a couple of questions

[lockon]

Hi all,
Once upon a time I used to autocross my Honda Prelude (2nd Gen)... that was well over 25 years ago... now I'm curious about getting back into it for fun (not necessarily to complete). The questions are :

my two cars are a 2007 G35X and an 2016 Audi S5... is there even a class for these?

Are they too big and heavy?

They are both daily drivers... should I be worried about hitting cones and damaging the paint? ruining the tires?

Thanks

[echan]

CDC uses an index system rather than classes. You can drive these to our autocross!

[lockon]

Thanks, is the index system described somewhere?

Any thoughts on my other questions?

Thanks

[BugBomb]

Both of those cars are perfectly capable of auto-xing with our club. They are not too big/heavy and they do not have a significant rollover risk. As with all auto-x cars, paint damage from cones as well as wear-and-tear on tires/bushings/shocks/etc. is a cost of the sport. You can take steps to mitigate this, but the bottom line is that you shouldn't auto-x a vehicle unless you are prepared to deal with the possible consequences.

[Apexcarver]

Thanks, is the index system described somewhere?

Any thoughts on my other questions?

Thanks

http://www.capitaldrivingclub.com/FAQau ... ndexsystem

May be a bit outdated, not sure, but will give you a good general idea of our system. We basically go off of power, weight, and tired and assign a handicap based on those figures which is how we do classing.

We have supplimentals that you do not have to use, but may use if you built your car to an SCCA class and want to compare to other cars. The supplimental SCCA/PAX has no standing in our championships though.


Insofar as the cars you have, Pretty sure we have had a G35 run with us and maybe not a 2016, but we have had Audi S5's before. We are very inclusive and have had cars ranging from Ferrari 360's to old diesel mercedes run with us. We only really worry if there is a safety concern which usually means a rollover risk and this does not apply to either of your stated vehicles.

(basically, pickups and SUV's are dicey, so usually no-go. You can contact us ahead of registration if you want to be sure or if the truck/suv has been modified for a possible allowance. no promises)

Tire damage depends on the tires. Snow tires or fresh all seasons *might* chunk under severe duress. I have done a few runs in my Miata with SNOW TIRES on it and been ok, but I know more than a few runs would likely damage them with their big flexy tread blocks. It depends on the tire and depends on the car, but most standard equipment will be alright and not suffer undue damage. However, I would suggest monitoring the tires through the event and increasing the pressure from normal road pressures on a stock car. People at the event will happily give you more detailed suggestions on tire monitoring and pressures.

Damage from cones. You may get a few scuffs in your car if you hit cones hard. Worst I have heard of is breaking foglight covers on 90's BMW's. You can cover some leading edges with painter's tape if you are really worried. There are also a number of professionally applied products that help. Do some google searching for stuff like stone guard film if it really worries you. Or, you can drive a bit easier and avoid hitting cones. I am afraid a few cone scuffs is a risk you run with this sport. They generally arent bad and I know the expression "That'll buff out" is overused and used sarcastically a lot, but it really does apply in 99% of cases.

As far as worrying if your car is too big and heavy... We have had 80's ford LTD station wagons run, BIG 90's Buick's, Diesel Benz's, and even a Cessna (see video below).


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fNsiK8pLYHk

[lockon]

WOW! Thank you! What an awesome reply and video too!

So, if my son and I wanted to come out and do some runs (paying the non-club fee), we can do so without really competing... correct?

Thanks!

[BugBomb]

The majority of our participants are just out to have fun running their cars, watching/riding with others, and enjoying some grilled food while talking to friends. You don't have to be competitive to have fun.

When you pre-register, you don't have to enter your index info. You can skip it on the registration page. Your times will still show up on the results, you just won't receive any points in the index championship.

[Sky Render]

You can't really call me on an autocross course "competing..."