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Hopefully this is in the right section. My local auto club had autocross events at runways in my area and i was thinking of taking my civic. I have never been to one of these events before and i was wondering if there would be any danger of damaging my car. In general its a coned track with lots of curves, not usually any high speeds. I dont think ill be hitting anything solid. My concern is suspension and stuff like that, can you knock something out of whack that would require major work to fix. As far as tires go im prepared to get new ones, i dont really care about tire ware. This is my daily driver. Any suggestions?

My car is a 02 civic 4dr ex. the only engine mod is an intake.
Thanks!

 
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This is the right place.... sort of. (MOD - Move this into the subforum)
Take the intake off... if thats all you have, go back to the stock airbox and run stock class.
If you don't care about destroying tires, you've got the right mentality. With proper maintanence, you really won't incur extra wear and tear to the rest of the car.
Just be prepared to buy tires and brakes.

 
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Here is my suggestion. Find when an event is coming up and show up extra early. Not to drive, but instead to help. Watch how the track is setup, how its walked, how the workers do their jobs, help out where you can. But dont drive the first time or two or three. If you can find a nice soul to let you ride shotgun, do that for a few sessions. It really helps to get the vibe of things.

With that said, yes there is always the possibility you will damage your car. Anytime you drive it beyond the normal street use you take that chance. But everytime you drive to work etc you are also taking chances as well. The trade off in fun and experience at autox (or opentracking) is worth the small bit of extra wear on the car. You will be a better driver and know your car better.

After you have worked a few events, go drive. See what you think. If you dig it, cool. If not, you have learned a few things and not really lost much in regards to tire or brake wear.

If you do dig it and if you have non-stock rims, take your stock steelies and put some good track tires on them. A good set will last a season and save your street tires.

Don't let the class organization or your times bother you. Just enjoy the experience. Then next season you can take it more seriously, work on getting your ride into the right class, etc.

imho

 
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Awsome thanks for the advice guys. Ill definitely check it out this time around, and maybe just watch this time like you said, or i have an uncle that races stangs, maybe i can get him to use his ride and let me ride shotgun. Im looking into some new rims for my car, so if i do get some ill have some stock firestones that still have some pretty good tread on them. Thanks again!
-Zoto