What is Autocross/AutoX/Solo?
I Want to Autocross
Because SCCA® Solo® uses rubber traffic cones to build a course in large parking lots or on inactive airstrips, the hazards and barriers to entry are low and that makes autocross one of the easiest and least expensive ways to compete in a car.
While speeds are generally no greater than those encountered in legal highway driving, the combination of concentration and precision maneuvering leaves many drivers with their heart racing and hands trembling from adrenaline after a run.
Although there are many ways to go autocross and the effort can be as easy or as intense as you want, the basics of going autocrossing are simple.
What you need
A Drivers License: Unless you’re entering one of the Junior Kart classes, you will need a current drivers license to drive in an event. Make sure to bring it with you when you go so you can show the people working registration you’re good to go.
Helpful tip – If you are under 18 and want to enter the Junior Kart classes or attend an event, you will need your parents to sign a minor waiver for you.
A vehicle in good working order: Although autocrossing doesn’t require the same safety gear that you might see in road race cars, you will need to make sure that your car (or kart) is in good shape with no loose/worn suspension parts, your car battery is securely held in place, your tires have no cord or metal showing, your car’s brakes and seatbelts are in good shape and it has no big fluid leaks.
Helpful tip – When you get to an event, the tech inspector will make sure your car is ready to go.
A helmet: You will need a helmet when you’re on course competing, but you can usually use a “Loaner” helmet provided by the hosting region at an event. If you bring your own, it has to meet certain safety standards – more than just “DOT Approved.” The most common certifications are Snell “M” and “SA” and need to have the number 2000 or higher after the letters. ECE R22.05 certified helmets are also allowed and are common at motorcycle shops.
Helpful tip – If you’re not sure if your helmet is OK or not, bring it and a tech inspector will let you know if it’s acceptable.
How to participate
Find an event: Below this description of steps will be an application to help you find your local regions and events. Put in your zip code, find local regions, look at their schedules and choose an event to attend.
Register: Some Regions require that you sign up online before coming to an event, and some allow you to just show up and sign up. When you find an event look for the details about how registration might be unique. Depending on the Region and the location, Regional events tend to cost between $25 and $60 to enter.
Helpful tip – SCCA members are a helpful bunch. If you arrive early enough and tell someone you have never done it, chances are you’re going to get walked through the process to make sure you can participate. You’ll probably even make some new friends along the way.
Show up: Once you have what you need and have registered or know how to register, the next step is to come out to an event, sign the waiver, and come on in. Because autocrosses tend to pack a lot into a day pay close attention to the schedule of when you can have your car go through tech inspection, when registration opens, when the course is open for walking, and when drivers meetings are held.
Helpful tip – Autocrosses tend to run in any weather. Bring appropriate clothing and weather gear, closed-toed shoes, and drinks/snacks for the day. Since no loose objects are allowed in your car while you’re competing, a plastic tote bin is a helpful item to bring and put your stuff in.
Get your car checked out: The safety inspection, known as “tech,” is where one of your fellow autocrossers will double-check your car and make sure it passes all those safety items mentioned above. They will look under the hood, make sure your throttle doesn’t stick, check your tires, make sure your suspension is tight, make sure your helmet is good to go, and see that there aren’t any loose pieces on or in your car.
Helpful tip – It’s best to come to tech with your car empty and when you get there open the hood and trunk for the inspectors. Also, if you don’t have numbers and the inspectors don’t have shoe-polish to write the numbers on your window, you might have to ask them for some low-sticky “painters tape” to make numbers and class letters.
Walk the course: Since you will only get a few runs on the course it’s important to walk and “plan” how to drive it. You probably want to get there in time to walk the course at least 2-3 times and they usually take 5-10 minutes per walk depending on the location.
Helpful tip – The course should be marked well enough that you don’t have to memorize it, but the better you learn it the faster you will usually go. Also, don’t be afraid to ask another member to help you walk through it. Just like asking for help before, you’ll probably make a new friend.
Help Out: One of the things that makes autocross less expensive than other forms of motorsports is that competitors are also organizers and helpers. That person who helped you sign the waiver? They’re probably driving today. The person who helped you register? Yep, also driving. The tech inspector? Well, you get the idea..
There will be a time period during the day where you will need to help out. Helping out might include working in the timing trailer, helping direct cars from grid to the course or re-setting cones on course when they get knocked down.
Helpful tip – Work times and drive times are most often announced in the drivers meeting. That’s when you find out what group you’re driving in, which group you’re working in and which groups you will have some down time to relax, socialize, or watch.
Drive: This one is kind of self-explanatory. There will probably be an area for “grid” where you park between runs, and grid workers will tell you when to go up to the line to make your run. Have fun, look at your time, and try to go faster. Repeat until all your runs are done.
Helpful tip – Look ahead and relax. Looking ahead helps you see where the course is better, and relaxing enables you to feel what the car is doing better so that you can ultimately get a better time.
Despite the generally low speeds attained during competition, it’s one of the fastest paced, rapid-fire forms of motorsports you can find, with barriers to entry so low that many people are able to compete and be competitive at it.
