Anyone Autocross their Lightning?

[Lightning254]

I went to an autocross a few weeks ago with a friend of mine. It looked pretty fun. I was thinking about taking my truck to the next event, later this month. My concern is my truck is put in the same class as Mustang's and Camarro's. How fair is that? I know that in a strait line I can take almost all stock ones but in corners how does a Lightning compare? Just looking for some suggestions or if I shouldn't even take it out? Please let me know.

[beerkat]

I have not Autox my L, but I do road courses with it and it does quite well. When you run raise your tire pressure in your fron tires. You will also want to keep your truck in second gear, unless you go over 65mph. If you get the chance to do a HPDE (high performance driving school) do it. you will get hook and jion the 1% of L owner who like curves better than straignt lines

[wcorrell]

Here in KC we have several that autocross their L's. Some of them do quite well. Some run F Stock, Others run E Street Prepared (SCCA classes).

[VAMPIRE]

Do youself a favor try it once and you will be hooked, it is the most fun you can have legaly and its more fun than just going in a strait line.
Have Fun

[roger]

I was able to win my class in 2001 and 2002 with my L (ESP). Some of the dark beer crowd had a hard time with that :D ...it was always fun to see a newbie make smart remarks about a 'pickem up twuck' on a track with 'real cars'. I just smiled and let my times do my talking for me. [Note: I didn't campaign it in 2003 as I bought a track car (see sig), and it became a tow vehicle.]

What to do to lower times:

If you do it on a regular basis, dedicated auto-x tires will make a BIG difference (2+ seconds). I sprang for an extra set of stock wheels and ran dedicated tires/wheels while auto-x'ing. Use a GOOD tire pressure gauge to monitor pressure after every run. Get one that will show .5 lb increments. As was already mentioned, tire pressure is CRITICAL. I have some other suspension mods (springs, panhard bar, etc.). so what pressures worked for me wouldn't for you.

After mentioning all that however, beyond a shadow of a doubt, the BEST 'mod' you can do is the driver. Seat time (along with an occasional ride-along or school) will do more for your times than anything else, PERIOD.

Course walking is very important also. Walk the course as many times as you can. Commit every corner to memory. When you can close your eyes and 'run' the course in your head, you're miles ahead of those who can't. Why? Because they're reacting to what they see--you've not only setup the next corner (because you know its there and how to enter it), but you know where you need to be on corner exit (the most important part).

Be smooth. Tail out and tiresmoke may get you cheers from the crowd, but style points don't shave seconds off your time. In auto-x, the fastest time is the shortest route. If you're headed sideways it may look cool, but it will slow you down considerably. I must admit however, occasionally I'll give someone a ridealong to give them a taste of what it's like and once in a while I'll do it sprint car style...they seem to grab the oh-sh*t handle a bit tighter that way :D)

Another good point was brought up too; use 2nd gear only. The truck has ample torque to pull itself out of the hole at startup and low speed corners and yet has enough range to hit about 75-80 or so, which is fairly quick for a parking lot :D.

Autocross is the best place and SAFEST place to learn car control (IMHO). When you're starting out, is it better to mess up at 35 or 135--you do the physics. Once you can master the (VERY) fast transitions in autocross attending a track session seems like slow motion, and you'll have hours (it seems) for setup of the proper line...driving lines are a bit different tho, but I digress.

Regarding what is 'fair' about running against muscle cars...Auto-x is one of the few sports that is 70% driver and 30% vehicle. Once you get your 'sea legs', they're fair game (and you WILL pick off a few :D).

The main thing is don't get discouraged early on--EVERYONE is slow when they start--Autocross (or opentrack for that matter) has next to nothing in common with normal, consumer driving, but the neat thing is (besides all the adrenaline you'll burn) everything you learn in those venues you can directly apply to the street, especially in emergency situations where you have no time to think; just react.

Hope this helped a bit. Best of luck!

[VAMPIRE]

Well put and i would agree with about 80% of what you said,But doing 135 at the end of the front stretch on the road coarse at Indy is VERY Fun. Seat time with a good teacher is the best thing for you when you start out, and any time you have a chance to ride with or have an instructor ride with you,Watch learn and listen.
just my 2 cents
And always remember to have fun Safely
Keep it on the Track

[roger]

Originally posted by VAMPIRE
Well put and i would agree with about 80% of what you said,But doing 135 at the end of the front stretch on the road coarse at Indy is VERY Fun. Seat time with a good teacher is the best thing for you when you start out, and any time you have a chance to ride with or have an instructor ride with you,Watch learn and listen.
just my 2 cents
And always remember to have fun Safely
Keep it on the Track

Yeah, 135 (or better) is a lot of fun. I enjoy the opentrack stuff too, nailing a corner at speed is a thrill like no other! But when you're starting out, the auto-x environment is great, not to mention the name of the forum we're in :D

Remember when attending an opentrack event even they start out the Novice groups with some autocross exercises. In order to safely control a car at speed, you have to experience understeer and oversteer, know what they feel like, and even more importantly, know how to correct for those conditions. In the normal, walk before you run scenario, its better to experience those conditions in a low speed environment where risk of injury and vehicle damage are low.

I fully agree about the instuction part. You can always learn something if you keep an open mind. SVTOA has had some good instructors. I've had several tell me that they even learn something at each event from their students.

Although expensive, a trip to a professional school (Bondurant, Skip Barber, etc.) is money VERY well spent too, and you'll never regret it.

Have a good one!

[VAMPIRE]

All so very true.
What group do you run in at the open track events??
I run in group 3

[roger]

Group 4. Have you ever been to Hallett?

[VAMPIRE]

I dont have enough track time to be in group 4 yet,hopefully soon though.I have not been to Hallett but i have been told it is a good track.

[roger]

Originally posted by VAMPIRE
I dont have enough track time to be in group 4 yet,hopefully soon though.I have not been to Hallett but i have been told it is a good track.

I forgot I had this picture stored here...It's one of my favorites taken at Heartland Park back in 02. What the picture doesn't show is the 4-wheel drift I was in...buncha adrenaline there!

http://www.svtownersassociation.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=205&size=big&papass=&sort=1

I post it because you can see the tires rolling underneath. The stocker F1's have pretty good grip at that speed...and the pressures before I went out were 46psi front and 40psi rear.

You can see the amount of chassis flex by the way the headlights line up (or DON'T line up as the case may be :D)

[VAMPIRE]

I tryed to see the photo but it says i dont have permission????

[roger]

Originally posted by VAMPIRE
I tryed to see the photo but it says i dont have permission????

Whoops...Can't get it down to under the limit here without losing way too much resolution...event the 47.3K listed is 110 bytes too big.

If you're still interested shoot me an email addy and I'll send it to you that way. Oh, and are you on cable/dsl or dialup?

[VAMPIRE]

Yes i am still interested,i will send you a private message with my e mail address in it,btw DSL