THSCC Forums

So, yeah, I'm looking for some advice on what to do next year...

I've been offered a co-drive in the boxer4racing STX WRX - a car that's capable of winning a national championship. This offer is open for local &/or national-level events. The offer has actually turned into a "drive" though (unless Christine wants to co-drive it with me), since Tom's planning to co-drive the STi with Miranda.

I'm modifying my 2.5RS out of STS this weekend, by installing an Exedy clutch and lightweight flywheel combo. I'm also thinking about doing some other things that will end up putting it in street modified - but will make it much more fun to drive fast. Or I could just go with some DSP-legal mods and sticky tires and run there.

I had a lot of fun this year in my car (especially with the STS pax, hehehe...), but soon it will be even faster and a lot more fun, so I'll definitely want to autox it some. And I'd like to try running on R compounds next year, just to see what all the fuss is about. ; )

I could go either way on running the national events next year - in fact, I'm leaning toward doing a few track schools instead, and not getting so serious with the autox so soon.

So what questions do I need to ask myself? And does anybody have any wisdom they'd like to share?

In case you don't know, I started autoxing almost a year and a half ago, and have only run local-level autoxes in STS with the Impreza 2.5RS.

Thanks,

Kevin Allen
no longer STS #25

Running at the National level is a lot different than the local. The biggest part is the logistics.

1) You don't simply pack the wife and kids up Sunday morning and go to the event and be home by dinner time. For each event you need to take 1 or 2 vacation days. Your travel will usually start Thursday night. If you are lucky, you may get home in the wee hours of Monday morning.

2) Cost. I know my travel and time expense accounted for 70% of my national budget this year. And I bailed on Peru's two events. Entry fees alone are 2-3 times what you pay at the local level.

3) Competition. You are moving from being a big fish in a little pond to a little fish in the ocean. The rational of I was x amoutn faster than this national driver at local event a does not translate to the National level. One item is car prep. The biggest thing is mental prep. There is no room for error. Those that can conquer the mental aspect are the winners. Those like me that have not climbed that hill are still trying. This year I focused not at winning at the local but turning consitant times over all four runs.

4) Courses. There is a reason why we walk them until dark Friday night and Saturday night

Personally, I love doing it. I get to compete against the very best. In my two years of running the national events, I have made a lot of friends. And I guess that is why I plan on returning next year.

_________________
Jim Pastorius
2008 Silverado VortecMax
1992 Camaro CMC#92
2002 BMW R1150R

2009 3rd Place CMC Mid-Atlantic Championship
2009 CMC Hyperfest Winner

My advice would be to ask yourself what you like most about driving.

If the main kick you get out of driving is the thrill of going fast then you should probably go with the track schools. If you go that way invest in at least a Solo I legal bar and all the other safety gear. And having said that take a serious look at how totaling your car on track will affect you.

On the other hand if the main thing you enjoy is competition and challenging yourself then maybe trying some National level events is for you.

I purposely took a year off from nationals in 2003 and tried to do more track events. I've found that I missed autocrossing at that level. I also found that driving around a track, even quickly, just didn't give me the same feeling at the end of the day.

Personally having done both I think National level autocrossing is more fun, but I'm kinda unusual that way. Most of the people I know seem to prefer track schools. I guess that's my competitive streak coming out.

If it was me, with the possibility of driving Tom's car, I'd choose going to national events.

Shawn

If I were you, I would just buy tom's car outright

I enjoy the competition and the challenge of autox. The "driving" aspect of it is fun and I have a good time, but the times when I'm competing for something is when I have the most fun. When I have gone to driver eds or regular track days I missed the competition aspect of it. The challenge was still there as you could drive a faster lap time. One Lap was great because the competition was there and I had an absolute blast. I would also know I would have a good time at Solo 1 events and real racing, but right now my restriction on that is budget.

Basically I chose the cheapest way for me to compete, be challenged, and have fun all at the same time. Right now that is national level autox, but hopefully soon it will be d2d racing.

-Tom

Come on now I just moved to DSP, stay out

Did you win the lottery or get a pay raise? Cause I see alot more money spent on automotive intrests in your future.

Don't worry, I won't be in DSP. I've decided on a few items that will send me to SM if I race the 2.5RS.



Well, the clutch is going, and I hated the 26 lb flywheel that Subaru handicapped my car with, so I decided to go ahead and forget about all the rules and just prepare my car the way I want it. Other than the clutch & flywheel, the stuff that's going to be changed isn't going to cost that much $, but it's going to make the car a lot more fun to drive.

And thanks for the advice, people. I'm leaning toward just doing local autox and rallyx next year, no track schools or Pro Solos. Got to thinking about how much I've been out of town this year, and how much has been neglected around home that needs to be taken care of. I don't need to be out of town even more next year - I need to stay at home. Maybe I can get everything taken care of in 2004 and go autoxing on the national level in 2005.

What Shawn said in regard to comparing track events to top level autocrossing. What Jim said in regard to the intensity level.

The problem I had with track events was always that I really wanted to race the other instructors and the track but that's not too smart when the "race car" was driven to the track and is your commute car. I never went off (Im a very conservative driver) but I sure had some close calls. My track event car was an 88 Mustang (the one Don Forrester drives now) and was was really fast in a staight line and therefore very hard on brakes and tires and not very forgiving of excursions over the limit. Dialing back the driving level took a lot of the fun out of it for me. Now actual racing would have been fun but I never had the combination of "drive" and budget to be able to do it at the level it would have taken to be satisfying.

Dick

_________________
Dick Rasmussen

FS 50 2018 Mustang GT

Speaking for myself, but I think Donna would pretty much echo this about herself, I am very competitive by nature, enjoy speed, and am an adrenaline junkie, so I prefer national competition where the courses are bigger, the competition intense, and the people are great! I'd rather be a little fish in a big ocean, it pushes me to try harder and improve faster. The most boring thing I can think of in AX would be to only go to events where I would win all the time. I can't wait for the 2004 season to start!

_________________
SPIN or WIN!
there's no glory for going slow.

Kev, I've seen your face at autox events where you didn't get to drive your car for one reason or another...you looked like my son does when he can't find his favorite hotwheels car. drive your car, drive the heck out of it, i think you will have more fun.

_________________
05 MCS