Reply to "My first autocross"

I can never do them. Here they are always done in a parking lot and I can never see the course because it is marked out in just cones.

The other thing is I am not accustomed to having to drive with a helmet.

IF you get into second gear you are really rockin.



They are usually first gear screamers here and the course is so tight that only a bugeyed sprite or an MG Midget can get through it.

911's seem to do well in them but if your wheelbase is any bigger that that to me there's no sense.

I think to do well on them, it is like being of a road race coarse and you need to know the course and practice on them before there is any time trials?

I do remember there were always a few Panteras at them 35 years ago.



I haven't seen one posted in years. They kept moving them farther and farther away because it got to hard to get permission to use them because of the event liability insurance.

The last one I did was at Stuart Air Force Base in Newburg, NY. It was no easier to drive since it was on one of the runways and marked out with chalk and orange cones.

I would always be off course because I couldn't follow it.

Drag racing was easier to follow the course for me!



The thing you really want to do is get on a real race course.

The newer ones like Millwood in NJ or Virginia International are really nice and because the pavement is all new it doesn't beat up the car.

Shorter course like Lime Rock are fun too but not only are they shorter but they are narrower.

The key is being able to practice on them first.
You don't need to follow some plastic cones or chaulk on the pavement to see the course.



If you want to drive the car anywhere near what it is capable of that's where you want to go.

Look for car events that post any cars are welcome. Clubs rarely can fill up all of the available spots and need to pay for the track for the day so they usually welcome other brands.



You want to stay off of courses that have banked turns your first time out. Those need some time to get used to driving on and feel very alien.

I remember being at one where everyone was afraid to run the car up high on the banking.
Bob Bonduraunt was there and just jumped into a new Aurora and rode it right up on the guardrail flat out with a passenger. For the Aurora that was around 125 mph.



The Pantera is generally very stable at that speed (100 to 150)and very easy to drive even as a novice. 150 is about where you start to feel the car get twitchy because of aerodynamics but it certainly will go to around 175 on flat straightaways.

The nose can suddenly lift there and the steering will get suddenly light. That's a little spooky for me.

The nose needs help at that speed and I found that the little GTS front spoiler does help some.

You need to be judicious with the throttle also over about 120. The car can suddenly show it's rear balance bias and instantaneously loose it's manners.



Even so it is about 25 mph faster under the same circumstances as my Shelby but the Shelby seems to be going 175 at 100 mph whereas the Pantera is really very smooth and quiet in the cabin relatively speaking.

Neither car lends itself well to the typical autocross set ups here that I ATTEMPTED to run in.



I tend to over use the clutch in them and have no desire to keep putting clutches in the car for no reason. The autocrosses for me are not fun at all.