Zig-zag-zoom!

The other night I was at the local Fred Meyer and just finished getting some groceries, and as I was pulling out of the parking area, I saw these orange cones that were positioned in the parking lot to redirect traffic away from the line used by those who are gassing up at the Freddy's gas station.

For fun, I decided to go through that route following the cones and cutting it close on the last cone of the 'curve'. Reminded me of my autocross days with the Subie at PIR.

Autocross is definitely fun. And I highly recommend it. You get to see and experience your car's (actual) maneuvering potential (and your driving skills) in a controlled and safe environment. And you don't need to have a fancy car at that (but lucky if you do have one). There are different classes for how each car is (stock or modified). You'll be surprised at how your car (and yourself) react in the course.


Taken from my first autocross session - back-to-back. Looking at this pic, it's interesting that the car in front of me was a Mazda Protege (which I have now). The Mazda in front of me is the Mazdaspeed (turbo) version though.

And you get to learn a lot and meet really cool folks. Aside from learning your car's handling, you get to know more about the vehicle dynamics - say how tire pressure affects handling. Understeer vs. oversteer. Proper exit speed. Trail braking. See how ABS really works (and how some don't care for it much). Rain or shine. Plus if you like working on cars (like I do), there's a lot of info and ideas readily available - just don't be shy and ask around!

One of my more memorable autocross events is the back-to-back rainy day session we had at the PIR. AWD was everywhere and pushing it. It was also the first time that I drove my Subie with summer tires in pouring rain, and that was interesting. Feeling the AWD pulling you straight when you oversteer is neat (I do not recommend this being done on regular roads though, ok?).

Braking to negotiate a 'box'. As odd as it sounds, the Subie is quite challenging to drive, despite the AWD. The AWD doesn't mean 'invincibility' at curves. Plus in stock form, the Subies just love to understeer (hence one of the first mods being made is to the suspension and front and/or rear sway bars).

Though I do not have my Subie now, I think I'll consider some autocrossing sessions for the 2010 season, with Yuki, my Mazda Protege. I'll be in stock class, so it will be interesting driving a FWD car - though they say it is much easier to drive FWD in autocross (no drifting though :-P). I will be running HP Summer Tires though, so I might be bumped one class (or sub class) up. Thinking of running lower suspension too, so that plus the tires will bump me out of stock class for sure. We'll see come spring/summer 2010.

But whether you are a motorsport/car fan, or a casual driver, I'd highly recommend taking a day or two at your local autocross course. Just don't go overboard - you'll enjoy every minute of it.

Drive safe! :)