[Whiskey11]

Talk about a great day! Great weather (65's with a light breeze and partly cloudy), great course layout as usual and a very big turnout. I think today we peaked 70 cars at an event and had almost 200 observers. Southroads Mall is no longer a Mall and is rented out for office space (TD Ameritrade, PayPal, etc all have offices there, although the PayPal one is not an active site) so the back parking lot is empty on Sundays, except for today. In spite of some serious grid and paddock cluster fucking going on due to so many cars in such a small area, the event went VERY smoothly. Sadly no fun runs There was a great driver that I wanted (and he wanted) to drive my car in the fun runs. They announced they were going to have fun runs but due to the crowd getting too close, we shut it down.

Four runs today, and four videos to show. I ran in F-Stock as usual, but with the Street Tire PAX. Which turned out to be a GOOD thing. Why will be said later.

Here is the course, in my typical MSN Paint fashion :


1 is a standard slalom
2 is a 3 cone wide slalom
3 is a Chicago box, and a very popular one to take out lots of cones

The squares on the upper left are light poles and the circle near the number 3 is a huge power pole. All 4 of them are immovable objects. Start was kinda crazy as you didn't get into second gear until the start of the slalom... shifting while turning = no fun.

The pavement here is NOT close to the concrete at the Lincoln Air Park that we are so blessed to run on. This is asphalt, very broken up and painted asphalt. It was also cold asphalt. So it was not very grippy at all. That said it did allow me to do one thing which REALLY helped. At Lincoln Air Park, the concrete is so grippy that trail braking does nothing to help rotate the car, at times it actually caused the opposite to happen. Out here, trail braking caused the car to rotate for ONCE. This is the only place I've raced that allows that to even occur. At the top two corners it was a HUGE help in getting the car to rotate under serious speed which helped keep times competitive. At LAP I would have plowed wide at the same speed. When folks talk about trail braking, I NOW get why they do it! It was a serious help! Add in the fact that the entire course is sloped downward from right (high) to left (low)!!

The chicago box was annoyingly tight, and the only "slow" section to the course. They added it as a joke to annoy one of the rally crossers who also autocrosses, but it kept the times in the 25-35 second range rather than being all in the 20's.

That said, my times were all pretty much in the 32.XXX range. My first run was a 33.7XX (IIRC, it was a 33 for sure), the second run was a 32.214 with one cone (I remember that time, my third run was a 32.XXX and my last run was a 32.17X. Several others (several, a dozen others) in the Street Tire PAX ran faster than me. In fact one of the guys that came out with us with his new EvoX ran his car in SM (dumb for one, since he's only done a complete exhaust and tune, which would have been an SP car, w/e) ran a 30.007 as his fastest time and he placed THIRD in the Street Tire Pax. Which to be honest didn't bode well for me placing at all.

That said, I actually placed FIRST in the Street Tire PAX, thanks to a very generous "stock" PAX modifier.



Today was the first time I've actually won a trophy in ANYTHING that wasn't a "win by default"!!! Kick ass!

Now for the Videos!

Run #1

2009 Mustang GT Autocross - Southroads Mall, Bellevue Nebraska - Run #1 - YouTube

2009 Mustang GT Autocross - Southroads Mall, Bellevue Nebraska - Run #1 - YouTube

Run #2

2009 Mustang GT Autocross - Southroads Mall, Bellevue Nebraska - Run #2 - YouTube

2009 Mustang GT Autocross - Southroads Mall, Bellevue Nebraska - Run #2 - YouTube

Run #3

2009 Mustang GT Autocross - Southroads Mall, Bellevue Nebraska - Run #3 - YouTube

2009 Mustang GT Autocross - Southroads Mall, Bellevue Nebraska - Run #3 - YouTube

Run #4

2009 Mustang GT Autocross - Southroads Mall, Bellevue Nebraska - Run #4 - YouTube

2009 Mustang GT Autocross - Southroads Mall, Bellevue Nebraska - Run #4 - YouTube

So at the end of the year I managed to squeak out a victory against another (11) competitor(s). I can't wait until next year!!! New tires, hopefully shocks/struts and a front swaybar will really make this car a performer, even on stock springs and wheels. ZERO regrets about this hobby and I can't wait for April so we can start the process all over again!

