Track Tips

The Solo2 Frequently Asked Questions page -
The Solo2 Novice Handbook page -
And the Unofficial Solo2 Rules and Car Classifications -
However, I've discovered a lot of tips and tricks that aren't mentioned anywhere that I know of, so I thought I would share two of them with you (okay, okay... I only have two tips total!)...

Brake Pedal Hold Down Tube

This is for those of you who have become so addicted to Solo2 that you've spent the money to buy a second set of wheels with racing tires just to use for the events (like me!).  I load up this second set of wheels and tires in the back of my car before heading off to the event, and swap them out at the event site before registration and again after the event is over before I drive home.  When I'd begin swapping the wheels and tires, I'd usually have to run around to each wheel and break all the lug nuts loose before I started jacking up each corner to change the wheels.  Then I'd jack up a corner, spin the lug nuts off, change the wheel, and reinstall the lug nuts finger tight.  Then I'd drop the car down just enough to get the tire to contact the ground so it wouldn't spin and I could tighten the lug nuts tighter, then drop the car down all the way and torque the lugs with a torque wrench... THEN move on to the next corner and start all over again.  To make this whole process go a little quicker, I took a piece of 1.75" diameter PVC pipe, and cut it to the right length so that it would fit between the brake pedal (when pushed down, locking the brakes) and a spot on the driver's seat bracket/frame that the pipe would not slip off of.  Now, when I'm ready to swap wheels on the car, I push the brake pedal down with my foot, position the PVC pipe in place to hold the pedal down, and then I can jack up one corner, break the lug nuts loose, swap the wheel, tighten the lug nuts, torque the lug nuts, and lower it back down all in one quick session for each wheel.  I've found that it saves me about 10 to 15 minutes when swapping the wheels and tires, which is usually enough time to walk the course one extra time!

Stock Seatbelt Twisting

The stock seatbelts in most cars are designed to lock-up under a sudden forward jolt (i.e.- collision), but under normal conditions they stay loose for comfort when driving or moving around in the car to reach for something (like your wallet while at the fast food drive-thru) or to re-position yourself in the seat for better posture.  However, during an autocross, the seatbelt's loose mode doesn't hold you in the seat firmly at all, and your driving concentration is reduced somewhat by the effort needed to keep yourself from sliding around in the seat.  Getting the seatbelt to lock-up while sitting in the grid isn't very feasible, and it probably wouldn't lock up in the correct position anyway.  Here's what I do to make the stock seatbelt hold me in tight, without using the collision lock-up feature.  While in the grid, I buckle up like normal, then pull the lap belt tight by pulling up on the shoulder portion of the belt, then while holding the shoulder belt tight I grasp the lap and shoulder belt together tightly near the buckle so that they don't slide through the buckle in either direction, then I unlatch the buckle and twist the belts and buckle 3 or 4 full rotations while firmly holding the belts together, then I click the buckle back in.  Twisting the lap and shoulder sections together near the buckle prevents them from sliding back and fourth through the buckle, and the twists actually shorten the lap section a little from when I first unlatched it which makes it a tight fit that doesn't come loose, so it keeps me firmly planted in the seat while out on the autocross course and I can concentrate on just my driving!  However, I would NOT recommend doing this procedure for normal every day street driving.