sidewaysil80

oh gotcha, thanks!

Breaking Point

im new to autox also but however i have been modding my car for like 6 years now lol kinda wondering what kinda tire brand you all suggest and what kind of wheel size/width/ and mainly offset

getfast

I suggest "whatever wheels & tires are on the car now" assuming they pass tech of course.

Once again, the car makes zero difference at first. Work on the driver mod.

Breaking Point

lol i wanna learn howto autox to do the driver mod haha i used to do alot of drag racing so thats kind where im coming from the wheels on the car are the hella flush trend haha i was thinking something normal tire with wide ass wheels? lol and what kinda tire setups pass tech generally.im epic noob to autox

Z33_Taxi

yea im going to start doing autoX and continue with all the driftwaters again this year

Cobra4B

1. Leave the car stock (make sure it'll pass basic safety tech)
2. Go drive and have fun, maybe buy your own helmet (not all groups rent them)
3. Get an instructor as often as you can and listen to them
4. Once you do a few events see what clas your car would logically fit into and plan around that. Too many people mod up a car that they can't afford to run that much.
5. Have fun!

Too many people think they have to do all kinds of mods to get their car "ready" to go auto-x etc. In reality, as Jon mentioned above, the car doesn't matter.... it's all driver. A pro in a Miata wil beat a novice in a McLaren F1.

getfast

AutoX setup is usually "widest stickiest tire you can fit on the strongest widest lightest smallest wheel you can fit over the brakes that won't rub during hard cornering"... not that poke/stretch stuff, which is slow at best (due to small contact patch) and potentially dangerous at worst (due to body rub cutting down a tire, or a sidewall popping off the bead.) Can you find like some 15x7's with 225 summer tires, or similar? That, or similar, is great for autoX.

Also what is your tire width vs wheel width currently? Even if it passes tech, it may not be a good idea...

Z33_Taxi

245/45/18(on a 8" wide wheel)on all 4s in my Z at driftwater and on the streets...prob what ill run at auto X

I have a set w/ Falken Azenis and another w/ Goodyear Eagle F1s

getfast

245 Azenis on an 8" wheel would work fine for autoX.

sjfehr

Hellaflush is more for appearance, and not very good for actual performance driving. Supercars feature giant wheels with low-profile tires because they need giant wheels to clear the brakes; most of us don't. The wheel/tire combo is generally lighter (and thus faster) with a much smaller wheel and higher profile tire, as pneumatic tires weigh less than metal wheels do. The coefficient of friction is not linear with tire rubber (twice the downforce does not give you twice the grip), and dynamics with the contact patch/slip angle and weight transfer get rather complex- the rule of thumb, though, is the wider the tire, the better the grip. The narrower the wheel you can use to support the same width rubber, the lighter it will be. So, you can either be hellaflush or fast, but only one at a time. As Jon says- it really doesn't matter anyhow your first few races as a novice. Race it a few times as-is to improve your skill as a driver before spending any money on mods. Especially not until you know what class you're going to be in, as your mods might bump you into a class where you're far less competitive. NASA classing's point system is nicer with this respect than SCCA where it's all or nothing- you really have to be careful with mods if you plan on racing with SCCA (or TSCC and VMSC, which use SCCA rules.) If you get really into it, you'll put racing rubber on your second set of wheels anyhow

Alignment matters, too. There is a sweet spot for camber that is usually several degrees of negative camber front and back with slight toe out in the front. Again, I wouldn't worry about this at first, but you'll want to get an alignment at some point your novice season. The only change you want to make before your first autocross is too add air to your tires to prevent roll-under.