So my friend took me along to my first autox meet this weekend. He drives a Civic Si hatchback and is very competitive in his class. I have a GT and just wanted to spectate at my first autox experience. I fear I may be hooked. So my question is if anyone could let me know what class I would be in... My friend was unsure if the gear swap would place me in SM with the other superchargers and all. Also what are some recommended beginner tips for the heavy mustangs?

Thanks in advance,
Jeremy

 

With the mods you have listed in your signature, I think you would be placed in ESP according to SCCA Solo II rules. If you added on a super charger, then you will be in one of the Mod Prepared classes. I am going to guess your friend ran in the STS2 class, which is the well known "Spec Honda" class because that is the car to have in that class. Check out www.scca.com or even www.autocross.com and take a look at the class rules and the national results to see what classes different cars run in. It will help you see where certain cars run and what they have done to them to be in those specific classes.

The best 2 classes to run these cars in is either F-Stock or ESP. I run in F-Stock, stock class is a lot lighter on Mods hence budget can be a lot lower to run also. But it is best to have a competitive F-Stock car before going up to ESP because some of the mods will be the same. Each classes builds off the class below it. You are already past that point but for a beginner run in whatever class they put you in, the only way to get better is with seat time. Work on your driving first then worry about the car. By the way the F-Stock national champion, Sam Strano, posts on these forums.

 

Cool, thanks for the input. Originally there was no intent to run autox so I didn't mod accordingly. The gears were just put in for my entertainment.

 

I was the exact same way, until I autocross'd for the first time. I had a whole list of mods I wanted to put on then I realized the class I would have to be competing in and how much more I would have to spend on my car to be competitive. I looked at those cost numbers and said stock class is the best way to go. Mods are limited, the most expensive item is tires but you will buy them for any class you run in, but its nice to know that you can compete and win locally/regionally in stock class.

 

When I bought my car it was already modified to the point of being in modified class, so I can't really compete in PAX with anyone. However, I just want to move up the ladder at the local level, regardless of class. I know my car is capable of setting the FTD at my local meets, because a guy in a stock '05 GT does it and won the club championship in '06.

Even if I were to have started with a stock car, I still wouldn't care about classes. 99% of the time I drive the car, I am not autocrossing.

 

SM is one place (drivetrain and related components are mostly unrestricted there).

C Prepared is another. Officially it's pretty much a class for race cars, but if there aren't any real CP cars and there are a few street-driven ponycars modified past ESP limits you may all want to run there rather than in SM anyway.

ESP is out because none of these cars were ever offered by Ford with 4.10's (as far as I know, anyway).


Norm

 

The 4.10 gears put you in Street Mod. If your local club doesn't have a "street tire" class for Street Mod, you'll have a tough time winning without race tires. The best bang-for-the-buck will be race tires and wheels, I run 275/40/17's on 17x9 rims with dedicated autocross tires (Hankook Z214's, C70 super-soft compound). The first time you run with race tires you'll say "Holy Crap this thing handles great"....they make a remarkable difference.

Have fun, the biggest component to improve is the one behind the wheel (speaking from experience).

 

Any pics of you with these tires on your car?

 

Just found this forum and it was nice to read the above post.

I've been into autocross/HPDE/OpenTrack for appx. 8 years. I see the hobby as just that....a HOBBY. Classes mean nothing to me, but I understand that some people wish to prove themselves by abiding by them.

However, I am with VaporTrails.......99% of the time i'm not autocrossing so it really doesn't make me enjoy driving around a stock car, or one with some lowering springs on it. I do what I do to my car because I want to and have fun with it.