Autocross is at once an extremely addictive and a supremely frustrating form of motorsports. Because AX is such a seemingly simple activity, many newcomers become discouraged early on and end up throwing money at speed parts in a vain attempt to improve course times. This is the wrong approach. While there are many items that can enhance a Corvette's AX performance, most novice drivers will have trouble exploiting even a stock Vette's potential. Rather than investing basketfuls of money in things like trick shocks and tree-trunk-sized sway bars, it makes sense to invest one's efforts in the machine behind the steering wheel.
If you've got a wad of bills burning a hole in your pocket, spend it on improving your skills. Novice and advanced driver schools can range from free to several thousand dollars, but nothing will make your car faster than learning how to drive it properly. Maximizing driver performance isn't easy. You must take a systematic approach to the task.
Before The Run
The first key element in maximizing your autocross experience is the course walk. Unlike driving on a fixed road course, where you can become intimately familiar with every nuance of the track-lap after lap, session after session-AX requires the driver to engage the course in competition after only a cursory examination-on foot. This puts visualization and memorization skills at an absolute premium.
The importance of walking the course is an often-overlooked aspect of AX. Many drivers just go through the motions-they walk, but they're not really paying attention. Instead, they're joking with their friends or jabbering on the phone. Walk the course by yourself or with one other experienced driver, and continue to do so until you've learned everything you possibly can. Your goal here is to be able to replay the entire course in your head, enabling you to attack it rather than react to it.
It's easy to spot well-driven Corvettes. They're the ones lifting the front inside tire in hard corners.
Is there an obvious fast line through each corner, or is it ambiguous? Study the composition of the most important corner. How do you determine which is most important? There are two schools of thought here. One says the most important corner is the one before the longest straight. The other states it's the fastest corner leading onto a long straight. Pay attention to the slaloms. Pace off the distance between the cones. You may be surprised to find they are not evenly spaced.
Most autocrosses are held on flat, seemingly featureless parking lots. But while the driving surface may appear featureless, a closer inspection will often tell a different story. Think about the things that impact traction when driving your car on the street. Pavement changes, frost heaves, and large areas of paint can have a serious influence on how well your tires stick to terra firma. These are the things you should be on the lookout for during your walks.
Prior to your first run, reflect on what you know about the course. Think about what a perfect run would be like and drive it in your head. Accomplished racers consistently execute near-perfect runs and are constantly adapting their strategy. Plan your strategy and then execute the plan.
Sure, you can use paper numbers and painter's tape, but it looks like crap. Reusable adhesive numbers work very well and look far better. A set will retain its stick for an entire season.
Driving The Line
It's more important to run the correct line than to go fast. Your time will improve more by following the best line than it will from trying to go faster through the elements. Fact: You can't achieve the latter without accomplishing the former. If you are on the wrong line, it is impossible to carry more speed through the course.
Another key is to look ahead by at least one turn on the course. Don't stare, but scan ahead to where you are going next. Your brain processes only the information you provide, so it is important to keep your eyes constantly moving back and forth, left and right. Train yourself not to look at the cones, but beyond them to where you want to place the car. Remember: Your hands follow your eyes, and the car follows your hands.
Stopping
Proper braking technique is a critical skill. Use your brakes with authority. Use them only when you need them, and then apply the brakes smooth and hard. When getting started, try to do all of your braking in a straight line.
Discipline yourself to brake slightly early. If you wait until the last possible instant to blast the binders before entering a turn, or "element," you will find it difficult to be consistent and smooth. What works better is to initiate braking sooner to allow yourself a small margin of error. This way, you can adjust your deceleration as you begin to turn in.