Do you use your daily driver for AutoX?

[CtrlAltDefeat]

I sooo want to do AutoX in my Yaris, but it's my DD and my wife is having nothing of it. I am trying to convince her it's safe but she wants us to have another DD before she lets me do that... I was curious how many of you use your DD to AutoX without a backup car if something should happen. It doesn't seem too dangerous to me... what do you guys think?

[cali yaris]

I think Autocross is pretty mild racing, with minimal possibility for damage to the car. You will eat up brakes and tires though.

At least around here, there's a greater chance of the car (or me) getting hurt navigating Los Angeles freeways and traffic. Auto X is one car at a time on the track, with not much to hit.

[Yaris-x]

Auto-x is very safe for you and your car. Especially if your region only utilizes parking lots and or Runways for the events. My region also utilizes a go-kart track which looks like a small road course and that is the only event that I have seen crashes (my buddy went off coarse and ended up in some bushes and his car ate a tree stump) but open parking lots are completely safe.

[HTM Yaris]

Convince your wife that Autox is a super defensive driving tool .

Ask her to take a ride with me ....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WlOS3tvbPHw

[markitect]

I use my daily driver. As long as your car is in good condition you shouldn't have any problems.

As far as hitting anything the SCCA mandates that the course is at least 75 ft away from anything you might hit if you go off. And I have never seen anyone hit anything.

As far as mechanical failure the only car I've seen someone's 'custom exhaust' come loose, and a guy that just got 'used race axles' had one fail.

I would recommend a separate set of wheel/tires.

[ozmdd]

My autox car is my daily driver. No problems at all. I do recommend having a different set of wheels/tires for racing, as it is rough on tires and will throw them out of balance if you lock-up your brakes enough. Even if you don't have "race" tires, you'll get a nicer commute if you use different tires for street.

[Tamago]

i autocrossed my xA for 5 years and daily drove it. here's what i broke at autocross

pre-turbo
shift cables (twice)
Synchros (my bad shifting habits did this, no need to slam gears guys)
engine (unrelated to autocross IMO)
CV axle

post-turbo
two transmissions
two clutches
ABS sensor (my error)

really though, considering how hard i drive the xA, it held up remarkably well.

if you want your yaris to last a long time, don't go to R comps.. they put a lot more load on every bit of your car, due to the much higher Gforces acting on the chassis/suspension.

[Loren]

Autocross is safer than driving on the street. Courses are designed with no obstacles to hit, no other cars are out there with you, nothing to hit but traffic cones. It's really not a big deal other than tire wear.

[Tamago]

Autocross is safer than driving on the street. Courses should be designed with no obstacles to hit, no other cars are out there with you, nothing to hit but traffic cones. It's really not a big deal other than tire wear.

edited..

i've seen a few cars damaged beyond repair due to a combination of poor track design and driver error.

bottom line, if you walk the course, and you feel it's not safe, and the club refuses to change the course, ask for a refund and don't race that day ;)

[anonymous user]

Just to add my 2 cents to this question.
The yaris used to be my DD only. Then my race engine took a dump on me.
I've been autocrossing the yaris now for a few events, testntunes, and will finish the season(4 more races) in it. I am on stock brakes, lines, pads and rotors.
Have you raced before? It really is not harmful to cars, and it is a toyota.
Drag racing is more detrimental to cars. And tires mounted with serious negative camber will take a beating. It would be a great idea to get some tires just for auto-x, as others have suggested.
As you get more serious, you can decide if you want to replace the yaris with a better "auto-x" car.

[LtNoogie]

I autox my DD Yaris liftback.

[kngrsll]

i think its insane to autox something thats not a DD. what a waste of money. track racing is a different story...

[Loren]

I don't autocross my daily driver. I daily drive my autocross car.

[kngrsll]

I don't autocross my daily driver. I daily drive my autocross car.

kngrsll likes this :thumbup:

[CtrlAltDefeat]

I don't autocross my daily driver. I daily drive my autocross car.

lol nice, well maybe someday I'll have a better job and plenty of money to fix it, if something happens, then my wife will let me do it. She says she has a bad feeling and cannot be reasoned with :rolleyes:

[anonymous user]

i think its insane to autox something thats not a DD. what a waste of money. track racing is a different story...
To each their own i guess. I travel a lot for work, putting over 1k miles a month on my car. Better on a yaris than a "DD street mod- car". Not to mention reliability of a yaris, vs a tuned SM car.

