SCCA Auto-X Questions

[littlekeeley]

Hey guys, i know its been a while since i have been on here. best of news though, i'm back living in washington now near bellevue and the 510 is sleeping in the garage as we type! my plans and hopes for this season are a bit of autocrossing. i already have a seat in a 944, but i would really enjoy driving the dime around some cones to truly show how horrible of a driver i am!

 

this car is definitely not stock, which has me wondering if i am going to be lumped into a group of unlimited guys or do they only look for certain types of upgrades like tires, weight, and power?

 

thanks a lot in advance and hope you are all well!

[ichorid]

http://moutons.org/sccasolo/index.shtml

 

its all there.

 

what engine do you have?

[Skib]

Im prepping my Z for SCCA auto-x and what Iv done is find the class that allows all the mods you want to do (or have done) and then modify for the little stuff that you might not meet. The biggest decider of what class your going to land is what motor your running.

 

how bout a spec list of the car :cool:

[ichorid]

well he is going to be in modified if he has anything other than a L16 right? If you have dog leg you're instantly in modified because the of the drivetrain change.

 

basically with auto-x in LA/OC if you plan on going modified. figure out how you're going to beat an evo.

[Skib]

well he is going to be in modified if he has anything other than a L16 right? If you have dog leg you're instantly in modified because the of the drivetrain change.

 

basically with auto-x in LA/OC if you plan on going modified. figure out how you're going to beat an evo.

 

 

not necessarily. with the Z in say FP class, they have all the S30's on the same line (240z, 260z, 280z) so I can use an L24, L26, or L28e. But I cant use an L28et since it came from a 280zx, even tho its the same long block. Theres alot of stuff you can change freely or within certain rules and some you cant change at all so you really just have to read the class rules.

 

you really just have to look at the rules and see where your car fits and/or decide how much of it you want to change to fit a particular class.

[ichorid]

I was mainly leaning on the modified drive shaft as instant reclassification. Unless they just dont catch it. Can you change your trans and remain in that class Skib?

[Skib]

I was mainly leaning on the modified drive shaft as instant reclassification. Unless they just dont catch it. Can you change your trans and remain in that class Skib?

 

 

ya I have a 280zx trans, the motor swap is really whats going to steer the car to one class or another tho

[littlekeeley]

its a l16, but has a 280zx drivetrain. if i do things like brakes and 280zx struts, will that put me up against evo's, porsches, and things that will slaughter me?

[ichorid]

I don't belive so. But you don't NEED vented rotorsand big brakes with an l16.

[Skib]

its a l16, but has a 280zx drivetrain. if i do things like brakes and 280zx struts, will that put me up against evo's, porsches, and things that will slaughter me?

 

 

highly doubt it, you just need to look over the class rules and see where you fit in best

[h4nsm0l3m4n]

The 510 can run in H Stock, Street Touring, F Street Prepared, Street Modified, or E Prepared classes. This doesn't place you against any Porsches, Corvettes, etc. but you will have a hard time against the Mini Coopers and Honda Civics that seem to be the popular car for many of these classes. In general you want to have a relatively "stock" car, read about the classification system, find out what class you want to run, and build the car accordingly.

 

Stock, ST, and SP classes dont allow engine mods. SP allows you to replace factory carbs, ignition and some other engine components but no internal engine work at all. Suspension work is fair game, but varies by class. Additionally, Stock and SP class also allow r-compound DOT tires while ST does not.

 

As far as interchanging parts, on the 510 you can interchange parts between cars of different years, as long as you stick to the same series of car. For example, on the 510, all parts off cars made in 68-73 are interchangeable. Using parts from a non-interchangeable car (like the 280zx) will land you in SM or EP class. I personally am having issues with this as its keeping my Z in FP class, when I'd like to run a Street Prepared or Street Touring. In those classes I wouldnt have to run $200+ r-compound slicks just to try to keep up...

 

Engine swaps, or turbocharging a factory N/A engine will generally land you in SM, XP or Mod classes depending on what you did.

 

You can find a quick reference for classification here: http://cms.scca.com/documents/Solo_Rules/solo_categories.pdf

But I suggest you read through all of the 2010 rules on the SCCA site if you're serious about racing in a class.

 

If you are just starting in autox I would recommend not worrying about classification at all. All autox events have a "novice" class you can drive in that puts you against drivers of similar experience. Its more about how you drive, you will quickly find that even a 400+ hp Corvette can still be beat by 200 hp Miata... Go to as many of the events as possible, learn as much as you can, and have fun. Later, if you feel that you'd like to get competitive you can build your car to its class specifications.

