the generic track day DE Auto X thread

[Gburner]

AX is mostly fun Marco! The winner is the driver that can learn the track the quickest. With only 6 or 8 practice laps before timed runs.
Dave congrats! With all the new Porsches at PCA AX events I'm surprised your old 3.2 is still so competitive.
I enjoyed instructing during my AX years, later lost interest instructing on the big tracks.
The part about AX that does suck is having to corner work/shag cones for over an hour!

AX was good practice for the big tracks.
Learning a 15 turn 60 second AX track made Big Willow's 9 turn 90 second lap seem simple.
Try going from a big track back to AX, not easy!

I have an AX track 5 minutes from my house, but I'll be towing 9 hours to Sonoma this weekend.

[davewadd]

I agree With you Mike, and I enjoy both autox and track days.
Autox is a great way to learn car control before going to a DE track day.
In PCA, I think they prefer people have a few autox events under their belt before going to a track....having autox experience, usually means a person will have better car control when they get to a DE, and they'll be safer.

I will continue to do DE events whenever I can....you can't beat the thrill of 100+mph, but I also enjoy the autox competition. Competing against people to determine who is the faster driver, is fun...even if it's just a 1 mile course.

[a911s]

You will learn more car control skills at an Autox day than a DE day - especially when you are first exploring the limits of driving your car quickly. Primarily because of the number of turns and abrupt transitions in a short period of time, this happens faster at an Autox event. Time becomes compressed and it forces the repetition of moves that need to become instinctive. Because Autox is inherently safer, it also allows the driver to become more comfortable with pushing the envelope quicker - learning about slip angles, counter steering corrections, recovery moves, throttle steering, weight transfer, and threshold braking. Shagging cones is a pain in the rain, otherwise it can be an opportunity to develop your social skills and gain new friends.

There is no substitute for DE when it comes to building high speed confidence, but there is a reason Hurley Haywood, Randy Pobst, and several other champions were Autox enthusiasts first. Many racers will attend an Autox on occasion just to hone their skills. It also forces you to look way ahead so you can learn a new track faster.