Great example I have is spending over $4,000 on a Trophy BBK. I would have never had to even come close to having to upgrade to something like that doing circles in a parking lot.

 

I have 2 TC's and 2 rear diffs the thing with the autox hobby is you need to be up and running for the next event/club or those perfect-attendance-types will win the jacket and show pics of cars-he-beat-this-year lol

 

Hey hey hey, this isnt mini nascar in a parking lot! We turn right and left! I honestly think auto-x is more complex than big track stuff. You make one tiny mistake and thats the difference from 1st place and 5th. .010 is typically the difference per position. We have a ton of great drivers in my series so that makes things even more interesting. The only thing I dont like is how they class cars. How they class my Supra with 800hp 2700 lb Corvettes, I have no idea.

Maintenance for me for the year is just tires. That would be a total of 12 days of racing.

 

Autocrossing is like speed chess. Driving on a track (i.e., track days and time trials, not W2W) is like slo mo by comparison. I like both and they definitely complement each other from a driving skill standpoint. I don't think I've ever seen a good autocrosser who didn't hit the ground running on track, but there are plenty of track guys who are horrible at autocross.

 

My buddy and I were yelled at for signing up as 'beginners' in our first track event, because we were "terrorizing" the beginners. In intermediate class, we got 'this is track, not autox. watch&learn' - lecture. we beat them lol.

I agree. you need to flip to track mode or autox mode. I dont do this enough, some track guys say autocrossers have bad racing lines on track. before I take anyone's advice i first find out if they have a disposable track car. there's just too many track-only racing heros

Autox to me is hold-your-breath 110% driving mode. The braking box alone gives me the shakes

 

Pardon the pun but I love the twists and turns this thread takes. Auto-x is a low risk adrenaline junky's dream. Track is a high risk adrenaline junky's dream.

 

I do not agree with this. There's plenty of prestige-only types. Mind you there's the Optima Ultimate autox now too

 

I prefer AutoX over Track cause how hard Im comfortable pushing things. I hate long straights on tracks, might as well be drag racing. But good tracks are still tons of fun.

But when things go sideways.... Id rather be looking at cones at 60 than a wall at 120.

 

Thats not true at all, I've come across experienced autox'rs that just get put a decent lap together their first day or 2. And this isn't just observing, this is talking to them and hearing their frustrations. And they're not just slow in their head, I've passed an guys with 2-3x the power (bolt on evo vs miata) and equal or better tires on track, same guys are top 5 finishers at autox's.

I'm not saying this is the norm, but not every good autox'r is gonna hit the track and be fast right away. (see below for more)

I mean even an ok autox'r is gonna be a lot quicker than a normal drivers first time to a track day. And yes most experienced autox'rs will land somewhere between intermediate and advanced, but thats not always the case.

I'm completely with you on this, and its not just autox'rs lines. sometimes different cars and different drivers are quicker doing a different line than the one guy that established himself the gate keeper

 

25mph sideways on grass toward a tire wall is the norm
the worst I've seen is rolling backwards after spin and into a ditch(whatchumacall those things for water drain)

 

None of the big tracks around me have grass. So when you go off track, you better believe you are going to be off roading through some rocks and dirt, then into the ditch. I would much rather spit a few cones out from under the car...

 

Whenever I watch a friends auto-x video, I'm constantly wondering where the hell the track/next corner is...I think I would get cross eyed with the cones and get lost constantly, lol!

 

I noticed its mostly desert over there the eastern US got uber nice tracks it feels youre not supposed to be there lol

 

you get a free map! yeah its hard to video. i think I may have lost FB friends each i time I post one

 

map and walking the track before most people usually figure it out, even just driving it without a walk is a lot easier than trying to figure out whats going in from a vid