Hi guys.

I've read a lot about the evo x and it' autocross capabilities. Some people think it's terrible and some think it's great. From my research, I haven't found anyone that competes that regularly is in the top 3. Does anyone know someone who does well in competitions?

Mainly, I'm just trying to set realistic expectations for my auto crossing and would like to know how others are doing.

 

Set your expectations at having fun because you're going to have to out-drive the owners of 8s and 9s by a lot.

edit: at the regional level, you can do quite well; I was referring to Tours against fully-prepped cars

 

How much autocrossing have you done?

 

It's all about having fun, man. Driver is 3/4 of the race in my opinion.

 

youll have fun and despite the stereotypes it will do quite well. in terms of actually being competitive nationally, that i dont know

 

I've been running mine in the STU class in regional races and it holds it's own. The only downside is the main guy I have to race against places in the top 3 at nationals in his STI so I really have no hope of ever winning since this is my first season. In auto x it's all about driver ability and tires. Get those two things down and you'll go far.

 

Exactly the first hand account I was looking for. It's my first season as well; wish I could run stu but my mods don't allow (biggers wheels, higher boost, no cat). I've been doing time only sessions because I either need to upgrade my car to hang with the modified class or downgrade the mods so I can run STU. Thinking the first because I like my wheels and boost, plus it's my dd, but hearing fellow X owners holding their own makes me encouraged to gun for the regional big boys

 

Is it a good idea to do AutoX on stock suspension? Btw @op where do you go to do this? We kinda sorta live in the same area

 

You're fine autoX-ing on stock suspension. 1/10 of the people at the events I've gone to just have different tires and a performance alignment. Regarding locations, there is an autox thread I started in the regional chat that has some good information for places to race. Around us, most events are either Packwood (nw-scca, nwaa) and Bremerton (BSCC, NW-SCCA).

 

This is the best information I have seen thus far. I ran an STU prepped X GSR for 3 years locally against ~ 80 car fields with 2-3 nationally known drivers and did quite well. I usually finished top 5 in PAX and rarely was beaten in my own class, often posting better times than VIII's and IX's in BSP.

That being said, several times I ran into a properly set up IX that was a national competitor, and I simply could not keep up. The extra weight did not allow me to carry the speeds through sweepers and transition through the tight sections like he did.

My recommendation: It's your first year auto-xing, so where you finish doesn't matter. If you auto-x this car for 3 years, you will love every minute of it. There is no way the X and it's faults will be what prevents you from finishing well in those first 3 years. Your own skills will hold you back far more than the car will. Spend time developing those skills (find an evolution driving school nearby if you can) and enjoying the car. After that, if it's something you picked up quickly and begin feeling the weaknesses in the car, move on to another car that is typically at the top of it's class. You will be a better driver from learning how to drive something slower and heavier - faster.

 

Auto X is more about the driver than the car. That said, just go stock... I went when my old MR was stock and I learned that the stock springs caused the car to lean way too much and that definately needed an upgrade! Other than that, the car in stock form has plenty of bite

 

I agree that, if you're going to prep an X for autocrossing, don't do it for B/Stock, mostly because of the body-roll. I'd say STU, but I haven't tried an X on 315s, so maybe ASP is possible.

 

All good advice above - The reason why I asked the OP how long he has been Autoxing is as follows:

The car only comes into the equation if you are going to be competing at a national level. Don't think that you are going to start as a novice and your choice of vehicle is going to make a difference. Don't be surprised if a good driver in a stock Yaris puts down a faster time than you. Simply put Autocrossing is 90% driver and 10% car. If you have an Evo then run that until you are good enough to be in the top 5-10% in Pax in your region then worry about whether your car is fast enough to compete.