AutoX
duckie8310
Senior Wagonist
i got my first taste of autoX today. my dad and a couple of friends went down to a SCCA autox event and i tagged along. i was lucky enough to sit in with a random person driving a miata. and i have to say....it doesnt seem like a bad idea with the wagon.
anyone take the wag to any events before?
anyone take the wag to any events before?
Comments
Plus alotta peeps from the old board did.
I went to a small closed course deal but it rained
I didn't have a prob since I was 4wd but the people runnin it did. :evil:
classes. if you are "stock," you'll be in H stock. no biggie. the only cars competitive with ours in H stock are things like the Austin Mini, Lotus Cortina, and other Hondas. but if you are like me, you'll end up in CSP or SM - and that's a different story. CSP is ugly. fueling and exhaust is pretty much free, but you can't add forced induction. you can't change for a hotter cam, and you are severely limited in internal engine mods. so what, right? everyone else has the same restrictions, right? right. the problem is, what cars are in CSP and allowed those mods? note: most of these cars are not in our stock class, obviously.
Acura RSX, E30 M3, Dodge SRT-4, 84-87 Civic/CRX 1500, 88-91 CRX, Jensen Healy, Miata, all Mercedes 190 (including the Cosworth 2.3 16v), Porsche 356, Porsche 924S, MR2 Supercharged...
most of these cars have a power advantage over ours, and all of them have a weight advantage. unfortunately, if you do too much (almost anything, really) to get your weight down, you jump into SM, which is even more cut-throat than CSP - engine and suspension rules get really wild here. this is the class for those of you with swaps, btw.
i'm not really a fan of STS, though many of you may fall into this class. STS is a class for cars with mostly cosmetic modifications, and fairly competitive. our cars have a pretty good suspension advantage in this class, thouh many of the others will have a better power/weight ratio.
but it's not all doom and gloom! if you stay within the rules for CSP, you can build a really nice handling car, and handling is the key to victory in autocross. i've never won a trophy driving the wagon, but i've had a lot of fun.
all of that said, i haven't autocrossed the wagon in years. i've mostly been driving the Jag - which, amusingly enough, puts me in SS (Super Stock), which is a nastier class than any of the ones the wagon would be in. driving the Jag (which weighs about 5000 lbs and has around 240 hp or so) in the same class as C5/6 'vettes, Vipers, Lotus Esprits, and 911 Turbos is rather exciting. especially when i beat them.
First event I took mine to I was in the afternoon group. The morn was sunny and warm. Right at the end of the first group it started downpouring rain and hail mixed. Everyone was running for cover and I was begging to run and test out the awd and the tires I had just picked up (Toyo T1S's in a 225-45-16). After the rain and hail stopped ther was standing water and piles of hail everywhere on course. The eventmaster agreed to let me go and in one run. I got the just about the same time in standing water and hail as the best time in the moring by a CSP prepped Miata with Azenis. He was rather annoyed that he only had me by about 4 tenths. I ended up beating him with my later runs as the water cleared. It was really cool to feel the difference between the awd car and my gf's sedan. I could very easily tell where my car was gripping and hers was slipping.
This pic was at a later event. Crappy pic but its the only action shot I have:
If you could install it.Swap in a '92+ Del Sol AT.It's the best AT I've driven in a car with the less than 2OOhp engine.Shifts like a Manual and Quick.Go drive 1 ...you'll see 8) 8) .
Not here. We can have as many passengers as the car has seatbelts for (and helmets of course). Ive done runs with 5 people in my EF hatch, which led to all my oh shit handles getting broke. Lots of fun! I know theres lots of areas that dont allow this, but were lucky here.
HTH!