What Auto-X Class?

[m3f_dcasanova_f75d803f45]

Just ran my second Auto-X yesterday. I was first in STU Class, dead middle of the pack in the Paxed, what ever that is. When I ran by first last month, the powers that be, put me in STX. When the scoring came out later, I was in STS. Yesterday I signed up in STS, but was quickly questioned by several drivers wanting to know why I was in that class, how many events I had driven and suggesting that I bight get protested. I was then moved to STU.



My mods are: UUC Evo III SSK & trany mounts/tme, Conforti CAI & Chip, Koni S/A, X-Brace, JTD Rear Shock Mount, Frozen Rotors, Axxis Brake Pads. I’m planning to ad camber plates, strut bar and sway bars.



So, of the drives here who do Auto-X, what class do you run in, and/or which should I be in?

[m3f_shim]

pax time means after everything has been included (i.e. penalty for cones, etc.)



i'm not good at telling what class people should be in, but i'm sure someone can answer that. also, if you check out scca's website, they have a huge pdf file that lists where you should be in....





as for me: i havent been to an auto-x since august or so, but at the time i had ACS SSK, dinan exhaust & chip, afe intake, and maybe something else; but currently, i am in BSP (b street prepared)....

[m3f_hemlock_1eebd28e89]

You ALMOST qualify for STU if you're on street tires. The E36 M3 doesn't qualify for STS and is specifically banned from STX. STU was created for cars that aren't allowed in those two categories, but have the same mods. Competition includes RX-8's, Subaru STI, Mitsu Evo, etc. Your future mods are also legal in STU.



An alternative to STU (and if you run DOT slicks on an STU legal car) is BSP. BSP also allows a few additional mods. If you go even further into mod's you'll end up in SM, where you'll prolly get creamed (no offence, but it takes big mods and big money to play there).



However, the one mod that is keeping you from being legal in STU or BSP are your TME's. Replacing the bushings is fine, but no solid mounts or added metal is allowed. Sorry man. SM is not going to be a good place to be with your mod's.



PAX times are calculated by multiplying your best time x the multiplier for your class. The lower the time the better. The lower the multiplier the better (all multipliers are less than 1). Typically classes are weighted so the better cars and more mods means you get a worse (higher) multiplier. All in the hopes that it will even out and you can get a best driver outta the event. Street Touring classes (STS, STX and STU) tend to have pretty favorable multipliers because they must run street tires. Street Modified (SM) has one of the worst since it allows MANY modifications that other classes do not.



As for myself, I run in B-Stock. Got beat (badly) in my first event this year because I didn't have a new set of DOT slicks yet and had to run on street tires. Ended up spinning my best run while trying to stay (not-even) close. But I'll get back into it with my new Hoosiers coming Wednesday. Competition in BS is mostly 350z, Rx-8 and the old Porsche 968.



The SCCA has now posted all the rulebooks online at www.scca.org. Download the Solo2 car classifications and rules and read up. Good luck and remember the best mod for auto-x is truly driver experience. And have fun.

[m3f_hemlock_1eebd28e89]

I had to check on something and edit the last post. Hope it helps.

[m3f_dcasanova_f75d803f45]

You ALMOST qualify for STU if you're on street tires. The E36 M3 doesn't qualify for STS and is specifically banned from STX. STU was created for cars that aren't allowed in those two categories, but have the same mods. Competition includes RX-8's, Subaru STI, Mitsu Evo, etc. Your future mods are also legal in STU.



An alternative to STU (and if you run DOT slicks on an STU legal car) is BSP. BSP also allows a few additional mods. If you go even further into mod's you'll end up in SM, where you'll prolly get creamed (no offence, but it takes big mods and big money to play there).



However, the one mod that is keeping you from being legal in STU or BSP are your TME's. Replacing the bushings is fine, but no solid mounts or added metal is allowed. Sorry man. SM is not going to be a good place to be with your mod's.



PAX times are calculated by multiplying your best time x the multiplier for your class. The lower the time the better. The lower the multiplier the better (all multipliers are less than 1). Typically classes are weighted so the better cars and more mods means you get a worse (higher) multiplier. All in the hopes that it will even out and you can get a best driver outta the event. Street Touring classes (STS, STX and STU) tend to have pretty favorable multipliers because they must run street tires. Street Modified (SM) has one of the worst since it allows MANY modifications that other classes do not.



