Hi all,

What considerations do I need to be aware of before taking my new '99 C2 cab into autocrossing? I have never done this before, outside of the Porsche driving school, where THEY provided the car.

- Extra vehicle protection (bra, etc.)?
- Different oil for higher-rev driving?
- Alternate tires / tire pressure?

As for tuning up, I seem to recall that the '03 Boxter provided to us for autocrossing had a race suspension and sport exhaust, but was otherwise stock. This leads me to believe that my suspension is a logical starting point for upgrades. They used Michelins on everything. My tires are Pirelli Supersports, P265/35.

Any advice is GREATLY appreciated.

Dave

 

Run your first season stock, there are no "must have" upgrades for the novice. Most upgrades will only slow the learning curve. Later, you can pick the class you want to run in and mod to it, you may decide to stay in the stock class where competition can be the fiercest. Show up with a helmet and a few extra PSI in the tires and have fun.

 

Other this is to be prepared for being slow. It happens to all new people to autocross. Having a good attitude about this important. It takes most people 5-10 events before they start getting decient and autocross can take a life time to master.

 

If instructors are available in the club you going to run with take advantage of them, or you can find someone with experience who is willing to go along for the ride and point out what to do. Bring one of them with you on every run you make at least during your first day. Also try to find some with a similar car to yours who does well and ask them if they wouldn’t mind walk the course with so you can get a general idea of where you want to be accelerating braking and turning. Try and show up on time if not early for you work assignment, it helps the event run smoothly without a lot of downtime. About what Dave said about showing up with a helmet, if you are going to buy one make sure it will meet the clubs safety requirements. If you don’t want to invest in a helmet yet some clubs do lend them, so it might be something to check out. And remember to have fun, it will make all the difference.

 

Along with all of the other good advice, try to watch some of the faster people drive. What always amazed me is that they take the slow corners slow and yet they have incredible lap times. Other people (including me ) try to charge into those corners and end up being slow. What feels fast when you are in the car isn't always fast when judged by the stopwatch.

 

The SCCA Solo II Handbook should help you with some of your questions and set you up for a fun season. The GGR of the PCA has a nice site you can follow this link to get an idea how they run their autocross events. This site has their rules and regulations although you may want to check with your local chapter for any differences. I'd join the PCA and SCCA and take advantage of the numerous autocross events that they run. The SCCA refers to autocross events as Solo 2.

I'd concentrate on having fun, getting involved, and improving your driving skills before you spend money on your car. I just started autocrossing and I get my butt whipped by folks 20 years my senior driving cars that are 20 years old so don't get hung up on "performance modifications" to your car. You also have to keep the rule book in mind when you make any modifications to your car. So keep it simple and enjoy yourself.

 

Ok, my $0.42:
The less you worry about mods and 'go fast' goodies, the more you will enjoy autocrossing. Also: you will learn how to drive fast sooner in stock classes, since you'll need to rely more on your skill than on the car's ability.

-Z.

 

Thank you, all, for the terrific advice!

I don't mean to sound competitive when speaking of mods. I'm only interested in continuing where I left off at Porsche Driving Experience. As long as my vehicle is performing comparably to the supplied Boxter, I'll be happy to eat crow on times. What I DON'T want is to feel, after a few laps, that my config is somehow setting me back a few squares. Confusing.

[Is a Porsche OEM sport suspension really enough to knock me out of "stock" class?]

Per your advice, I have signed up for a two-day class, if only to take some laps in my own vehicle. And in a non-competitive environment -- a big plus. Apparently, the PCA event is part of an SCCA-sanctioned competition. Noticed mention at a local Summit Racing shop. Anybody else doin' the Reno, NV circuit?

Thanks again!

Dave

 

At my first AutoX I had an instructer drive my car and he was 4 seconds faster than me and he was not abusing the car. After that I realized that I needed to learn how to drive before I worried about car mods. The good thing about SCCA stock class is you are very limited in the mods you can perform. ie stock wheel size's only, can change shocks but not lower ride height, any brake pads but stock brakes, can change front sway bar but not rear. If you do SCCA get their SOLO2 rule book. Go to an AutoX school, like Evolution, and most of all have fun. I did and I am HOOKED.

Peter

 

It's the driver....
not the car

 

It is the driver, however the M030 is legal in most pca regions. You might want them since you drove PDE and their cars have them. i think one of the best upgrade is sport seat so your body is not sliding all over the place.

 

I recently was told to twist the buckle in the standard seat belt to jam it. This prevents me from sliding sideways. It might not be as good as a sport seat, but it helps a lot.
Stan

 

I've just been to my first SCCA Solo2 Autocross, where my '92 968 was put in B-stock.

My struts and shocks are getting tired, so I asked the club officials there whether I would be allowed to upgrade from my base suspension to components from the M030 option. The answer I got was that if the option doesn't change the designation of the car (i.e. it doesn't make the car a 968S, if there was such a thing) then you can do the upgrade and still be stock... BUT... you must upgrade every part that comes with the option package, including non-moving parts like seats.

So if I put the M030 spring assist rear shocks on my base 968, I become B-Prepared, until such time as I also install the bigger brakes, sway bars, and the 17" wheels, at which point I resume being B-stock.

Seems a bit of a picky point to me, but there you go.


Chris
'92 968 Coupe

 

Stan944,

I don't like the idea of twisting the seat belt to jam it. This may cause premature wear on the belt and cause it to fail during a hard crash. There is a belt locking device on the market calledCG-Lock that effectively does the same thing as twisting your belt. It's been tested by Grass Roots Motorsport magazine and it does its job. I plan to put this on my car as I don't want to put a harness in it.

 

Whoa, whoa -- the guy you spoke to was a bit overzealous. Shocks and struts are free to change with some restrictions (basically they need to have the same dimensions as the stock shocks, and have no more than two external adjustments). Assuming the M030 shocks have the same dimensions as the non-M030 units, you should be able to bolt them on and stay in B Stock.

Take a look at the unofficial transcription of the Stock class rules at moutons.org.

Steve
- running in B Stock with JRZ shock absorbers