AutoCross events this fall at the Meadowlands parking lot

[IROCZman15]

I have been entertaining the idea of doing an autoX event this year since the Optima Batteries USCA event did not come to NJMP this year. I have been looking at the schedule on www.autox4u.com and see that there are a few events left at the Meadowlands parking lot. There are several others in nearby states, but I don't think I'll have the time to travel all that far, so I am most likely just going to do the one at the Meadowlands. Some others are SCCA events and some are MSNE events. different classes, different rules, probably both tons of fun

https://www.autox4u.com/events/
and
http://motorsportsne.com/


With my crazy weekend schedule it appears I can only make it to the October 20th and/or November 17 events.


October 20 is a SCCA event. http://scca-nnjr.com/ I may not make this one, but as of now I am not working and have no other events, so I am keeping it on the calendar

November 17 is more likely to happen for me and it is still the SCCa event. who knows what the weather etc will be around that time though


If anyone has been, please enlighten me (us). I know to clear everything loose out of the car and to bring a helmet. I know to bring basic tools and an air pump for tire pressure. From what I've read, cars are split up into different groups, so one group races, the other shags cones and works the track and the third rests or preps their cars. right?

I am mostly oin to enjoy and flog on the car a bit. I have a hurt rear diff which is well past its expiration date as it only has 4 of the 5 bolts holding the posi-unit together. I do plan on replacing the entire rear and driveshaft this winter, so flogging on the rear this season will not be a total bummer if something bad happens... hopefully it doesnt, but we shall see.




anyone else interested?
(in any of the events/dates that are on the above websites, not just the ones I might go to)
anyone have input or advice?

[Blackbirdws6]

I'd be interested if time allows. I've never done one of these so I would also like some insight.

[LS1ow]

Ill be there to spectate

[IROCZman15]

nobody else?
It is definitely a fun cool opportunity to get a bit of heavy driving time in with your car. you dont need to go out and buy special tires or do anything extreme to the car. really just show up, pass tech, follow the rules, help out, and push the car a bit harder than you would do so on the street. the run courses are short so you wont have to worry about overheating or killing away brake pads and tires in a day.

I still plan on going. drove my car into work today and things are feeling really good with it so I'm partially ready for Oct 20.

[ar0ck]

Id definitely be interested in spectating.

[TaKid455]

Been there a few times over the years. Its pretty laxed for those who want to have fun. You are classed. They will find a class for you if you dont 'fit' in any one particular class. The hardcore guys will kick your butt any way so its not a big deal. It is fun to watch your personal time improve drastically over the day however. Course changes each time. Some will be tight (miata; s2000, rx8, brz will dominate) and other times is more open.



" I know to clear everything loose out of the car and to bring a helmet. I know to bring basic tools and an air pump for tire pressure. From what I've read, cars are split up into different groups, so one group races, the other shags cones and works the track and the third rests or preps their cars. right?"

You pretty much nailed it. They do sessions so you work half the day and race the other. 2 sets of sessions.

[qwikz28]

I've done about 10 or so SCCA/NASA days so far in East Rutherford. Let me know if you go, I'll be more inclined to take mine out and run. I didn't go this year or last because of the move and the kid, but I need to take it out at least once before the end of the year.

Clean the car out like you said, bring a roll of painters tape to write your class and car number on either side, bring a helmet and bring water and snacks.

The thing about autocross is its more driver than car since classes are pretty strict. You'll probably end up in one of the CAM classes anyway, so the likelihood of you being competitive on your first go is close to nil. Don't be discouraged by that. I'm not competitive either and I've done this numerous times. THE MOST IMPORTANT THING IS WALKING THE COURSE FIRST. AS A MATTER OF FACT, WALK THE COURSE THREE TIMES. GET THERE EARLY AND WALK THE COURSE! You won't have GPS, you need to anticipate each corner, and you need to do it real time while trying to place the car around a tiny cone. You may get lost on the course and the OGs (especially at SCCA) will get annoyed since that halts runs. I know it's lame, but I like to walk the course pretending I have a steering wheel in my hands and walk the course how I want to place the car, apexing and all. It helps me remember the course better. I still forget the course once in a while, but no where near as bad as my first time. Oh, and take your first run at 70-80% only so you have more time to focus on the course instead of times.

