Autocross wear and tear

[jaqattack02]

I was just curious about wear and tear (beyond expected stuff like tires and brake pads) on the car when autocrossing. Have any of you guys who autocross your car regularly ever broken anything major as a result of the racing? I've only run mine once so far since I've had it, and I just wanted to know if there was anything I should look out for if I start running it more often. Once I get a 2nd set of wheels I plan to race it more often, probably every month or so. It's also my daily driver, so having it down with something big broken would be inconvenient.

[Sasquatch]

Tie rods happen.

I think that is what I remember failing during a run (JR would remember). The WRX was rolled off on dollies. There are the occasional rare failures like these - I just happened to have a camera handy.

[jaqattack02]

Tie rods happen.

I think that is what I remember failing during a run (JR would remember). The WRX was rolled off on dollies. There are the occasional rare failures like these - I just happened to have a camera handy.

That's not too bad then. Besides having to get it towed home, tie rods aren't too horrible to replace. I figured it would just be suspensions parts that would break.

I'm just trying to get an idea of what to look out for and keep an eye on when doing maintenance. Regular checks of stuff like that should be able to keep breakage to a minimum. Autocross doesn't seem like it would be that much more stressful than some rather spirited street driving anyway. Where we run, it could even be less so because it's a well paved lot. No big bumps or pot holes or anything like that to put weird stresses or anything on the suspension pieces.

Worst one I've seen was an older car (can't remember what it was exactly) that was basically race prepped (stripped down, open top, slicks, etc) had one of the rear axles break right at the hub and the whole wheels and tire came off going around a corner.

[Big Sky WRX]

it's reasonable to expect a little more wear and tear when autoxing- clearly pads/tires, but beyond that wheel bearings, bushing wear etc

I know that the guys that run Pro Solo are replacing clutches more often (Pro utilizes drag strip like lights and a aggressive launch), for normal autox I don't see this as getting much extra wear

I think it's wise to keep a close eye on torque specs as things can loosen up- every fall/spring I go through most every suspension/brake/drivetrain bolt/nut and insure they are to spec. I'm usually a fair bit ahead on most of my fluid changes/routine maintenance just as a precautionary measure.