- First Name
- Leo
- Joined
- Aug 7, 2024
- Threads
- 4
- Messages
- 146
- Reaction score
- 259
- Location
- Austin, TX
- Vehicles
- Audi SQ7, Macan 4
- Thread starter
- #1
I joined PCA to meet people who share the same passion for cars that I do. During dinner one night, a good friend from PCA told me about Autocross. I was honest with him—I had never heard of it—but it sounded like the missing piece for me to fully jump into PCA.
Last Saturday, PCA hosted an Autocross. It’s not wheel-to-wheel racing; you compete for the best time on a track defined by rubber cones. If you make a mistake, you just hit a cone—no real damage except to your pride.
When I arrived at the Autocross, two GT3 RSs pulled in right behind me. My first thought was: What am I doing here?
Then I parked next to a lineup of incredible Porsches—911s, GTS, GT3s, GT3 RSs, Boxsters, Spyders, Cayman Ts, Cayman GTS, GT4s, even GT4 RSs, plus a Panamera 4S. The event was open to other brands too: BMW, Ford, Lexus, Lotus, Mazda, Nissan, Subaru, Toyota, VW. Quite the mix.
As I started talking to people, the first question I kept hearing was, “Are you running today?” When I said yes, you could almost see the look on their faces. One guy asked what I was driving. I told him, “A Macan.” His reply: “Oh, you’re going to hit a LOT of cones!”
I was in Group 2, so first we helped monitor cone hits for Group 1. As a beginner with a car that didn’t seem like the obvious Autocross choice, I set a simple goal: run a 1-minute lap and don’t finish last.
When it was finally my turn for the practice run, I focused on learning the course and feeling out what the Macan could do. I ran it in about a minute—and suddenly I felt much better about not ending up in last place.
I did 10 runs total and managed a best lap of 55.472 seconds—not bad for my first Autocross, on all-season tires, with no tire-pressure adjustments, and zero experience. I did have one run at 54.56 where I clipped a cone (my fault), so that added a 2-second penalty. Out of all 10 runs, I only hit cones three times.
Here’s what the Macan 4 delivered:
10 runs, 0.7 mi/kWh, and about 11% battery used.
Several PCA members who also have Macan EVs were watching and were really interested in how it performed. I think we’ll be seeing more Macans at the next Autocross.
Next time, I’ll be more prepared—with my own helmet, a tire-pressure gauge, and maybe even some summer tires.
Last Saturday, PCA hosted an Autocross. It’s not wheel-to-wheel racing; you compete for the best time on a track defined by rubber cones. If you make a mistake, you just hit a cone—no real damage except to your pride.
When I arrived at the Autocross, two GT3 RSs pulled in right behind me. My first thought was: What am I doing here?
Then I parked next to a lineup of incredible Porsches—911s, GTS, GT3s, GT3 RSs, Boxsters, Spyders, Cayman Ts, Cayman GTS, GT4s, even GT4 RSs, plus a Panamera 4S. The event was open to other brands too: BMW, Ford, Lexus, Lotus, Mazda, Nissan, Subaru, Toyota, VW. Quite the mix.
As I started talking to people, the first question I kept hearing was, “Are you running today?” When I said yes, you could almost see the look on their faces. One guy asked what I was driving. I told him, “A Macan.” His reply: “Oh, you’re going to hit a LOT of cones!”
I was in Group 2, so first we helped monitor cone hits for Group 1. As a beginner with a car that didn’t seem like the obvious Autocross choice, I set a simple goal: run a 1-minute lap and don’t finish last.
When it was finally my turn for the practice run, I focused on learning the course and feeling out what the Macan could do. I ran it in about a minute—and suddenly I felt much better about not ending up in last place.
I did 10 runs total and managed a best lap of 55.472 seconds—not bad for my first Autocross, on all-season tires, with no tire-pressure adjustments, and zero experience. I did have one run at 54.56 where I clipped a cone (my fault), so that added a 2-second penalty. Out of all 10 runs, I only hit cones three times.
Here’s what the Macan 4 delivered:
10 runs, 0.7 mi/kWh, and about 11% battery used.
Several PCA members who also have Macan EVs were watching and were really interested in how it performed. I think we’ll be seeing more Macans at the next Autocross.
Next time, I’ll be more prepared—with my own helmet, a tire-pressure gauge, and maybe even some summer tires.
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