automatic autocross?

hey guys. new posting here. names michael, mikey, whatever. anyways, i was given, recently, a 1988 nova. automatic and sedan...lol. most are already thinking WTF? what a pos...but, im going to work on it. ill put a 4age...its FF, better than it seems, but im stuck on the fact that its an automatic. this pis$ed me off, but beggars cant be choosers. it was free. question is? can i autoX it? i mean i know u can autoX anything but being auto, what should i do? any strategies for AutoXing an auto, non sports shifting sedan? also, anyone have experience ith these cars? whaddya think? oh, and FYI, im only getting this for a first car. in two years, ill have a miata.... :iceslolan

All feedback is appreciated as long as its not WHAT A GAY CAR!....

What a gay car!!




lol/jk

I don't know what a nova is, the only nova I know is the Chevy Nova, but it doesn't seem like that's what you have. Anyway, Auto-x is all about skill, go sign up at an autox school and you are all set up. Basic techniques are:

Trail braking
Left foot braking

Maybe more, i don't know at this time... Somebody add more.

You gotta remember that auto x has more turns than straight aways, the most fast you go would probably be 70-80 KPH.

The great thing about having a POS car is that, if you beat a person that has a better car, you will know how good you really are. Plus you get to laugh in their faces.

Autocrossing is 75% driver, 20% tire .... that last 5% is car.
You can do a lot with almost anything :)

its a chevy nova...its just a new old nova...its supposed to be a usdm ae92, but its a family sedan, piece of junk. post '79 nova's arent "really" novas, per se...they are prizm/corolla's...my question though, are there any tips for autox'ing an automotic??? everyone talks about manual...never any auto discussion...Thanks for the replies!!!

ok i know u all say that car is only 5%... ( ithink it is more than that but i agree main part is driver) would a 4ac equipped ae86 sprinter levin hatch make a good auto-Xer???...<2200lb, rwd... and in auto-X how much difference would a 4age swap make, i think it would make power oversteer easier... right? (would be manual, i dont own the car but i can get it very cheap)

Maybe good for road racing, but I doubt autocross, it is RWD...If it was FWD, it would pull through the low speed turns with no problem, even if the rear wheels slip it wouldn't affect the front drive wheels. With power oversteer, your rear drive wheels will slip, therefore giving little to no power to the ground. But hey, who says you can't pick up drifting? :naughty:

lol u mite be real smart but im hesitant 2 take advice from a ... "auto newb" lol

Well, I WAS a newb but now am not (I can't change account name!) :smokin: ! I am very proud of schooling a load of people on this board... I can show you if you want :owned: :iceslolani: :bigthumb:

i was only kidding i mean i only have 2 look that u have 4x as many posts as me duh... owned? u got owned for ur incredible ineptness at detecting sarcasm

Actually I did detect the sarcasm very well, I JUST re read my post, and you obviously didn't understand when I meant "show you", because if you want, I can make links to threads where I schooled some guys here (in case you ACTUALLY think I don't know what I am talking about). Besides, post counts are nothing, I could have one thousand posts full of crap in the off topic forum and it still wouldn't matter right? I didn't know you would take it offensively....cool it okay?

Hmm, I owned an 88 Nova with an automatic, it was free so I couldn't turn it down, not bad get up and go for what it was, although my equally shitty car, an 84 Renault Encore handled much better than the Nova. If you want I can actually get you in touch with an owner of a turbo'd 88 Nova hatch, I believe he races his as well.

You can AutoX anything... Its more fun to drive a slow car fast than a fast car slowly...

Which reminds me of that Lambo that came out to an AutoX and did terribly on www.riceboy.com

For some reason, the website isn't there...

Don't get too caught up in learning "techniques"

What separates the faster drivers from the slower ones aren't that they have a bigger bag of tricks, but that they have more experience and better control. Some of the best people also run some of the most consistent times, like within hundredths of a second for each run. That's how refine their timing and car control is. Picking a line is important, but that's inherently tied into timing. There is no shortcut or trick you can learn that substitutes experience. From what I seen, beginners with are quicker to blame their cars, but ask a higher caliber driver to drive it a bit and usually it's not that far off pace of the average car. Give up on being fast for at least your first year even if you go to every event, it is unlikely to happen.

If you want to get better (in terms of skill) than everyone you can do it in any car. If you want to be faster (in terms of raw time) than everyone, then you need a fast car. Keep in mind than the fastest "cars" are usually the karts, just to keep it all in perspective. No matter what you drive, there will always be a faster car, don't get too caught up in that. Also, plenty of automatics have been autocrossed and have done well.

Just leave the shifter in 2nd so that you will have some compression braking and the motor will be spooled up when you hit the gas. On a slalom section I used to leave the throttle wide open and use the brake to control the speed. Max braking just before the cone then let off then start applying the brake, then max braking just before the cone ........

The main thing is to learn what to look for when walking the course and to try and remember if the section drove the way you thought it would.

I remember the old autox axioms :

Slow in - fast out. Fast in - slow out.

Slow hands and slow feet equals fast times.

On a slalom section: even number of cones you enter and exit on the same side. Odd number you enter and exit on opposite sides.

FWD MAY be better in some cases but RWD - IS ALWAYS - more fun to drive.

500
1985 DSP Atl.Region & SE Div. Champion :)
Tricked out Renault LeCar

Slow hands and slow feet equals fast times.

On a slalom section: even number of cones you enter and exit on the same side. Odd number you enter and exit on opposite sides.

FWD MAY be better in some cases but RWD - IS ALWAYS - more fun to drive.

Smooth hands and feet, not slow ones.
Your slalom information is wrong; odd=same side, even=different.
FWD is always bad; you don't want the same wheels trying to steer and brake and accelerate at the same time. It doesn't work. FWD = understeer. RWD = oversteer = :iceslolan . AWD = traction.

Your slalom information is wrong; odd=same side, even=different.
FWD is always bad; you don't want the same wheels trying to steer and brake and accelerate at the same time. It doesn't work. FWD = understeer. RWD = oversteer = :iceslolan . AWD = traction.

Opps, you are right. Somewhere between working it out in my head and typing it down I got it reversed.

Slow hands are smooth hands. With slow hands you are starting the turn early and very gradually which means you use the biggest arc and therefore can carry more speed. Most people just come bombing up to a turn, stand on the brakes, snatch the wheel over which scrubs off too much speed and they can't drive a consistent line.

FWD cars win a lot of races. Some of them oversteer, some understeer and most do both at some time or the other. Same for RWD. It all comes down to the technique your car takes. My LeCar had trailing throttle oversteer. Worked great for autox, would scare the crap out of you roadracing.