AXDRIVE

GUIDE TO AUTOCROSSING TECHNIQUES

                                               PART 1
                                  SIX KEYS TO SPEED

KEY #1:   LOOK AHEAD

This basic precept can be arguably Keys 1-6. You can have excellent car control
skills and be able to run over the base of a cone without moving it all day long. But if
you don’t look ahead, you won’t be able to get an outstanding time.
There are two reasons that this is so important.

1) No two autocross courses are the same. In a course where you might have 20
corners, a single coursewalk (or five, for that matter) won’t give you photographic
recall of every course element. So, you need to look ahead just to make sure you
know where you are going.

2) Knowing where you are going is only the foundation of a good run. Getting through
the course fast requires more. In autocross, the corners are very close together. So
close that you can’t reposition the car to pick an ideal line for every corner.
Therefore, you are constantly having to choose which corners you need to do
perfectly and which you need to “give up” in order to position yourself for the
important ones.

KEY #2: MAKE THE COURSEWALK COUNT

There are no practice runs at SCCA autocross competitions. Your only look at the
course before competing on it comes during the coursewalk. Some guidelines:

1) Walk early and often. Early, to beat the crowd and have good sight lines.
2) Walk your line. This will help build a pattern to follow while driving.
3) Model your runs while walking. Use an internal dialogue you can repeat later. For
example:

                                            Tight here
                                             Unwind and go
                                             Throttle!!
                                             Brake Hard

KEY #3: LATE APEX

90+% of the time, the best line for a corner involves driving a late apex. “Driving a
late apex” means that your closest approach to the inside of a corner occurs after the
geometric midpoint of the corner. A late apex will allow you to a) get on the gas
sooner, b) be able to unwind the steering wheel quicker, and c) gets you pointed up
course in your direction of travel as you exit the corner. The tighter the corner exit,
the more important the late apex line becomes.

KEY #4: The brake is a switch; the gas is a dial.

Think of the brake as a light switch; its either on or off. One of the most common
driving mistakes is to apply the brakes too early and too lightly. The typical newbie will
approach a braking zone like this:


Step One:    Coast
Step Two:     Drag the brake lightly for a stretch
Step Three: Realize the corner is coming up too fast
Step Four:    Lock brakes up
Step Five:     Blow by your turn in point and push coming out of the corner, and
                lose five seconds.
Step Six:       Repeat at the next corner

When approaching a braking point which involves a large speed change, the best
approach is to use the brakes firmly in a straight line without locking them up. More
advanced drivers will use the brake softly under a number of conditions, but for early
stage drivers its best to just get on the brakes firmly when you need them. Don’t be
too concerned about braking too early, as it will let you hit your apex and get on the
gas early. We’ll talk about the importance of early throttle in the next section.

On the other hand, think of the gas pedal as a dial; rather than being on or off, the
gas pedal should be advanced smoothly through its range. Sudden mashing of the
gas pedal upsets the whole balance of the car. In a RWD car, you will induce
wheelspin at the rear which will cause the rear to slide. In a FWD car, it will not only
induce wheelspin at your drive wheels, it also unloads the tires which do most of the
work in cornering.

KEY #5: In Slow, Out Fast

Because so much time is spent cornering in autocross, one might think that cornering
speed is the key to a fast time. However, just like in road racing, the key to a fast time
is how fast you travel the straight bits.

The goal is being able to get on the gas as early as possible in a corner which leads
on to a straight. In autocross, a straight does not refer to a part of the course where
the cones line up straight; it is any section of the course you can drive through at full
throttle with minimum or no steering wheel movement.

This process involves identifying straight line opportunities during your course walk
and then applying Keys #2 and #3 as you drive.

A late apex leaves you pointed up course as you exit the corner, allowing you to
accelerate from your apex in the straightest line possible. If you upset the cars
balance by braking too early and too lightly, the car will not change direction and you
will have to slow down exiting the corner in order to stay on course.

If you mash the cash pedal, you will induce wheelspin and unload the front cornering
tires just when you need them the most.