Last, I've driven a road course, I've drag raced, and I've autocrossed. To me, autocrossing is the most fun. Yes, you only race about 5-6 minutes in total for an entire day event. Yes, you have to work cone duty for hours. But, you get to go 100% without worrying about destroying your rear axle or spinning into a wall.

And don't be surprised that you are losing to Miatas, Civics and Focuses. That's just how it is.

[IROCZman15]

Welp, I am registered for the Saturday October 20th event

I am excited. Not really planning on changing much at all on the car since I am very well comfortable with its street manners as it currently sits. Probably going to leave the sound system in the trunk also, otherwise the back end would be lighter than I am used to it being. Maybe crank up the shocks and struts a little bit. and the day of, play with tire pressure. I gotta get the nitrous tank filled up too even though I may not use it too much anyways. Will focus on track walks and navigating the track as a primary goal. Not going there to compete against anyone else, but mostly going out there to push the car to find its limits so I can ride that fine line. Don't care if it rains, I've done the rainy autoX in 2016 at NJMP millville and it was a blast.


Registration is open:

http://www.autox4u.com/clubs/nnjr-scca/
or
https://www.motorsportreg.com/events...ey-solo-503899


I am pumped up to do this now that car show season is pretty much over for me and I have a bit over 1,400 miles on the car this 2018 year... so if my rear diff completely breaks (it is certainly majorly wounded and has 172,000 miles on it!!), I can end the year happy.

if all goes well, I will probably head back to do the autoX event November 17

[IROCZman15]

event is in 6 days.
anyone want to join in and flog on your cars instead of just leaving them in the garage all year long and being bored chumping around at a car show? this is your chance to do so.


here is a pretty informative video about what to expect.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vfbNq3rg0o


c'mon ladies
I'm going there WITH a hurt rear differential and plans to not go easy on the car. I also have expectations to go back there November 17 and do it again.

[IROCZman15]

pre-registration is still open, but closes tomorrow afternoon.

sign up soon if you are interested. so far 111 registered participants. Myself and a friend I have raced against (twice at the USCA autoX and road course event at NJMP) are the only two so far in the "Classic American Muscle - Traditional" class. Ryan has a full purpose built 87 mustang set on kill for autoX and road racing which he does a few dozen times a year. (widebody, LS3 engine, t56, insane suspension, 315wide tires on all 4 corners, no interior, etc) So I plan on learning a lot from him that day.

weather looks Ok at this point. should be fun no matter what

[IROCZman15]

I went and had a ton of fun despite getting my butt kicked big time by lots of little imports .

I arrived early around 7:15 am, checked in at the gate, got a wristband and confirmed my class as CAM-T (classic american muscle - traditional) and Novice for driver level. Unloaded my gear, and walked the course twice. It was a big course compared to the ones I had run before down at NJMP. Went to the 8am Novice drivers meeting and then we walked the course again. My work assignment was during heat 1 (which began at 10am), so I was stationed in the middle of the infield area to shag cones if they were struck for about 90 mins. then the second heat ran and this was my "break" or "off time" which I used to prep the car more, eat a lunch, and get into the staging grid area.

I ran in heat 3. we all got 6 runs each. The CAM-T class was only three cars total. one being an 88 firebird that has won various regional and national scca autoX championships, and the other being an 87 mustang (described above) drive by my friend Ryan and this thing is killller and built ONLy for tearing it up on the autoX courses (think $5,500 in shocks and struts alone). yea. So it goes without saying that I finished 3rd out of the 3 in my class.

As a novice car/drive we are also classed among eachother.. but some of these novice drivers have super high end modded cars. I was happy with how I stacked up against these super leihtweight cars, cars with 4 wheel ABS, race tires, solar powered tire warming devices that they put on between runs, big turbos, gutted interiors, traction control gadgets, all wheel drive setups, etc. I am never (and will never) want to turn my car into a gutted-out competition car, so that's that. it will always remain a street car at heart.

As a novice, I had to have an instructor with me during my first run. It was good, but I was a bit overwhelmed at first and locked up the brakes too much so I hit a cone and then got off course for one turn, so my run did not count. Run two was better but I was still learning the course. (There is no videos of run 1 or 2). Run 3 I was dong pretty good until about halfway when I missed a turn and therefore went off course and run did not count. Run 4 was clean but focused on not getting lost so a bit slower. Run 5 was my best with run 6 not far behind. Just when I go the hang of the course and brought my tire pressure wayyy down, the day was done. I finished with the 14th fastest time of the 22 novice drivers, but with some type of points/penalty/PAX index I ended up 17th out of 22 novice drivers. many of which had way way more well sorted cars for this type of racing.

