A review of the SCCA Learning Curve

I attended the Chicago SCCA Learning Curve on April 9 and 10 and after listening to a few friends who've said they were interested in going, I thought I'd share a review on the class as it was a little different than I expected...

First of all, for those who don't know: my previous autocross experience has been watching Ed, now my fiance (it's still weird to say that), autocrossing for the past 2 seasons. I also participated in the Mazda Rev It Up event last year.

The SCCA's Learning Curve, first of all, was worth the money to me. I started out very unsure of myself since I've only been driving stick for the past 6 months or so. This course was a nice way to get the feel of autocrossing with a knowledgable person at your side, then participate in an event that closely resembles an actual SCCA autocross. You also get to run the course that will also be used at the next (real) event, which is a plus! Saturday I was very nervous driving to the first class. Sunday I was just excited to get on the course. That was worth the money right there!

As I said, I think this course was worthwhile for me, but anyone who's been to an autocross event before and feels confident enough to try it themselves may not need this course. If you have a friend to show you how the event runs, and you don't mind asking people for pointers, you'd probably be fine just showing up. -Don't worry about your skills or your car. From the looks of things they see all kinds of people out there. Just go and have fun!

Anyway, on to the class. Saturday started in the classroom where we were given a booklet which followed a Power-point slide presentation page-for-page. Basically the instruction consisted of what autocross is, the basic rules, what to bring to an event, etc. There was NO TECHNICAL INSTRUCTION. After class (about an hour long or so) we were paired up with our instructors; there were about 2 students to each instructor, but some teachers may have had 3 students. The instructors varied from "seasoned" men who had been in national competitions, to one lady who won at nationals, and others were club members who consistantly pulled off good times. Basically, with the instructors, it was luck of the draw. Some may only be getting good times because they have a really well set up (and fast) car, or perhaps they know everything about driving their rear-wheel drive car, but nothing about driving your front-wheel drive car. I paid a lot of attention to the instructors talking to their students out on the course; some gave good advice and seemed very knowledgable. Others couldn't even answer their students (general) questions!

After introductions, the instructors tech'd our cars and we all headed to the two "mini" courses that were set up for us. We walked the courses as our teachers explained the best line to take, where you'd be accellerating, where you'd be braking, etc. After that was lunch, supplied by K&M Magnetics, and then we headed out to the courses. There were 85 students and we were all divided into 3 groups (orange, blue, and green) and given assignments (work, run course 1, or run course 2).

When it was our turn to drive the course(s), our instructor rode along with us. At first she'd call out the directions we'd be turning (ie "enter the slalom on the left"), then she'd let us find our own way around. Either way, at the end of the run she'd let you know where you could improve next time. We got 5 runs on each of the 2 courses, and only had to work once. After that, we made plans for meeting up the next day and went home to (hopefully) relax.

On Sunday, we were to show up at 7:30am which was difficult, but apparently normal for race day. Our teachers tech'd our cars again, then we headed out to walk the full course (they just combined the 2 mini courses from Saturday into one big course on Sunday). After walking it a couple times, we attended the driver's meeting and headed out to work heat 1.

There were 150 or so cars running that day (because instructors also ran their cars with students riding along), so it was decided that we'd all get 5 runs. Considering the number of cars, the heats went pretty quick, but it seemed like forever out there shagging cones on the course. After heat 1 was lunch, supplied by K&M Magnetics again. Then it was our turn to drive!

The instructors rode along again and gave us pointers on where we could improve. On Saturday they didn't time our runs at all, but I thought I was really fast because at the end of the day my instructor had no more advice for me. My first timed run on Sunday shot that ego down a bit. In the end, I knocked a little more than 5 seconds off my first run. Truthfully, I think I would have done just as well without the instructor, but I've had the experience of Rev It Up and watching 2 seasons of autocross before participating.

For heat 3, our instructors ran, so we took turns riding along with them in their own car. My instructor had a very nicely set up Dodge Neon (believe it or not), and being able to ride along with her gave me an even better idea of where I could improve (and how I could improve the car as well).

So, there you go. That's what the class was all about: experience more than anything. I got a confidence boost out of it. I CAN autocross, I just have to practice to get faster. If you're looking for an introduction to the sport, this is a great place to get it. If you've participated before and want someone to ride along with you to give you general pointers, it's not a bad deal (but it all depends on who you get as an instructor). If you've autocrossed before and are looking for more in-depth tips, this isn't the place for you.