so i am getting sick of drag racing and i want to start getting into stuff like time attack and auto crossing. i dont know how to set up for that stuff though, obviously i need a better suspension. i have a set of progress coilovers but i dont know the spring rates of them though. what are some other things i should look into to start this
sway bars are always good too. and good shocks. there are alot more but just those things will help alot.
tires are a big plus.
how far into this do you want to get?
Start stock, run a season with whatever your current setup is. DO NOT buy R comps or DOT R’s, sway bars are as FAR as I would go (besides brake pads).
i dont want to go harcore but i want to go a decent amount into it
i would maybe check out a car specific forum and see what people are running on there, and explain what you want to do and see what they recommend. every car is different, so it might be best to check out some other people that have the same car as you and see what they’re setups are and what they are getting out of them. that should give you a good idea of what does what for your car and where to start to get where you want.
there are not many people that autox saturns most are into drag racing
If anything only upgrade the brake pads. The take the car and learn it’s limits, it’s only at this point when you truely will know what the car needs. And the car itself will let you know.
Yes and no.
More or less if you do mod X to a car it is going to behave Y . I don’t care if it is mid engine RWD, or front FWD, AWD, RWD ect. To one extent or another you are going to get the same results with the same mods. Cars are just physical models than can be changed by raising or lower the variables involved.
That being said you first need to know how you want it to behave Y, to know how you want it to behave you first must drive it the way it is and understand how changes are going to affect it. Then you can move onto mod X.
You can throw all the spring rates, swaybars and dampening at the car you want.
I guarantee you I can change the behavior of a car more with +/- 15 psi from factory recommended air in the tires.
:word:
Don’t do anything to it. Bring it to the Novice School in the spring and drive it for a few events. Once you know what you want the car to do, we can help you get it there. The biggest mistake that most people make is modifying there car before autox’ing the first time. It puts you into an undesirable class for beginners, and it discourages a lot of people from coming back.
Run it stock and go from there. You are probably going to have to put the most time/money into the nut behind wheel 
Same advice for a Jetta driver? Brake pads and go? Where can I go to read more if I’m looking for a place/way to have some fun in a legal and controlled environment? I.E. what’s novice school?
Sureshot, maybe if you put something in your sig about it… I’ll start there. Anything else?
Some links to get you guys excited for spring.
Home page:
http://www.wny-scca.org/
Solo II Novice Handbook (Probably the BEST place to start)
http://www.tirerack.com/features/solo2/handbook.htm
WNY Registration Page: (no dates set yet for 07)
http://www.wny-scca.org/soloreg/
A few Solo Vids from WNY:
http://www.wny-scca.org/modules.php?set_albumName=solovids&op=modload&name=gallery&file=index&include=view_album.php
And yeah, no matter what car, bring it out and run it stock to start. If you really want to see what your car is capable of if you improve, let one of the pro guys take a run or two with it with you riding shotgun. Until you can get your time at least close to their time, the cheapest mod to make you go faster is seat time.
no doubt. i was amazed at how much of a difference just 5 psi made the first time i was at auto-x.
what mods should you do?
fix whats broken. tie rods, ball joints, and so on. have a safe and solid car.
The novice hand book mentioned it’s usually $15-20 bucks per event, but that was written 10 years ago. What are the fees now?
Best advice. Make sure there are no weak points in the car as autox and time attack will find them. You don’t want a ball joint to fail in a turn on a road course. 
Also make sure your battery tie down secures the battery properly as that’s the number 1 thing that will get you turned down at AutoX tech.
As several people said already, if you’re going to do lapping or time attack be sure to upgrade your brake pads. Without consistant braking it can be frustrating/dangerous.
I’d put a good set of street tires on such as Falken Azenis…something that won’t overheat immediately and has a relatively stiff sidewall so you aren’t rolling the tires over badly even with the tire pressures bumped up.
I would also add getting an alignment to the list. If your alignment is off that could be dangerous as well and you want to start from a known baseline before making adjustments. Zero toe front/rear and max your camber in the front with the stock parts. Some cars have little adjustment and you can only get -1 degree or so. If that’s all you can get that’s fine for starters.
Since you already have coilovers you have plenty to play with and dial in.
When you get to your first autoX I suggest asking around to find an experienced driver or instructor who drives a similar car so they can give you pointers. I don’t mean they have to drive a saturn, but someone who races a FWD street car would be a good choice.
Have fun!
-Mike
You’re kidding, right?
EDIT: if the wny-scca.com site is confusing, PM me and let me know - I have been thinking about re-organizing it a bit.
For Autox, don’t bother upgrading your brake pads for your first time. You are not pounding on your car long enough to make it dangerous.
Just fix your car. As long as everything is working, that’s all you need
We will provide helmets and instructors. Last years cost per event was $20 for SCCA members, and $25 for non-members. You are not required to be a member to run any/all of the events. Don’t be afraid that you won’t know what to do, or that you won’t know anyone there - we are all very open to new people and very helpful.
So all you have to do right now is fix your car (if necessary) and wait for the schedule to come out for next season. The first event is generally in mid April. There will be more details at that time.
^Yeah I’m kidding. 
Thanks to your sig I found the Solo II novice handbook, spend an hour reading it, and am getting excited about the possibility of getting into auto-x this spring! I bet can get my step father in law to get into it too. Anybody ever auto-x a G35C? He babies the thing, but I’m going to try to get him to!
EDIT: I was able to find everything, but yeah it’s a little busy.
i believe i stickied the link to the handbook in the motorsports section… but why would people see that. no one reads stickies anyways.
maybe i should have changed the title to
!!!111111oneoneone[hotchicsbecksdramatheplanewilltakeoff]oneoneone11111!!!
there is a regular that runs his g35c