CaptainRon

I would like to participate in some autocrossing events. My only racing experience consists of participating in the Skip barber racing school. My car is a base 2012 V6 coupe M6 and its not my daily driver. I was thinking about FRPP and GT500 wheels and GT500 LCA's from A.M. to start with.

Whiskey11

I would start off by racing it bone stock down to the tires in the new Road Tire RWD class. Learn the car, fix the problems that come up with it.

LCA's will throw you into Street Mod straight off the bat and I'll be honest, are far less important than some people would lead you to believe. I'm not sure the GT500 LCA's will throw you in SM, they MIGHT be legal in STX/ESP depending on their construction. If all they are are the GT stampings with stiffer bushings they would be legal, but anything beyond the stock GT stampings and it's straight to SM. Like I said, it would be the last thing I would change.

If you make any changes, it should be a set of tires. Everything you do to the rest of the suspension still transmit forces through the 4 contact patches on the ground. $26000 worth of Griggs Racing suspension wont fix crappy tires. Start with tires.

That is all I would change for the first full year. Even then, kill off your stock tires. You'll thank us as you can appreciate the upgrades when you do finally get them.

CaptainRon

How about gear ratio? This one has the standard 2:73 rear end, however on the new 2011+ they now come with a 8.8" LSD which is a good thing, I was thinking 3:73's?

As for wheels I was thinking of getting the GT's 19" wheels and around a 255 or 265/40/19

parchisi

I have 3.73's and for autocross, I wish I didn't. 2nd gear runs out too fast and you have to shift. Its faster just to keep it in one gear the whole course if you can. You're probably not going to be a competitive driver the first season or so, so like Whiskey said, just learn to drive your car the way it is.

If you want to do anything, I'd recommend the usual springs/dampers/wheels/tires if you don't care what class you run in. But otherwise download the SCCA solo rulebook and get familiar with the different classes you can run in and use that to guide your modifications (if autocross is something you want to get serious about). I think the usual classes that mustangs compete in are F-Stock, STX, ESP, SM.

Whiskey11

Technically the only way to get 3.73's is if they were an option for your car from the factory. Otherwise SM it is. For stock or Road Tire it's an all or nothing deal, so if the 3.73's were part of a package option like the Track Pack, you'd have to do all of the track pack options. In the other classes you can pick and chose those options if they are not allowed already.

CaptainRon

Sounds good guys, I appreciate the help. The only gear available as an option would be 3:31's on the performance package, which i do not have.

The V6 PP consists of GT's stock springs, Boss 302 upper strut brace, 3:31 gears, GT500 LCA's, GT's front sway bar, SVT rear sway bar, and 255/40/19 tires.

Couple questions,
If I gather those parts would that be considered Modified or stock?

And If i keep the car alone as you suggest, would you suggest I get different tires/wheels and if so, what size would be good?


Thanks for the help guys... I'll check out the SCCA website shortly for more info and yes Im serious about Autocrossing.

Whiskey11

If you put ALL of those options on, and they are truly what is in the V6 PP, then you could technically run stock. Otherwise, the LCA's and the gear change would land you in STREET modified (modified is a whole different ball game of racecar :P)