Non Subaru Autocrossing?

I know there are a few people on here into autocross, my question is who is running a car other than a subaru?

as shocking as it sounds I am going to try autocrossing this year, with the geo. :biggrin:
dont be shocked, they actually do pretty good for really cheap. front and rear strut tower braces, sedan springs and coils, some honda 15s and you have a 50mpg gokart from what I have read.

so what is your non subaru setup?

 

1998 chev 1500 w/t long box 2wd, stock.

and the corner carver, 1978 buick electra 225, rollin on 14s

 

i'd love to try the nissan once its out of the garage.

 

I may bring the Slowbra out for some autocrossing. The 480 ft/lbs of torque @ 2200 RPM should rock pulling that beast out of the corners. I need to get some shorter gears, probably drop in some 3.73's. That's about it. There's plenty of power, the handling is decent and actually may need to be raised a little bit since the front scrapes a ton.

 

The torque might work against you depending on how tight the course is. I've seen some sick work done with some V8's, but they're not the easiest to work with when they've been made into power monsters.

 

the silver bullet DOES handle.......

I would love to bring the legacy but lets face it, that would not be cheap. I honestly think the geo would compete better ( sad lol)

also, doon you better bring that 240. those handle pretty nice dont they?

 

240 only for dori dori

 

yea, I hope I can talk to someone at the course with a geo and get some pointers, I would love to practice in a parking lot or something, but I dont feel like getting another careless/wreckless

so I have some competition? haha im jk

 

All depends on what is pulled out for that day.

'98 Neon R/T (early stripper model, lacks power options)

Used to compete in DS, but when all the drama and rule stacking against the neons came about, I decided never to care about auto-x enough to build a car for class... I just do it to kill cones and have a good time.

ACR 22mm front hubs
AF/X race ECU 8200 rev limit, no speed limit, more fuel, more advance
Mopar Perf long tube header
ModernPerf 65mm TB
Ice-Man Cai (it actually does something)
P&P head
P&P intake mani
Mopar Pef Koni's (same as slotted yellows)
Mopar Perf "High Rate" linear rate springs
Mopar Perf STS
Sparco bolt on pedals, 3mm gap between gas and brake (rice but helps with toe/heel)
UDP
OBX Torsen LSD (new bolts and bellville washers)
Custom build Rota slipstreams (1 of 16 sets in existence) 15x8 +38
2318lbs wet

Now have a set of KYB GR2 that are getting stock SRT-4 springs mounted on. Lifts car 1" and perfect spring rates for the rally-x bumps. Internal debate between carpet and sway bars (Addco 24f/22r) and some strut bars.

ricer projector headlights, soon to have PIAA 4300k hid's (swapped from my legnum)
SRT-4 steering wheel w/working airbag
'03 R/T seats (larger bolsters) modded to fold forward for rear seat access
De-Ricified, wing and factory racing stripe delete

'74.5 MGB

all stock shy of dual SU's, exhaust, and new fuel pump.

'82 Rover Mini 998

High-lows w/med rate springs
1.3L EFI longer tube exhaust mani
Mini-Spares intake mani
Single SU
exhaust
no rust

 

which would be fun until kicked off the course.

 

Sound like fun, but those mods will put you into STS, where you woudn't be remotely competitive, don't know if you care about that though.

 

it shouldn't matter if the car is competitive in your first few years because most of the time the driver isn't.

 

lol, I know that! My first run in my WRX was sad to say the least.

Oh, BTW... last year you almost killed my wife!!! she was in shock sitting by the trees for about 15 min afterwards at DCTC!

Teach her to mind her step!:laugh:

I bet that scared you too.:ugh:

 

well I doubt anyone would know the difference between me running stock sedan springs and struts vs hatch..

what would be a good class for me? I take it strut tower braces would put me into a crazy class? please explain, I have NO idea what the rules for autox are.
perhaps a link?

 

Don't flirt with the rules. Those stock class guys can take this game pretty seriously, and not being able to change the springs is one of the biggest rules in stock.

Rules - http://www.scca.org/contentpage.aspx?content=61

If you post up your mods (*all* of them) we can probably better help you to work it out. If your strut tower braces go straight between the towers, i.e. they don't triangulate to the floor/firewall, then yes, you sound like a (lamb to the slaughter) good candidate for STS. Locally, we also have SI, which is a kind of run-what-you-brung class. There's only one trophy place, and once you win, you get banned for life and have to move to whatever your car's regular class would be.

The MAC STS class is very popular, and we're a friendly bunch, too. If you join us, we'll take good care of you.

Stuart.

 

well I dont have the strut tower braces yet, they are kind of hard to find. but those would be the only mods, maybe a ghetto rigged sidepipe exhaust with a stock intake.
perhaps some struts and springs, I have not driven the car without the stock 12 inch rims.
I am looking into getting some 14s or 15s off a honda and run those with some cheap o tires.
the interior will be gutted and thats about it.

 

Definitely not stock then, STS is fine with those.

This will put you in even higher classes, like 'prepared' or smth, not sure. No interior gutting in STS.

Do what you like to the car and run SI. I doubt you run any serious risk of winning it so you can stay there until you know what you want next.