I learned a LOT. I learned how heavy the damn car is to throw around on a big long autocross course. I learned that my 300 treadwear tires are really impeeding me in turns and braking. I learned that for sure I need an adjustable proportioning valve... as a few friends I made there helped me determine that my rear disc brakes are doing hardly any braking and the front ones are doing almost all the work, causing me to nose dive and throw balance off.
I also learned that this is fun as hell and for $85 plus fuel, food, and drinks it was a great day. I learned that 6 runs back to back (within 8 mins of eachother) is good for the tires, but made my power steering system relly unhappy. I never lost power steering but I could hear the pump whining during run 4,5, and 6. Had a few dozen drips of power steering fluid on the ground and splattered in the engine bay. After letting it cool down and then driving home, I had no issues and no more drips when back at my house. My rear diff held up. Did not get to use any nitrous because there were no straight-enough areas when the car was settled enough to hit it.



I didn't have too much time to do photography since when you are working the course you are not supposed to be using your phone, and when you are racing, you cant either. in the heat that I had "off" i was busy checking over the car, eating lunch, getting into grid, etc... so sorry, not too much media from this event....but here is a link to about 35 photos I took.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/123927...h/44757552674/


some photos

























links to a few videos:



I do plan on gong to the November 17 event.

[Blackbirdws6]

Glad you had a good time out there and learned a good bit. That wing in the last pic is umm....interesting.

Depending on weather/schedule, I may try to join you on the 17th. I'm sure with the cooler weather, it will be tricky getting any reasonable heat in the tires.

[IROCZman15]

thanks. yea there were some "interesting " cars and modifications there, but most of them out-performed me, so I guess they work??

no idea what happened to my video links in the above post, but here they are:

porsche: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9EB2dXPRO0

misc footage from some of my snapchat media: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2PmPHaeqJQI&t=4s

Run3:
in car: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jWC7kZxiYg&t=1s
GoPro: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o8CgitrxSUw

Run4:
in car: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0C75IR23Ro
GoPro: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=35loJiJMl-w&t=19s

Run 5:
in car: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4nSFrubYReE&t=1s
GoPro: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzlH8tjOBRQ&t=2s

Run6:
in car: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cyzpQXUi9hU&t=2s
GoPro: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jTLbnzquSc&t=3s


does anyone know why my GoPro camera picks up so much damn wind noise and rattles around? I have the case with the waterproof sealed full plastic back cover on it ...I assumed this would not pickup wind noise..but it certainly does. I have the open back case and the dust shielded back case. thoughts??

[Anti_Rice_Guy]

I use the floatie backed case with the suction cup mount on both 3 and 4 models and don't get that sort of wind noise on the boatercycle or Camaro unless we're talking 70+ or an excessively windy day.

[IROCZman15]

Registration is now open for the last AutoX event of the 2018 season at MetLife Stadium

SCCA - Northern New Jersey Region - Solo
Saturday, November 17, 2018
MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford, NJ
Registration ends in 5 days on November 16, 2018 5:59 PM EST




https://www.motorsportreg.com/events...ey-solo-850196


I am registered and set to go. This is an awesome opportunity to have fun and put your car to work. It will only cost you $85 grand total . Who else is in?!?!

[ThoR294]

I hope to go one year. Looks like fun

[IROCZman15]

Had my hopes up, way up when by noon I didn’t hear of any cancelation for tomorrow.

Sadly shortly after that, the email came that even though the SCCA wanted to run the event tomorrow, MetLife decided They didn’t feel Safe about cars racing on areas that might possibly still have ice on them when the first heat goes off at 9 am

Understandable indeed, but I’m bummed because this would
Have been my last race of the year and I was super amped up to go enjoy it

Bummer. Oh well.

[ThoR294]

next year. ill try to go with any of my cars lol

[Blackbirdws6]

These things happen. Next year and come better prepped.

[BonzoHansen]

i think limerock runs winter autocross, in the snow.

[IROCZman15]

Originally Posted by BonzoHansen

i think limerock runs winter autocross, in the snow.

I would definitely need a different type of car for that !!

island was closed today also due to the weather, so I just went out early this morning and drove around north western NJ and put down 104 miles on the car; just for the fun of it.