86 communities are always filled with people asking about prep for autocross, track or car meets. To start us off with some useful info, I am going to write some “getting started” guides for newcomers to the platform.
To be clear, the intention is not to give an exhaustive list of useful mods. It is just to help people get out and do activities. We will start with autocross
Autocross
What you need:
Autocross is often confused with track days, which is really far from the truth. Autocross is really no harder on a car than any number of normal on-street activities for a sports car. The runs are only ~40 seconds long with tons of cool down time between runs.
However, you do need a car in good working order that will pass tech. This means no bad wheel bearings, suspension that isn’t falling apart, and a properly secured battery. You are also responsible for ensuring you don’t have any major coolant or oil leaks. Nobody likes it when someone oils down the course and runs have to stop to do cleanup.
You also need a helmet if your region doesn’t have loaners. Most do, but it’s a good idea to ask if in doubt.
Nice to haves:
You probably want to bring a tire gauge for adjusting pressures.
Summer tires are good to have because all seasons are prone to chunking when driven hard. You don’t need to buy special autocross tires when just starting out, but if you are on all seasons keep an eye on the heat between runs and be carefully not to overdrive the car.
Bring lots of water, sunscreen, closed toe shoes, and maybe a wide brimmed hat. You will be out working at most events and will get a lot of sun.
A helmet sock is nice to have if you are using a loaner helmet.
Additional prep info:
I’d like to discuss the issue of classing. Basically, don’t mod your car to prep for autocross if you aren’t experienced at the sport. The things that knock you into a higher class can be unintuitive and if you don’t mod with a class in mind it will quickly become impossible to be competitive without huge money outlays.
For example, any aero mod in SCCA classing will knock you into either prepared or xtreme street at minimum. Prepared allows full on racing slicks and stripped out interiors; it is VERY expensive to compete in. Xtreme Street allows unlimited powertrain modifications; in many regions the winners have widebody cars with 3x the stock power levels and it takes a ton of prep to win in that arms race.
It’s usually best to just show up in a stock car for awhile and build for a specific class once you have experience.