 

Also, MAC has a 'T' class which is very popular. You basically lump all the classes together and use the PAX index within the group. Your normal class rules still apply to the car. But, all cars run with street tyres, i.e. UTQG of 140 or better. This helps to keep the costs down somewhat, and provides a bigger class to compete in. So, if you happened to be running an SM car, you could run SMt. Likewise with something like DSPt, or GSt. ST* cars are excluded as they already run street tyres. This is probably a good option if you're in an odd class with no intention of running r-comps.

Stuart.

 

Unless you drive a Honda Civic Si, Sentra SE-R (non-B20) or the other cars that got a 'trunk kit' in order to compete with a $1200 neon with a drop in K&N and a muffler. :roll:

 

Don't dis the Neons. We have a couple locally in STS, and they represent themselves very well. In fact, I think they took 1st and 2nd at the last event of 2007. The rest of us decided it must just've been a Neon course.

Stuart.

 

I'll be running my '91 CRX this year running in SM, I don't feel like listing the setup but basically, it's going to be this:

as well as 195/50-15 Bridgestone Potenza RE01R's

I can't wait to get it all put together! :biggrin:

 

Not dis'ing the Neon's trust me

I am just commenting on the political BS that is thrown around the SCCA's leadership trying to stroke the egos of the larger sponsors. IMHO SCCA has gone to much for the bank than motorsports. I prefer the NASA mentality.

 

Well, MAC is an independent club. We use the SCCA rulebook out of choice, to make it easier for our members to attend SCCA events in other areas without having to worry about odd mods for the class they want to run in. It is this independence that allows us to run extra classes like 't' and SI that are outside the scope of the official SCCA rules. We're also an equal opportunities club; we make our ladies run in the regular classes. It provides a level playing field.

Stuart.

 

SCCA left a bad taste in my mouth with the introduction of the 'trunk kit' in the early '00's. I was active in DS, BSP, and SSB/ITB/GT4 until that point. I had a guy in a trunk kit '00 Civic SI scream about mods because there was no way my neon could beat his all mighty B16A, while wielding the rule book in the air like a mad man. I had my 4 class wins that season taken from me because I had a stock automatic TB mounted in the car. An advantage of straight 47mm bore over the 5spd's necked down 43mm. About that time I stopped caring about the points and awards, I was just there to have some fun...which is why I go now.

I just think some people take it WAY too seriously, and need to remember why they are there....

Because you love to drive your car and run road cones over, and don't want to pay the bill to the MNDOT.

 

That should not have happened per the SCCA rules. You should have had the last event points taken from you (the event that your car was protested), the other events your car was not protested and shoud not have been affected.

Some people are very competitive minded at everything they do, it's just the way that person works. If you choose not to play by the rules don't be suprised or upset when one of those people protests your cheating. If you are just there to have fun then run in the right class for your mods and you'll never have a problem.

cp9a6m- technically the EDFC for the Teins is not legal for SM, so just don't have the controller in the car when you are running and you shouldn't have a problem.

(dammit- now I'm starting to sounds like one of "those people")

Just come out to have fun and class yourself appropriately so no one gets in a huffy. If you are driving a Geo and you beat a Corvette (I've seen it happen before) congradulations, but that's about all you get.

 

Not as easy as it sounds.

yes you are. :laugh:

 

lol....oops

I ran all last year in SM with pretty much that setup, I guess nobody said anything because it was always mounted in the glovebox!

 

Howdy...I'm new to the Subie board because I just bought one! Well for my wife that is. Anyway, answering the OP question about non-Subie AXers':

I co-run Chris Deutch's Evo 9 MR in STU. We do mighty battles with the STi's all the time! I've got "seat time" in a number of Subies though and love them to death. Fun cars!

Regarding rules and stuff, yeah there's a few of us who are "into" it pretty heavy. That's not the reason you should always do your best to be straight up on the rules side though. (Not speaking to anyone in particular...just general) The super serious, manically devout guys usually don't care too much 'bout that stuff at the local level, there going to try to beat you on the track anyways.

It's more for the local, more casual entusiast I think. It's kind of an honor thing...is someone going to protest you for the wrong tail light? Probably not. Do something to the motor and suspension though, I don't think it's unfair of someone to question that. Especially if they went to great lengths to be legal themselves. Like what was said before, if you do it only for fun, than what's the point of trying to improve you car and run it in the wrong class? To win of course. And that's what usually gets you called out....start winning in an illegal car, someone's going to call you on it. I don't see that as being bad in any way...it's natural, isn't it?

I know several clubs that allow "stuff"....little local rules "we'll look the other way" things. Those clubs tend to have bad reputations...in my mind it's worse to have that reputation than one that says they are really tight on sticking to the rules. It's more fun and fair for everyone in the long run.

Ej22TIM, yeah someone will probably find out about the spring change eventually. You really don't want to come into the sport that way IMHO. My advice, 1) do what you love doing to your car and run it in whatever class it falls in. Have some fun, get some seat time, learn, and see where you stand competition wise. OR, 2) build a car to the rules for a class you like. Sometimes it's only one or two minor things keeping you out of a class. Most people start out the first way. If they love it enough, and they are pretty good at it, they usually end up doing the second way. Either way, it's a blast and you'll love it!!

Anyway, that's my unsolicited 2 cents. Hope to see some of you at the Novice School and out at the events this year. I'm getting pumped for the season to start!!! Later

Pat Washburn

PS - I think the Geo would be a riot to run! I'd love to see it. If you want to list all your stuff, we can maybe help you decide how to prep it and find the best fit for you.

 

Jut for the record... the Auto TB is legal.
[/my involvement with the discussion]