Thread: Auto-Cross

Has anyone ever been auto-crossing? It is often called Auto-X as well... It's basically taking your car through a series of cones, slaloming and weaving through turns.

Auto-cross is basically the most common form of organized racing here in the U.S. Common as in, anyone and everyone can participate.

I went out to my first meet yesterday in Hartford, Connecticut. It was in a massive parking lot, filled with over 50 racers. I was amazed at some of the cars running in the race. I spotted two Lotus Elises, which I believe retail for over 150k. Numerous Corvettes, tricked out Miatas, custom midget cars and Mini Coopers were all common. There must have been over a dozen WRX STi's and Evo's as well, all sporting well over 300 horsepower a piece.

I drive a Subaru WRX, and yesterday was by far the most fun I've EVER had with my car. I went with three buddies, and we spent over 9 hours at the track. It was simply one of the most exciting things I've ever done.

The average was around 75 seconds per lap, but I couldn't get any lower than a flat 78. Last in my pack of friends, running 77's and a 75. But holy shit, was it fun.

It may sound like a somewhat rediculous sport, racing in a massive parking lot, but it a widely recognized professional sport. Me and my friends were some of the youngest racers in there, with the vast majority being middle agen men with diesel Corvettes and custom midget cars - I also spotted a few Cobras out there as well, fully raced prepped.

ANYONE can race. I paid 27 dollars to run 5 times at the track. The sport is entirely based around driver skill - 500 horsepower STi's were getting beaten by cars that would never win at the dragstrip. My good friend was actually racing his 1999 Toyota Camry, only fitted with light suspension mods, and out ran me in my 235 whp Subaru. Pure driver skill.

Check it out sometime

Originally Posted by Yanick

It's legit, my buddy does it. He's in some league and is on point to get first place in some kind of circuit.

The kid drives a 92 prelude, heavy on the mods with race tires and light weight rims.

horsepower doesn't win auto-x events, cornering, low gear acceleration and driver skill are what wins those races. My buddy says he barely gets out of first gear, fuckin honda's.

Yeah it's definetly legit - the majority of drivers are past the age of 30, I think it's a growing sport.

It truely is all about cornering. In the circuit I raced, I shifted to second immediately and never left the gear. The entire course was between 20mph and 60mph. I'm running stock rims and tires, and shit was I skidding everywhere. I had to reduce my speed just to make some corners, where others could cruise through the turn 20mph faster. Suspension mods and a must!