Autocross racing tips

Autocross Driving Tips
By Kate Hughes, with thanks to Josh Sirota and Andy Hollis
(from the PCA Editors Digest)

Seat time, seat time, seat time. That's the best way to go faster. They say, "Before you fix the car, fix the driver". There are so many techniques to improve your driving, it takes seat time to learn them all, but once you do, someone without those skills would have to spend a lot of money on their car to beat you, and probably still couldn't.

Here are a few techniques to get you started. Don't try to apply them all in your first run; you'll be too busy. But read through the whole list, then work at gaining these skills one at a time.

Look Ahead
I repeat this out loud while I am driving. It's so easy to forget, but makes such a big impact on my driving. It all relates to hand-eye coordination. Look where you want your hands to drive you, and look far enough ahead to take advantage of the feedback. If you're looking at that outside cone that you're afraid you'll hit, well, you'll hit it. If you're looking ten feet in front of the bumper, the turns will keep surprising you.

Slow Down to Go Fast
A common problem when you're starting out is trying to take the tight sections too fast, and not staying in control. I still remember finishing a run and saying, "Well, I didn't go very fast, but it sure was smooth", only to find out I'd gone faster by a full second!

Brake Hard For Corners
Go ahead; squeeze the brakes hard. There's no morning coffee on your dashboard, or eggs in the front seat. Once you decide to slow down for the corner, don't waste any time. If you find yourself at a crawl and you're not at the corner yet, why, you've just found out that you can brake later. Locking up your wheels will not make you stop faster, so squeeze the brakes and let them do the work, not your tires.

Adhesion
Don't ask too much of your tires. For any tire/pavement pair, there's only a certain amount of traction. We'll call that 100% traction. You can use up that traction with your throttle, your brakes or your steering wheel. So if you're going into a corner, using 100% of your traction to make the turn, what happens when you ask for more traction by applying the brakes? Either you won't brake or you won't turn. Or both. The same goes for accelerating out of a corner: ease in the throttle as you ease out of the turn. So use full throttle and full braking only in a straight line. This goes back to slowing down to go faster, and brings us to...

Smooth Inputs
You may have noticed that I used the phrases: "squeeze the brakes", and, "ease in the throttle". This is where you have to change your mind-set about inputs to controlling your car. You need to convince yourself that you can make your car respond better by squeezing the brakes hard instead of standing on the brakes; by rolling in the throttle rapidly instead of stomping on the gas; by turning the wheel quickly instead of cranking it around. Subtle, but it will show up in how often your car is in control instead of scrubbing off speed pushing around a corner. And it will take a lot of practice to become second nature.

Shift Near Redline
On the street, we don't usually shift near redline (high rpms); however, in autocross, you want to be making the most of the power available to you. You'll learn to hear the motor as you drive and stay in a low gear longer. Most courses will be in second gear for stock cars. If you're shifting to third, you're shifting too soon, and giving up power (ask local drivers if this is true in your region).

Don't worry about the blinkers, wipers or horn; you're bound to hit them as you drive. Don't let it throw you. We've all done it!

More, Later. . .
There are many more techniques for getting better times; but, start with the ones listed above. After you've learned them, you'll be ready to buy a book on autocrossing or attend a driving school and learn the advanced techniques of heel/toe, shuffle steer, late apex, and more.

Attend as many events as you can. Go to the ones with the toughest competition; winning something local is fun, but losing to someone fast will probably teach you more. Attend driving schools in your area, or travel to another region. Always remember to have fun, even when you are being stomped by some national hotshoe. You'll never stop learning; the best drivers will tell you this still applies after ten or twenty years!

(Editor's Note: These tips are part of "SOLO II NOVICE HANDBOOK", copyright May 1996, compiled by Kate Hughes Glen Region, SCCA. Josh Sirota, San Francisco Region, and Andy Hollis, Houston Region, are also members of SCCA. Hollis is a four-time Pro Solo and Solo II National Champion.)

Go Fast: Get The Picture
By Kate Hughes, with thanks to Josh Sirota and Andy Hollis
(from the PCA Editors Digest)
You must be able to keep track of the autocross course in your head. If not, then you can't drive it to its fullest potential. Knowing how to walk the course is the most important step in being competitive and staying ahead of the course. Usually, you'll want to walk the course at least three times.

Step 1 - Walk The Course
Your first walk will be to get the general layout, and is often a social walk. Next, get away from friends and walk the course alone -- concentrating on memorizing the layout. Think of it in sections, with key cones marking the turns, such as: 1) start straight; 2) slalom (enter on right); 3) decreasing sweeper to the left; 4) little snake, then big snake; 5) right-hand curve (look for three pointers); 6) thread the needle section; 7) tight right, then tight left; and, 8) finish.

Stop every now and then and run through the course in your head, from the beginning to where you are. Get down; the course looks different from a seated position. This will give you a better picture of what the course will look like at speed.

Pace off the distance between cones in a slalom. Some course designers vary this distance, and it's good to know before you arrive whether you will have to vary your speed in a slalom. Take a note-pad if you like, and make notes such as pavement changes, camber change, bumps, sand, etc.

Repeat this step over and over until the picture is perfect. How do you know if the picture is perfect? Sit down by your car and try to draw the course on a blank piece of paper. Include the key cones you want to recognize while you drive. If you can't draw the course, you will want to walk it again. Once you leave the start line in your car, you should not be spending any time figuring out where the course is.

Step 2 - Plan The Course
Do this while walking the course again. Now decide exactly how you want to drive the course. Driving the course perfectly involves two things: coming up with the correct plan; and, executing the plan correctly. If you don't have a plan, you can't possibly know where you didn't execute it correctly. (It's hard to know if you performed this step correctly, but Step 4 will be where you can work on this.)

The plan involves the line you will take for the quickest way through the cones. Note, I didn't say shortest. Think about the characteristics of your car; does it corner better than it accelerates, or the other way around? That will tell you whether to slow down so you can get through the corner in control and onto the throttle as soon as possible, or whether to try to carry speed through to keep up the revs.

Step 3 - On The Grid
Before your run, while you are in grid, go over the course again several times in your head -- executing the plan you made previously.

Step 4 - After The Run
Sit in your car and go over your run. Figure out where you didn't execute the plan. If the plan was to be near a particular cone and you were five feet from it, then you didn't execute the plan correctly; a red light should have gone off in your head. Maybe you need to adjust the plan because you were going too fast in the slow parts. Decide at this point whether your next run needs to be a better execution of the plan, or a modification of it.

Basically, don't use the car as an excuse. You will see a big difference in your times when you drive a course that never surprised you.

(Editor's Note: These tips are part of "SOLO II NOVICE HANDBOOK", copyright May 1996, compiled by Kate Hughes Glen Region, SCCA. Josh Sirota, San Francisco Region, and Andy Hollis, Houston Region, are also members of SCCA. Hollis is a four-time Pro Solo and Solo II National Champion.)