“Solo®” is the brand name for SCCA® Autocrossing and on paper it seems very simple – use traffic cones to make a mini-roadcourse in a large parking lot or unused airport tarmac and see who can drive it the quickest without hitting any cones or going off course.
Competitors range from the casual participant who may use the same daily driver that they car-pool with to the hard-core driver who has a special car, special tires and uses lots of vacation days to squeak out every last fraction of a second. In between the extremes, there are levels and classes for different degrees of car modification. There are even classes for ladies and also a Junior Driver program for kids in age appropriate karts.
Whatever your level or car – there is a place for you in SCCA Solo.
If you have never autocrossed before or don’t know the specific details, check out the “I want to Autocross” page. It will give you the basics of participating in an event. Don’t worry – it’s pretty easy and there are people to help along the way.
If you have been autocrossing, or want to know more about the different levels within SCCA Solo, keep reading or find out more in-depth information by exploring the right side menus. (Or bottom menus if you’re on a mobile device.)
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Autocross Levels
Regional
Regional events are hosted by the individual Regions which make up SCCA. These events tend to be small events, and although a few of the larger regions might see 200+ people it’s much more likely to see only a few dozen entries at one of these. You do not need to be an SCCA member to participate in a Regional event (they will make you a temporary member for the weekend) but it does usually mean a discount if you are.
Divisional
Divisional Events or series are a step up from Regional events and hosted by groups of SCCA® regions. Not every portion of the country has a series, but if yours does, it’s a good way to find a bit tougher competition than Regional events.
Match Tour
Match Tours are two-day events where the first day is a “traditional” autocross followed by a second day of qualifying runs and then the Top Dog or Under Dog challenges to determine an overall event winner.
Championship Tour
The SCCA Championship Tour is a set of events which create conditions similar to those seen at the season-ending SCCA Solo National Championships in Lincoln, NE. Champ Tour events attract some of the highest-level national competitors and local drivers who want to see how they stack up against each other.
ProSolo®
It starts like drag racing, but with turns. With two mirror-image courses set up, reaction time, getting a good launch, and being consistently fast play a role in winning at ProSolo. This series travels the country and competitors collect points that set them up to be crowned ProSolo Champion at the season finale in Lincoln, NE.
National Championship
The TireRack SCCA Solo Nationals is the largest auto competition for sports cars in the world. More than 1,200 competitors descend on Lincoln, Nebraska each year for a competition which takes a week to complete and crowns a national champion in each class.
Autocross Classes
Cars and vehicles are classed in Solo according to modifications and potential. Each category has a set of allowed modifications and then the cars are divided into classes by ability. After all, it wouldn’t be fair to have an Italian exotic against an economy car.
Street Category (Super Street and A Street to H Street)
Classes in the “Street” Category have the most restrictive rules which keep competitors from feeling the need to make extensive modifications to their cars. “Racing” tire compounds are not allowed and only a few parts and changes are allowed to the car beyond what it had on the showroom floor.
Street Touring® Category (Street Touring Ultra, Roadster, Xtreme, Sport, and Front-Wheel-Drive)
Street Touring classes are the next level up from the Street classes and although they still require true “street” tires, more bolt-on modifications are allowed to make the cars handle better and get through the course quicker.
Street Prepared Category (Super Street Prepared and A Street Prepared to F Street Prepared)
This set of classes is where the level of commitment to modifying your vehicle really starts kicking in. Tires must be DOT-approved but sticky “racing”-style competition tires (sometimes called “R-comps”) are allowed. This is the first set of classes where competitors can modify some engine externals (induction, exhaust, etc.) and even swap parts between some trim levels.
Street Modified Category (Super Street Modified, Street Modified, and Street Modified Front-Wheel-Drive)
Want to add a turbo? Do an engine swap? Install a cam? A wing for some aero-grip? This set of classes might grab your interest. Tires must still be DOT-approved but R-Compounds are allowed.
Prepared Category (X Prepared and C Prepared to F Prepared)
This is a step up from the “Street” set of classes and is based off wheel-to-wheel road racing preparation for production-based cars. Prepared allows true racing slicks (non-DOT tires) and “guttting” of the interior are allowed. Rules for this category can get more intricate based on what car and class you’re running, so it pays to familiarize yourself with the rules when building a specific car for its Prepared-level class. Convertibles are required to have a bolted-on factory hardtop and/or a roll bar.
Modified Category (A-Modified to F-Modified)
The highest set of allowances, these classes have a place for cars built specifically for autocross, production-based cars with the most extreme modifications, and road racing formula cars and sports racers. If your car doesn’t have a good place before this, it is sure to find a place here.
Karts, CAM, Vintage etc
There are some classes which don’t fit the previous sets, but play an important part of automotive and racing enthusiasts lifestyle. SCCA has classes for karts, Classic American Muscle (CAM), Vintage cars, and College-engineering Formula SAE. There is also a Junior Driver program for kids in age-appropriate karts.
