Autocross at Qualcomm (San Diego)

[cevallos.j]

Just went out to SCCA Autocross at qualcomm stadium in San Diego and had an awesome time, but there was no other E9X M3s

Here is a video of the course, pretty bumpy but the m3 took it like a champ. Now time for some better tires as im officially addicted.

[u2b][/u2b]

Jorge

[roastbeef]

come to the track with us. there is a good group of socal guys... none of that cone bullshit. lol that would confuse the hell out of me. checkout speeddistrict or speedventures.

[cevallos.j]

I just feel like autocross gives me enough driving pleasure without feeling like I am abusing my car, but maybe ill get convinced to track it sometime.

[roastbeef]

track use isn't necessarily abuse. you're just driving the car fast, turning, and braking. sure, you're asking the car to work hard, but that isn't abuse.

[admranger]

You should do the San Diego Chapter of the BMW Car Club of America's autocrosses. They have terrific courses and are a ton of fun (you usually get more runs too!). Sign up early though as they sell out really quickly.

[M3 Number 86]

I'm too used to knocking comes out of the way I don't think autox is for me lol

[CIFUM3]

Damn!!! Of course they would have this damn event after I move away from California! ??

[The HACK]

Don't knock it until you've tried it.

I find the occasional auto-cross makes me a better driver on track. I find that most of us who only does a handful of tracks tend to get in a RUT. You learned, over time, to drive mostly by muscle memory. You can churn fast times, but you don't find yourself progressing and getting BETTER.

What AX teaches, is the ability to go into any brand new course and immediately identify the fastest line through most turns, and the ability to stitch the corners together to get a relatively fast lap relatively quick. You're really only given about 3 laps to familiarize yourself to the layout and learn the fastest way around it. It forces you to get better at mentally recognizing which corner to give up speed, and which ones to maximize. It is also visually taxing because you're forced to see through multiple cones to find the next visual reference mark.

Drivers who are fast on track won't necessarily be fast at AX, and driver's who are fast at AX won't immediately be fast at track, but there are valuable skillset that transfers to both that can be learned on either.

While I prefer the majority of my driving on track, I do sprinkle in a fair amount of AX, skidpad work, and KARTING. Each one has its merits in keeping a certain aspect of my skills sharp, each adds value to my overall skillset and experience, and for ANY driver to feel that any form of motorsport is beneath him or her, they're really closing the door on some very valuable seat time and lessons, IMO.

[M3 Number 86]

i just don't want to be responsible for picking up after myself. my car is a cone magnet lol

I started in bmw cca autox in a f30 328i and have trophies to show for it haha