Autocross: Facts, Discussion Forum, and Encyclopedia Article

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Autocross

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	Autocross
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	Topics Autocross Topic Home Participation One of the primary attractions of autocross is that it is an inexpensive way to get involved in motorsports. The potential for car damage is low because of autocross' low average speeds, lack of physical obstacles, and lack of wheel-to-wheel racing. For this reason, most autocross participants compete in "daily drivers", which is not the case in most other forms of motorsport. Many clubs further reduce the barriers to entry by including classes and instruction specifically for novice drivers. The SCCA has ladies classes for autocross which share the same rules as the open classes but limit participation to women. It is common for husbands and wives, boyfriends and girlfriends, brothers and sisters or even two unrelated drivers to share the same car, but run it in their car's open class and its corresponding ladies class. The SCCA ensures that the ladies class for any given class is never run at the same time as the matching open class, specifically to allow car sharing in this manner. Women are not, however, prohibited from running in the open classes if they desire and many do so quite successfully. Cars and classing Classes and rules vary from sanctioning body to sanctioning body, but typically the majority run lightly modified or unmodified (stock) vehicles. The most significantly altered production vehicles are the Street Modified cars, which retain production-based bodies and motors but little else that is stock. Street Modified cars often produce in excess of 350 WHPHorsepower The horsepower is the name of several non-metric units of power.... , can reach 60 mphMiles per hour Miles per hour is a unit of speed, expressing the number of international miles covered per hour.... from a standing start in less than 3.4 seconds, and can corner in excess of 1.7 transient lateral GsG-force g-force is a measurement of an object's acceleration expressed in gs.... . There are usually classes for purpose-built race cars imported from other series (including Formula FordFormula Ford Formula Ford is a single seater, open wheel class in motorsport which exists in some form in many countries around the world... s, Formula Atlantics, Formula 500Formula 500 Summary Formula 500is a Sports Car Club of America open wheel road racing class.... s and vehicles similar to American oval-track stock cars) but most autocross cars are based on production cars. The fastest autocross cars are purpose-built "specials" (A Modified in SCCA Solo) that typically feature large multi-element wingsSpoiler (automotive) A spoiler is an aerodynamic device attached to an automobile whose intended design function is to 'spoil' unfavorable air mo... , snowmobileSnowmobile A snowmobile is a land vehicle propelled by one rubber track with ski for steering.... engines, and continuously variable transmissionContinuously variable transmission A continuously variable transmission is a type of automatic transmission that can change the "gear ratio" to any arbitrary s... s. While their top speeds are typically limited by gearing and aerodynamic dragDrag (physics) In fluid dynamics, drag is the force that resists the movement of a solid object through a fluid.... from their wings, their transient cornering capabilities far exceed those of vehicles not expressly designed for autocross use. Related motorsports In the United States the sport described here is commonly known as autocross (it is also known as "Solo," the SCCA's brand name for it) but other regions of the world have different names for it. Certain parts of CanadaCanada Canada is the world's second-largest country by total area, occupying most of northern North America.... and Eastern European countries, for instance, call it autoslalom. In the United KingdomUnited Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a country and sovereign state that lies off the northwest coast... it is known as autosolo and autocrossBritish autocross In England, autocrosses are typically held on a grass surface.... refers to a similar sport that is held on unpaved surfaces like grass and dirt (also see SCCA RallyCrossFacts About SCCA RallyCross RallyCross is a type of car competition in the U.S., sponsored by the Sports Car Club of America.... ). In Southeast Asia, countries like MalaysiaMalaysia Summary Malaysia is a federation of 13 states in Southeast Asia, formed in 1963.... and ThailandThailand The Kingdom of Thailand is a country in Southeast Asia, bordering Laos and Cambodia to the east, the Gulf of Thailand and Ma... refer to the sport as autokhana. MotorkhanaMotorkhana Motorkhana is a low-cost form of motorsport, unique to Australia and New Zealand but similar to autotesting in the UK and Ir... (as it is known in Australia and New Zealand) and autotestingAutotesting Autotesting involves a series of tests, generally around traffic cones, to measure precision driving skill.... (UK and Ireland) are related sports. With speeds rarely exceeding 40 mph (60 km/h), both motorkhana and autotesting are slower than American autocross, require handbraking, and have sections that must be negotiated in reverse. On the other hand, autocross speeds can reach over 60 mph (100 km/h) and courses that would require the driver to enter reverse are generally prohibited in autocross. Handbraking is also not usually necessary on a typical autocross course. These are similar to the Japanese gymkhanaGymkhana (motorsport) Gymkhana is a type of motorsport practiced in Japan, the United States and the United Kingdom similar to autocross but with ... , another type of handling competition. Gymkhanas are even tighter than motorkhanas and autotests, with numerous 360-degree turns around cones and courses that loop back upon themselves. Fast times require a lot of sliding and the end result ends up looking similar to a cross between autocross and driftingDrifting (motorsport) Drifting refers either to a driving technique, or to a sport based on the technique; this article deals primarily with the s... . Gymkhanas do not usually require entering reverse gear. In ProSolo, an SCCA-sanctioned variant of autocross, two cars run side-by side on mirror-image courses after starting at a "Christmas tree" starting system similar to that used in drag racingDrag racing Overview Drag racing is a form of auto racing in which cars or motorcycles attempt to complete a fairly short, straight and level cou... . External links Books about autocross technique Watts, Henry (January 1990). Secrets of Solo Racing: Expert Techniques for Autocrossing and Time Trials. Loki Pub. Co. ISBN 0-9620573-1-2. Turner, Richard (1977). Winning autocross solo II competition: The art and the science. National Academy for Police Driving. ISBN 0-932522-01-7. Pagel, Jim (1972). How to win at slalom & autocross. ISBN 0-87112-053-4.