- What to wear, are shorts & t-shirt okay, or are pants & long sleeves required?
- Best race number tape to use on a blue car?
- gloves, yes or no?
- Does everything have to be removed from windshield(fast lane transponder, radar detector), trunk, glove box, center console etc.?

Thanks.

 

Whatever is weather appropriate. No real safety requirements regarding clothing other than closed-toe shoes and helmet must be Snell-approved (although loaner helmets are normally available at no-cost).

I use blue masking tape on my blue car - I just put it on the rear window. With the window tint it shows up pretty good. Another easy trick is to stop by an arts & crafts store and get a sheet of magnetic material. You can normally get a 12x16" sheet for ~$10. You can then cut that down into your numbers and letters and stick it right onto the door. If you're lazy you can also just cut the sheet in half and draw your class & number onto it with a sharpie.

Not required. I never use them in a street car, but others do - all down to personal preference.

Radar detector will need to be taken down, but the transponder is probably ok as they mount pretty solid, although they may ask you to throw that in the glove box.

Anything in the glove box, center console and trunk (if it's not open to the passenger compartment) is probably fine. I wouldn't want to run with anything bulky and loose in the trunk as it will make a ton of noise and possibly a mess, but there's no rules on that. You can strip the trunk (carpets, spare, etc.) if you want that last tenth of a second, but there's no rules saying you have to.

------------------------------

A few other tips:

1) Bump up your tire pressures. Stock + 10psi is a good starting point. You can chalk the corners of the tires to see how much rollover you're getting and adjust from there to get a good baseline. While lower pressures may give you better straightline grip, the stiffer tire will pay out in the end through all the corners.

2) Ask for an instructor - most clubs offer them, and you'll learn MUCH faster with one. I've found that novices I ride with take off nearly 10 seconds their first day, while those who are too proud to have me ride shotgun only loose about 5 seconds on average.

3) Walk the course as many times as you can in the morning. If you can't draw a detailed scale map by memory, you're not done walking it yet. However, you don't need to memorize every cone - when I walk the course I make mental notes on the "key" cones - something like 10 cones per course. Those are the only ones I even consider when I then drive the course. Walk the course once early-on with a veteran to have them point these out to you, and it will make the course seem magically easier to navigate.

 

Thanks for the info Scott

 

Blue painter's tape on a blue car won't have much contrast. People likely won't care at a regional event, but another alternative that I've seen is to simply print out numbers using your computer's printer, then tape the sheets of paper to the side of your car. Low tech but visible and effective.

 

Will be great to meet you there, I run silver 997 C2 #222.

Now, I would recommend you to do this: find good size plastic container with solid lid that fits into trunk. get one from wallmart in worst case.

In that container put:

1 pair of waterproofed hiking shoes, 2-3 pairs of socks, 2 tshirts, baseball cap, if you ski and have waterproofed snow pants/jacket set - put it in, it will do perfectly, and a sweater if you see morning temperatures are in 40s.
Devens gets very windy sometimes, last weekend was freezing.
Now, more - towel, 1/3 leftover from roll of paper towel, goo-off spray to clean car, sunscreen lotion, mosquito spray, compact umbrella and 6pack of water bottles.

That all is for you. Do not afraid to tke too much. Be afraid not to bring rain gear or extra sweater when you need it or dry shoes/socks after you jumped right into 3 inch deep puddle running after cones and your feet are soaked. Nothing sux more than to be completely wet and have nothing to change to before your next run.

Some people bring tarp too to cover all your stuff as it will have to be left on the field and if it rains - well, you get the picture.

For car - 1qt of your oil, blue painter tape, black tape to make your running number or if you have one assigned for a season - you can print it on A4 paper and attach to inner side of rear window. Your own discretion here on what to bring. 2 most important items - proper air pressure gauge and compressor.

Trick is to have this stuff in this plastic container all the time ready so you will not have to get prepared every time at 6am in the morning on Saturday, you just throw it in the trunk and you are ready for anything if it rains or shines.
Umbrella will help in summer too as it get very hot under the sun.

There are no dressing requirements but do dress in layers - it is much easier to take it off than not to have anything to put on.

I do not remove my V1 radar from windshield as I am positive it will not come off. But you may be asked to remove it.

And DO NOT forget your helmet. Loaners are mostly a virtual thing. I would recommend open face one unless you will also track a lot.

 

If he comes from stock 33/37 to 43/47 psi cold and then runs several good laps he will get way above 50 psi and that may damage his tires.

I would stay at stock pressure cold on street tires and then after first quick run check pressure and adjust as needed.

As for novice I do not think it will even matter to look at tires, just keep them at stock cold pressure and work on vision/line. But do get alignment done - it was discussed numerous times - max negative camber front. etc, look it up.

Just as a reference - when I did run on PS2 tires rears would go from 37 cold into 45 hot. Optimal traction for PS2 was about 42 rear, 38 front.

 

A few extra things that weren't mentioned yet.

1. Make sure that you have a tie-down on your battery. I have actually seen a car catch fire because the battery was loose.

2. Along with familiarizing yourself with the course, always look ahead. If you can't see about 4 cones ahead then you are not looking ahead.

3. HAVE FUN! Don't stress out about your times compared to others. There may be guys or gals in much slower cars that get much better times. Autocrossing is a driver's skill course and you will get much better with time.

