There seem to be a lot of questions about beginning to autocross. I will hopefully be able to answer a few of these questions. There are many questions on which car to begin the autocross experience.
I will tell you upfront that I am prejudice when it comes to this subject, and I am Mr. Cheapo! I prefer the early SN95 chassis, over the Fox body. There are many reasons for this other than I LOVE the look of the early SN95. I personally like the old Fox body style, (pre-SVO style), better than the later Fox body.
There are many mechanical reasons also for why I prefer the early SN95 over the Fox body. First and foremost in my book are the factory brakes and wheel stud setup on the SN95 over the Fox. The SN95 has four wheel discās with ABS and five bolt rims. The Fox has front disc/rear drum and four bolt rims. The cost of the brake upgrade on the SN95 is in the hundreds of dollars as outlined in my āAutocross brakeā post and also is an easy bolt-on. The cost to upgrade the Fox to all wheel disc and 5-bolt rims is in the thousands of dollars and takes a lot of tech knowledge and time.
If you move up to the 96-98 SN95 you now get the new modern 4.6 overhead cam engine in place of the old pushrod 302. I will NOT get into a discussion between which engine is better. Iāll leave that up to other posts to discuss the proās and conās of both.
And if you move up to the 96-98 Cobra, you now have 300 HP to begin with, the same as the new SN197 GTās. This would be an excellent starting point for the beginning autocrosser. This way you will have enough horsepower for many years to come, so you can concentrate on brakes, suspension, etc. and not even have to think about serious engine upgrades. You also will be able to get into a serious car for not a lot of money.
The only down side to the Cobra, is that too many of them have the leather interior, so be prepared to purchase some race seats, or be prepared to slide around in the seat, and donāt forget about your passenger. You have the steering wheel to hold on to, the passenger has nothing. And donāt get me started on the tan interiors, YUCK!
You may also move up to the 99-04 Mustang. The six cylinder is also an option in the short term, you have 200HP, but in the long term I believe you will be better served with an 8. Horsepower is easier to gain in an 8 as compared to a 6. In my opinion you are now talking some serious money when you get into the 2kās that could get you an early SN95 and quite a few modās.
Of course you can move up to the 03-04 Cobra and have some very serious ponies with an absolutely modern rear axle setup. BUT, you are also talking some very serious money, and for the beginner all of that HP under your right foot is asking for trouble. It is too tempting for the beginner to come out of a corner before a long straight, nail the throttle and wonder why he ended up into the wall. With the supercharged Cobraās you have a slight pause while the boost builds. When all of that HP hits the rear tires they break loose and you find yourself in a heap of trouble with little to no experience on how to overcome it.
I have no problem with anyone buying the new SN197 chassis and racing that. They are a great chassis, if not a little heavy, but we are talking about beginning to autocross and how to do it economically.
You notice I skipped over the advantages of the Fox body, yes there are some. They are lighter than all of the subsequent chassisā. Prices are very reasonable if not cheap. There are many, many aftermarket parts for them. There are many, many years of experience with this chassis. If you hurt it, your pocketbook wonāt hurt as bad as if you hurt a newer model.
The classic Mustangs, 64-73, is race at your own peril. There are many people who race these, but they are well seasoned individuals who know their vehicles and the tracks they run on. There are many upgrade parts to install on these as well, but for the beginner, concentrate on the late Fox, or early SN95 for the best bang for the buck.
Convertibles, that is up to the individual. The first thing you need to install is a roll bar. You cannot run events without it. You also need to run with the top down. That is fine most of the time, but remember that means those very hot, bright sunshine days as well as cool rainy days. In heavier rain, it is up to the track steward to decide on that day whether tops are up or down. The chassis on a ragtop is not as stiff as a coupe, but the roll bar helps stiffen the chassis. BUT, remember out on the street depending on the roll bar style, driver and passenger may need to climb over to enter and exit, and for sure it would be a hindrance for rear seat passengers.
Automatic versus stick, the stick is always preferable. I have an automatic and it has advantages. With the auto you can concentrate only on driving and braking, you donāt have to think about clutching/shifting, or missing a gear, the auto is a little better for a novice. But, the first thing I would do with an auto whether it is strictly street, or street/track, is to install a B&M Transpak shift kit. The Ford automatic shifts VERY slowly, the shift kit speeds up the shifts to a more reasonable level. You will find it refreshingly crisp and not at all harsh.
To sum this all up, and remember these are only my recommendations, first choice track the Mustang you already own. Next, 8 cyl over 6, stick over auto, coupe over ragtop. My Mustang choices in descending order with costs a factor. 94-95 GT, 96-98 GT, 85-93 GT, the Cobra models in that same order. When you get into the 99+ models, you are talking more money, but they will serve you very well.
