Want to autocross my 2006 4.0L....suggestions?

[Lee Yoder]

Good morning all,
I have become interested in autocrossing my 2006 4.0L. I want to test my abilities in a controlled venue and hope that translates over to my daily driving. That being said, my car is stock (77,000 miles) with the exception of the JLT CAI/SCT tune, strut tower brace and GT rear sway bar. I am contemplating the Kenny Brown AGS 4.0 in stages and coil overs. I am looking suggestions/advice for approaching this. I still do not have a budget, but that is not an issue right now. I am looking forward to constructive input!

Later,
Lee

 

[Whiskey11]

Good morning all,
I have become interested in autocrossing my 2006 4.0L. I want to test my abilities in a controlled venue and hope that translates over to my daily driving. That being said, my car is stock (77,000 miles) with the exception of the JLT CAI/SCT tune, strut tower brace and GT rear sway bar. I am contemplating the Kenny Brown AGS 4.0 in stages and coil overs. I am looking suggestions/advice for approaching this. I still do not have a budget, but that is not an issue right now. I am looking forward to constructive input!

Later,
Lee

Go out and drive the car at multiple events, over, and over, and over again until the tires need replacing, then replace them with some decent street tires, and go to multiple events, over and over, and over and over again.

Then determine what it is about the car you'd like to change and we can get more specific on suspension mods. Otherwise, autocross is a bunch the driver and some the car.

 

[dontlifttoshift]

Yep, I suggest that you search and read this entire section of the forum, take the money you were going to throw away on the KB parts and spend it on seat time and tires.

But mostly search, your questions have been answered.

 

[Lee Yoder]

Thanks guys! I have been going through the forums and have found suggestions concerning negative camber and toe-in. This is my DD, so I don't want to get too agressive with these items and munch my newish tires (should have kept the old ones, wasn't thinking that far ahead though).

Later,
Lee

 

[Whiskey11]

Thanks guys! I have been going through the forums and have found suggestions concerning negative camber and toe-in. This is my DD, so I don't want to get too agressive with these items and munch my newish tires (should have kept the old ones, wasn't thinking that far ahead though).

Later,
Lee

For what it is worth, I ran -1.7° of camber last year, all the time, and about 10 autocross events (I want to say it was about 64 total runs) and saw no additional inside wear from the camber. All of my tire wear was on the outside edge of the tire from not enough camber while running on some pretty aggressive concrete (Nationals site). Zero total toe and +7.5° caster. Ford specs allow up to -1.5° of camber so I would use as much of that as you are comfortable with and your driving allows.

 

[JesseW.]

get an alignment with 0 toe to just a touch of toe out, with max camber you can get out of the front end and run the hell out of it. i couldn't believe the difference an alignment made on the feel of the car.

a buddy of mine did this in his almost stock 05 gt and when he got to where he didn't dnf, get lost, and had worn out his tires, he put on some star specs and within 3 events is embarassing boss 302's that usually show up a lot and is finishing around 10th raw times out of 50 drivers. he has been only been autocrossing about 10 events now.

other than that, the strut tower brace and intake/tune take you out of stock class. STX would be the class for the car.

 

[SilverMustangGT]

I wouldn't spend any money on the car until you drive in a few events. After you have decided you want to stick with it, you need to decide which class you want to compete in. The first thing you should buy are a set rims and tires dedicated to autocross.

A lot of drivers get frustrated because they aren't winning after a few events. This is like any other sport...it takes time and practice and you're only getting a few minutes of seat time at each event.

 

[dennisafrompa]

The more you drive, the better the car gets. Then when it doesn't get any better, start to do stuff to it.

Not being a wise guy but I've autocrossed for many years. I'm 70 years old! Take it from Whiskey 11 it's a bunch driver and some car.