Well seasoned pylon, prepared to be squashed on demand.

In the autocross game it's a matter of very small parts of seconds, and only inches when it comes to these litttle critters.  The position of each is marked with a box around the base.  Knocking it down or out of the box is good for a two second time penalty.  Drive as close as possible to these things, because for each foot of clearance you allow from the cones, expect to add about one second to a 60 second lap.  If you can manage to squash it flat or toss it for a loop but still leave it standing up with any part in or toching the box, there's no penalty.  And if you never hit one, you're not going fast enough.   The real art is to tickle the flange and make it wiggle without getting it out of the box.

Not to worry about your car, pylons are designed to be run over by automobiles.  They make the most wonderful popping sound and sometimes go flying for 30 feet.  But they seldom do any damage to a car, sometimes leave a little smudge on the paint that will rub right off (the smudge, not the paint).