CaymanS-06

I signed up for first autocross in a 1.25mile track tomorrow (which I hear is quite a fun 60 seconds).
2006 stock Cayman S with sport Bridgestone tires.
Any advice on what to expect/take with me on the day? I need to arrive by 7/730 and it goes until about 3pm. How many turns do you typically get? Aside helmet, water - what else should be in my list of things to take?

Thanks, all!!

sobiloff

For your first autox, all you really need is your helmet and your thinking cap—focus on driving cleanly. The newbies I've seen tend to either "always drive flat out" and make a total mess of things, or they're super cautious and slow. Strive for somewhere in between those two extremes. Realize you aren't going to win and you aren't going to impress anyone. You're just there to learn a new driving discipline and compare yourself with yourself from run to run.

Walk the course, multiple times if possible, prior to the start. Try to buddy-up with an experienced person during the walk, as they'll help you visualize your line, account for camber and pavement changes, suggest good places to shift at, etc. (In my region, right before the driver's meeting, we do a "novice course walk" with one of the top drivers leading a gaggle of newer drivers around the track.)

The number of runs varies based on turn-out, track length, etc. Expect somewhere around three or four runs. Use your first run to really learn the course, as it'll look different from the driver's seat than it does when walking it in the morning. You can then start to improve your times in your subsequent runs by optimizing your lines, acceleration and braking points, etc. When you aren't driving, watch the other drivers and see how they address the course, see what sections lots of people are making mistakes in, and learn from that vicariously. Most folks are quite happy to share their knowledge, especially with a newbie.

Once you start feeling comfortable with how the events are run and how to drive them, your next step will be to bring an air pressure gauge and a portable air compressor. This will let you play with your tire pressures—you'll typically need to drop PSI from the street pressures as your tires heat up throughout the day, and lower than stock pressures can help create more grip when you don't have to worry about potholes.

Welcome to the sport and have a great time!

CaymanS-06

"don't be a turtle and don't be a rabbit"
Thanks so much, I really appreciate this. I'll be ready to learn - hooray! =)

michael7810

Be prepared to be in the sun all day. Hat, sunscreen, plenty of water and a chair. Take all loose items out of the car and trunks. Have fun

Z3papa

where are you? There are plenty of folks who will walk you through this process. Autocross is the best way to learn your car at safe limits.

burglar

Don't be afraid to ask questions, a big part of autocross is social, most people are happy to chat and help new people.

Prior:
- Clean all loose items out of the car.
- Add a little extra pressure to your tires, AX has unique loads and slip angles that's pretty harsh on sidewalls even with optimal driving. A few more psi gives the tire extra support.
- Check your oil level and make sure you have at least half a tank of gas. It's often tough to get away to a gas station once you're on site.

Morning:
- Get there on the earlier end. You'll have to register & pay, empty your car and have it teched, and walk the course.
- Walk the course! There's no practice, so this is your practice. Everyone does it differently, I typically walk until I can draw the general layout in my mind plus note any tricky bits / key cones.
- Attend the driver's meeting. You'll learn how the event works, run / work order, grid, safety announcements, etc. Ask questions if you're unclear on anything.

Work:
- Most events, all competitors have to work. That means standing on course and picking up cones, working timing, etc. Standing on course and watching the fast vs the slow people is very educational.

Driving:
- Three most common noob sins are looking down not ahead, too fast at corner entry, and being afraid of the brakes.
- Looking ahead helps you see the course better so you naturally choose a good line. Driving off the nose of the car makes every corner a surprise. Look up. Practice on the street, makes you a safer driver too.
- There's a max speed for every car in every radius turn. You can't beat physics. Finding the "feel" for that takes practice. Tires talking to you = good. Tires screaming at you = too much.
- There's no egg under the brake pedal. Don't be afraid to squeeze (don't stomp) that bad boy into the floormat..
- If the club allows it, ABSOLUTELY ask faster people if you can ride along. If you can do that, pretend you are driving: look where you should be looking, work an imaginary gas, brake, and steering in your mind.