As for myself, I run in B-Stock. Got beat (badly) in my first event this year because I didn't have a new set of DOT slicks yet and had to run on street tires. Ended up spinning my best run while trying to stay (not-even) close. But I'll get back into it with my new Hoosiers coming Wednesday. Competition in BS is mostly 350z, Rx-8 and the old Porsche 968.



The SCCA has now posted all the rulebooks online at www.scca.org. Download the Solo2 car classifications and rules and read up. Good luck and remember the best mod for auto-x is truly driver experience. And have fun.



Actually I had to remove the TME’s because of vibration, so all I have is the UUC trany mounts. I checked the rulebook, again, and figured that I was legal in STU or BSP. I missed the type of LSD in STS and the E36 M3 exclusion in STX. I figure I’m better off in STU with street tires. Is that a reasonable assumption?



Thanks

[m3f_PurpleM3Pursuit]

so where do i sit with the coilovers? ive never run in an AutoX but want to get into it.. yes i was ignorant by getting the coilovers.. but glad i did then rather than having to pay even more in the long run

[m3f_AMPowerJ_e8f979e5cd]

so where do i sit with the coilovers? ive never run in an AutoX but want to get into it.. yes i was ignorant by getting the coilovers.. but glad i did then rather than having to pay even more in the long run



My question too ...

[m3f_hemlock_1eebd28e89]

Actually I had to remove the TME’s because of vibration, so all I have is the UUC trany mounts. I checked the rulebook, again, and figured that I was legal in STU or BSP. I missed the type of LSD in STS and the E36 M3 exclusion in STX. I figure I’m better off in STU with street tires. Is that a reasonable assumption?



Thanks



If you are running street tires, then yes, STU is probably a good place to run. You may also choose to run BSP for an event or two just to have different (maybe better?) opponents - competition makes you better and you already mentioned that you won STU before.

[m3f_hemlock_1eebd28e89]

so where do i sit with the coilovers? ive never run in an AutoX but want to get into it.. yes i was ignorant by getting the coilovers.. but glad i did then rather than having to pay even more in the long run



Coilovers will remove you from B-Stock. How they mount will affect exactly which class you fall into. So long as they retain the stock mounting points then they're legal in STU, BSP and SM/SM2 classes. If you've changed the mounting points then you're into Modified and Prepared classes with all the purpose built race cars. However, if you just bought a kit off the shelf this should not be the case.



Note that unless this is the only non-stock part on your car, every mod can affect where you are classed, and the above explanation may not be true for you.



For you guys that are interested in auto-x I strongly recommend you download the 2005 Solo rules from the SCCA website. Even if you still have questions (as we all do from time to time), just reading through it will explain a lot. Most BMW car clubs also host auto-x, with a completely different (and much simpler) set of criteria. Those event will have (obviously) a lot of other BMW's, but tend to be much smaller (and lacking the better non-BMW drivers from the SCCA program).



Best of luck.

[m3f_PurpleM3Pursuit]

Coilovers will remove you from B-Stock. How they mount will affect exactly which class you fall into. So long as they retain the stock mounting points then they're legal in STU, BSP and SM/SM2 classes. If you've changed the mounting points then you're into Modified and Prepared classes with all the purpose built race cars. However, if you just bought a kit off the shelf this should not be the case.



Note that unless this is the only non-stock part on your car, every mod can affect where you are classed, and the above explanation may not be true for you.



For you guys that are interested in auto-x I strongly recommend you download the 2005 Solo rules from the SCCA website. Even if you still have questions (as we all do from time to time), just reading through it will explain a lot. Most BMW car clubs also host auto-x, with a completely different (and much simpler) set of criteria. Those event will have (obviously) a lot of other BMW's, but tend to be much smaller (and lacking the better non-BMW drivers from the SCCA program).



Best of luck.

gotcha.. yeah i didn't realize that every single part affected it.. as of right now i changed the RSMs on coilover setup.. they are also GC.. it is the track/school setup.. then exhaust, intake, GC shims, SSK.... then just lights and stuffl ike that.. soon to be an M50 manifold.. ill definitly download that stuff.. and i am still on street tires.. can't afford another set of rims for track tires.. :banghead:

[m3f_dcasanova_f75d803f45]

If you are running street tires, then yes, STU is probably a good place to run. You may also choose to run BSP for an event or two just to have different (maybe better?) opponents - competition makes you better and you already mentioned that you won STU before.

I think the win was more of a function of who showed up that day than driving skill. But I was in the middle of the field not at the bottom and not too far off some good drivers times.