KEY #6: Use as much of the course as you need, but no more

Segments of autocross courses tend to be either very narrow (which forces a single
line) or very wide (which makes the choice of approach to the next element very
important). Novices tend to drive up the middle of the course, leaving space on both
the inside of the car (not getting on the corner apex) and the outside of the car (not
using enough of the track on the outside.

Remember this simple truism: Radius = speed.

The larger the radius of the corner, the more speed you can carry in the corner. This
is just physics.

However, there is a tradeoff here. Larger radius also equals more distance traveled.
In a slow corner, a wide radius will often lead you to spend more time at a slow speed
and cost you time. In a fast corner, the wide radius helps you keep your speed high
and more than makes up for the increased distance.

So, a rule of thumb is to drive slow corners tight and large corners wide. Making this
tradeoff consistently well is a hallmark of an excellent driver.

                                          PART 2
               TECHNIQUES BEHIND THE WHEEL

We’ll cover conventional techniques which work best for most people. Sure, there are
some drivers who are very successful using unconventional techniques, like driving
with one hand. They are the exception. If it works really well for you, go for it, but wait
until you give the conventional techniques a fair shot.

Steering:

Hands at 9 and 3 or 10 and 2.
Both hands on the wheel.
Don’t sit too far away. Most professional drivers, given the choice, sit fairly
close to the wheel. Rule of thumb: with your elbow comfortably crooked, your
wrist should be resting on the top of the wheel.
Shuffle steer. By that, I mean rotate the wheel by reaching one hand across to
the top of the other hand, grab the wheel and rotate it until you hands are back
in your starting position. You wind up with the tires turned but your hands back
in the original postion. Reverse the process to get back to no steering lock.
This technique allows you to make large wheel inputs without your getting your
wrists crossed up. Avoid crossing your hands up or over one another. This
just makes it difficult to get the wheel straight, and takes up extra time
Avoid letting the wheel slide back to zero lock by just letting it go and sliding it
through your hands.
The steering wheel movement in normal maneuvering should be affirmative but
not rushed. If a correction is needed, quick hands are called for.

Shifting

On the huge majority of autocross courses, there is little shifting. Most manual
cars run the large majority of the course in second gear. But, if you’re banging
the rev limiter for more than a couple of seconds, go ahead and upshift if you
will have at least five seconds in the higher gear.
The movement to shift should be quick but smooth. You want to get your hand
back on the wheel.
Heal and toeing is a great technique, but it is difficult. Don’t approach heel and
toeing too literally. Some folks toe and heel. Many people (including some
great autocrossers) just can’t do it.

     Practice it on a quiet road, without passengers, until you see if you can get it.
     Experiment with different placements of your foot on the brake pedal. For
     me, placing my toe on the brake on the upper left quarter of the brake
     pedal works. Its easier to heel and toe when you are really getting into the
     brake; the angles just work better. It can be really hard to do if you are just
     applying light brake pressure.

     Sometime, shoes can make the difference. Running shoes with big heels are
     probably the easiest shoes to heel and toe in; however, they have their
     drawbacks in terms of pedal feel.

Braking

We covered some braking topics under Key #4. Some additional points:

The proper amount of pressure on the pedal will vary. In a non-abs car, push
until you feel a good amount of resistance through the pedal. ABS cars are
harder to modulate in this way. With those, just keep pressing.
At the beginning and intermediate levels, try to do most of your braking in a
straight line. Remember, tires can only do one thing well at a time.
Trail braking is common technique used for understeering cars. By trail
braking, we mean braking past the turn in for the corner apex. This will help a
plowing car turn, but will often cause a spin is not used judiciously.

Throttle

With the gas pedal, it always pays to be gentle... SQUEEZE the gas pedal.
If you start breaking traction at either the front or the rear of the car, stop
squeezing. Feel for the point of the throttle position just before you induce
wheelspin and adjust lightly around that position depending on what the car is
doing.
If you are on the gas in a turn, be careful about reducing the throttle. If you are
near the cornering limit of the car or on a slick surface, lifting can lead to a spin.
Dont dawdle while moving between the gas and the brake. The movement
should be quick. The challenge is to modulate your movement once you're at
the new pedal to keep the car motions smooth. work quite well.