position, your arm becomes a projectile hitting you in the face with the full force of the air bag.

I personally find shuffle steering feels loose and very difficult to be smooth and fast with steering inputs. I need more practice at it. Currently I would say I am more likely to have an accident that would deploy the air bag shuffle steering than I would hand over hand steering.

Marine Blue

I'm definitely going to need to work on that, that doesn't sound like anything I'm doing now. To be honest I have never really paid attention to how I move my hands on the steering wheel. I really need to get into a controlled environment and practice.

RKD in OKC

Most people that consider themselves hot shot drivers (but haven't actually raced or autocrossed) drive with their left hand at the top of the wheel and their right hand on the shifter. When you tell them to keep both hands on the wheel they morph into your 10 and 4 position. I guess because 4 seems closer to the shifter.

cobalt

We are about the fun side too. However, being just outside NYC we have a large number of highly competitive drivers. Many of the really serious drivers attend at least one AX a week for the entire season and sometimes more. They are always practicing for the big SCCA events. Most of them volunteer to set the course so it does lean towards highly technical but I like it challenging myself. That is why we have so many classes so you can compete within your car and skill level. We do the same with instructors and insist that novices take an instructor out for their first run of the day.

With close to 100 cars per event and 7-8 runs in a day it is a busy event, although very social and always geared towards fun and healthy competition.

mark kibort

IMO, forget the shuffle steer. the chance of it causing an accident is far greater than the chance of you getting in one with your arms crossed up.

Mike Frye

This is all great stuff.

Anthony, I'll check the northern NJ PCA for that clinic and hopefully get into it.

I've been putting this and DEs off for way too long now. At least in AX I'll only be killing cones if I screw up, so that won't be too bad. I'm sure trying to learn the course is going to be the biggest hurdle for me in the beginning.

I've known for a long time that the limiting factor anytime I drive my car is the loose nut behind the wheel. My car seems to be able to handle anything I throw at it and with the new brakes I just put on, I'll have to re-learn how to drive again (Anthony you may remember a certain back road in PA where I almost launched over you and your GTS when you decided to test the brakes. ).

You mentioned running in the right car/skill level. Clearly I'll have to pick one.

I'm starting to get psyched.

Who wants to do an R-list 928 GTG at an Autocross this spring?