Quote Originally Posted by StraightSix
Are *you* really the best person to be making that judgment, eh DK? Even better, have you read the entire thread?

Nearly no one has said that one should forego autocross in favor of a track event. I *did* say that one doesn't *need* to autocross before getting on track. There's a big difference.

I stand by the statement that autocross is a good way to have some fun with a car in a lower speed, lower risk environment than a track event. I'll also stand by the statement that once someone gets on track, autocross loses some, if not nearly all, of its appeal.

I don't think that one event is necessarily better than the other. They are both fun activities with pros and cons. Nor do I think that one must autocross before stepping up to a track event. A driver will learn lessons at both, but not necessarily the same lessons and further a car that isn't that great in an autocross can be a fantastic track car and vice versa. A great example, IMO, is a C5 Z06. People autocross and track those. IMO, the Z06 has too much power to be used effectively in a typical autocross setting, but those cars are fantastic track cars. Another example, EF Civics....great autocross cars but not so great a track car; after tracking and autocrossing mine, I really would like more horsepower on track so that I don't get passed by, literally, everything in the session.
I can completely agree with this statement. My STi for example, would make an absolutely terrible Autocross car now, because I have a 35R on it, so I would never be able to get it spooled until too late, and if it does spool in 1st or 2nd gear into a corner, it does so violently that it will break traction and snap oversteer. On the track the power band would be much much more usable. Whereas when I autox'ed it almost stock, it did absolutely great (for me lol) but on the track I think it would be lacking some in the straights because of the very short gearing and (in my opinion) relatively low power to weight.