Autocross tips:

· Driving in an autocross unleashes all the adrenaline you've been saving up, and dealing with all that extra mental energy is a big task. It's easier to say "Relax" than it is to do it. One good way is to stay focused.

· The tendency is to treat straight-aways as if they were the front straight at SIR when in fact they are not. This means that the speed you carry through the corners is more important than how much you accelerate down the "straights". This furthermore means that you should use the straights to set up the corners, not as a series of connected drag races. You'll notice that the fastest cars don't seem to slow down as much in the corners.

· It helps to look backward as you walk the course. How you exit one corner often determines how well you'll be able to approach the next corner, and if you aren't set up right, you'll waste time.

· Smoothness is a key virtue. If you're burning your tires and sliding a lot (either under braking or acceleration) you're wasting time and energy. Smoothness also gives your suspension the most opportunity to keep the tires planted.

· Abrupt movements by the driver mean the suspension is spending more time in abrupt transitions, and transitional handling is something most street cars are not very good at.

· Try your best to memorize the course when you do the walk-around. Drivers can and do get lost, particularly when the course has you weave in and out of cones on a "straightaway".

· If you're running street tires, be sure to pump up the pressure at a gas station before you arrive. You should have at least 35 pounds of pressure and maybe even 40+. The added pressure minimizes sidewall flex which, for street tires, is a major cause of body roll, which you don't want. Body roll doubles on my '72 when I take off my 225/50 - 16's and put on 195/70-14's.

· Make sure your engine fluid levels are up, and have enough gas in the tank that you won't get fuel starvation in corners. Same is true for oil levels; the oil gets thrown around a lot and you don't want to uncover the oil pump pickup.