Car choice for Autocross/road racing

[smitty2919]

Opinions from you guys who have owned these different cars. I'm selling the GTO to get into autocross and road racing. HP is not a concern right now since I want to learn car control and be a better driver. Looking into:

93-95 GT manual
99-04 GT manual(except "terminators")
01/02 Camaro SS manual

Will be a street/track car, something that I can go out and beat on then take to work the next day. I like the idea of 93-95 GT's for the 5.0 pushrod motors I can learn to dive into if needed. I like the 99-04 GT's for the more pleasurable interiors. 01/02 Camaros appeal to me for LS motors and cheap aftermarket like 99-04 GT's.

I think 93-95's will be the "cheapest" option to buy and mod. Motor work will be last with any option...everything will be suspension/brakes/safety stuff (helmet, race seat, harness).

It will be driven on the street as a DD so I won't go NUTS on making it full race prepped. I will like to keep amenities like heat and AC as well as a back seat area for my dog. It should be able to be driven on road trips and be reliable.

Game plan is sell GTO, buy a cheaper car, full tune up and make sure brakes are 100%. Then get a helmet, and drive drive drive. I want to "grow" with this car and modify it as my skills progress. Finally own a car that I modify in which I USE the mods LOL.

Thanks for any opinions!

 

[Boss002]

Honestly, buy the SS camaro.....

Yes I own a 03 and a 02 mustang, the 02 has the steeda 5 link and a million upgrades for ESP and i'm still worse off that just have a simple Camaro. The tq arm and panhard bar are great to have from factory, you already have a 6 spd for daily driving, the reliability of LS1 is great, to to mention the power. The suspension is better because you can run coil overs in classes like ESP instead of 1600lbs coils to have the same motion ratio. Sites like stranoparts.com has made great custom packages for the Camaro/Firebird.

Honestly other than looks and liking ford more, your better off with a LS 6 spd car

 

[KILRSVT]

I know this isn't an option but a 2005-2009 mustang GT would be pretty good with good springs and shocks good ESP car

 

[98cobraRx]

I know this isn't an option but a 2005-2009 mustang GT would be pretty good with good springs and shocks good ESP car

+1000. I have one and race one nationally in ESP. It is very competative. I finished 2nd in points for the ProSolo Atlantic region. 2nd place at NJ ProSolo, 2nd place at DC ProSolo and 4th place at Toledo ProSolo. Those cars are awesome. In addition to shocks and springs you will need sway bars and a Torsen T2R. That will make for a great ESP car.

If 05-09 GT is out of the budget then get the Camaro. The SN95 platform sucks. Camber curve is a joke as as well as caster. Plus then you have to deal with that crap rear suspension.

 

[smitty2919]

Well...the deal is done.

Picked up a 99 Cobra last weekend. NO ONE was biting to buy the car outright (in order to just go buy a camaro) and this guy was searching for a silver GTO 6 spd. Traded cars plus cash on his end. It has some issues to be worked out. In the process of pulling trans now.

First SN95 IRS car I have driven. It's a nicer ride than a SRA. My main goal for the trade was to have a car platform with a plentiful aftermarket and cheaper parts.

Owned it since this past saturday and this is where it stands...or sits now:

 

[cruisersk1]

Is a Steeda 5 link legal in ESP? It looks like it replaces the lower control arms and connects to the differential, both take it out of ESP If I read the rules right.

 

[94_Vert]

Autox, and road are two totally different animals. In autox you dont get above 45-50 normally, its all about smoothness in cornering and braking. In road you are hitting top speed every lap most likely and really hammering the car. You want to define your goals before you start modifying.

 

[smitty2919]

I know the difference between autocross and road racing...what would be mods you would do for autocross and hurt you in roadracing or vise versa???

Brakes/suspension will be a benefit in both races.

