03-14-2007, 12:48 PM
Since a few more guys are really starting to plow into autocross and we have definitely seen an increase this year, I would like to make a thread to post up experiences with certain events, and organizations, feel free to add to this thread. I am sure I will forget a few.
CDC (Capital Driving Club) Based in Washington and MD, this is a good event for those that are beginners to autocross. Very easygoing and people realy help you. You could be utterly hopeless and still get through this autocross. This was my first 7-8 autocrosses and I found it great, but very expensive comparatively to SCCA. They seperate into morning and afternoon sessions.
WDCRSCCA (Washington Dc region SCCA)- Great experience for those that have done at least 1-2 autocrosses. VERY BIG Field, but you do get good track time and its mostly held at Fedex where theres tons of room and its a quick course. Have only done the fedex field 3 times.
Philly Region SCCA- Went up only a few times as it is far away (Cal Ripken Stadium) lot of room, not as much as fedex, but definitely a smoother lot. Smaller group, kind of like Blueridge SCCA.
Mercedes Benz Washington Area- AWESOME time here, small lot but holy shit lots of runs, cuz only like 20 people show up, so you get like 7-8 timed runs and then they have free runs for like 30 minutes and you get time but doesnt count. AND YOU STILL GET DONE by 2:00PM. Really cool guys and you dont need a Benz to roll with them.
Blue Ridge SCCA- Good, relatively medium in size, but lots like Verona are REALLY shitty, even though I did Verona a bunch of times, its really not a good lot. Their airport lot is MUCH better. But they are cheap, and a good sense of community, plus its close.
John Felton and NASA-X- Good group of guys, their VMP lot is pretty large so you get going fast and they typically have professionals create their courses, which I find much better than others. A tad more expensive but good, ive done them a bunch of times too.
Classing system-
The classing system of SCCA is completely screwed and places you in a class thats really awkward for some vehicles (mine especially). I prefer the NASA type classing based on modifications + base car.
CDC does not really have a classing system per se, which is one of the many reason why I like it for beginners.
I have currently decided to stop autocrossing as the differential I received is apparently a 2-way or a welded diff, so sharp corners are not my friend. But I am willing to go help anyone that wants an experienced autocrosser to give them a few tips. I know different platforms for autocrosses as ive run autocrosses in an mr2, gs-t, and miata, so I know fwd, awd, rwd both front and mid-engined.
There are however, some guys out there at the events that have run 10 times as many events as I have, so I dont attempt to know, just trying to help others as im "trying" to move onto road racing.
CDC (Capital Driving Club) Based in Washington and MD, this is a good event for those that are beginners to autocross. Very easygoing and people realy help you. You could be utterly hopeless and still get through this autocross. This was my first 7-8 autocrosses and I found it great, but very expensive comparatively to SCCA. They seperate into morning and afternoon sessions.
WDCRSCCA (Washington Dc region SCCA)- Great experience for those that have done at least 1-2 autocrosses. VERY BIG Field, but you do get good track time and its mostly held at Fedex where theres tons of room and its a quick course. Have only done the fedex field 3 times.
Philly Region SCCA- Went up only a few times as it is far away (Cal Ripken Stadium) lot of room, not as much as fedex, but definitely a smoother lot. Smaller group, kind of like Blueridge SCCA.
Mercedes Benz Washington Area- AWESOME time here, small lot but holy shit lots of runs, cuz only like 20 people show up, so you get like 7-8 timed runs and then they have free runs for like 30 minutes and you get time but doesnt count. AND YOU STILL GET DONE by 2:00PM. Really cool guys and you dont need a Benz to roll with them.
Blue Ridge SCCA- Good, relatively medium in size, but lots like Verona are REALLY shitty, even though I did Verona a bunch of times, its really not a good lot. Their airport lot is MUCH better. But they are cheap, and a good sense of community, plus its close.
John Felton and NASA-X- Good group of guys, their VMP lot is pretty large so you get going fast and they typically have professionals create their courses, which I find much better than others. A tad more expensive but good, ive done them a bunch of times too.
Classing system-
The classing system of SCCA is completely screwed and places you in a class thats really awkward for some vehicles (mine especially). I prefer the NASA type classing based on modifications + base car.
CDC does not really have a classing system per se, which is one of the many reason why I like it for beginners.
I have currently decided to stop autocrossing as the differential I received is apparently a 2-way or a welded diff, so sharp corners are not my friend. But I am willing to go help anyone that wants an experienced autocrosser to give them a few tips. I know different platforms for autocrosses as ive run autocrosses in an mr2, gs-t, and miata, so I know fwd, awd, rwd both front and mid-engined.
There are however, some guys out there at the events that have run 10 times as many events as I have, so I dont attempt to know, just trying to help others as im "trying" to move onto road racing.
. They run at the Bowie Baysocks stadium (5 minutes from my house, use to drive the racekar there, haha), also run at some police training ground a little further north and somewhere in NOVA, never been to that lot though, to far.
