How do you fare against newer cars at scca autocross?

[rod cole]

Went a couple of times car handles very well ect. I am the only cam- t car there. Last time there was a 99 t/a and a new dodge srt challenger. Thought I should be able to compete with those cars. I was 62 seconds and they were 55 and 57 on same course. Car is a g-body wagon. What has you're experiences been against newer cars same day?

[gscherer78ta]

I run against the newer cars all the time in local autocross, CAM challenge and Optima events. I have a '78 TA weighing in around 3600# and I'm only running 275 wide tires. It comes down to driver more than the car, I end up as fast as a lot of the newer Camaro's, Mustang's and faster than most Challenger's and Viper's.
Start looking at suspension - adjustable shocks and tires to get your times down. And get out to more events and drive!

[SSLance]

I fare basically the same... I run in CAM-C because that's the class all my friends race in and we typically have 8-12 cars in class with most being newer Mustangs and Camaros. I can finish in the top 3-4 pretty regularly ahead of most others except the best drivers and a few cars with more prep than mine. I have even won on occasion, just depends on the day, course, and how things are working.

You need to have a well balanced car with the best tires to run with the newer Mustangs and Camaros, then you need to have a driver with a lot of seat time to run with the more experienced drivers. Both are factors for sure.

[groho]

Just ran crowslanding (norcal) on Sunday in CAM-T against Mary Pozzi and Michael Erickson. Mike Maier had to unfortunately miss it, heard he had a bug. I didn't have a snowballs chance in a class of 7 and frankly didn't give a hoot that I came in last, yes last. Just to be in the same timezone as these pro's was a big learning opportunity. I'm a complete novice and this is my third autocross this year, still trying to learn my car and build my confidence. At the end of each run, I probably had the biggest dumbest grin on my face, lovin life. here's an in car view https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A50GQd5JH-0

If you care to hear, its a carb'd '68 302, built C4 automatic w/ginormous cooler, and 3:55 truetrac. Suspension is SoT roller UCA/LCA, MMinc panhard, bilsteins and subframes.

The way I see it, I got whooped by a girl and loved every minute of it.

[Bugzilla]

I am going to say its a good combo of the car and driver. Put it this way, I have beat brand new Vettes and Camaros in my little 205 whp, FWD, China tire, close to stock Juke. On paper, they should have eaten me alive. But the drivers didnt know how to drive. On that same track on the same day, a bone stock Miata put down better lap times then my Juke. Like others have said, its all about seat time and learning how your vehicle handles.

[rod cole]

I am having a lot of fun. To much so, seems drifting and occasionally looping a car is not the fastest way around. But when the faster times happened not much excitement. As to the fast cars one is a frs toyota, new corvette, and this last time was a 3800 supercharged lotus 7 copy doing the same course 49-50 second range.

[Chad-1stGen]

I've got a lot of seat time and so I fare pretty well. In the last autocross I did I was first out of 17 CAM driver's across all CAM classes. And I was 11th out of 160 cars in the PAX index. Sometimes I do worse. When I first started I'd be lucky to be in the top half of the PAX standings.

Here is my best run.

https://youtu.be/GqDq8EmAUoc

[bret]

Went a couple of times car handles very well ect. I am the only cam- t car there. Last time there was a 99 t/a and a new dodge srt challenger. Thought I should be able to compete with those cars. I was 62 seconds and they were 55 and 57 on same course. Car is a g-body wagon. What has you're experiences been against newer cars same day?


How do we fare against the new cars?

We run them down like dogs in the street. I have found that Corvette and Porsche guys HATE to get beat by old fat guys in an 50 year old Camaro :)

[TheJDMan]

What Bret said! (metaphorically speaking of course) BTW, the comments stated here are not exclusive to SCCA events but apply to all autocross events regardless of the promoter.

[gator68428]

I was in or around the top 5 at the FM3 Cars and Cones Road Trip back in April for the three days I participated. 60+ cars competing from all years new and old, mostly American muscle cars. Had a blast.

Update: just saw the SCCA part... oh well leaving the below pics in :-)
Similar to what Chad said above about when he first started. Except I haven't progress as far as he has as a driver... yet ;-) Early on if I was in the top 50% of the field that was a pretty decent showing for me. Now I'm doing better if in top 30%. Best was 18th in pax out of almost 100 drivers. But I've done a lot to the car since last SCCA AutoX too--namely full cage and 315s all around. (mods were in place for cars and cones). My thing is I spend more time modifying my car than I do getting seat time. But i'm getting there... Need run what I brung more often... but maybe a few more upgrades first ? ;-) :-)

I was #428. Thanks to this forum for the action shots!
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2017/06/20170426_151416_zpsijjrjoh4-1.jpg (http://s393.photobucket.com/user/mitch_mac1/media/20170426_151416_zpsijjrjoh4.jpg.html)
I did donate for taking the above picture ;-)
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2017/06/18209191_1099202193518669_53475330077282-1.jpg (http://s393.photobucket.com/user/mitch_mac1/media/18209191_1099202193518669_5347533007728263874_o_zp saedfvwfs.jpg.html)
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2017/06/18155806_1099202010185354_50856424359390-1.jpg (http://s393.photobucket.com/user/mitch_mac1/media/18155806_1099202010185354_508564243593904608_o_zps gn3bnfns.jpg.html)

[Cyclone03]

Last event I was about 3 sec behind an FS Mustang and SSP Vette but 6sec from the top. Finished top half out of 140.
68 Mustang ,Opentracker Racing full roller front,non adjustable Bilstiens,255/40 17 Falkens Big FE under hood 3600 lbs.

[Tomswheels]

You have a lot of roof weight in the wagon, which is a bit of disadvantage. In addition you have all the other disadvantages of a 30+ year old suspension design. The best way to counter these disadvantages is tires and driving talent. Commit to making at least a 275 tire on a 10 inch rim fit in front, and same or bigger on the rear. Get the best Autocross tires (I like Bridgestone RE-71R in that size). Modify your driving by always thinking how to manage weight transfer, and keeping the tires doing one thing at a time (braking, or turning, or accelerating). Feather the throttle, and brake by bleeding in the peddle initially, then increasing pressure, not just jamming it down. Pick smooth lines where you can keep the car in a steady-state turn as long as possible, weight up high doesn't like being thrown back and forth. And finally, never forget, Have fun out there.