The basic rules are the same for any driving event. The trick in autocrossing
is to look as far ahead as possible to link as many of them together as
possible. You basically worry mostly about your track space (just fitting the
car through). The car can be moving all over the place, but if you keep it
pointed in the right direction, you are O.K. Things happen very quickly, so
reactions need to be fast as well. In road racing, you have a bit more time to
think about the proper line, get lined up, and HIT YOUR APEXES! You can
generally only see one to two turns ahead and you have to feel the slip angle
of your car well to be fast. Neither one is easier than the other, road racing
just has more serious consequences for mistakes.
Chris Kolstad
914 2.0 CSP
At 02:22 PM 5/4/00 , James Creasy wrote:
>i didnt read the article, but it is obvious that late apexing has less
>benefit in autocross because the straights are so short compared to a road
>race track. remember to late apex you go slower than a geometric apex on
>the first part of the turn, hoping to make it up by more speed all down the
>straight. in autox there another turn awaiting you shortly, so the idea of
>a good line for a particular turn is affected greatly by what comes before
>and after.
>
>ive autoxed a FWD car with excellent handling and power, a RWD torqueless
>car with good handling, and a RWD monster car with ... hey i dont need no
>stinkn handling, ive got TORQUE! hehe and for the most part i think the
>fast way is very similar in all of them: get on the gas smooth, brake late
>and smooth, trail brake, use all the track, and carry maximum speed through
>the corner while looking ahead and linking it smoothly with the next corner.
>be smooth and look ahead. my advice is not to get too worked up about
>differences in cars until you can reliably execute basic technique properly
>(i cant yet).
>
>comments?
>
>-James "torque poisoned" Creasy
>President, BAPOC www.klio.net/probe
>FFR Cobra #1630 www.klio.net/cobra
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Jeremy Bergsman <jeremybb@leland.Stanford.EDU>
>To: ba-autox@autox.team.net <ba-autox@autox.team.net>
>Date: Thursday, May 04, 2000 2:02 PM
>Subject: best line
>
>
> >Could people comment on the learning to autocross article in the recent
> >Sport Car? My question concerns the advice to drive the shortest path
> >through the course and concentrate on the slowest turns rather than
> >approaching the turns like in road racing where you will try to increase
> >exit speed before the straights. To what extent does this decision depend
> >on your car's acceleration/handling mix?
> >
> >Thanks.
> >--
> >Jeremy Bergsman
> >jeremybb@stanford.edu
> >http://www.stanford.edu/~jeremybb
>
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