I'm a relative n00b to AutoX, having just done a novice school in April and only 4 events since... but when I bought my Cooper I did so with the intention of occasionally AutoXing it. Right now I'm co-driving a friend's 2002 WRX in STX class, but I'm not sure of what path I want to take with the Cooper.

To be honest, I'd like to leave the car mostly stock. It's not exactly cheap to mod these things and I'd like to keep it mostly unmolested and sane since it WILL be my daily driver. At the same time, "stock" has become THE most meaningless word in all of racing, and seeing some of the cars in SCCA "stock" classes at AutoXes makes me

Ultimately, what would you guys suggest aiming for? After hearing some of the guys at events talking about their $10,000 set of Moton adjustables on their B Stock S2000.... or seeing a thread on NASIOC with a guy's 295/35/17 Hoosiers for his D Stock car (in class with the my Cooper S)... I am absolutely terrified of "Stock" classes.

I'm not out to compete at nationals or anything, just to have fun. I don't feel that burning need to win every event, but let's be honest... the occasional trophy IS nice. With that in mind, what should I aim for with the car?

PS: I guess the other option is the DS-Tire class. Any thoughts on it?

 

If "DS-Tire" is a street tire class give it a shot before you modify anything.

 

Yes.... Tire is a PAX index class for "Stock" cars on street tires.

 

My base Cooper is totally stock except for Rota slipstream wheels and Dunlop Star Spec tires. With the factory installed sport suspension I am very competitive in street tire with an HS stock PAX, currently 2nd out of 48 after three events. Give it a shot.

 

Excellent! Now, this may come across as a profoundly dumb question, but what should I expect from the car as far as handling goes? I haven't driven a FWD car in over a decade, and even then I never drove one "aggressively". This will truly be a new experience for me!

 

you should expect the car to turn well, be nimble, have good brakes, and be a ton of fun.

at the limit with the stock setup you should expect understeer if you carry too much speed into a corner, or open the throttle too early when leaving it

if you are driving the car too abruptly you may also expect some wheelspin on the inside front on corner exit

finally, in a fairly quick sweeper, you should expect that closing the throttle slightly will tighten your line and depending on tire pressures you might get the car to drift just a bit

typical FWD - understeer at the limit, and safe

but damned good right out of the box - don't overdrive the little beastie, look ahead, stay on course, and have a BLAST.

cheers,

Charlie

 

I'm working on the "not overdriving it" thing. I was told by people who saw the video from my Miata that I'm not being aggressive enough, and people who saw the video from the WRX that I'm overdriving it and need to be more smooth. Typical n00b stuff, I suppose

Thanks for the advice!

Edit: Oh yeah, http://www.youtube.com/chkltcow#p/u if you want to see the videos of me under/overdriving the car.