Forza community member RDRaines competes in autocross with his 2008 Nissan 350z. His choice of cars and his skill chasing cones have seen a natural progression.
Check out this weeks HMA story.
If you have questions about how to get involved in autocross or the 350z of RDRaines, post them.
As usual this week’s HMA candidate will be answering questions and participating.
Thanks to all HMA lovers and posters.
John
Gongrats on your winnings RDRaines. Such a sweet ride. Nissan Z series cars and SX ones are the best. Keep on winning! Thanks for the HMA.
GT: Chris Ace 92
F4 Unicorn: 2007 Lambo Gallardo Superleggera
Hi,
great HMA, Autocross its a lot of fun.
GT: Gjuergen
Unicorn: FM4: 2007 Shelby GT500
Nice 350z there, I have never seen anyone using a 350 for autocross in my country, you’re a talented driver I think. Keep up the good work and bring home those trophies ;).
Thank you for the new HMA Jhon.
Gt: IVOVIZ86
FM4 Unicorn: any (I don’t have any yet)
I’d like to see some more autocross in Forza 5; it makes a good change of pace.
Well John i dont care for the autocross in this game ( more of a time attack kinda guy) i love the z and congrats to the first place finishes it takes alot of patients to run autocross ( maybe why i dont like it ). How good did he do in the 240?.. thanks for the great read as always John. sure i will edit this and add to my post i always forget to add something… I also changed my gamertag. ITS A11eyesONME23. F4 Subaru 204— ferrari challenge stradale—top secret supra.
Congratulations to Josh Garrett. It’s pretty cool that the Forza series influenced him in car choice.
Another great article, Mr.Schommer!
Gamertag: HoldFast365
FM4 Unicorn: 1993 Nissan MINE’S R32 Skyline GT-R
Congrats Josh,the car is sooo hot…love the rims…im not that good in autocross but love to do them again and again…loll
GamerTag: semperfi530
FM4 Unicorn: •2002 Top Secret 0-300 Supra
Well done. Autocross is a great test of you and your car. Doing well in Autocross is something to be really proud of.
That is awesome Garrett! Great job in living out your passion from a game and making it a reality! I have always dreamed of making my game a reality, my wife is always telling me I need to get out and do something other than making new cars on Forza to test and tune, and design. Maybe this story will persuade her to let me get a real car and try =) I have only ran dirt track, only thing about Forza is there is not any dirt so its no comparison.
Questions for you Garrett:
I am assuming you use the driving wheel and chair setup to get the most realism out of the game, how close is the game to real life driving?
This game is pretty detailed when it comes to tuning the cars, how close is your setup on your game 350Z to your real life 350Z and do they handle the same? ie. Camber adjustments, differentials.
How long does a set of tires last?
I see the Odessa, Texas benchmark track in the game, I live in Odessa and have no Idea where that is in real life, do they set that up for autocross? Ive looked everywhere in game for clues but we have no mountains here, its pretty much all flat and pump jack city xD
I would like to go watch an even real time one day if they have it local.
I have never seen an autocross event before, In Forza I am all drift so I do not get to venture out much of that. but after watching the videos I am very tempted to try something new.
I noticed in the video, the more runs you executed the quicker and more aggressive you got with the car, it looks like you get the course down better and better almost putting the car into a drift in some turns. Very clean runs.
Congratulations on the wins and keep up the inspiration!
Thread did not say it calls for prizes for responses but I see people posting them.
Unicorn if given: FM4 Mazda RX7 Spirit R
GT: CrazyKILLAMofo
Thank you,
Devon
I did horrible. Because the car was not in any way setup to compete in the class I was place in. With the motor swap I automatically went into “Street Modified” which is a class that has so many “nasty” cars/driver in it. That and at the time I didn’t understand the concept of partial braking and partial gas…it was either all gas or all brake 
No, I do not have a wheel setup for the Xbox One. Waiting until more wheels come out. But, I have played the game a full setup at a buddies house and I have to say it’s pretty awesome. When racing a 350z in the game it feels so good. It’s not 100%, but I have to say it is much closer then any other game I have played. Gotta remember that a lot of the PC Sims do not have 350z’s in them so not sure how FM5 compares to them, but it is so much closer to real life driving of a 350z then say FM4 and GT5-6.
Have not got that detailed in real life to be able to compare it to the game. Hopefully by the end of these season I will be running a completely new suspension setup which will include on the fly camber adjustment ability and all kinds of stiffness. The rear of the Z with the factory, and for that matter most suspension setups is way to loose which causes the rear of the car to feel strange when whipping the car around during autocross.
