AutoCross School experience

[racer_d]

Originally Posted by kabel

Are multi-point harnesses required for DE's?

Depends. See.. PCA has some minimum regulations. However, each region can implement additional levels of regulations.

For example. Potomac PCA, in their tech form, states that any car that exceeds PCA Stock and Prepared class mods (ie, would run as a GT class car) be equipped with GT class safety.

Thus, lets say you had a 1980 911 that came with a 3.0 liter motor. You wanted more power and installed a 3.6 liter motor from a 1993 911. That is a "GT class" mod. Therefore, you would need a cage, race seats, harnesses, Fire supression system etc. (Of course, enforcement is another issue, I am just giving an example of one regions take on safety)

So while harnesess may not be required now, it is conceivable that the OP could run with a region that has different ideas of safety than his "home" region.

Since the OP has the already fantastic seats and rollbar extender, and fire extinguisher, the next "logical" safety issue is harnesses and potential a Hans like device.

Be careful going "too low" as you will find the Computer sits under your seat and room may be a limiting issue.

[Perfectlap]

autox can be a bit grueling, particularly in the NY area. I used to come out for the NY SCCA at Nassau but there were just TOOOO many guys showing up. They had to do three sessions to get everyone in. And the Sunday afternoon traffic was a nightmare. I did the EVO school there and it was great, he did half of it in a monsoon which was pretty cool.

You'll have better luck in NJ in terms of seat time, particularly the PCA events. It's more skill development oriented where the SCCA and others are more geared toward competition. The Giants Stadium venue is very good for Autocross, the lot is very open and they usually don't put the cones so close that you can't get going.

By the way, Autox may seem like a chore but you'll sharpen your skills with the brake and throttle about 1000% more than you would in a DE where you have forever to set up for a corner. Safer Autocross drivers make for safer track drivers. It took me a solid 12-15 autocross events before I could stay focused on the next gat rather than being target fixated on the gate I was currently in.

www.autox4u.com

[2000SoCalBoxsterS]

At this particular AutoX school they did limit the registration to only 30 cars. I didn't go to the full timed AutoX event the following day on Sunday so I don't know how many cars were there. But it was PCA and Porsches only. I got so badly sun-burned on Saturday that I couldn't do the AutoX especially in the heat we had last Sunday.

I would like to checkout the Jersey PCA events though. What is that club chapters website? Also, what is EVO? I know there is an EVO parts company, and I bought an EVO magazine, and I hear EVO this and EVO that, but what is EVO?

[kabel]

Evo = Evolution Performance Driving School: http://www.evoschool.com/

Focuses on improving autocross driving skills, lots of fun!

[Perfectlap]

EVO is another autocross school but they charge $250 which cuts the number of cars in a big way which means more seat time and less standing around. They have a Phase I and Phase II. I did Phase I as a half day event because I'd already done about a season of autocross at that point. It's all the basic stuff and they set up a very uncomplicated course. You'll find that with AutoX it becomes repetitive after about 15 events because you only have about a half dozen types of gates: hairpin, slalom, six pin, chicago box, slight turn, long turn, etc.
I did the Phase II as a whole day and the course was much more complex and technical like a long straight leading into a very tight turn leading into a hairpin so you only had about a half second to get on the brake before you were plowing through a bunch of cones...which of course I did three times in a row! Its a very busy course.

Here's the link for the NJ PCA
The guy that runs autocross there runs a tight ship so you usually get at least 10 runs and you're done in the shortest amount of time. But the best part is that SCCA run their Englishtown events on the same day so the autocross following isn't all bunched into to the same venue. The non-Porsche drivers get classified into an X group where they all compete against each other no matter engine size.
I think if you join the PCA you get a 10% service discount at some NJ Porsche dealers so it pays for itself.