Damn, I've been gone for a while

[harold]

So, my 944 project got sidelined for a while by my friend's baby. Since that's not drivable, my Focus has been playing the part of my autocross car. It wasn't until I realized I need parts for both it and my 944 that I figured out I haven't been here for a long time. Anybody else doing autocross?

[dartfork]

A few of us on here, myself included, have done the Amery Autocross a few times. I might be interested in a more official autocross. What is the process of partaking? What kind of restrictions and safety requirements are there? I'm sure this info I'm asking is on the NASA or SCCA website, but I'd like to hear it from someone actually autocrossing a Focus.

[harold]

You don't need any special safety equipment in the car. You need a helmet, but MAC has loaners if you don't have a qualifying helmet.

I'm sure I'll forget something if I try to get it all here, so I'll just link to the MAC Novice Handbook. It's pretty complete and will give a good rundown of what happens at an event.

The gist is that you sign up, take your car through tech and you're in. MAC has 3 events left this year and some of the other clubs have some coming up. MAC is a great club for n00bs because everybody is very welcoming and helpful, but there are also nationally competitive drivers and cars.

[bflesher]

Been thinking of MAC's at Dakota County Tech but after this last Amery leaning towards a track day at BIR. Also think that BFG KDW's are not the greatest auto cross tire, pretty greasy feeling, still but better then the GY Eagles.

[harold]

Been thinking of MAC's at Dakota County Tech but after this last Amery leaning towards a track day at BIR. Also think that BFG KDW's are not the greatest auto cross tire, pretty greasy feeling, still but better then the GY Eagles.

What's to say you can't do both? Autocross is pretty cheap.

[dartfork]

You don't need any special safety equipment in the car. You need a helmet, but MAC has loaners if you don't have a qualifying helmet.

I'm sure I'll forget something if I try to get it all here, so I'll just link to the MAC Novice Handbook. It's pretty complete and will give a good rundown of what happens at an event.

The gist is that you sign up, take your car through tech and you're in. MAC has 3 events left this year and some of the other clubs have some coming up. MAC is a great club for n00bs because everybody is very welcoming and helpful, but there are also nationally competitive drivers and cars.

You have to be logged in to see your link. By just scanning the forums, it looks pretty formal. ...talk of what class you car is and what have you...

[harold]

You have to be logged in to see your link. By just scanning the forums, it looks pretty formal. ...talk of what class you car is and what have you...

That's weird. I'll hit up one of the moderators to have that fixed.

If that forum looks formal to you, I don't know what to tell you. People ask questions about their cars and discuss some rules, but they also suggest adding vertical loops to the course design. I posted a question here about cleaning my windshield, but that doesn't mean focinite doesn't drunk post. Forums are about sharing information, so people are going to use them to ask questions about rules, but it's not like the MAC forum is any more buttoned up than MN Focus is.

[harold]

Alright, the moderators have fixed it. Go take a look at the Novice Handbook.

[dartfork]

You have to be logged in to see your link. By just scanning the forums, it looks pretty formal. ...talk of what class you car is and what have you...

That's weird. I'll hit up one of the moderators to have that fixed.

If that forum looks formal to you, I don't know what to tell you. People ask questions about their cars and discuss some rules, but they also suggest adding vertical loops to the course design. I posted a question here about cleaning my windshield, but that doesn't mean focinite doesn't drunk post. Forums are about sharing information, so people are going to use them to ask questions about rules, but it's not like the MAC forum is any more buttoned up than MN Focus is.

Thanks for getting the novice handbook accessible.

Regarding formality, You misunderstood. I meant if the participants are talking about classes of cars, the races themselves are more formalized then the Amery autocross, where anything runs. There are no classes. There isn't any worrying if a modification is going to put you in a class that you are seriously disadvantaged in. If your car is safe you race and see how it does. Completely informal. However that event is few and far between.

So how are the MAC events relative to that?

[harold]

Regarding formality, You misunderstood. I meant if the participants are talking about classes of cars, the races themselves are more formalized then the Amery autocross, where anything runs. There are no classes. There isn't any worrying if a modification is going to put you in a class that you are seriously disadvantaged in. If your car is safe you race and see how it does. Completely informal. However that event is few and far between.

So how are the MAC events relative to that?

Gotcha. Yes, there are classes because MAC puts on 8-9 events per year and they've got trophies and an awards banquet. We also use the PAX/RTP (Professional Autocrossers or Relative Theoretical Performance) index to decide overall winners. That's kind of hard to do without classes. You can still run pretty much anything that's safe and you'll get your raw time and can compare it to everybody else just like you would if there was no class structure.

The idea behind the class system is to give people with similar preparation levels something to compete for instead of everybody going for fastest time of the day. Otherwise what's the point in showing up with a stock Hyundai Sonata if there's somebody who brought an A Mod car? Classes aren't there to penalize people, they're there to give them some competition.

I'm going to be running the Focus in STF (Street Touring Front wheel drive) because that class allows common mods for people who want to make their car more fun for the street. My 944 will be in X Prepared and will be totally outgunned by one of the other local efforts in a stripped and highly-modified Subaru Impreza because I wanted to put a V8 in my 944. You can build a car to the class rules or you can run what you've got. It you're just out to have a good time, there's no reason you should care if your car isn't competitive in its class.