 

[94_Vert]

Its not that it would hurt, just that if you have a certain amount of money there are better areas for the money to go. For solo I would put all the money toward tires and suspension and some good brake pads. This is assuming you are experienced at it. If not dont do anything yet and just get alot of seat time. Road, brakes 1st. The stock brakes are going to fade fast. 2nd tires. Anything but competition tires arent going to last/be competitive.

Solo is going to be best to start with and cheapest, and once you are competitive, then you might consider road.

 

[GeorgiaSnake]

If I was going to get really serious about autocross again I would go out and find me an old RX-3. I would gut the interior and add a SCCA legal roll bar to stiffen up the frame. Change out the old single stage rotary and put a newer Dual stage rotary from an RX-8, Mod the suspension and go racing. It would be a lot of fun.

The Snake

 

[DaleM]

I know the difference between autocross and road racing...what would be mods you would do for autocross and hurt you in roadracing or vise versa???

Brakes/suspension will be a benefit in both races.

Higher HP often hurts on autocross where it helps on the straights in the road courses and coming out of the corners.

Most autocrosses you rarely see people hitting 60mph so you could brake harder. braking harder on a road course from high speeds is the cars equivalent of using the front brakes when stopping fast on a bike. It can screw the balance up and make handling very dynamic.

 

[R.D.P.]

I love my car and handling was about the 4th priority for me, so I have no regrets, but if my primary goal was to track my car, Mustangs would be pretty far down my list, even with IRS. My Terminator has some nice mods (see sig), but after having an AWD DSM and I still have a Nissan S13 with full suspension, my Cobra handles like a pig. The front isn't bad, but the back end starts to slide just rolling into the throttle coming out of a hard corner. I'm also running 295/35/18's on the back. My S13 has about half the power, but I'm 100% sure I could beat my Cobra around an autocross track and possibly a full road course depending on the layout. I also have a 4pt autopower rollbar, so I'm close to coupe chassis stiffness with everything (I would think)

My point is, a Mustang is a muscle car first, sports car second. I assume you were maybe only willing to consider American v8's based on your list?

 

[94_Vert]

I love my car and handling was about the 4th priority for me, so I have no regrets, but if my primary goal was to track my car, Mustangs would be pretty far down my list, even with IRS. My Terminator has some nice mods (see sig), but after having an AWD DSM and I still have a Nissan S13 with full suspension, my Cobra handles like a pig. The front isn't bad, but the back end starts to slide just rolling into the throttle coming out of a hard corner. I'm also running 295/35/18's on the back. My S13 has about half the power, but I'm 100% sure I could beat my Cobra around an autocross track and possibly a full road course depending on the layout. I also have a 4pt autopower rollbar, so I'm close to coupe chassis stiffness with everything (I would think)

My point is, a Mustang is a muscle car first, sports car second. I assume you were maybe only willing to consider American v8's based on your list?

First, if you don't have good sway bars your car won't handle well in autox or road, I don't care what springs, shocks or coil-overs you have. So according to your sig it doesn't look like you have them. A mustang gt that is dialed in will be very competitive in its class because of a decent power to weight ratio. Also the width of the tires isn't as important as the type of tire. For instance if you put some comp tires on your cobra you will not lose traction nearly as bad when accelerating, and that's not really a suspension problem. It's more about traction.

 

[Boss002]

Is a Steeda 5 link legal in ESP? It looks like it replaces the lower control arms and connects to the differential, both take it out of ESP If I read the rules right.

The Steeda 5 Link is ESP legal and pretty much the only good suspension to run in a ESP legal 94-04 mustang. The lower control arms are not changed by going to the 5 link, but of course the rear does benefit from LCA. As for the part that connects to the diff cover it is still legal because you could use a factory diff cover and it just simply bolts in half the holes on the right side.

Only reason I know this to be legal is because a local 95 cobra R and 96 (cobra r built) mustang both run them and have for years at nationals every year.
Also their is this nice read. http://www.sccaforums.com/forums/aft/27557