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Originally Posted by flip
In some places, yes. Others no and I definitely need to work on that. I think that most or some of that comes from the fact that I'm new to autocross and am still getting used to reading the cones and learning the courses quickly.
If I smoothed out my throttle input might that alone potentially shave off a significant amount of time?
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It's tough to perfect the course approach in one or two runs. Don't feel pressured to make every run your fastest. Split the course up into sections and use each run to focus on a particular area and gain confidence. It can be daunting to see a sea of cones in front of you at first.
And yes, being smooth will be faster. It will feel slower in the car, but getting on the gas earlier and more gradually means you are spending more time accelerating. Think of it this way: if you had to keep abruptly smashing the gas pedal, that means you realized you were probably a split-second late getting back on the throttle and that you should've been accelerating by now.
Quote:
Originally Posted by flip
Yeah, I looked back and it definitely does. I was definitely trying to be smooth but push my traction to the limit to get through as fast as possible. In the videos I've watched, I see people whipping their car through the slalom but comparing to mine it definitely looks like I need to smooth it out a bit.
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The cars that look the slowest and most boring are often the fastest!
Quote:
Originally Posted by flip
Thanks for the help! I'm getting more and more excited for my 3rd event! I'm really wishing there were more than 4 runs in these events as it's really hard to feel like I'm making progress or learning from my mistakes. I feel like I'd learn so much more if I could loop the track for a while or simply have 10+ runs... Might have to start looking for track days.
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4 runs? That's ridiculous. Every auto-X I've attended has been 8-10, maybe even 12 if it's a low turnout. There's no way you can learn anything in 4 runs. The first is a throwaway, the second is maybe your first real shot at doing anything, the third is adjusting from your initial mistakes, and the fourth is recognizing if your adjustments helped. That leaves no time to actually focus on turning a decent time.
Find another club that lets you get more seat time.