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Auto-Crossing Info

Searching for Information
The largest resource many people have today is the internet. Miata.net is an awesome resource to find info on autoX. They have a community link that is filled with lots of info. There, I found the Windy City Miata Club which has numerous events all summer long. The Rockford Sportscar Club has different events in my area also. Biggest difference between the two...the Miata club is relaxed + social + has lots of autoX days. Several of the days are located at the NIU campus, which is 50 minutes from my house. The Rockford club does autoX, but they also have track days + driving schools. The autoX event is at a local race track which is nearby + the track/driving school events are within driving distance. My wife + I have busy schedules + these events are close by + conveinant.

Prepping my Miata (Windy)
I want to get my feet wet, before jumping into the lake! I want to try + stay in the stock class for a year or so while I learn + go to each autoX event. AutoX is a fun, safe, and social event, but some clubs/events are more strict with the rules than others. Find out the rules for the club/event you are interested in! For example, the Rockford Sportscar Club seems to follow the rules to the letter. In other words...if I were to change/upgrade my sway bar to a stronger bar, I would be assessed a point by the tech inspector that day. The more points I get, the more likely I will be put into another class. Remember...as of April of 2005, I am a rookie + want to stay in a more simple class. I do not think I am ready to "rock-n-roll" with the big dogs...YET!

I found lots of ideas + opinions on prepping for an autoX day. My philosophy is K.I.S.S.- Keep It Simple Stupid! In the picture to the right, you see a driver adjusting tire pressure. I kept mine at 40 psi and that seemed to be OK.
1. Maintenance From exhaust to brakes, you dont have to be an expert, but look everything over. Get everything running right.
2. Alignment Do some research on the type of allignment you want + get it done. A good allignment is a must!
3. Tires Right now I am working with my 14" stock rims...they are fairly light, strong, and good for auto-crossing. So as long as I stay away from race tires or slicks, I will stay in the stock class. See Tire & Brake page for more info.

My First AutoX
The Windy City Miata Club had its "Test-n-Tune" autoX day at the NIU campus in April 2005. I researched the website and followed the guidelines. Packed a lunch, brought helmet(SA2000 approved), folding chair, small hand tools, and I dressed for the weather. When I got there, the cones were already laid out and I had already emptied my car of floormats, armrest junk, and trunk stuff the night before. I found a parking spot and put all my stuff in a pile(helmet, etc...). I checked in, paid the fee of $25, chose a number for the day, and got a soap marker for my side windows. I was very surprised that there was not an inspection of the cars by a tech. With this club it is a "self-tech" issue. The only problem with this is after 2-3 more races, I am out of the "rookie-class" and into the stock class. That means I am driving against the experienced drivers that could have all kinds of mods going on. There are only three things that put you out of the stock class...turbo-charger, super-charger, or race tires. Other clubs/events may have more strict rules. I also got a map and walked the course twice. THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT! Know your course, directions, layout, etc...before racing.

Driver's Meeting
The driver's meeting was at 9:30 and the instructions/directions were pretty clear even for me "the rookie". At the end of the meeting they had put us into groups + classes. I was 1 of 4 first-timers, but 1 of 7 in my class. Their were 44 cars and three groups. There were mostly Miatas(some with TC/SC, race tires, aggressive suspensions, etc...), 2-3 Mustangs, 2 Subaru STi's, Mazda 6, Porsche, BMW Z3, and an old MG. My group was manning the course first and I was put with two others at a station. These two guys were very helpful with all my questions. One was a Miata owner, one was a Porsche owner. Whenever there was a penalty, they explained what happens and what to do. It was nice to see the group one racers on the course first, to see where the tough spots were going to be. In the beginning, there were several that DNF-Did Not Finish. Some drivers were off by a little, where others were way off the course. One got soooo frustrated, that after his second run...he left the lot. He was in a Mustang + it was not handling the course very well.

