hey I dont know much about autocros but what all is invloved in getting a car ready for it and is a sunfire even possibly worthy of it??
All you need (despite popular belief) is a good running car with a good set of tires and brakes, current oil change, and a well maintained car etc. is recommend. To pass tech you need to have no cords showing on your tires and battery tied down correctly (no movement).
Only other suggestion I make to people if they plan on getting into it is get a set of cheap rims (stock size) to put cheap tires on. For your first season you won�t need anything but cheap street tires. Until you learn how to drive slicks are a waste of $$ and will only hide your mistakes as you try and learn.
As for racing a jbody. They aren�t particularly competitive out there but it doesn�t matter they are fun to drive! (this of course depends on what organization you run with and what class you get into etc. of which I won�t go into detail of I don�t race with the SCCA there rule book is to big and I don�t take this seriously enough to care follow a book as a I mod my car so I stay in a certain class so I don't race with them)
I race with the BMW club 9 out of 10 of there events are in Mineral Wells. (East of Weatherford) Average amount of runs for the day is 8 (4 in the morning session and 4 in the afternoon session)with lap times in about the 1:20 range,with a few fun runs afterwards. (last even I went to I got 16 runs total) I also race with them because typically the run very FAST courses. Most have events me going into 3rd gear and as high as 80mph range! Which is fast for a autox if you go to a SCCA event you will be lucky to break 50mph.
Local clubs:
Bmw club
Texas SCCA
More info getting started:
http://autocross.com/tr/typical.shtml
http://autocross.com/tr/faq.shtml
Autox 101
95 Cobra
Check out my site
^^^^^ actually the j's are competitive
last year when i was in GS (stock class) i was turning alot of heads with my fire. And i was on the RSA stock tires. of course the cars with the R-comps were quicker but i wasn't too far behind.
this year i got bumped to DSP.. still on street tires and people are telling me that the times i'm pulling with my car and being on street tires are pretty good.
What i recomend for you is... invest in some R-Compound tires. go with a 15" rim and a 45 or 50 series tire. this way your overall diameter will be smaller than stock which will help you accel out of corners alot better. and since you'll be on R-comps you'll stick great to the track.... you'll be very competitive in your class... your skill is a major factor as well
Good luck and have fun!
Modfire wrote:^^^^^ actually the j's are competitive
last year when i was in GS (stock class) i was turning alot of heads with my fire. And i was on the RSA stock tires. of course the cars with the R-comps were quicker but i wasn't too far behind.
this year i got bumped to DSP.. still on street tires and people are telling me that the times i'm pulling with my car and being on street tires are pretty good.
What i recomend for you is... invest in some R-Compound tires. go with a 15" rim and a 45 or 50 series tire. this way your overall diameter will be smaller than stock which will help you accel out of corners alot better. and since you'll be on R-comps you'll stick great to the track.... you'll be very competitive in your class... your skill is a major factor as well
Good luck and have fun!
You may be right I don't know the SCCA very well I'm more of a weekend racer could care less about the points aspect about it so maybe a J can do ok in a certain class (that class IS NOT with the BMW club thou if you want to get into points/classes look into the SCCA).
R compounds are nice but really not needed for a first timmer. They simply hide to many mistakes IMO. Get yourself some cheap used tires. If you can start turning out decent times on them then you will be ready for Race tires. If you just hop in a car with race tires you won't be able to learn your mistakes and where you are pushing the car too hard as easy it will really push your learning curve down.
95 Cobra
Check out my site
^^^^^ good point about not starting on the R-Comp
learn to race first and your cars reactions.... the reactions will change with the R's but at least you will know your cars handling
good thoughts on the tires.
yes, j-cars can indeed be competitive. the turbo sunbirds did VERY well in their day!
a former member from my area used to run his gold '97 sunfire in the bmwcca and surprised LOTS of folks. he just had basic suspension stuff (rear sway, koni reds, slip-on coilovers), and some faaat yokohama 235/40-17 tires.
he now runs an older 3-series bimmer...
Have you seen the turbo wagon?
14.069 @ 98.91mph
229.1hp & 261.7ft/lbs @ 6psi
no tuning time
