I've got my 1st autox of the year coming up March 5th. I'll be sure to take some pictures.

 

Where can you get certified helmets w/out breaking your bank. I have a motorcyle helmet but the scca said that it was not ok for auto-x

 

Each region has different requirements...In Philly Snell M or SA 95 or newer, open face or closed.
I just picked up on of these click here.

Also, most events have loaner helmets for you to use.

 

^^ Ya, I totally just use a loaner one. Just haven't picked up my own yet.

 

www.helmetcity.com

 

I just went through alot of ____ to get me tC fixed, and im dying to autox this summer, but really cant mess my car up anymore. How significant is the risk of damaging my tC? Is it a dependable car for autoX?

 

very...no worries

 

ive done it maybe 9 times now, and its still juuuust fine

 

Can you give me any advice on suspension setup and class?

Hotchkis sways are on the way. I planned on installing trd springs also. I'm firm on TRD's because of ride height. I'm not in a good area to slam. I'm guessing coilovers and braces would push me into a higher more competitive class.

 

Usually motorbike helmets are considered acceptable for autocrossing... according to all the clubs around this region. So, double check with your local clubs about that, because motorbike helmets are much cheaper than autoracing helmets. But if you think you might hit a track event one day, it'll be good to have a proper autoracing spec helmet.

Here's a few incar autocross videos I've made over the last few years, if anyone's interested. A few MR2 runs but mostly my Z06, all with R-compound tires. Sorry, nothing Scion related in there.

http://www.derangedkiwi.net/index.php?view=autoxvid

I am tempted to try running my '06 xA in STS one of these days... just to see what it's capable of. It's better to learn the limits of a car in a controlled situation where there's nothing to fear

I highly recommend anyone who's even remotely interested in trying autocrossing to go ahead and try at least one event out. As mentioned above, if nothing else, you'll have a stress free, fun, and legal environment to wail on your car and learn what it's limits are, and your limits too!

 

How do the classes work? Do certain parts add a specified number of points? If so which parts add lots of points and which only add a few?

Exhaust only add a few horses if they can bump you a class-not a good part. Stock header with gutted cat stealth power bump. Same with suspension. Sway bars=huge difference. Springs some difference.

 

Stock tC = HS Class. There is some room for modifications but not many. Cat Back exhaust, different air filter(but in the stock air box), new struts/shocks, R-compound tires on stock size wheels of any weight, different front sway bar. There are one or two gray areas I am checking on with the SCCA right now I'll let you know what I find out.

Things like springs, different rear sway bar, header, different intake, and so on will put you in a different class.

As of right now HS looks like the most competitive class for the tC. We will have to wait for people like RamAudio to get his fully build tC out on track to see how it competes against high horsepower RWD and AWD cars. For our cars to be competitive in the other classes it will have to have an LSD.

 

In SCCA auto-x, there are five categories of classes: Stock, Street Prepared, Prepared, Modified, and Street Tire. There are nine stock classes, 6 street prepared, 6 prepared, 6 modified, and 4 or 5 street tire.

In stock classes, you can do some limited changes as outlined in a post above. In street prepared, you can use any intake and exhaust system, but you can't touch the engine internals. Also in SP you can use any suspension pieces but keep the stock configuration, and any wheel & tire but no body mods.

Prepared is a step above--you can gut the interior, take off bumpers, etc.

Modified is for dedicated race cars--open wheel and the like.

Street tire class is for the "tuner car", and has similar rules to SP, but with street tires instead of race tires.

With SP and ST, you need to do all legal mods to be competitive. If you do one mod that's not allowed in stock, then that bumps you up to SP or ST. But if you're learning, then it doesn't really matter what your class is.

That being said, it's best to learn on slow cars, and HS is the slowest class.

 

Rear sway is already in; since rear sway and 225/45 17 kumho's make a HUGE difference versus stock tc i'd like to leave them. My other planned mods were flywheel(on the way and clutch is slipping), pulley(installed), intake, and either gutted factory or aftermarket header. Since exhaust show small gains and I like stealth anyway I'm content to leave exhaust alone for now.

If I make the mods listed above should I do springs and exhaust as well(as in same class)? These two mods are the ones I least want to do. Springs because I can barely get a jack under the car now and exhaust because they are mucho overpriced versus power gained.

 

You forgot Street Modified, Which is Any suspension with stock mounting points, Any Drivetrain Modifications/Swap (For us it must be a toyota/scion/lexus block), Some body panel mods (CF Hood, front fenders, ect.), any braking system, any wheels with any DOT tire, strip the inside (Must have 2 front seats) .

Something noone mentioned is that both Stock and ST classes require OEM cats. If you gut yours someone will protest you.

If you are really curious about the rules you can check them out online @ http://www.scca.org/_filelibrary/Fil...solo_rules.pdf.
Also chek out http://sccaforums.com/default.aspx if you have questions

 

Have'nt had time to read the rules yet-maybe this evening.
In stock form the tc's low end thrust is reasonable but its handling sucks. I seriously doubt it could compete on anything close to even terms with a stock civic si or even worse a RX8 due to its camry suspension. This problem is easily remedied however with a rear sway bar and tires. I feel like rear springs instead of the sway would not be sufficient.
I'm trying to setup to be competitive. Now, I have extreme confidence in my skills but lets face it: if i'm going head to head with a corvette Z06 I'm going to be at a huge disadvantage. I'm interested in a competition of skills not a competition of cars.

If adding a rear swaybar is going to put me in a class with race ready monsters then its got to go. I really need advice on which class the tc will be the most competitive in and every part than can be modded in that class.
I also realize that it would be easier to just go check it out. Problem is that I work weekends and Saturdays and Sundays off are in scarce supply.

 

^^ You're not going head to head with a Z06... or even the RX8. They're in other classes. You're going head to head with Ford Focuses and such - in a stock class.

The "monsters" you refer to generally do not end up in STS (where a sway bar would put you). That's fully of Civics or Neons or something with "something" done to them.

If you've never been, I'd recommend you go watch one or two first. THEN enter if you can. Usually the events are like 11am until 4 or 5. But if you're racing, you usually need to be there before 9 for registration and walkthrough and meetings and such.

 

Yeah deffinetly not running head to head with them. But they do PAX timing and have some kind of correction for the vehicle that puts you on a level playing field with everything from a cadilac to a racecar.
Makes it fun to see how your driving compares.

 

Here is what is allowed-if i'm reading the rules correctly.

STOCK Class:

Tires (must be approved)
Wheels (stock diameter + width)
Struts
Front Sway Bar (no rear)
Brake Pads
Air Filter (no intakes)
Cat-Back Exhaust
NOTHING ELSE

STREET TOURING Class:

Tires (225 max width/140 min treadwear)
Wheels (7.5" max width)
Struts (coilovers???)
Springs
Sway Bars
Strut Bars
Camber Plates
Performance Rotors (stock size only)
Performance Intake
Pulleys (no supercharger pulley changes)
Motor Mounts
Variable Valve Timing Controllers (camcon)

NO Header Changes(due to cat rule)
NO Engine Dampers
NO Flywheel/Clutch Changes

Because of the weak factory suspension it seems like the stock class would not be a good place for the tc.

 

I'm hoping to have my sway bars in time for this years events (start up in may) and I'm hoping that'll really help me out. I did "OK" last year. Was usually the middle of the pack. But I was in STS with just lowering springs.

So I guess it should be said again that any ONE of those things changed will push you into STS. So if you have planned upgrades and they're for autox, you should wait and do more at once if you can.