Diagram
The white picture on the right is a simple diagram of how the course was laid out. Each dot represented a cone. Each cone that is moved/knocked down from its spot is a two second penalty. The purple dots were the slalom, the red dots were cones for the skid-pad, and the blue dots reprsented cones for the garages. Just by looking at the diagram, I thought the garage(their were two) would be the hardest part of the track. They don't look that tough, but the openings were 2 1/2 parking spaces wide, and at 35 mph...its harder than it looks. The area that gave me the most trouble was the 1st slalom. I was either too fast through them + knocking over cones, or too slow + no cone problem. The skid pads were a trouble spot for many racers. The slower racers were too fast, which made them too wide, or too slow which raised their time. It seemed hard to find the right speed and stay close to those cones.

Each group would get ten runs on the course(5 in the morning + 5 in afternoon). Group one got their five runs on the course. When they were finished, group three(my group) got to rest or prep cars. At this time, I asked drivers in group two if I could ride along. All said yes, and I got to experienced that course with a seasoned driver. Each ride was AWESOME! I listened to anything they had to say. They all said similar things such as...
1. Go slower through the course the first couple of times till you learn it, then start going faster and start pushing your vehicle around those cones.
2. Always look ahead and your hands will follow.
3. Cones do not mean death. If you hit a cone, you hit a cone...no biggy.

Driving that Course
One of the drivers that that I road with asked if I wanted a "ride-along". I said yes + he gave me pointers as I drove through the course the first time. My hands were sweating, heart was pounding, and butterflies were swarming in my stomach...IT WAS GREAT!!! I did not get lost + did not hit any cones and got through it in 1 min. 9 sec. The experienced drivers were hitting about 1 minute flat. I got a little faster each time I ran the course. By my 5th run I was at 1:03.5. Some runs I was too fast,cone knocked over, or came into a turn at the wrong position. Other runs were too slow with bad times. My times slowly krept lower and lower. I ended the day with the fastest time for a first-timer, but was 4th out of seventh in my class. My fastest time was 1:02.5. The FTD - Fast Time of the Day was 57 sec. By the end of the day, my body was tired + bruised, but I was hooked. I LOVED IT!!!

My Third AutoX
The Windy City Miata Club had its "Test-n-Tune 2" autoX day at Shireland(outside Chicago) in May 2005. The parking lot was large, but in poor shape. Their were weeds in the cracks, the lot was un-level, and another driver desribed the surface as greasy. The hardest part of the course was the second set of slaloms. They were very close together. The second hardest part of the course were the garages(they are marked in blue). They funnest part was the "X" and the big sweeping curve. This was my first AutoX with my new Racing Beat front hollow swaybar. The car seemed a little more controlled and not so tail-happy.

Not all the cars were miatas. The midget was fastest in his class.

Two friends were visiting for the weekend so we attended this autoX event. Pede, my miata mentor, brought his miata and his brother shared my miata. It was pretty simple to share, just a matter of switching magnetic numbers around between heats. Both Pede + brother had auto-crossed a number of times before + have been high-speed auto-crossing on race tracks 3-4 times. Between the both of them, they had lots of experience. I thought Pede would do well in his miata,but he spun out repeatly and got yelled at like Andrew from the old neighborhood. He has an earlier miata which is lighter, a lot of bracing under the car for chasis stiffness, a tiny turbo(25 more h.p.), and coil-overs
+ KYB adjustable shocks. His miata seemed ready for the track! Pede also drives his miata aggresively everyday...he knows what his car can do on most days!

The racers consisted of 25 cars, mostly miatas, an EVO, STi, S2000, civic, MX-3, eclipse, midget, and two boxy Scions. The EVO ended up with the FTD(1:01), Pede, his brother, and myself did pretty well. I started with a 1:12 and got down to a 1:07. Pede got lost his first three times, got a 1:15, then down to a 1:09. His last run beat me by a tenth of a second. Rosstifer; his brother, started with a 1:09 and beat us all with a 1:06 in my car!!!

Very important...adjust the nut behind the wheel before modding your ride out! In the example above...Pede had the "race car set-up" on his miata and had problems getting through the course until the last run. His brother had a nearly stock miata(except swaybar), it was heavier, and didnt have all the bells + whistles, and he did better consistantly all day. His experience got him quick times, not his ride. Do a driving race school for a weekend for $200. Do some auto-crossing for $30 per event. Get some training! Adjust the driver first, then tweek your ride. Once you are trained + your ride is done the way you want it...you will be the better driver.

