A caveat. I’ve never autocrossed, so all that follows has been gleaned from reading and watching.
An autocross is a wonderful opportunity to drive your car at its limits. It’s accessible since:
- There’s probably one being held an easy drive away nearly every nice weekend.
- Typical entrance fee is less than $30.
- Beyond a helmet, you don’t need any special safety equipment. No racing harness or rollbar.
- You can “run what you brung” – your daily driver is fine. I’ve read about a guy that takes his full-size Mercury Marquis station wagon out.
- Race tires, while helpful, are not required to have fun. Street tires are fine, and actually add to the challenge.
It’s safe since speeds of a typical low to medium speed event rarely exceed 40 mph and the only damage you can do is crush a cone. There are only one or two cars on the track at once and they’re separated, so there’s no wheel-to-wheel.
Lately, I’ve been reading a lot of discussion regarding how to make autocrossing more fun. The issue is that a typical event will have such a good turnout that you only get a couple runs. That means you sit and stand around for six hours or so for only a couple minutes of excitement. I’ve seen a number of events advertise morning and afternoon sessions with entry fees charged for each. As one guy recently posted, “ the old folks can get out early and make their runs, while the younger guys (the one’s that need to sleep in after a busy Friday night) can make the afternoon session.” Good idea.
Today’s CPotD is of Mark Wright racing around in southern California. He’s got some really nice in-car videos on You-Tube. Do a search and enjoy.
No comments:
Post a Comment