Do you use trailbraking often in autocross? It seems that the turns are tight enough that you'd need some extra rotation of your car to get through them faster. Just trying to get a grip on this whole thing, discussion is welcome.

 

The Short Answer is.. it depends...

I use it depending on the course and the corner, I like to get all my braking done so I can get on the accelerater as quick as possaible, however there are times when it is nice to trail brake in, sometimes I will trail brake so I can stay on the gas a little longer, but the danger is there you may carry to much speed and push through the corner, but when done right it seems to decrease my times, Trail Braking , Left foot braking and Heel-Toe are all skill you should have in your bag of tricks, there are times that I have used them all on one course and times I hardley use any.

 

If I remember right you haven't even started autocrossing yet, right? Don't even worry about it now. Just drive.

 

I agree with Mike.

Don't even worry about stuff like this. Just get out there.

I can only remember about 10 courses where trail braking improved my time and they were fast decreasing radius turns. Going from about 60 to 30 at the initial turn in point.

I find that in my region, most of the turns are set up to be late apex.

 

my best advice: don't think you're going to do super good. just expect the worse and don't get cocky. just drive. :thumbup:

 

c'mon man, let the kid have some confidence... i went out with the attitude that if i didn't win something was wrong...came home with a 1st place in STS my first time out...my second time out i did the same thing...and when i go the next time if i dont take home another trophy i'm gonna be pissed. but i guess it all depends on your driving skills. i've been using my city as a big autoX course for years. i pretty much new what my car could, and couldn't do before i ever got out there. i guess i've always been an autoX driver. i just needed a track haha but there's nothing wrong with being confident your first time out. go in expecting to do bad and you will. but it's really not as complicated as you're tryin to make it. just get out there and drive it like you stole it, u'll be fine

 

:squint:

Haha great analogy I love it!

 

But also you have to realize what the rest of your competition is like. Don't mean to burst your bubble but the rest of your class could be newbies too.

 

Yep. I beat ASP-N (novice) by 3-7 seconds on a 58.x course. If I ran in Novice class I would win very easily.

 

Wow, either you're the world's most natural autocrosser, or the people in your region suck.

Here's some better advice for a first timer who understands that autocross involves your brain, not just your hands and your right foot.

Understand that doing well at autocross required you to go as fast as possible where/when possible, and as slow as required in the tight spots. Trying to go around tight corners with the tires howling constantly because the car can't do what you're asking it to will not give you your best times. Remember, if the tires are making a lot of noise, or if the car seems unresponsive to your inputs, you've got to back off somehow - less turning, less gas, or less braking. When you've exceeded the tires' capability, there is no benefit to increasing your control inputs.

Decide beforehand during your coursewalk where you want to be on the course (often the course is wide enough for you to make choices on where you want to place the car) and try to stick to this plan. Your path should be either the shortest distance, the smoothest, most gradual path, or a combination of both criteria. If you get off of this optimal path significantly, you will add a lot of time to your run. Your goal is to drive as fast as possible without understeering or oversteering off the line. Understeer is when the car refuses to carve a turn as tight as you want, and oversteer is when the car tries to carve a tighter arc than you requested. Oversteer unchecked will eventually turn into a spin. Oversteer may look cool and be fun, but it's generally not the fastest way around the course.

Being smooth with your control inputs - steering, braking, applying the throttle - is of paramount importance. This minimizes upsetting the chassis and maximizing your tire traction at all times. That being said, read and understand the next paragraphs!

Ideally, to go fast you want to always be accelerating - either forward (on the gas), to the side (cornering), or backwards (braking). If you find yourself on course going straight or neither on the gas or the brake for more than a half second or so, you're probably not going fast enough (or maybe you've left the course entirely).

Don't be afraid to use your brakes HARD. You'll have to if you were going fast enough in a previous section before the slow section. If your car is fairly new and has ABS, it probably can provide better braking performance than you can by modulating your pedal pressure. If you don't have ABS, use the brakes as hard as you can without locking up the tires. This is called "threshold braking," and is easier described than done, but it will come with practice. Braking hard/correctly is as important as using the gas pedal properly. Try to do all your braking while the car is going straight; you'll slow faster and with more control than if you try to ask the car to corner AND brake near the tires' combined traction limits. This is because there is only so much traction available to you, and if you ask the tire to give you too much cornering AND braking force, you won't get as much as you want of both.

Don't put your hand the on shifter while on course. Launch in 1st, shift to 2nd when appropriate, and then plant your left foot on the dead pedal and keep both hands on the wheel at ALL TIMES! You won't need 1st again unless the course has a very tight hairpin (very rare) or you spin. Don't hover your left foot over the clutch or clutch in and out of gear to modulate power. You'll have more control over the car's power and handling with the car in gear at all times.

Look ahead. That means focus your attention on where you want the car to be in several seconds, not where you are on the course right now. This is really key not only for going fast, but also to prevent you from getting lost on the course. The course will be harder to see at 30-60 mph than it was walking it at 3 mph!

Try to be within 6-12 inches of all the key apex cones. Which ones are the key apex cones? Ah! Good question! That's what the beginner walk is for, usually provided at the beginning of the event. Or, ask an experienced driver to give you some tips on what their line will be during a course walk. Eventually, you'll want to be placing the car within 3" of key cones. The best drivers consistently are even closer than that - almost running them over! If being that close to the cone saves you only .05 second per corner, on a course with 30 corners, you'll be 1.5 seconds faster at the finish line!

In slalom sections where the cones are evenly spaced, try to develop a smooth, regular rhythm to your steering inputs. Ideally, you should be turning the wheel just before or just as you pass each cone, so that the car will already be starting to transition to the other direction as soon as possible after you've passed it. If you make your steering input AFTER passing each cone, you will get progressively more "behind" - i.e. closer and closer to running into each successive cone, even at a constant speed. Try to make your steering inputs quickly but smoothly, not jerkily. All easier said than done. It will come with practice.

REMEMBER TO HAVE A GOOD TIME TOO! It's easy to get caught up in being too competitive too quickly and forget that autox is supposed to be fun.