Depends on the tires. I don’t run a “R” compound tire, those wouldn’t last me very long at all. But, the tires I have now have made it through quit a few events and still have a ton of tread on them. It also depends on the condition of the “track” you run on. Example: Neosho is a big truck testing pad. It’s smooth and no trash on it. The lot in springfield is beyond horrible. Chips of concrete and asphalt all of the place and the “track” has lots of cracks in it. If I look at my tires right now, the front tires are more worn then the rear tires (I don’t do burn outs)…and they are the same age too.
Thanks everyone for all the comments
Don’t forget if you want to follow myself and my car throughout the 2014 season you can subscribe to the 2FM Facebook or 2FM Youtube.
You have strived me to become a better autocross driver and given me reason to strive to be faster and more of risk taker in autocross. Keep inspiring and keep on getting better!
Gt dism3mberment
fm4 unicorn mazda rx 7 spirit
Great post john autocross has to be one of my favorite and this Nissan seems to do the job! Thank you.
GT:PKPs WAT IT Be
UnicornFM4::r34 mines gtr
Autocross looks like a lot of fun! I do prefer drifting, but i think i have to try some Autocross some time!
And the “Z” looks great, i would liked some bigger rims (18"-19") and a lower ride height… But that’s just my taste
Black and green looks good together!
And it looks like it handles good, something i will guess is very important in Autocross! 
GT: VerdalRaanebil
FM4 Unicorn request: Nissan MINE’S R34
Nice read and nice car I really like those green wheels they go well with the black paint of the car. I also like the modified shift stick and the racing wheel in the inside of the car.
GT: PeterGriffin197
UC: 2002 Honda Mugen Interga Type R (FM4)
I’m intrigued by autocross. I enjoy watching it. I have friends who actively participate in events around home. I’ve wanted to try it for myself but haven’t yet been able to bring myself to enter into an event.
When I was in college (I went to a tiny Hanover College in Southeastern Indiana) on the drive from home to school you pass what used to be one of the largest ammunition processing plants in the United States during WWII which is now abandoned/closed, save for one small, football field sized paved segment which was always littered with cones and sand barrels. On one particular drive back to school right after Spring Break, I just happened to pass by and lo and behold there were people competing in autocross on this lot. Didn’t really have the time to stop and observe on that occasion, but I did note a handful of MX-5s and one Nissan 240 queued and ready to run. Looks like quite a good time and probably a more fun way to spend your tax refund on a set of tires and the suspension upgrades necessary to compete.
I’ve never really had the opportunity to try autocross mainly because of the fact that I don’t own a vehicle that could be easily stripped out and modified for autocross and still serve its purpose as my daily driver for business. I have friends who have owned the gamut from old beater Civics/CRXs with self-welded repairs to fenders and doors, to a kitted-out 240SX that was purpose-modified for autocross events at the expense of being an otherwise gorgeous daily driver. Somehow I just can’t bring myself to even put my 328 coupe into an event. I can’t stomach the thought of stuffing it into a barrier or sand barrel when I (inevitably) botch a turn. That being said, kudos to those like Mr. RDRaines who do get out on the tarmac and compete regularly. Color me green with envy!
GT: Buschyfor3
Unicorn: Ferrari 430 Scuderia (FM 4)
nice 350 and concrats on the wins and good luck on the ones coming up RD…do you enjoy the autocross on FM4/FM5?..if it were me id hit all cones lol
GT o0nightfire0o
FM4 unicorn car 2002 BMW M3-GTR
I am more of a Black/Red guy, but the Black/Green looks awesome on the Z. I watched your video on the HMA page and then checked out a few more on the 2FM youtube page. Some very impressive stuff both in RL and FM. BTW, love the LOGO!!
Quick question - How often do you get to run the Z at these events and do you go to empty lots and set up your own course for practice?
I some what enjoy AutoX in FM4/5. It is by far more fun in RL, but some of the courses are annoying. On the flip side, with FM4 and using a steering wheel, it was bad ass and tons of fun.
Last year I was doing pretty much one a month. This year I will hopefully be running twice a month. I am making the attempt to run in two different sanctioned events. SCCA and NCCC.
I don’t ever go set up cones to practice. There isn’t in lots around here they will let us do that. My guess is insurance liabilities.
Thanks for the compliments on the logo. It was actually the second logo that 2FM has had. The original was more realistic looking and about 4 years ago I changed it up with the one you see now. And the one you can see tattooed on my left wrist
Again, Thanks for all the compliments on the car and all the rooting for this coming season. We will know how things will go on March 30th, which is the first event for the year!!!
Hey Garrett way to go for the gusto and get out there living life and doing you man. Heres to your continued success!
GT: shade71
FM5 Credits