[OperatorChan]

I'm just making this as a one-stop post about my personal autocross results with my CT.
So before anything, here are some FAQs I see around this topic a lot. I'll stop back periodically and update the FAQ as needed.
Keep in mind I'm making this with US viewers in mind, apologies to all you foreign folks.

-What is autocross?
A simple explanation can be found here.

-Why pick autocross?
TLDR its easy to get into. I decided to go with autocross beacuse it's quite easy to get started, literally just sign up online. I use Motorsportreg for this.

-Can I really take my CT200h to autocross?
Yes you can take the CT200h to autocross! It doesnt have to be relegated to being a tool that gets you to point A to point B.

-Do I have to upgrade anything?
Only if you want to. The CT has a few parts you can get to upgrade your racing performance. The SCCA (sports car club of america) classes the CT200h as H Street, which is the slowest class of cars. Certain mods may push you out of this class and make you less competitive.

-What mods are you using on your CT?
So far, I only have drilled and slotted brake rotors and an HKS Legamax exhaust system. Everything else is basically unmodified. I do have plans to make some custom aero mods. Other than that, some handling mods are in the works as well. I update my signature with all modifications.

-Isn't racing going to wreck my CT?
Only if it was already falling apart. If you keep up on basic maintenance and reduce the time interval between oil changes, your vehicle will not fall apart on track.

-Isn't racing expensive?
That depends on what racing you want to do. Most SCCA autocross events cost between $30 and $70 for entry, with other types of races (namely open track racing) being more expensive. You will need a helmet to race, so I would highly recommend buying your own helmet. Do note that the helmet is what makes getting into racing a little expensive. My helmet was ~$200 but its going to last for the next 10-15 years provided it doesn't get damaged.


With that all being said, this is simply a log of my personal experiences with autocross. If anyone wants to throw in suggestions/questions/comments on the topic they are welcome to do so.

Edit #1: added more FAQs

 

[OperatorChan]

The first autocross in my CT was around mid-september of 2021, and took place at a regional airport close to where I grew up.
My wife attended with me so she could help film and take pictures. Something funny she told me about afterwards is everyone there kept making comments about how quiet my car was (didnt have the catback at the time). You could definitely hear the tires over the car. Anyway, heres the video from inside the car when I had my PAX of 50.531 and took 9th place out of 13 for novice class, and for reference the fastest novice class PAX was a time of 45.217, but was also done in a 2012 Golf R (novice class ignores vehicle class restrictions).

This event was a great first entry into autocross and I definitely got hooked.

I'll see if I can get an external video from my wife. If I can, I'll add it here.

 

[OperatorChan]

There was an event I went to after the one above, but I only got to do half my runs because of rain and didnt end up recording anything from that event.

The next event I went to was in early April 2022. It was a non-competitive one, meant more to be a social event and a test for the upcoming season.
At this point, I have my performance brakes and catback (which mind you are all class legal) and I finally move out of Novice class and into H street.
With this event, I just wanted to get comfortable with the limits I could push the car to, see what I can get out of it. I got a PB of 49.7 and just couldnt get faster than that, either due to car hitting its limits or me lacking skill, not sure which. Regardless, it was worth going out and seeing what I could pull off.
Watching this really makes it evident that A/S and winter tires dont cut it when it comes to racing.

Despite being a non-competitive event, I asked around about how some of the other drivers were doing and turns out I was keeping up with or beating some decently fast muscle cars in terms of raw time. None of the times from this event were officially recorded, but the fastest time I remember seeing furing the event was ~40s from by a Porsche GT3 RS.

 

[joey]

I’m liking this and just look into auto crossing in my area. Thanks for the post!

 

[OperatorChan]

Next race is coming up this sunday. I might have someone with me who can record an external view of my run, but no guarantees.
I'm planning on attending a few different sites this season and I'm hoping I remember to get footage from each event.
I'm also gonna try and kick my butt into gear so I remake my front splitter.

 

[IN VTEC]

I auto-x’d one time with the CT200h and was beaten…by a Prius.

 

[OperatorChan]

Yeah, Prius' have the weight advantage over us by about 100lbs. At least we can lose in comfort

 

[OperatorChan]

Alright here's the 4th autocross. Now featuring external camera view, courtesy of my wife.

For the first half of the day I was first in class, but I was brought down to second place by a Fiesta ST by 3 tenths of a second. If I had a decent tire setup I mightve kept first. My pb of the day was 40-something and the fiesta cranked out a 39-something.
They updated the scores so I'll come back with my official time and overall rank.

Edit 2: Finally went and looked at official times. I did a fastest time of 40.746 and the fiesta did 39.924. The PAX time I got was 32.026. Wasnt the fastest of the day, but definitely wasnt the slowest.

 

[OperatorChan]

Racing has been put on hiatus as I need to get some work done to pass state inspection. Cant race without it.
Car's showing a P0420 code, already did downstream 02 sensor and EGR valve replacement. EGR looked okay inside, I suspect its not the first time its been opened up.

In other news, I installed rear camber arms in the hope I'll get more grip around corners with my garbage tires. I set them up to -1° just to see how it daily drives with just a little negative camber. Feels like I get a little bit more cornering speed, but I have nothing to check this against other than just how it feels. The arms have a little bit more adjustment in them so if I need more I have that option.
Honestly not a bad buy for $180. Think I got mine on sale so now they're sitting at $200 or so.

 

[TobiasSing]

Car's showing a P0420 code

That generally means that the catalytic converter needs to be replaced. Which is not something I have seen on this car before since it's a hybrid

 

[OperatorChan]

Yeah that's the next thing up. The one thing I wish I didn't have to replace. Found a cheap replacement on ebay but it's only the front half of the cat so I gotta have some welding work done instead of it being a drop in replacement. Oh well, gonna see if that's the final fix or not tomorrow.