TrackRat

Orkboyz

Throwing a 2-ton beast around an AutoX course is no small feat. I used to do it (or attempt to do it) with a 05 GTO which was about 4K pounds. Even with coilovers and stickier rubber, the lighter, nimbler, AWD STIs in my class (STU) would regularly hand me my 2-ton ***. Of course, I am also not a professional driver.

TrackRat

Oh I know GTOs are heavy. I owned a Gen 5 Camaro and the GTO/G8/SS sedan are all like chassis cousins from what I remember.

arentz07

I did the Autocross at LPDS in Atlanta last year. I was amazed at how much time I was leaving on the table.

I think the softness of the IS 500 initially discourages it being thrown around. But, now that I think about it, I heard barely a tire squeal during my sessions. I was not going 10/10ths. And, it follows that the fastest times in our group were about 2 seconds faster than my time. (I did it in just under 28 seconds, and the fastest time was just under 26.) I also was braking a bit earlier than I really needed to, mostly because I was trying to ensure I didn't clip a cone. We had a few cones get clipped during the sessions that day...

macmaster

Probably not at LPDS (bc ur a paying customer) but if you clip cones at the Driving Experience (free) they threaten to kick you out.

I've said this before but I hate how Lexus sets up this "autocross." The cones are spaced way too tight and that's not real autocross. When will they learn?

Orkboyz

Um... okay. Do they think that means someone is not learning car control because they found the limit of their, or their car's ability? You don't know limits until you go past them, and AutoX is a safe way to do that. Or, maybe, they just don't want to reset cones.

However, sometimes you need to punt a cone out of the way because it mocks you with its false apex.

TrackRat

At events like this, the cones are close to limit speed.

Orkboyz

Well, that's no fun. I hope the track portion is at least divided up by skill levels so the more experienced or faster drivers can learn something besides how to follow the instructor around the track.

arentz07

In LPDS, the track sessions are lead-follow. Though, in the final two sessions, we rotated who was following the leader in each lap. So, if there is a slower person following, the faster one will eventually get their turn to set the pace. It was pretty interesting in my group, since I'd say I was pretty similar in pace to one other driver, but the third guy was pretty darned slow. We had to let him catch up a few times, since he would start falling back and not following closely enough. Our instructor was great, though. He managed the speed difference pretty well.

macmaster

Well then they shouldn't call it Autocross. They can call it Rat Maze.

TrackRat

I imagine even what you personally consider your best autocross track even has control somewhere it shouldnt.

Orkboyz

Agreed. There are always elements in a course intended to keep speeds down. In the video they have used street markings and a buttload of cones to clearly define lanes they want the driver to stay within. Those lanes also appear (at least to me) to be more narrow than most side streets, which likely cuts down on the speed. I can see why they get irritated when cones are punted. The short course also looks like it is designed to teach balance and steering control since there is not a point on it where the steering wheel is straight.

When I think autoX, I imagine something more open where the driver has to choose the best line through each element of the course. However, I understand that this is not an AutoX class and is not intended to teach people how to negotiate something like a chicago box or how to find the fastest line through a decreasing radius turn.

DLPTony

The instructors evaluate you along the way. Do you pay attention during the lecture portion? Are you fast, yet controlled on the autocross? Or are you an idiot? By the time my group made it to the track segment, our guy paired the three of us (fastest drivers) with their most aggressive driver. When we pushed, he went faster.

It. Was. Awesome!! 🤩 The LC is badass, but wished I had my car instead.

TrackRat

This 100%

You have a larger group, but they use autocross as a ruler to know just how fast you can go on the track. It doesn't always compute, but if you can go fast on an autocross track you can likely not flip a car at triple digit speeds on a big boy track.

When I did the group, I was with one other fastest or one of the fastest drivers. We were hitting 130+ in LC 500s, but when I was taking a break getting some water some guy in our larger group randomly asked me how fast my group was going which I told him and he mentioned they weren't even hitting 100. He also happened to be the guy who punted a few cones and almost hit the timing rig at the end of the course.........

DLPTony

Right on! I think we lucked out overall. Now that I know how things work, if I go again I’ll be on the lookout for the slowpokes and careless. (…and say something to our rep.) 😎