1. What did you think about the overall experience with the previous autocross?
DJ: Yee Haw! The weather was beautiful, the track was great and the people were friendly! I was especially pleased to see new faces from other regions. We had folks there from Alabama, Arkansas, Louisiana and Tennessee. I guess the pressure's on us to repay the visit(s)!
LC: As usual, I really enjoyed the event. If it's not fun, why do it, right? Everything seemed to go pretty smooth as far as timing and getting people and cars moving along. I personally would like to see more runs; and I think with our improving "quickness" that's pretty feasible, even with our recent "large" turnouts. But the company is great, everybody pulls their own weight (some more), and everybody usually has fun. I send out a big "THANKS!!!" to all that attend and work...and a bigger "THANKS!!!" to those volunteers that work and don't play.
2. What did you think of the course, including most or least favorite sections?
LC: I thought the course designer(s) did an excellent job. The course, although it had two first gear sections, was pretty smooth and flowing. With the two turnarounds, the RWD 240SX was right at home, so I had no complaints with those. In fact, I think the turnaround on the west end where some of the course was run in reverse is a great way to lengthen a course without requiring more space. I saw that design "technique" used at an event last year and was waiting for it to be used again. The offset esses had a nice, chicane/roadcourse feel to them. I really liked that area and the whole back section of the course. A trend I've noticed is the setup of the start. Having a lower horsepower car, I liked the fact that there wasn't a dragstrip straightaway start. I also liked the final decreasing slalom. It challenged me, but I think I figured it out.
DJ: Last Sunday's course was excellent! The guys started out just trying to dodge the RV's camping in our lot and came up with a really interesting layout unlike what we normally have at the coliseum. It included sweepers, high and low speed sections and reducing distance slaloms that were tricky.
3. Did you use any special car setup or driving style that you think was beneficial?
DJ: Our car setup is pretty standard for FWD cars; Good tires (we've been running Azenis but just bought some ECSTA MX's that are great also) and stiffen the rear so the car will rotate (we use adjustable shocks in stock class but the street prepared folks can also change rear swaybars). I pump up the front tires to 43-45psi so they don't rollover. I also toe-out the front wheels to improve turn in. I marked the steering rod adjusters with nail polish and add one turn on the adjuster on each side. If you do this, make the adjustment at the event and reset it before you leave. I used to do it at home and caused a lot of wear to my front tires just traveling to/from the event.
LC: My car setup stays pretty much the same. At the end of last year, I went to stiffer springs and a bigger, adjustable front sway bar. I hardly ever adjust the sway bars unless I'm having a big handling problem...which is rarely the case. Our surface is pretty consistent and most of my other stomping grounds (Memphis, Grenada, Pensacola) have similarly gritty, sandlot surfaces. I usually tinker with the shocks, depending on if the course has a lot of transitions or a lot of steady-state turns. If there's a lot of transitions and/or the course is particularly gritty, I'll turn the rear shocks down a notch or two to keep the rear end under me. This course had a little bit of everything in equal proportions, so I just left everything on their usual settings and it seemed to work pretty good. The car was really neutral and oversteer was just a right foot punch away. A recent improvement to the car was a set of stickier tires...well, stickier than the Kuhmo 712's I've been running. The Yoko AVS ES100's are a great tire for the buck. Everything you and the suspension does is transmitted through the tires' contact patches...so never underestimate the value of a good set of tires.
As far as driving style, all I can say is keep it smooth. In the turnarounds, I gave it up to keep the front end from plowing. That way I could get the front end turned in and where I wanted it. Once I got the car turned, I could use the throttle to help rotate the car (not to be mistaken for spinning the car...countersteer is not fast). If you go in too hot, you plow all the way around the turnaround, and your exit speed suffers.
4. What's your best autocross advice to give?
LC: Walk the course...a lot. Analyze it. Memorize it. Think you got it? Sit in your car and close your eyes. Now drive the course in you mind. Visualize shift points, braking zones, where you're gonna get on the throttle, and where you want the car to be. After you do it for a while, the length of your visualization will be within a few seconds of your actual time. When it comes to your turn, you've already "driven" the course. You'll never get lost and you have a good foundation to add more information to as you drive the course for real. It gives you a head start. So walk it. Walk it by yourself and with others...one so you can concentrate on your own technique, and the other so you can share ideas about how to make it through a particular section the fastest.
DJ: Advice? Participate at whatever level you have the most fun. There's no money to be made so you gotta have fun or there's no reason to be there! Driving advice? Ask questions, watch, and ride, when possible, with the experienced people. There's lots of good info on the web but I feel like I've picked up more just watching and listening to the more experienced drivers. The biggest improvement for me has been learning to be smoother (not natural for me!). Any sudden change in direction or speed upsets the car and reduces the available traction between tires and course.