After looking a the local autocross club's classing rules and with my mods (wheels/suspension/weight) I will be placed in the class with the vehicles below: (I have a stock 2.0l 4cyl)

Audi R8, BMW 325 M-Technic, BMW M3 Lightweight, BMW Z8, Callaway Corvette, Chevrolet Corvette ZR-1 (C6 chassis) ('09-10), Dodge Viper ('08-09), Dodge Viper (NOC), Ferrari (NOC), Ferrari 355 & 360, Ford GT, Ford Mustang Boss 302, Laguna Seca (2012), Ford Mustang Cobra R, Lamborghini (NOC), Lotus Elan M100, Lotus Elise SC ('08-10), Lotus Exige S & S/C ('06-10), Lotus Sport Elise ('06), Nissan GT-R ('09-10), Porsche 911 GT2 ('02-05), Porsche 911 GT3 & GT3 RS (997chassis), Porsche 911 Turbo AWD, Porsche 996 Turbo, Saleen Mustang S/C

Will my lack of power be an issue or does it come down to the driver? (really though a Lambroghini!)

Regards

Jon

What's the class? My "stock" 914-4 (also a 2.0 liter) was CS.
With my modifications, I'm now DP.
Know that I regularly beat newer cars all the time. Just go out and have fun.

I will be doing it just for fun but considering it's my first event it is somewhat intimidating. A mainly stock 914 against a stock Lambo I will be placed in the 'A' class up here in Canada. The base class is 'C'. Not sure the classing is the same as down there? I'm sure it's different. I am looking forward to it

Jon

Tell us about your driving experience?

Most of those cars will never show up and if they do they're not likely to be driven in anger. On a tight autocross course a well setup 914 will be tough to beat.

I have never done any autocross before. I can drive a mean go- cart though! My car does hammer around the corners. It's just the lack of power I'm concerned about. It does seem to be a well sort auto-x car otherwise. Here's the car when it had a six. http://redesignresearch.com/reblog.htm
It also has gt style tune re-inforcement and Toyo RA1 tires. It's gonna be fun!

That's pretty stiff on the front with 23mm torsion bars and 21mm sway bar. What spring rate are you running on the rear?

Not too sure off hand, I'll have to go through the cars history log and see. I have a folder filled with receipts and records of all the mods since the guy built the car. I'll have look in a bit. The car is wickedly stiff. I did buy this car for parts for my other build but I figured I'd throw my engine in and run it, now I'm not sure if I wanna strip it. Worst case is I end with two cars

Depending on the brand of spring they should have the spring rate noted somewhere. Hypercoil etches the spring rate on one end of the spring...you'll need to remove it to see though. Eibach stencils a spring rate code on the side of the spring that is pretty easy to decipher. What color are the rear springs?

Rears are 165 lbs. progressive rate. Thats from the paper work I have, and their
black.

I'd advise showing up as early as possible to the event to ensure you can get your 914 to pass tech inspection, walk the course, and meet up w an instructor if they offer. All are important ways to ensure the best day, you have fun, and be safe.

Well prepared 914s have beaten most of the cars on your list at an autocross, especially when it's the first time they've raced 'em

I've also had lots of interesting tech inspection experiences, most of which resulted in 10 minutes of wrenching followed by passing tech and a fun day of racin. Once I got some custom magnetic race decals for letting someone borrow my jack stands and tools to fix their 914

Thanks for the advice, I will heed it!

I wouldn't change anything now, just go have fun. My guess is that ultimately you'll find this setup too stiff on the front and you'll deal with understeer issues when you really push the car. Not a big deal to change at some point and certainly every driver is a bit different in what they want for a setup. Autocross is all about getting the car to turn in/point so you'll really want it at least neutral to mildly loose. 914-4 is a momentum car...your setup needs to allow you to get on the power early. Like I said earlier, just have fun right now and learn your car.

That's some good advice right there. 23 mm torsion bars are huge on an autocross 914. Don't worry about winning your first event. Go out there and have fun. That's what its all about anyways. After you get an event or two under your belt then you can start changing the car.


Thread hijack, Jason, I ordered some helper springs from you yesterday. Received them today. Thanks for the quick shipping and all the updates along the way. They showed up a day earlier than I expected.
Jon

Great, I appreciate the feedback!

Now, who remembers "Autocrossing in the Fastlane" featuring a 914 tested in stock form and then after installation of Koni's, springs, torsion bars and sway bar. It featured a young and upcoming stud driver

Try to get an instructor to ride with you every time you can. That and seat time is what will get you up the learning curve. I've said this 100 times here on this site, but the best advice I ever got was from Rich Bontempi, who said just concentrate on seat time.

