The Autocrossing Tips Thread

[jcox07]

Michael, ride with some fast drivers and see it from the passenger seat and focus on the lines they take and when they pick up the gas and when they brake.

[MARKP]

Better yet, take the Evo School and have some of them drive your car and teach you the line, the throttle, etc.

[dewittpayne]

Jinx Jordan was telling me to keep a steady throttle through the sweepers. While that is true, I now think what I was trying to do was compensate for not entering the sweeper fast enough. Unfortunately, like trying to make up for turning too late at the first cone of a slalom, you can't do it without losing even more time.

[ConeEater]

Yep...evo for the win.

Those sweepers were tricky last weekend. If you got them just right (which I did not), you could keep some amount of throttle going.
I had to feather in allot of spots

[thrdeye]

Thought I'd bump this. If you haven't started listening to the Autocross Talk podcast, you should. Lots of helpful stuff in there and a ton of content.

I was listening to Strano's and the way he described his approach to looking ahead and reading a course while driving really clicked for me. Constantly asking himself "What's next?, what's next?"

[ConeEater]

Yep, that's something he drills into you at evo... Kept asking me that during phase two. You get to the point of hearing that in your head even when you're alone.

That and looking THRU the corner not at it.

[steverife]

I think a combination of karting to stay sharp and listening to those is a large part of why I've been able to really step up my consistently thus far this year.

[disneyd]

Yeah, I've been listening to those too. One of the tips I picked up that helped a lot was, "don't look at the cones... look at where you want to go". Sounds simple but it clicked with me as well.

[JohnSmith]

Funny, this year I tell myself "Don't be a *****" and my times get faster.

[steverife]

I have to amp myself up a bit before I run --- which is why you might see me clapping my hands or slapping my helmet --- but I think that is kind of different. I'm still trying to place the car, brake early, etc. I just need to in a mindset where I'm not really startled when the car starts to move around.

[Buck05Sti]

I have to amp myself up a bit before I run --- which is why you might see me clapping my hands or slapping my helmet --- but I think that is kind of different. I'm still trying to place the car, brake early, etc. I just need to in a mindset where I'm not really startled when the car starts to move around.

Kinda funny you mention this, because for me it's the exact opposite. Before i run i try and get as calm and focused as possible so i dont make adrenaline-induced mistakes. I used to get shaking nervous before runs, which would cause me to jerk the wheel way too often. I find the calmer i can get before a run, i tend to make smarter, less jerky moves and can better think about where im trying to put the car.

[Teufelshund]

Does anyone have a link to the podcast?

[thrdeye]

Does anyone have a link to the podcast?

http://autocrosstalk.com/

I use an app on droid called "Podcast Addict" to listen. Works real well.

[disneyd]

Some other interesting podcasts I've been listening to:

Speed Secrets (Ross Bently)
SlipAngle (not sure about this one yet)

[Teufelshund]

Thanks guys!