My Forth AutoX
The Windy City Miata Club had an autoX at Shireland(outside Chicago) in July of 2005. The parking lot was similar shape as before. This was a very hot and humid day. I got five runs on the track before lunch and four after lunch. Nine runs for $25...what a deal. The coarse was not very technical and seemed fast. The slolums were especially fast because the cones were so far apart. The "figure-eight" slowed me down the most. I started my tire pressure at 38 all-around, by the end of the day...33 in front and 32 in back. The GC coil-overs and KYB adj. shocks helped flatten my Windy. Much less body roll in the corners, nose-diving during breaking, and squawking.

My miata with my new magnetic numbers next to the miata who got the "FTD". His fast time was 56 seconds. My fast time was 60.067 seconds. I got second place in my class and got a ribbon. I WAS EXCITED!!!

Thats me...in line + ready to race...

Sugar River Raceway is in Wisconsin and is a go-kart track that is 0.5 miles. The neat part about this auto-cross was that it was a road course...not a giant parking lot w/ lots of cones. My times were real consistant all day and I was the fastest miata there. There were two super-charged, and two stock and I won first in my class. WHAT A RUSH!!! The Madison Sports Car Club did a great job running + organizing this event. I also met + talked with Ric from Boss Frog. He was a wealth of infomation from super-chargers to roll-bars.

First AX 2006...11th overall
Melrose Park is in one of the burbs of Chicago and was my first AX in 2006. CVO put on a great AX and was well organized. I came in 10th out of 53...not bad considering that 8 of the 9 cars ahead of me were turbo-charged, super-charged, or on race tires. One bad aspect of this AX...if you were not a VW or Audi, you got put in the X catagory...which means everybody else. My miata was up against corvettes, M3's, R 32's, WRX's, STi's, and a slew of other "big boys". Anyways...lots of fun.

Yep...thats me! AX at Maywood park with the Windy City Miata Club(WCMC). Understandably lots of miatas, but also a few S2000's, Mini's, a race-ready Datson 210, a Porsche, an EVO, and WRX's + STi's. FTD was 50.3 seconds, my time was 55.5, slowest was 71.3 seconds. I beat another miata driver that I guage myself against. This year im beating him by 2 sec...not just one. I need to find another racer to track with that is a little quicker.

This was an awesome AX at Maywood Park with the Windy City Miata Club(WCMC). About 40 racers, but many of the regular faster drivers didnt show. At one point, I had a faster time than the driver who got the FTD. His time was 1:02.9...my fastest was 1:04.1. Race tires make a huge difference.

This was a great local small AX. One of the reasons it was great was that I was 3rd out of 42. Very tight course, but...beat to carts + 2 open-wheeled cars! Very cool! A full-race Datson was first (31.5 sec), Spec miata on Hoosiers was second (31.7 sec), I came in at 31.9 seconds.

This AX was at CLC with the Windy City Miata Club(WCMC). I had the Fast Time of the Day(FTD) by half-time. It felt awesomely fantastic! An M-powered Z3 caught me and then a blue S2000 did too. It was great though...I was the fastest miata there. Cheers!

This course was set up by the Salt Creek Club at Maywood Park in Melrose Park(burbs of Chicago). This event was a "Marque Madness". Racers were grouped by the make of their car...BMW's, Ford's, Maxda's, etc... top five times were averaged for that team. Last year BMW won the title, this year it was Subaru. There were a bunch of STi's there + they were quick! (July 2008)

This course was set up by the Windy City Miata Club at Maywood Park in July of 2009. I didn't drive well that day. My first run was 1:05.5, and usually I expect to improve on that a certain amount. I ended my day with a 1:03.1...an improvement, but I thought I would do more improoving...I mean really...I had 13 runs that day only to improve 2.4 seconds...oh well. The only bad thing about the car set-up might have been the tire pressure??? 15" RA-1s at 26 psi???

Now...I only AXed last year 5 times + this was my 4th this year. I probably shouldnt blame the tire pressure as much as I should focus on driver practice + training.

Links to Pages: 1-Background 2-Auto-Cross 3-Suspension + Chasis 4-Engine + Drivetrain 5-Tires & Brakes 6-Interior 7-Exterior 8-Maintenance 9-Whats next & Wish List 10-Other Miatas 11-Picture Gallery