Results:
- Don't sweat your times too much. This is a brand new skill you're learning. You're going to suck. Eddie Van Halen couldn't play Eruption the first time he picked up a guitar. Repeat: you're going to suck, be ok with that. Some of us have been doing this for decades, and live and breathe it.
- Remember this is a game of driver skill more than measuring car performance. Be prepared for lowly Miatas and Civics to go much faster than you.
- Meet people and make friends.

Have fun, good luck, and let us know how it goes.

CaymanS-06

This will be taking place in Ayer, MA at what I think was the old Fort Devens military facility. 1.25 mile track sounds exciting.

I've got my gear list ready and I'm social by nature - definitely will soak it all in. It's cool that they ask you to volunteer as well throughout the day so you're always interacting.

Earlydays

All good advice.....I would add if your car is manual once you're in second gear leave it there and concentrate on "driving" and having fun!

David Borden

You have gotten some fantastic advice. There are several very experienced autocrossers here, so you are in good hands. The only things I would add is to emphasise the comment earlier about looking up and ahead. Focus on having fun, and don't be discouraged if your times are slow, it takes a lot of practice to develop the skills to be fast. Also make sure your oil is topped off.

Autocross is a thrilling sport, looking forward to hearing what you think of it.

David

cains10

Have fun and use your time to learn from the experienced folks. That's about it for the first time. If it is an eight-hour event, water, food, chair. Hopefully you won't be in the first run group, so watch how the others do it. Lower tire pressure is generally the rule as they will heat up. I lower the backs a little more than the fronts, helps with the understeer. Our region has walk the course, followed by drive-thru, low speed, no helmet to learn the course. New folks get three drive-thru runs, and we encourage having an experienced ride along. Don't look down the course, it will be a sea of cones. Look where you are going and remember what's next from the walk-thru. It took me quite a while to be able to do all runs in a day w/o missing a cone and getting a DNF. All part of the learning process.

CaymanS-06

I had so much darn fun, I don't know where to begin. The advice on the group was amazing!! I had fun when I drove, but then I sat in-with someone who had my car (few years newer) PDK automatic and he was just rifling through the course. His time for the course was ~70s and my best was 92s.

Seeing how he is not afraid to use the brakes is probably one of the biggest places I seek to improve if I do this again. The thing I was amazed with the most was how quickly I was eating away at my tires. I have Bridgestone Potenza I think, wider in rear, etc - but boy does this really wear on the tires. I wonder if it's too early to at least research what a race set might cost or if I should burn through these first? I also don't want my rims being nicked and such if I stick to this sport - that way I can preserve the expensive Porsche wheels and have a race set that is separate.

But, boy - I would love to do this again as it was a really fun 1.25mile course, I was very very impressed at the level of skill required to accomplish competitive times.

Thanks, all - stay tuned!!!

burglar

Glad you had fun and all went well. A set of dedicated AX wheels / tires is pretty common for those truly bitten by the bug. We run the hot 200tw stuff in Street and ST classes (Example: Falken RT660) that has a stiffer construction and meatier shoulder that fares better than the standard summer performance type tire. It's pretty car / driving / surface dependent, but I can usually get a full 12-15 event season out of a set of tires even taking a co-driver here or there. Biggest issue for wear is the lack of camber Porsche gives up front for everyone except the GT3/GT4 guys, the shoulders take a beating, even without overdriving.

Eric Kessel

I’m pretty sure we spoke (to the original poster) at the event….. (I was in the gray Cayman S)

Sign up for the NCR event at the end of this month, and the NER event at the end of October.

Autox is addicting, and the season is too short to skip events!

-Eric

Robert Nixon

My experience was the same, had fun driving my first event but then got in as a passenger with an experienced driver..."OH, SO THAT'S HOW YOU DO IT!"

CaymanS-06

Yes, Eric I remember quite well. You helped connect me to Mark. We'll be in touch for sure, thanks for making the connection. I did not grab as many contacts as I would have wanted since some people left immediately quickly. =)