OK, blasian- I'll eat my words! Autox is fun as hell!
Come out June 18-20th with my organization if you want.
I found that one session at a skid pad taught me more about the dynamics of car control than multiple days of auto-x.
The problem I have is that with auto-x, each run is too short and it doesn't give you a chance to try different things to see how the car responds to the input. First lap is spent trying to get the tire temperature up, so you only get two real laps. Then, before you can go out there again you have to wait an hour or more, so by the time you go on your next set, both you and the car are cold.
Even a short session on a track day is 20 min, giving you 10 laps around a two min per lap track. It gives you plenty of time to try different approaches to corners and feel how the car changes each time. Yes, track days may be more expensive, but if you look at the per min cost, you get more for your money.
The events I run in usually have six sessions for a total of 140-150 minutes of track time. Even at $300 per day (at places like Laguna Seca and Infineon), that's $2/min. At less expensive tracks, you get that much track time for $200 ($1.40/min)! And at these prices, you run with only 25-30 cars on the track, so you get plenty of open track.
Auto-x events I've participated in cost $50 and I got four sessions of three 50 second laps. Let's be generous and call a session three minutes. That's 12 minutes of total driving time, $4/min. Even if the event was run really well and got six sessions, it's still more expensive than track days.
The problem I have is that with auto-x, each run is too short and it doesn't give you a chance to try different things to see how the car responds to the input. First lap is spent trying to get the tire temperature up, so you only get two real laps. Then, before you can go out there again you have to wait an hour or more, so by the time you go on your next set, both you and the car are cold.
Even a short session on a track day is 20 min, giving you 10 laps around a two min per lap track. It gives you plenty of time to try different approaches to corners and feel how the car changes each time. Yes, track days may be more expensive, but if you look at the per min cost, you get more for your money.
The events I run in usually have six sessions for a total of 140-150 minutes of track time. Even at $300 per day (at places like Laguna Seca and Infineon), that's $2/min. At less expensive tracks, you get that much track time for $200 ($1.40/min)! And at these prices, you run with only 25-30 cars on the track, so you get plenty of open track.
Auto-x events I've participated in cost $50 and I got four sessions of three 50 second laps. Let's be generous and call a session three minutes. That's 12 minutes of total driving time, $4/min. Even if the event was run really well and got six sessions, it's still more expensive than track days.
I found that one session at a skid pad taught me more about the dynamics of car control than multiple days of auto-x.
The problem I have is that with auto-x, each run is too short and it doesn't give you a chance to try different things to see how the car responds to the input. First lap is spent trying to get the tire temperature up, so you only get two real laps. Then, before you can go out there again you have to wait an hour or more, so by the time you go on your next set, both you and the car are cold.
Even a short session on a track day is 20 min, giving you 10 laps around a two min per lap track. It gives you plenty of time to try different approaches to corners and feel how the car changes each time. Yes, track days may be more expensive, but if you look at the per min cost, you get more for your money.
The events I run in usually have six sessions for a total of 140-150 minutes of track time. Even at $300 per day (at places like Laguna Seca and Infineon), that's $2/min. At less expensive tracks, you get that much track time for $200 ($1.40/min)! And at these prices, you run with only 25-30 cars on the track, so you get plenty of open track.
Auto-x events I've participated in cost $50 and I got four sessions of three 50 second laps. Let's be generous and call a session three minutes. That's 12 minutes of total driving time, $4/min. Even if the event was run really well and got six sessions, it's still more expensive than track days.
The problem I have is that with auto-x, each run is too short and it doesn't give you a chance to try different things to see how the car responds to the input. First lap is spent trying to get the tire temperature up, so you only get two real laps. Then, before you can go out there again you have to wait an hour or more, so by the time you go on your next set, both you and the car are cold.
Even a short session on a track day is 20 min, giving you 10 laps around a two min per lap track. It gives you plenty of time to try different approaches to corners and feel how the car changes each time. Yes, track days may be more expensive, but if you look at the per min cost, you get more for your money.
The events I run in usually have six sessions for a total of 140-150 minutes of track time. Even at $300 per day (at places like Laguna Seca and Infineon), that's $2/min. At less expensive tracks, you get that much track time for $200 ($1.40/min)! And at these prices, you run with only 25-30 cars on the track, so you get plenty of open track.
Auto-x events I've participated in cost $50 and I got four sessions of three 50 second laps. Let's be generous and call a session three minutes. That's 12 minutes of total driving time, $4/min. Even if the event was run really well and got six sessions, it's still more expensive than track days.
True. If there isn't a track nearby, then auto-x may be the only option. That being said, in LA, you have plenty of tracks around--Buttonwillow, Willow Springs (multiple tracks), Cal Speedway, and Spring Mountain, all within three hours of LA.
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We also run two-day events and people can get 10-20 runs on Saturday's test-and-tune and/or novice school course. (We run two at the same time.)
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