I hope this answers a few questions and helps in your decision making process. So, go out there and have some fun, see you at the track.
I will tell you upfront that I am prejudice when it comes to this subject, and I am Mr. Cheapo! I prefer the early SN95 chassis, over the Fox body. There are many reasons for this other than I LOVE the look of the early SN95. I personally like the old Fox body style, (pre-SVO style), better than the later Fox body.
There are many mechanical reasons also for why I prefer the early SN95 over the Fox body. First and foremost in my book are the factory brakes and wheel stud setup on the SN95 over the Fox. The SN95 has four wheel discās with ABS and five bolt rims. The Fox has front disc/rear drum and four bolt rims. The cost of the brake upgrade on the SN95 is in the hundreds of dollars as outlined in my āAutocross brakeā post and also is an easy bolt-on. The cost to upgrade the Fox to all wheel disc and 5-bolt rims is in the thousands of dollars and takes a lot of tech knowledge and time.
If you move up to the 96-98 SN95 you now get the new modern 4.6 overhead cam engine in place of the old pushrod 302. I will NOT get into a discussion between which engine is better. Iāll leave that up to other posts to discuss the proās and conās of both.
And if you move up to the 96-98 Cobra, you now have 300 HP to begin with, the same as the new SN197 GTās. This would be an excellent starting point for the beginning autocrosser. This way you will have enough horsepower for many years to come, so you can concentrate on brakes, suspension, etc. and not even have to think about serious engine upgrades. You also will be able to get into a serious car for not a lot of money.
The only down side to the Cobra, is that too many of them have the leather interior, so be prepared to purchase some race seats, or be prepared to slide around in the seat, and donāt forget about your passenger. You have the steering wheel to hold on to, the passenger has nothing. And donāt get me started on the tan interiors, YUCK!
You may also move up to the 99-04 Mustang. The six cylinder is also an option in the short term, you have 200HP, but in the long term I believe you will be better served with an 8. Horsepower is easier to gain in an 8 as compared to a 6. In my opinion you are now talking some serious money when you get into the 2kās that could get you an early SN95 and quite a few modās.
Of course you can move up to the 03-04 Cobra and have some very serious ponies with an absolutely modern rear axle setup. BUT, you are also talking some very serious money, and for the beginner all of that HP under your right foot is asking for trouble. It is too tempting for the beginner to come out of a corner before a long straight, nail the throttle and wonder why he ended up into the wall. With the supercharged Cobraās you have a slight pause while the boost builds. When all of that HP hits the rear tires they break loose and you find yourself in a heap of trouble with little to no experience on how to overcome it.
I have no problem with anyone buying the new SN197 chassis and racing that. They are a great chassis, if not a little heavy, but we are talking about beginning to autocross and how to do it economically.
You notice I skipped over the advantages of the Fox body, yes there are some. They are lighter than all of the subsequent chassisā. Prices are very reasonable if not cheap. There are many, many aftermarket parts for them. There are many, many years of experience with this chassis. If you hurt it, your pocketbook wonāt hurt as bad as if you hurt a newer model.
The classic Mustangs, 64-73, is race at your own peril. There are many people who race these, but they are well seasoned individuals who know their vehicles and the tracks they run on. There are many upgrade parts to install on these as well, but for the beginner, concentrate on the late Fox, or early SN95 for the best bang for the buck.
Convertibles, that is up to the individual. The first thing you need to install is a roll bar. You cannot run events without it. You also need to run with the top down. That is fine most of the time, but remember that means those very hot, bright sunshine days as well as cool rainy days. In heavier rain, it is up to the track steward to decide on that day whether tops are up or down. The chassis on a ragtop is not as stiff as a coupe, but the roll bar helps stiffen the chassis. BUT, remember out on the street depending on the roll bar style, driver and passenger may need to climb over to enter and exit, and for sure it would be a hindrance for rear seat passengers.
Automatic versus stick, the stick is always preferable. I have an automatic and it has advantages. With the auto you can concentrate only on driving and braking, you donāt have to think about clutching/shifting, or missing a gear, the auto is a little better for a novice. But, the first thing I would do with an auto whether it is strictly street, or street/track, is to install a B&M Transpak shift kit. The Ford automatic shifts VERY slowly, the shift kit speeds up the shifts to a more reasonable level. You will find it refreshingly crisp and not at all harsh.
To sum this all up, and remember these are only my recommendations, first choice track the Mustang you already own. Next, 8 cyl over 6, stick over auto, coupe over ragtop. My Mustang choices in descending order with costs a factor. 94-95 GT, 96-98 GT, 85-93 GT, the Cobra models in that same order. When you get into the 99+ models, you are talking more money, but they will serve you very well.
I hope this answers a few questions and helps in your decision making process. So, go out there and have some fun, see you at the track.
