Rallycross Driving Techniques for FWD

[will46r]

New guy here and pretty new to RX. I'm driving a Honda Civic hatch (I know, I know but it's what the wife approved the purchase of) for Stock Front RX.

Do any of you have driving techniques you'd share with me? I'm pretty limited in what I can do suspension wise other than removing or replacing a sway bar that's about it.

The top guys here in Alabama happen to be pretty dang good drivers and I can just hear the difference in their runs compared to mine. I'm doing a lot of throttle blipping, they seem to scream at WOT.

I know driving looking ahead and not off the front of the car (hard to remember when I'm sawing.) Is there any other advice y'all could share so I can put pressure on them.

Thanks in advance.

[pomspeed]

The best thing to learn is left foot braking/ trail braking. very helpful to be able to keep on the throttle and transfer weight at the same time. Also practice, practice, practice.

Brent

[TOI]

^^^

that and learn your car, start slow and work your way up.

where in bama are you located?

[will46r]

Place called Deatsville, about 10 miles north of Montgomery. Was raised in Montgomery but moved up here because the new wife had a better house than I did

We RX in a place called Harpersville. Really beautiful property that we're soooooo lucky to have access to. It's in the "wine country" area of Shelby County, would be a great area to Stage Rally in if people would set it up.

I've only had the car 3 weeks prior to the event and most of that time was spent buttoning up issues from buying a $500 car from a buddy that does repos. Can't complain, new CVs, rotors and pads.

I've got to find a spot to set up some cones and practice. I guess I'll have to check around with my buddies to find a spot of land or private property gravel road.

[TOI]

wait a moment, i forgot about that Mississippi state between us. lol i was about to saw we can do some rallyXing

[will46r]

Do you RX with Damon in NOLA? That dang Festiva of his is insane in the dirt.

[A1337STI]

Try to find a way to disable the ABS (assuming class rules allow it) I **think** you're allowed to pull a fuse, but i could be mistaken ..

either way. you need to get used to Gasing and braking at the same time. learn to brake with your left foot.

But you hit the nail on the head "others are wot and i'm blipping"

"scan" the course, look far ahead and scan back to 10 feet in front of your car and scan back further. look at your turn in point, apex, and track out. do what ever you need to, so that you can Ramp up to WOT a little before the apex, and so you don't have to lift or blip while passing the apex..

remember Lift then steer. at your "turn in" point if you are going too fast to be WOT through the entire corner, then lift steer, then brake (that should send weight forward and it will rotate your car)

play with using the Gas + the brakes at the same time (mid corner) I don't know your car. but at some level of gas + brake it will suck the car to the inside of the corner (towards the apex) and it will encourage oversteer ..

it takes a lot of practice its all about the timing and how you release the brakes too will make a difference in what your car does...

your brake pads will hate you, but gas + brakes at the same time is "the secret" to fwd

[TOI]

Originally Posted by will46r

Do you RX with Damon in NOLA? That dang Festiva of his is insane in the dirt.

no :( i'm an RX virgin cant afford to make it to the rx's near me. hopefully there is one closer soon

[will46r]

RX for me since they don't have it nearby and I can't afford Stage Rally.

[Vaughn Performance]

I've done lot's of other types of "performance" driving, but I'm still very new to RX myself, as I only have a grand total 3 events under my belt now, only 2 of which I actually drove my own car in. Anyway, from one noob to another, couple things that helped me a bit so far......

-The left foot braking is a MUST! The effect is even more profound on a FWD car, as the weight transfers forward onto the front wheels the rear will get light and REALLY make the car want to rotate. That I can remember from screwing around on some dirt back roads in my buddies FWD Corolla, and a couple Golf's I've driven. Where I goofed when I started with RX in my car was that I was left foot braking waaaaay to much. I was using it in places where just lifting a little would be adequate to rotate the car, or where just light brake pressure would help correct my line I was applying way too much, and slowing myself down more then needed. So use it, but only as much as needed, and only when it's needed I guess is what I'm driving at.

-Looking ahead makes a world of a difference. This I taught myself on track's and back roads, but when you get to the RX course a lot of turns are so tightly stacked together it's super easy to just start fixating on the entrance of the turns right in front of you which leaves you lost on where you need to end up for the next section when you exit or string a set together. Without looking ahead you seriously F'up the next turn just about every time haha. When they say look ahead, really look ahead.

-When you screw up, think about what you did wrong, rather then just saying "well I'm not gonna do that again"...... Last RallyX I just did, first lap out, I wiped out a set of outside cones going through a chicane that was super slippery. I got pissed that I hit them, but didn't put any thought into what I did wrong. Sure as **** stinks got into the same chicane next lap and slid right into the same damn cones haha. By third lap I learned my lesson, all I needed to do was change my line the slightest bit and I could blast right through there. If I had just thought about what I did the first time, I could have saved myself time on the second lap. Good time maybe to recollect the last run is sitting in line for your next. Just going over it again in your head.

Anyway those are a couple things that have helped me out a little the last couple times out.

-Anthony