Pigeon

I just went autocrossing for the first time, it was awesome!
Had a great time, the car ran great.

screwed up a couple times, hit a few pylons but its all good..

one question though, did you ever see those front skirts that some cars that autocross have?
they look like lawn edgeing, except they are on the front bumper, and they prevent pylons from going under the car?
who makes those?
or is it just lawn edging?

thanks
chris

randallb

Used to autox regularly a few years ago in a C Stock RX-7. Depending on the organization, even a few mods will move your car into a different class, sometimes with other cars with $1000's of race mods. Check the rules before you mod!

Front air dams are not to keep cones out, but rather for aerodynamics. Once you hit a cone and knock it down (or out of the box), you get the time penalty, and the only problem with dragging a cone is making the next car wait for the course workers to chase the cones down and reset the course.

Even if you don't win, autox is a great way to learn the limits of your car. Check the organization putting on the event - we used to offer performance driving courses through our local SCCA chapter, and other car clubs. You can really learn a lot about driving techniques through courses like that.

But most of all - have fun!

Pigeon

i know that the front air dams are for aerodynamics, however i cant go out and get a fibreglass or urethane lip because it would get damaged by the pylons. i also need something lower on my front bumper to prevent pylons from going under my car

i was wondering if anyone would know where i could find the black universal plastic/rubber ones, or if anyone has ever seen or knows what i am talking about

thanks

rowan

Pigeon, where in Ontario are you?
Check out http://soloontario.com/solo2/ for schedules and clubs in the province.

There were a total of five diffn't Proteges out at two separate events this past weekend.. that's gotta be some kinda record. Hopefully soon to be broken.

Pigeon

hey man, this was my first time, gimme a break

the reason i hit the pylons is cause i downshifted to first too late into the corner, and the car locked up
then i plowed into 4 pylons and scratched my bumper
thats not what really bothered me, but a guy in a miata drove over one and it got jammed in his driveshaft.
he was trying to get it out for like an hour
obviously we dont have driveshafts, but i dont want it hitting my cv boots or a brake line or anything
am i making any sense or does that stuff just never happen in autocrossing?

hey rjakobs, im from hamilton ontario
i was at the event on saturday july 13th at the hersey centre in mississauga
there were i think 4 or 5 proteges there
where u one of them??

mazdaspeedwest

Well, if you have a 1st gen, then my lower tie bar doubles as a pretty good cone catcher

(if you look closely, you can see it in my sig pic)

mazdaspeedwest

CAUTION: Jesse may have a smart *** remark!

i'm in 6th place (out of 25) in my clubs cone count....<gulp>

i'm trying to convince myself it's because i drive so damn fast, that they just get in the way......

Pigeon

its alright

i just dont need cones being jammed up in areas of my frame
if i could get a front lip thats not going to get damaged by cones, ill be satisfied

what suspension mods do u have done to ur car?

Makaveli

Does downshifting into first really help? I wouldn't do it if I was you, but then again I never went auto-xing

David

most of the time down shifting will only hurt your times.

SilverPR5

Most people say downshifting will hurt your times if you are not proficient at it. To get faster times you have to be on the gas (of course), if you shift you will slow down a bit even if it's for a split .5 seconds.

It's actually better for a newbie to stay in 2nd gear the whole race and stay focused on your driving and your lines.

Now of course I experimented this past weekend and found shifting into 1st at the finish (right hander coming out of a slalom) helped my times a bit, but another guy shifted from 2nd to first before the slalom, shifted to 2nd IN THE SLALOM, and shifted back into first before the finish and got fastest time of the day

carguycw

Agreed. Almost all top-level drivers I've talked to have agreed that (a) it's too easy to blow this shift, and (b) you will usually have to shift back up into 2nd again immediately (autocrosses are RARELY tight enough to actually stay in 1st) and you will lose more time shifting twice than you will gain by driving in 1st gear. Leave it in 2nd and let it bog.

Actually, I've volunteered to instruct at numerous autocrosses, and unnecessarily shifting into 1st is a very common novice mistake. Most novices don't realize how fast they can take tight corners if they drive the correct line

Pigeon

thanks for the advice guys
that was the only time in the course that i did downshift
my first 3 runs i stayed in second the whole time
and while marshalling i saw everyone downshift to first around the one bend, so i decided to do it too
then i screwed up

i guess ur right, it only makes for faster times if u know exactly when to do it and you can do it fast

thanks

rowan

Pigeon: yeah I was driving the Silver P5 on Saturday (and Sunday too).

About the downshift to first gear....

Our courses up here in Ontario must be more tight or something than the typical American course because there is almost always at least one place where you can make up time by downshifting, as long as you do it smoothly.

I don't usually do it yet, at least not until the third run at least .. but you can usually see a not-insignificant difference in times between those who downshift and those who don't.

Not that it's always the best strategy, but just that I think it may tend to be more beneficial on our courses than the ones you guys down there are used to.

Pigeon

Hey man, give me your email address....
do you remember seeing me downshift to first gear around the last bend right before the stop box ??

i was driving a brown protege with an aluminum wing, and rims and exhaust

i showed me friends the video, and now everyone wants to try
when is the next one??
it doesent have to be part of the series, it could just be a regular club meet
we just want to go to another one