[cali yaris]

Not to mention reliability of a yaris, vs a tuned SM car.

Huh? If it's done right, it's just as reliable as stock.

[Tamago]

Huh? If it's done right, it's just as reliable as stock.

done right involves spending more money than the car is BRAND NEW..

which negates the point of using a yaris (that'll be beat constantly in SM by real sports cars) to compete in SM, when you could have spent that $30,000total on something else..

[ROCKLAND TOYOTA]

done right involves spending more money than the car is BRAND NEW..

which negates the point of using a yaris (that'll be beat constantly in SM by real sports cars) to compete in SM, when you could have spent that $30,000total on something else..

i do believe he has ALREADY exceeded the value twice over.....

[anonymous user]

done right involves spending more money than the car is BRAND NEW..

which negates the point of using a yaris (that'll be beat constantly in SM by real sports cars) to compete in SM, when you could have spent that $30,000total on something else..

Thanks, I'm glad someone else besides me thinks clearly. When it comes time to sell, between a $30k Yaris and a $30k WRX, i wonder which would be easier to sell? :rolleyes:

[CtrlAltDefeat]

Thanks, I'm glad someone else besides me thinks clearly. When it comes time to sell, between a $30k Yaris and a $30k WRX, i wonder which would be easier to sell? :rolleyes:

Who says i'd want to sell it? A pristine 10yro car wouldn't going to be worth much whether its a yaris or a WRX. (if the WRX can make it 10 years :bellyroll:)

[Tamago]

Who says i'd want to sell it? A pristine 10yro car wouldn't going to be worth much whether its a yaris or a WRX. (if the WRX can make it 10 years :bellyroll:)

an 8 yr old WRX is worth more than a 3 year old yaris already :laugh:

[CtrlAltDefeat]

an 8 yr old WRX is worth more than a 3 year old yaris already :laugh:

And how much did they cost to begin with? :rolleyes:

[kngrsll]

And how much did they cost to begin with? :rolleyes:

which is exactly why they are still worth more... lol

[anonymous user]

And how much did they cost to begin with? :rolleyes:

I guess when equally valued cars go up for sale, you'd be the kind of guy trying to buy a fully modded yaris. The dude from cali could'nt sell his on here for a few years. He eventually parted out that thing.

Well good luck trying to get the wife convinced that you can drive your car.
P-whipped :whhhaatackkk!!: J/K- i don't know what it's like to have a nagging wife. My other half has raced her last 3 subies, all new. She has totalled the last 2 in accidents in the last 2 years. Although not at fault, it's a sign that it's safer to race on a closed course than on the open road (or just plain daily driving).

[why?]

I sooo want to do AutoX in my Yaris, but it's my DD and my wife is having nothing of it. I am trying to convince her it's safe but she wants us to have another DD before she lets me do that... I was curious how many of you use your DD to AutoX without a backup car if something should happen. It doesn't seem too dangerous to me... what do you guys think?

I think the question is do you own another car at all? Or is it just the Yaris for both of you?

[CtrlAltDefeat]

I think the question is do you own another car at all? Or is it just the Yaris for both of you?

Just the one for us, my wife stays at home. My feeling is that without any real outlet for my speed urges, I tend to drive too fast on public streets. If I could afford it, I'd have 2 cars, a DD and a toy. As it sits right now, I just want to have a little fun while my financial situation comes together, and AutoX seems to be the cheapest/easiest solution... Who knows if/when that will happen...

[why?]

Just the one for us, my wife stays at home. My feeling is that without any real outlet for my speed urges, I tend to drive too fast on public streets. If I could afford it, I'd have 2 cars, a DD and a toy. As it sits right now, I just want to have a little fun while my financial situation comes together, and AutoX seems to be the cheapest/easiest solution... Who knows if/when that will happen...

