Leadfoot

I have shown an interest in Auto X. I have spoken to a lot of auto enthusiasts and they said mustangs are too slow to do it well.

They spewed that we have to much horsepower and not good enough handling. What is it that other cars have, such as MR2s, Miatas, etc., that limits our abillities? Don't they have more horsepower than we do?

I don't get it.

RollinThunder

r cars r more of drag cars...yea they can b modded to handle...but never as good as miatas and cars like that...

YellowStang02

MR2, Miata, 944, all those small cars handle like a go cart with quick speed (low weight). Mustangs on the other hand are quick but weigh a lot so it would be hard for them to turn quickly going at a higher rate of speed.

mkspeed26

you can get them to handle fairly well in the aftermarket. we actually have the advantage of having enough power to oversteer the car, which is very good on a tight autocross track. so they will do sh*tty from the factory, but with some work they can do well. it wont do as well as a miata, but it will do.

blueangelfightr

Exactally. We have oversteer. Oversteer is good on a tight track. Look for a good suspension package and you will be set. As for too much HP, I didn't know there was a such thing.

dc_mann8

there isnt

USAMuscle

Eh, that all depends on what you want your car to do. Too much power can hurt you if you break the tires loose coming out of every turn because you'll lose valuable time. Autocross cars are harder to tune than drag cars because it has to be a fine balance between power and weight, and the suspension to keep it on the track. With drag cars more power = better as long as you can stick it to the pavement.

pipeliner

Since its really unlikely that Mustangs are classed with any of those cars, id have to say they autocross fine. Infact now that there is no Z28 they are the perferred cars for ESP in SCCA. Put a mr2 in a race with alot of long striaghts and a mustang will eat it for dinner. Make it really tight and the mr2 will win

As for to much power. Yes you can make to much power in Autox. The 03-04 cobra is a perfect example of it.

Leadfoot

I only saw the track for an afternoon. What angle are those corners? I don't think they are 90 degrees like typical streets. I thought if I took them wider I would not have to slow down as much and lose time. You know slow and steady. But then I don't know how much width I have to work with so I don't hit a cone with the rear end of my car if I fishtail.

"break the tires loose"? [&o]

I appreciate your opinions, but this sounds less and less encouraging. Am I wasting my time even getting involved?

Birdieman4

AutoX courses are typically low speed, tight courses with a lot of tight turns or hairpins. Stock mustang's aren't very nimble, and tend to understeer going into tight turns. Once a mustang passes an apex on a corner, your oversteer ability helps a lot. It's corner entry where stock mustangs really loose time. Last year when I raced my S281E saleen, as a stock vehicle it was clasified in B street prepared. That means I was racing prepared M3's, 300zx's, and a few other group 'B' cars allowed mods. I was running my Saleen with upgraded street tires, and most in the class were running full racing tires. I won the first event I entered with it last year, and all the B street prepared guys were pissed. They even protested the scca rulebook allowing for my car to run in B street prepared. Even being a full Saleen with subframes and boxed lower control arms with massive brakes, I was still getting whipped in my corner entry compared to some of the little, lightweight things I was competing against. -But I was more than making up for it in the post apex, and in the slaloms. The twin screw blower gave me enough low end to make the car boogie. Prepared mustangs shine best on longer road courses with flowing, higher speed turns. On autoX courses mustangs have some natural disadvantage, but that doesn't mean you can't compensate for it elsewhere. BTw, on a typical 60 second autoX course, my car was around 4-5 seconds faster than the fastest stock 03-04 cobra, so it wasn't a complete pig, although if you rode with me in the car during a run, you'd here me refer to her as a pig a few times.