in your opinions what are the best cars for autocrossing?

 

what are your intentions?
how serious are you going to be about autox?
budget for the car?
budger for mods?
budget for tires (do you want to run street tire only classes or classes that all R compound)?
dedicated autox car or will this also be a daily driver?
what else are you planning on using the car for?
do you want to do hot lapping or open track days?

 

i am just getting into it and am mainly doing it just for fun. i am looking to spend around 20k and want a reliable car because it is going to be my daily drive also. right now i am thinking about trying to pick up a used type r. as of now that is my first choice and what i am probably going to go with. i am just going to run on street tires for now but who knows.....if i really start getting into it i might run different rubber. just seeing what cars would be your choices if you were in my position.

kris

 

get the rule book..

choose a class you want to run.. then choose a car that you can make competitive for the money you want to spend..

either that or just get what ever car you like and then choose a class and mod it for the class.

 

And I would also suggest going to a few autocrosses as a spectator and seeing in person the kinds of cars people are running and how they do.

If you see something you like that looks like it might be in your price range, talk to the owner about the car and what kinds of mods if any they might be running.

Its a little more intuitive than just going through the rule book, but sometimes its easier to tell what you want by seeing it instead of just reading about it.

 

What everyone else said, but if you really want a list, here are the cars that I've seen do well:

Miata
MR2 (Any)
C4 & C5 Corvettes
Miata
small Civic HB's (modified)
Miata
Fiat X 1/9
Did I mention the Miata?

I haven't seen an old style Mini race, but I think it would do well.

 

Yeah, from what I have seen I would have to agree with that list.

I would also add some of the smaller 4 wheel drives like the mitsus, audis and subarus and some of the good RWDs like BMWs and RX-7s.

When I go autocrossing I usually worry if a modified C5 shows up with a good driver since I know they can usually do over 2 seconds better than my best time on a one minute course.

Its one of the downsides of running in the A class with a 15 year old car.

 

if i was to buy a purpose Auto X car it'd be either a Miata, Mr2 Spyder or Rabbit GTi ... all three of them are small.. nimble light and with nice suspension and race tires kick ass !!

case in point.. at the sebring Auto X a guy in a red Miata in CS (C Stock) was setting close to times of the day (like 1-2 secs off.. on a 70 second coarse) with just some suspension.. cat back exhaust and sticky tires.. oh.. and the most important ingrediant.. a fucking good driver..

seriously..unless you have had LOTS of driving racing experience (and i mean real stuff not just driven around alot.. or done stupid shit on the street) .. then dont worry too much about the car.. a good driver in an ok car will generally beat a ok driver in a good car..

get the skills up first.. then when your skills are up get a killer car.. for now.. get something cheap, small and lite.. even just like a little CRX is a great learning car.. keep the stock engine.. just do to it what can be done to keep it in the stock class and LEARN with it.. in a season or two.. mod it to take you into a more competitive class.. or change to a better car..

anyhow.. bottom line is driver is FAR FAR more important than the car.

 

Will they let you stay in stock with exhaust and suspension mods?

I have been running in A Prepared for what I assumed were my intake and exhaust mods in addtion to the 17" wheels. Then again I have always been honest with the registration people about the mods. Perhaps it was an error on the inspector's part and I really belong in A Stock.

Does anyone know exactly what is the line you have to cross to go from stock to prepared? If someone has the official SCCA docs any help would be appreciated. If someone can look this up for me I have the following:

Year: 87
Make: Porsche
Model: 930 (911 Turbo)
Mods: Wheels, Intake & Exhaust.

 

I think miatas is c stock can run axle back exhaust, sway bars, and stiffer shocks but not springs.