And by the way Bontempi has probably beat more big, fast, 4x more HP cars in SCCA competition, with his 914, than anyone else in the 914 world. He goes down to Laguna and drives his mostly stock Viper (another one of his toys) and does lap times in the 30's, so knows how to drive.

The best advice I can give you is to get there early and walk the course.....a lot. You have to basically memorize it and learn there method of marking the course. It's hard to go fast if you don't know where you're going. It seems every club has a different way of setting up their courses. Some completely line the course with cones. Some use gates and pointer cones. Anyway, you have to figure out where you're supposed to go. Most will tell you to walk it alone so you can concentrate. Anyway, walk it as much as you can before you run. FWIW

Oh yeah, have fun!!

Yup.

You shouldn't quit walking the course until you can play it back from memory.

Also, go for ride alongs. In my local club, most people are happy for the company and to talk about cars. That will give you an idea of how the course goes, and where the tricky spots are.

Thanks for all the advice, I am a little leery about trying to see the course with cones only. Like playing the old Atari game night rider. It's hard to see far out where your turns are going to be. I'll try and get there early, there is also a drivers school coming up that I will try and make it to.

At first you're going to see a sea of cones and think you'll never figure things out. Don't worry, you will. Ride with instructors as others mentioned as this will give you more "looks" at the course. Take your first solo run at a more leisurely pace so you can get comfortable without the pressure of trying to go fast. Often times events will print course maps to hand out and that's a great way to learn the course as well.

I love autocrossing but I admit that it is one of the most unintuitive motorsports. Here's my advice to all newbies.

1) Leave your ego at home. No matter how fast your car you will be humbled.
2) Your goal at your first autocross should be to have at least one run on course. You will get lost somewhere and miss a gate. Don't be surprised if you are marked off course and you have no idea where.
3) Walk the course as many times as possible (at least 3 times).
4) Ask someone to watch your runs. That way may be the only way to know where you went off course.
5) Your goal at your second autocross should be to improve your time each run.
6) Here are your mantras "slow in, fast out" and "Look ahead" On sharp 90 degree turns you should be looking out the side window before you get to the turn.
7) You will be surprised how much harder the course is driving than walking and how slow the car is going yet the cones come up very fast.
8) Don't be embarrassed. No one will expect you to be an expert. Also no one will pay attention to your runs, they are more concerned about their runs and the people who are beating them. You will be slow - get used to it.
9) Don't worry about where your car is classed. When you are starting out nothing matters but your experience. A well driven stock 914 can beat a novice driver in a Bugatti Veyron
10) There are only 2 important things - be safe and have fun.

My wife and I have been running 914s in Autocross for 28 years. The advise we always give newcomers is to improve your own driving first, then improve the car. Improving you goes with you to any car you drive.

That being said, SCCA has pushed the stock 914 up in classes until it is completely uncompetitive. We figure it was because the guys with the new cars got tired of getting beat all the time.

I don't know about your area, but our local PCA region is really big on AX, and they don't class us unfairly. They do put Betty's 1.8L in with the huge behemoth Cayenne. But the Cayenne's HP is made up for the by the weight and the high CG. So she regularly whoops up on 'em.

+1

Out here on the left coast running a 914 in SCCA is tough. A modified car, like mine, typically gets classed in XP and gets to run against cars with 3 times the rear wheel HP. So when we get close, say a second and one half, against a national champion, on a 40 second course, we feel pretty good!

Oh, one more piece of advise. Get Hank Watt's book off Amazon - read and learn about autoxing and tracking.

I have to echo a lot of what is said above.

1st thing to know it's not the car holding you back. AX is controlled chaos. It takes a long time to see through the sea of cones and only pick out the ones that matter. What you need to learn is car control in a slow car of regular street tires. Slower speeds will allow you a bit extra time to concetrate on car placement and getting close tot he edge of cornering limits and well as when to brake and when to gas.
Have one of the hot shoes drive your car with you as a passenger. or catch a ride with them. Take note of the way they hold the wheel how amazingly hard they brake and not slide a tire. how they exit a corner already set up for the next feature.

I would not worry about many of those cars showing up except the GT2/GT3 porsches....

Those cars are hard to beat.

rich

But definitely beatable. A number of well driven GT2/GT3's have gone down to 914's at Marina events including faster courses like American AutoX Series. And I'm talking about a 4, not a 6!

But taking one on a hill is a different matter. The fast ZR6's (2) that we got in front of at Cascade Lakes were almost 2 seconds behind Boynton at Hoopa, although that course is all about power.

I think Boynton could run in the 40's at Cascade Lakes, which is crazy fast. But hope he sneaks up on it as Cascade Lakes is very technical.


http://www.nhahillclimb.org/results/Hoopa-hillclimb-2013.pdf

http://www.nhahillclimb.org/results/cascade_2013.pdf