I think with that admission the wife's concern is a bit more reasonable. Maybe if you took her to a local autoX, and showed her the competition, especially the lower levels where you would be competing, it might ease her mind a little bit. I can understand hearing the word, "racing" and her thinking,"oh no, crash! And there goes our income!"

And with some searching, you could prolly get some pretty fun cars for pretty cheap money. 1st or 2nd gen Supra's or Mr2's are rather inexpensive, yet still really sweet handling.

[anonymous user]

As with any form of racing, the slogan is the same.....you gotta pay to play.
So maybe wait until you have an emergency fund, nest egg, etc. until you get out there. Do you have equity in a home? Rates are really low now. That can get you some cash, even if you don't need it, it's available to you.

[06silveryaris]

Take your wife along to autox so she can see it is not dangerous, and if that won,t do it start saving for a car to autox. I don,t do it because here the "autox" is on a full road course and pretty fast so I don't risk it.

[echosqwat]

Think you will find it more rule than exception that daily drivers are used for AX. Yaris will hold up ine in AX. I drove my Toyota Echo in numerous AX events with no issue. I was still on original brake pads after 65000 miles!

I'd pitch AX as place to enhance your accident avoidance skills.

[justjesus]

I don't autocross my daily driver. I daily drive my autocross car.

haha... that's awesome! I like that one.

Well, I've autocrossed my DD a couple of times now. I intend to do quite a bit more. For real, it's no big deal. You do a few runs. My experience in my near stock yaris is that I don't even shift out of 2nd gear, with speed of less than 60 mph, and he run is under two minutes. So, like 6 minutes of "driving hard." No big deal at all.

...and it's fun:biggrin:

[docB]

If you get in over your head, you can really screw up your car at an auto-x. If have seen several cars get messed up in the SCCA western new york region. Most all of the "accidents" were self inflicted. We had a Z-06 Vette 6 feet in the air once. Luckily no body got hurt. Make sure you have an instructor ride along if you have never done it before or if the vehicle is new to you. My two cents....
doc

[SilverBack]

You have to be extremely careless and be completely unfamiliar with your car to flip over your car in Auto X. Obviously the guy in the Z06 you're speaking of was a reckless driver with the wrong car in the first place.

Out here only the real hazard in the parking lots are the light posts, and the course is designed to steer you as far away as possible from each post. Other than that you've got hundreds of feet of open asphalt to shred your tires on.

Back on-topic: Yes I Auto-X my DD, but not to often until I can pay for lighter wheels and comp. tires specifically for this.

[alch3miss]

I have auto x'd before. I was in the NST class "Novice Street Touring". I came in 14th place out of about 25 cars. Just to mention some of the competition in my class, we had some 330i's, g35 sedans, there was a Porsche . Link to the results from that day are https://axwaresystems.com/axorm/files/NNJRSCCA/5232009_fin.htm

[mojoyaris]

I replaced my wife with a Supra and kept the Yaris. My son loves the Supra. It will be our next project car to cage.
You know, and it all started with auto x.........and a Yaris........

[bzinn 1]

Take the wife to an event......you will see it is very safe,you only push the car as much as you can feel it able to take........honestly it is a geat way to learn what a car can really do.......your defensive driving will improve,your ability to control a car will improve......

I got guys begging me to take the Yaris to the autocross,they realy want to see the little car take the corners......straightaways suck but corners are fun in it.

[RHDVIPbB]

well our season starts really soon. can't wait to get back out there.

[kngrsll]

well our season starts really soon. can't wait to get back out there.

yeeep, i think i am going to do some TT's with NASA this year. ill be running TT-F, just gotta get some RA-1's or Hoosiers.

[RHDVIPbB]

yeeep, i think i am going to do some TT's with NASA this year. ill be running TT-F, just gotta get some RA-1's or Hoosiers.

ooh fun. I am waiting to hear back about events at Mid-Ohio. A lot of us are waiting for Bluegrass Parkway to be finished this year. Its about 45 minutes from my house and is a nice layout.

Let me know how you do. Glad to see there are others in a Yaris at road courses.