[littlekeeley]

@ h4nsm0l3m4n, thats exactly what i needed. thank you much! still a novice so this season should be pretty easy going. :P

[datrod]

The 510 can run in H Stock, Street Touring, F Street Prepared, Street Modified, or E Prepared classes. This doesn't place you against any Porsches, Corvettes, etc. but you will have a hard time against the Mini Coopers and Honda Civics that seem to be the popular car for many of these classes. In general you want to have a relatively "stock" car, read about the classification system, find out what class you want to run, and build the car accordingly.

 

Stock, ST, and SP classes dont allow engine mods. SP allows you to replace factory carbs, ignition and some other engine components but no internal engine work at all. Suspension work is fair game, but varies by class. Additionally, Stock and SP class also allow r-compound DOT tires while ST does not.

 

As far as interchanging parts, on the 510 you can interchange parts between cars of different years, as long as you stick to the same series of car. For example, on the 510, all parts off cars made in 68-73 are interchangeable. Using parts from a non-interchangeable car (like the 280zx) will land you in SM or EP class. I personally am having issues with this as its keeping my Z in FP class, when I'd like to run a Street Prepared or Street Touring. In those classes I wouldnt have to run $200+ r-compound slicks just to try to keep up...

 

Engine swaps, or turbocharging a factory N/A engine will generally land you in SM, XP or Mod classes depending on what you did.

 

You can find a quick reference for classification here: http://cms.scca.com/documents/Solo_Rules/solo_categories.pdf

But I suggest you read through all of the 2010 rules on the SCCA site if you're serious about racing in a class.

 

If you are just starting in autox I would recommend not worrying about classification at all. All autox events have a "novice" class you can drive in that puts you against drivers of similar experience. Its more about how you drive, you will quickly find that even a 400+ hp Corvette can still be beat by 200 hp Miata... Go to as many of the events as possible, learn as much as you can, and have fun. Later, if you feel that you'd like to get competitive you can build your car to its class specifications.

 

Nice job. You hit every nail on the head. Auto X is not about the car it's more about the person behind the wheel. I have out run faster cars than mine, But I have had my ass handed to me by a not so fast car. Just go out there to have fun. Drive your car. Then start your mods as you go. And don't do a lot of stuff at once. one mod at a time.

[SHADY280]

my car ends up being put in a race catagory when i go to my local stuff. im up against super charged s2000's and turbo miadas. i end up being mid pack sometimes as i dont have slicks, i still have street tires. that seems to be a huge factor. our governing body is cacc.

[h4nsm0l3m4n]

R-compound tires are said to improve your times by 1.5-2 seconds on most autox courses, its pretty ridiculous. I saw a guy verify this when he ran his little Festiva in the morning session on street tires then swapped to slicks for the afternoon session. Sure enough, his times dropped by over 2 seconds. I personally find it odd that "stock" category cars are allowed to run slicks, but whatever I guess.

 

Last weekend I just started my second year of autox. I still have a lot to learn so I feel that, for me, moving to slicks would only mask my driving skills (or lack thereof) and I wouldnt learn anything. Plus its hard to justify spending $1500 on tires/wheels... Maybe next year... :)

[Skib]

Last weekend I just started my second year of autox. I still have a lot to learn so I feel that, for me, moving to slicks would only mask my driving skills (or lack thereof) and I wouldnt learn anything. Plus its hard to justify spending $1500 on tires/wheels... Maybe next year... :)

 

 

Im hopin the Z will be done in time for next years season :cool:

[h4nsm0l3m4n]

Im hopin the Z will be done in time for next years season :cool:

 

Should run your 510 while you work on the Z, get some practice in :). Next one is on the 27th...

[Skib]

Should run your 510 while you work on the Z, get some practice in :). Next one is on the 27th...

 

 

I may bring the 280zx out to one of the PIR ones. are they running more than the 9 OR regional events?

[h4nsm0l3m4n]

The SCCA is running the 9 events you mentioned. There are also other clubs that run in our region: WMC in Salem, ORPCA at PIR/Packwood, and EESCC in Eugene.

[Skib]

The SCCA is running the 9 events you mentioned. There are also other clubs that run in our region: WMC in Salem, ORPCA at PIR/Packwood, and EESCC in Eugene.

 

 

sweet :lol: didnt know there where that many

[h4nsm0l3m4n]

There are more if youre willing to drive out to Washington. Between all the clubs in the NW you could end up doing events almost every weekend from now till october. I'll probably only end up going to 2 or 3 events a month, gotta leave time to fix the car between events! :rolleyes: Should be a fun summer...

[datrod]

This is what I call my 10K jacket. I ran really hard that year. I made every event and placed is the top three at every event. This was after about 4 years of racing SCCA SOLO2. In 04 I didn't do so well. Then back surgery and no work has put my auto X days on hold. One of these days I'll get back into it and try again.