Say you're going autocrossing...
 

Okay say you were going to autocross your C, how would you prep your stock car?

So far I have:
- take out the spare tire and tools from the trunk
- remove the rear seats
- pump up the PSI on the tires.
- dyno mode
- reset TCU
- air con off
- air filters out

Any other ideas?

Sounds really stupid, but I've seen plenty of people do this at Auto-X events:

- Duct tape/electrical tape (whichever) the front of your car...bumper/halfway up the hood and the fronts of the mirrors. Depending on the course and how many people are driving, you could sustain a lot of rock chips. Looks ridiculous...but so do rock chips!

- Remove all loose objects from your car. CDs, brushes, cups, etc.

- Take a tire pressure gauge (this should be obvious)..and if you have one, a little plug in air pump for tires that may run low throughout the day.

-Remember some courses make you have windows up/sunroof closed...or all open depending.

-Must have helmet at most places.

-Always ALWAYS walk the course before you drive to know what you're going up against.

-Some places let you take a buddy along with you. If you do, make sure he/she has a helmet and that they aren't overweight.

-Wear comfortable shoes (once again, sounds stupid but after an 8 hour day of Auto X...your feet will be hurting!)

- Have fun! And most importantly, post times/scores so we can see how you did!:zoom:

Removing the rear seats should move you to a modified class, so don't do that.

DO NOT put it in dyno mode, the brakes are set up to have ABS and they are NOT balanced to work well with it off. ESP off is fine and I would leave it on for the first run. In fact if you drive the course right it should not be an issue anyway.

The TCU is a don't care. Put in M, you are likely to drive the whole course in 1st and 2nd. If you get into 3rd, the course designer should really consider if they want cars going 60-70MPH.

If this is an autocross, then don't worry about the rock chips mentioned by the previous poster, but DO follow their other recommendations.

Oh right removing the rear seats would bump you up to a modified class (crap totally forgot about that, thanks for the reminder)

I think the stock class a C350 is put in isn't awfully competitive in the first place =p I remember I was against several cars last time that outclassed my car performance wise =[

I just took a look at the stock class guidelines and pretty much only mods allowed in a stock class are:
- adjustable shocks
- modify or swap the front sway bar
- change to less restrictive airbox.

Plus from what I can tell there's at least a 1-2 second lag between shifts using the manual mode, its just like swiping the shifter right and then hoping it changes gears, its a big game of guessing and hoping the gear will change, maybe better to keep it in auto and just working on throttle control or use left foot braking?

http://cms.scca.com/documents/Solo_R...nufacturer.pdf

Seems like they don't even classify the C350 or the C300 =\, I think that might have been why I was kind of slotted into a heat with cars that had 280-300hp last time.

Auto cross
 

Dont take your airfilters out unless your replacing them with some other filter you are just asking for trouble there.

Dont use ducttape or eletrical tape... you want blue painters tape the others will leave residue on your paint. The tape will not only prevent rock chips but it will also prevent scuffs from cone strikes

Beat me to both of those.

Make sure to protect those fragile fog lights with extra tape. Some of that blue painters tape behind the rear tires.

Well, that was my last resevation about SCCA solos, cone marks. Some of the other info on prep in this thread is echoed in the newbie section of the SCCA website. Good to have a reality check from the field.

My other concern is tearing my air dam loose on a cone. I'm going to ask a few body shops about it and then check the calendar. It's going to by dry for another 10 weeks out here and I don't mind driving a few hours to meet a schedule.

I joined SCCA to be social. I expect a barely perceptable uuuuhhh from the crowd at the finish line. And to email pictures from my phone. :D

Cones
 

There won't be any flying rocks because AX courses are swept clean and even if there is another car on the course it will be at the other end.. And if you think hitting the cones is a good idea, you will likely be red flagged for a DNF since you will be deemed a poor driver.

I think the C-Class would be a piss poor autocross car since it will understeer too much and is not powerful enough to kick the tail out which by the way requires skill and experience.

Plan on early replacement of the front tires because the shoulders will be worn down.

Former autocrosser/BTDT

Yeah, the courses are usually clean + been working on not hitting the cones anyways because it would be a DNF.

Airfilters in? or K&Ns in. I just mentioned taking them out temporariliy just because the stock air filters are restrictive, just for the session, usually the courses aren't that dusty, they're like airstrips.

i agree with RLE.. piss poor... i would consider finding a fellow autox'er that you could co-drive with that has a better autox car. pay them for the wear on their car/gas and tires along with the opportunity to use their car. it'll be a ton more fun, more social, and you'll probably learn more about driving by having a co-driver to help make sense of courses and car setup.

they don't list my S55 either. that is so lame! :rolf:

yeah FML. haha not even listed :( haha

OK, I have done a lot of this and took a regional SCCA trophy with a stock W203 sedan. I know how to do this.

In priority order:

0. Autocrossing skills (get lots of driving instruction from an experienced autocrosser)
1. Top quality autocross tires (Hoosier or Kuhmo)

Everything else does not matter until you complete and master 0 and 1 above. Putting money into anything else is a waste of money until you do.

Autocrossing success consists of about 98% these two items.

well said. a good driver in a lesser car will crush a lesser driver in a good car.