First Autox of the year

[sholzer]

Went out with NASA for their first championship event. Had a lot of fun sliding the car around in 30 degree weather on the stock Pirellis.

I definitely want to get some better wheels and tires when the weather gets warmer and my local club starts up, I feel like ditching these Pzeros in favor of some RS3s will help a ton. Also want/need to play with the sways some as the car tended to understeer a lot, which may have also been me overdriving in the cold.

I feel like there was a lot left on the table, but the consistency with the cold just wasn't there for me this weekend/

This is my fastest run, but I picked a cone up. (They were also different from SCCA that they did not want you to stop on course and point out a downed cone, so I didn't really pursue a rerun. Looking back, I should have as I feel I could have gone a little faster, oh well.)



This is my fastest clean run, which was only a bit off the run above (about .05s).

 

[Roadracer350]

Good run!!

 

[Sharad]

Looked pretty clean! (the way you were talking I expected it to be all over the place)

 

[sholzer]

Looked pretty clean! (the way you were talking I expected it to be all over the place)

Thanks! haha it definitely felt that way, at least for my first couple of runs (these were my last two). I backed off it a little to try and get a clean run

 

[lost won]

Nice driving, and nice car. Lotsa better tires than stock available. Maybe pick up a set of track pak wheels and better tires just for auto-x. The stock suspension isn't bad IMHO; I run Hoosiers in SCCA F stock on a spare set of stock rims and do okay. Call Sam before you invest in the car. Lot of very interesting new street tires just now coming out, if you want to stay on streets. Dunlop D2 for instance. I've been hooked on the HoHos for two sets now; and while expensive per lap/heat cycle, they do stick.

Best wishes from the Left Coast!

John

 

[sholzer]

^Thanks

I've already done somethings to the car like springs, shocks, sways, and an ajustable PHB. I'm mainly looking to pick up some 18x9s and run some 265/40 RS3s in STX.

If I could afford it, I would definitely be running ESP and some hoosiers, but I can't justify the expense right now while still in college and paying for the car.

Stephen

 

[lost won]

^Thanks

I've already done somethings to the car like springs, shocks, sways, and an ajustable PHB. I'm mainly looking to pick up some 18x9s and run some 265/40 RS3s in STX.

If I could afford it, I would definitely be running ESP and some hoosiers, but I can't justify the expense right now while still in college and paying for the car.

Stephen

Hmmm. Sounds like you're most of the way to STX or ESP already, Stephen. The RS-3s for STX will be about 1K. And the wheels at least another 1K. If you were to run ESP, you would need Hoosiers to be competitive. They're about 1.7K and only last about 50 runs. Stock 19"wheels can be had for about $800 a set delivered to your door. You'd need camber adjustment if you haven't already got them for STX and ESP. Question is, will 265 street tires work well enough for a relatively heavy Mustang. To use your hole card in STX, which is power, you need some traction. I'm running 295 Hoosiers, and I could still use more grip. I decided to stay stock to save money. My only expense is tires.

Have you read the Terry Fair (of Vorschlag, in Texas) chronicles just about every where? He started out going for STX, then gave up and went to ESP; where he was successful last year. Tons of good information online for all of us from Terry's experiences with the late model GTs.

Enough for now. Best of luck with your endeavors.

John

 

[sholzer]

Yep, I've been following Vorshlag's 2011 and 2013 builds and I definitely see why he (and so many others) have jumped off the STX ship and gone straight to ESP. I'm mostly in it for the fun, but like to be competitive locally. I've done a good bit of events (7 or so) in a "loose" STX prep and it could definitely use some things, but it all comes down to money for me right now.

My original plan was the same as yours to try and save money and run FS and only spend money on tires, but I haven't been able to justify the cost of hoosiers vs the little cost of mods I have over time while I can still have a ton of fun on the stock tires. I've also read that hoosiers tend to hide flaws in driving and I definitely want to improve as a driver before I justify spending $2500 on a set of dedicated race tires. Definitely working on improving my driving though and I am scheduled to attending a evo school in early March which should help I bunch.

Thanks for the insight though!

Stephen