White 68

I,d like to learn more about the sport and driving techniques ;;;Any info would be great.. :D Thanks

CHJ In Virginia

There is an excellent book on AutoX. Secrets Of Solo Racing - Expert Techniques For AutoX & Time Trials -- By Henry A. Watts - It is available from Classic Motorbooks, that catalog of car books that arrives in your mail box about 4 times a year. Watts covers car prep, driving technique, running events, virtually everything. Cost was about $20.00. If you can't find a copy, I'll loan you mine if you will pay postage both ways. :D


[Modified by CHJ In Virginia, 5:32 PM 12/21/2002]

Bimota Guy

Great book. I have a copy. Saw it on the shelf in Borders (San Diego) the other day for $15.

VegasJen

i would agree there are excellent books out there. however, i'd suggest you save your money for the track events and vist here and other sites like SCCAforums for technique and tips. this sport/hobby is expensive enough as it is. get the basics and then it's track time, track time, track time! :cheers:

trumper Z06

You may want to join your local NCCC Corvette club. These guys should be into "auto-cross & high speed" tracking. Most of the Corvette guys are friendly and happy to answer questions and help out a "newbe". They will get quieter as you become "competitive" thougth, plan on at least a year or two!

This will be the quickest and "cheapest" way to start. You only need to have good brake pads and tires, to get started in auto-cross. Have FUN!

c4cruiser

Here's a link for a neat article on basics for a Novice: http://www.tirerack.com/features/solo2/handbook.htm

Contact local Corvette Clubs to see what events they attend or know about. The SCCA website http://www.scca.org will have links to your local region and event calendars would be available there.

When I started a few years ago, I had no idea how much fun this would be! Like the hanbook in the link says, show up and register and tell folks you are a newbie and want to learn. Experienced drivers will be willing to help you. The handbook talks some about walking the course. Do as much as you can. Then it's seat time, seat time and more seat time :steering: . Did I mention get a lot of seat time? :yesnod: The first thing I learned is that to go fast you need to go slow. And you pick up things like that with-- seat time.

You don't really need to do much if anything to the car to start. Good brakes are a must but fresh factory pads are OK for novice drivers. I did my first few events on my OEM GSC's which were hard as rocks but I got to learn technique. So there is no real need to go out and buy new tires to start unless yours are reaching the end of tread life anyway. Once I had more time in the car, I bought new tires (Bridgestone Potenza RE-730's) but I still don't run a-x specific rubber (yet...)

Most sanctioning bodies require a helmet of some sort that meets Snell saftey standards and some organizations will accept motorcycle (DOT approved) helmets. Some SCCA events may provide loaners, or you can borrow one from another competitor for your runs. Once you decide you want to keep going in A-X (and you will!) you can buy your own helmet. Just make sure you get a high-quality Snell SA-2000 rated one. Somebody here on the forum once posted something to the effect that if you have a $10 head just get a $10 helmet.

Autocross can be a year-round activity. Here in Washington events are held in the winter rains!

Good Luck!

bc53

This book kicks butt
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg...glance&s=books

WOT99FRC

Here are a few good links for general info, not specific to Vettes but very informative.

The Physics of Racing http://www.miata.net/sport/Physics/

Just about every thing is covered that a beginner needs to conceder here. http://www.turnfast.com/

heel toe, etc.. http://happytogether.com/318ti/notebook/shifting/

I would also suggest watching in-car videos of the particular road course you will be attending, before you go. A road course can be very confusing the first time out, when you are new. It really helps to have a picture in you mind of were you are and what is next. The faster you go the further ahead you have to be mentally.
Luke

White 68

Thanks to all of you for the info I was looking for ..Happy Holidays :flag

Roadrace65

Are ther any valuable videos on AutoX - Road Racing?