Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives Forums General Autocross and Open Track Speaking of hairpins...

I guess we can use this post to begin an early SZ driver's school with multiple contributors. At the event I attended last weekend they took several typical autocross training venues from Saturday's novice school and assembled them into a Sunday course. After the slalom and 180 degree turn, they had a 100 degree left hand turn going from a wide unrestricted area into a narrow area. Thus you could pick your own line into the left hand turn but if you swung too wide, you would hit a wall of cones paralleling the subsequent very short straight.

This is a typical scenario for choosing a late apex. The single inner cone you are going to place your left door next to as you pass by is the apex point in this turn. You want as much of your turn completed prior to passing that point so that as you enter the constricted area you don't swing wide plowing through a row of cones with the right side of your car. In a late apex you wait to turn into the turn beyond the time you normally feel you should. It has been said that all men are early apexers. That is we tend to want to turn too soon. The result is a tendency to swing too wide at turn completion as you exit and accelerate. By waiting and completing the bulk of the turn early before the apex, you can straighten the car and accelerate sooner on turn exit.

In addition, the late apex sets you up properly for the right hand 90 degree turn that shortly follows because you don't want to swing too wide from the left hand turn and end up all the way against the right side of the track for the subsequent right. You have all seen the formula boys come out of the turn on one side and then drive across to the opposite side of the track for the next turn going the opposite way. It is the same way in autocross. You must set up on the outside and turn into the apex. Problem is many autocross turns are closer together than road course turns requiring even more concentration on getting the line right for the preceding turn in order to not screw up the subsequent one. Enough of my rambling. John C and SVTSTS, Dave, Mark, Vern, Hawaii etc....your turn.