 

utkinpol, I appreciate how you edited your post. +10psi is a good starting point for MOST cars, but you're right that 43/47 is a bit higher than optimal for that car. You're also right in that he'll need to bleed air off as the tires warm up - you'll want your tires to be about the same pressure at the start of every run.

Todd, The 38/42 he mentions is probably not a bad starting point for PS2's, but I'd be more inclined to go with something like 40/44psi with basic street tires. It's nearly impossible to give an accurate "optimal" figure though, as so much depends on the specific car, tire and driver.

For that matter - at last year's pro there was one car co-driven by two drivers. One liked a 32/37psi setup, the other liked a 45/40psi setup. VERY different ends of the spectrum, and VERY different front/rear biases. However, both drivers were within 0.1s of each other, and finished 1-2 in their class. It was amusing watching them play with tire pressures so much during the day, but it did work for them.

+1, although I do recommend that people run something in the 40's so they don't destroy the outside shoulders of their tires. In nearly every case though - a novice is NOT held up by their car. Most experienced drivers in a bone-stock commuter car could beat the average novice in a well-prepped 911 GT3. In fact - at our last event one of our "pro class" drivers did just that. Showed up with his winter beater 94 Dodge Neon w/ crappy all-seasons and bested the entire novice class (which included some well-prepped cars) on raw time.

 

No problem Scott, I do not mean to be disrespectful. And I agree with you - it differs from car to car.

What I would like to ask your opinion about - what is your take on optimal pressure on A6 hoosiers - some people keep telling me they are still better a bit higher than hoosier officially recommends - about 43/46, I ran them as hoosier recommends - at first run 33/35 cold and front was slipping very badly.
After second run it came to 38/40 hot and I found grip to be quite nice at this pressure but did not try to get any higher. Is there any consensus about this?

 

Kinda goes back to the whole being car & driver dependent. In my case I was driving a 944 with a near perfect 50/50 weight distribution, a very neutral suspension setup, matched wheels/tires at all four corners. As such, I ran 40psi at all four corners as a baseline, and then moved +/- 2psi from there on the front or rear depending on the specific course.

Edit - one exception to this was very cold days (which happens a lot around here). Then I'd drop the pressures down to something like 32psi all around for the first two runs just so I could get some heat into the rubber.

 

Todd, Lots of great suggestions and advice in this thread. Devens is a great place to go autocrossing, courses are always well over a minute, sometimes up to 90 seconds and without any major problems both NER and NCR usually get 8 runs in during a day. In my experience the length of the course can make it very confusing for a novice, gates tend to be spaced far apart and there is a large area you have to look at for the next gate. This means that walking the course in the morning is the most important part of the day. Two walks in the morning should be easy, try for three if you can and for at least one of them pay attention to the course and be making a mental map, don't talk to anyone, don't think about work, don't be talking on your phone or texting, just spend the whole time looking ahead and pretending your in the car during at least one walk. I've also found it helps for me if I can do this without a large group of people walking in front of me blocking my view.

On instructors, definitely take one with you, preferably on your first run. If you don't like him or you don't think the feedback is good, take a different one on your second run. You'll eventually find someone who will be able to help you improve.

Things to bring, a small tire pump, a bike pump works well, and doesn't make the annoying noise that the cigarette ones do. Extra socks are always a good idea, even if rain isn't in the forecast. Lots of water is a great idea, and a small cooler to keep it cold. During the summer I can easily drink 5 liters (10 poland spring bottles) during the day if i want to stay hydrated (There are two porta Johns on site). Sunglasses and sun screen is an absolute, there is no shade anywhere at Devens. Comfortable shoes are also a must, You'll be spending at least an hour and half at a time standing on pavement, and doing a lot of walking/running most likely. In the past NCR and NER have had subs available for 5 dollars when you registrar in the morning and they are usually delivered around noon. Well worth the 5 dollars imo. Snacks are also a great idea to bring along, epically if you tend to eat a lot. For numbers, just use white paper with printed numbers taped to your doors, no need to invest a lot of money in magnetic numbers yet.

Your goal for times should be to lower them each run. You most likely won't be competitive with other people in you class or with similar cars. Don't let this upset you, it happens to everyone. Just remember to have fun, autocross really is a great activity. Also drive conservatively around town. The site is used literally every Saturday and Sunday from the middle of April to the end of October and while i've never seen the police setting up speed traps or pulling people over in or around town I go there every time expecting to see it. There are also two gas stations in town, a dunkin donuts and a small hardware store, They've all come in handy for me at one time or another.

I'll be in car 15, a black 944, feel free to stop by and say hi and ask any questions you might have.

 

Thanks to all for the great advice

 

It is an important comment - literally, try to go closer to 35mph in 35mph zones on that stretch of rt111/2a from rt2.
It is not a problem on a way back home when you are so tired but try not to go 50mph in 35mph zone on the way in as bad speeding violators may be banned from auto-x completely and it is bad for all of us to have any issues with Ayers officials.

 

+1 - I've known local officials to sit roadside near event sites with radar guns. Any speeding cars with numbers will be banned for the remainder of the season. The possible bad press just isn't worth it to them as sites are so hard to find/keep.

 

Not a problem for me, I'm coming to learn and increase my driving skills. I have nothing to prove on or off the course, just want to hang out with some good people and get more familiar with my 911.