Can someone explain autocross to me?

Brian G. Wilson

Seriously, I'm not trying to be an idiot here. Can someone please explain how autocross / Solo 2 work? Is it a straight live with cones set up to create a slalom course? Is it cones set up in the middle of a parking lot to create a course? I've read something about a PAX.....

I googled it for my area and there is a club, FAST in the Tampa Bay Area. So I went to their web site and it has nothing on course maps or any other information, just sign up info. Went to the section they had for classes and it had little information on cars and said if you don't see kart classes, it's because we don't allow them.

Just looking for general info like how your typical day is, what goes on, etc.
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Jared Langenfeld · Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2012 1:42 pm Post subject:

It is basically a course outlined in cones, usually setup in a parking lot or any large area of pavement. The course can involve slaloms, offsets, hairpins, long sweepers, increasing or decreasing radius turns, any sort of elements the course designer wants. A course is usually about 40-70 seconds long and you do one run, wait for the rest of the heat, then another run for 3-4 runs. The biggest challenge with auto-x is learning a course (course walking is huge) and being able to master it in 3-4 runs because there are never the same two courses.

In the Kansas City region, we have a different type of venue in that we use a police urban facility as our location, but the basics are the same. You can go to the following link to see our course maps of 2011.

http://www.kcrscca.org/new/content/2011-solo-championship-results
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Alan Sheidler · Joined: 09 Aug 2001 Posts: 471

Basic information:

Generally very serpentine course layouts, defined by traffic cones, and electronically timed with specified start and finish lines. Normal autocross has minimum 3 runs, some clubs 4, 5, 6 or more. Course length varies from 30 seconds to over a minute. Different course designs are almost always used, with a few exceptions for special recurring events. Most autocross clubs declare finishing order within classes based on the single best (lowest ET) time recorded for each driver/vehicle combination. Many two-day (weekend) events have two distinct layouts, and best times are combined from each day for finish position.

Pro Solo variation uses a drag-race style "Christmas tree" start, with 150 - 300 ft. start straights followed by mirror image serpentine courses (usually shorter than regular solo) and discrete finishes. All drivers run both sides, with scoring based on combined right and left lowest ET's.

Displacing or knocking over the pylons brings a time penalty, usually 2 seconds per cone.

Most, but not all, SCCA regions offer a class for adults to run karts, some locations have more than one. Many regions also have well-defined kart classes for children. There are plenty of independent clubs which do not allow karts, and there are some which do.

Ask again if more information is needed.

Scott Boito · Posted: Mon Mar 26, 2012 1:53 pm Post subject:

Youtube can show you what the courses look like from kart height. For example, from the Dixie National Tour earlier this month: James Newman.

Lots more on Youtube if you search for National tour, autocross, autox, scca solo, etc. To see how the best autoxes run, youtube search ProSolo like Alan mentioned.

PAX is just the handicap associated with all of the different classes to get everyone on the same measurement scale. KM (F125)'s PAX is close to 1 (currently 0.952), whereas slow street cars are less than 0.8. Theoretically it allows everyone to gauge how they're doing against other drivers instead of other cars.
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Joe Ricard · Posted: Tue Mar 27, 2012 8:28 am Post subject:

In many respects Autocross is much harder than running on a track. Because you never get any practice runs. the surface is normally very slick so grip is a challenge in the early runs and can "sometimes" gain lots of grip after cars put down rubber. or the course could get worse with wearing away pebbles coming up.

Tracks you get to mess up a corner and get another chance in the next lap on hot tires same conditions. Autocross you screw it up well you might not get another run for 30 minutes on colder/cooler tires on a different grip surface.

in a word "Autocross in a shifter kart is slightly controlled chaos" sprinkled in with "oh crap", Oops, and dang it".

Only thing harder would be three or four karts running the solo course at the same time W2W.
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Brian G. Wilson · Posted: Tue Mar 27, 2012 1:40 pm Post subject:

How do you warm up your tires before a run if you sit so long? I know when I go out for a practice session, the first lap I just take it easy and still feel my kart sliding all around until the tires warm up. In autocross, it seems like you would constantly be running on cold tires without any grip.
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Ron Dodson · Joined: 27 Aug 2009 Posts: 51

Alan Sheidler · Joined: 09 Aug 2001 Posts: 471

No tire warm-ups (and no active tire warmers either), with the exception of an available burn-out prior to launching at Pro Solos. Is why we all run soft rubber, like the MG Green. Grip can be a challenge. Autocross set-ups tend to be way too stiff/tight/quick for use on tracks. A couple of laps on a sprint track in an autocross set up shifter kart will beat you up and wear you out! Shocked

Yes, having a co-driver does help keep heat in the tires, but it is still not at all like consecutive laps at a track.