[Onemanzu]

Looks like a fast track, I'm glad I didn't go to this event, my SUV would have bogged heavily.

[Whiskey11]

Originally Posted by Onemanzu Looks like a fast track, I'm glad I didn't go to this event, my SUV would have bogged heavily.

They wouldn't have let you on the track with an SUV. Center of Gravity would be too high. The tallest vehicle I've seen run is one of those Subaru Foresters and it looked almost sickening to drive in it had that much body roll. The guy was having a blast though so I dunno lol.

[SleeptGT904]

Congratulations man! Looks good !

[RZNCAIN]

It looks like it would be tough to tell where you are supposed to go.

[Whiskey11]

Originally Posted by RZNCAIN It looks like it would be tough to tell where you are supposed to go.

Not really. I only walked the course once. Once you figure out where you are supposed to go, it's pretty easy to figure it out on course. The video doesn't show what I see when I'm driving because it's mounted on the roof of the car, the quality sucks in comparison to your eyes and it has a 170º lens on it which distorts the image a little bit. All of that combined together makes it difficult to understand the course, but it's much easier when you are actually driving and at the event. My first event I walked the course 4 or 5 times, by now I can walk it once, maybe twice if there is a questionable section or something I MUST remember and I've got it down. Many others are like that too.

Seriously, find someone in your area with a Mustang and go to an event and ride along with them. It will be a heck of a lot more clear than watching my videos!

[trialmaster]

^^^ A-Men to a ton of fun!!!

Congrats on the first place! Looks like a very quick course, did you get up into third at all or did you stay in second?

I bet it will make a huge difference with some shocks and springs next year, I am hopping to do the same thing, however I think my budget is only going to allow for the tires and maybe a few small mods, but not another 1000 for suspension...we will see, mod bugs are quite hard to suppress, especially when it is for autox

[Onemanzu]

Originally Posted by Whiskey11 They wouldn't have let you on the track with an SUV. Center of Gravity would be too high. The tallest vehicle I've seen run is one of those Subaru Foresters and it looked almost sickening to drive in it had that much body roll. The guy was having a blast though so I dunno lol.

... *points to signature*

[Whiskey11]

Originally Posted by trialmaster ^^^ A-Men to a ton of fun!!! Congrats on the first place! Looks like a very quick course, did you get up into third at all or did you stay in second? I bet it will make a huge difference with some shocks and springs next year, I am hopping to do the same thing, however I think my budget is only going to allow for the tires and maybe a few small mods, but not another 1000 for suspension...we will see, mod bugs are quite hard to suppress, especially when it is for autox

Thanks, they just released the results, the guy in 2nd place was 0.022 seconds behind my time after the PAX was applied. That isn't much to win by! That said, I found out they are using the same PAX index multipliers as the standard PAX is using. So for an F-stock mustang, if I ran in full F-Stock trim and ran the same time as I did on street tires vs A6's (unlikely) my overall PAX time is identical. I'm not sure how I feel about that as it means that cars in the stock categories are going to fair better in the Street Tire class compared to cars in higher prep levels. Especially considering you are giving up A6's to run on Street Tires!!! YIKES!

I plan on only doing front sway bar and shocks/struts. I'm hoping that Mr. Strano will be available to call tomorrow to see when the front struts will be coming off national back order (come on Koni, hurry up already). The tires will be ordered first for sure. My KDWS (I joke that the S is for slow ) are pretty much dead. Very little tread left on them and no shoulder blocks so it's a GOOD thing that this was the last event. They may not have made it to another LOL! I would like to see this Ford Authorized Camber Bolts and slotted struts cost though. That would really help if I could add a few degrees of camber to keep tires around longer or keep them in their prime longer. Someone said $147 for the camber bolts... way too much so I'm hoping that is a lie!

I've only ever used 2nd gear. The first part was tricky, as you couldn't shift to second until the start of the slalom. I used the "jolt" to fish the tail around the first cone a little bit, but otherwise it was 2nd gear all the way. 3.55's put my top end at 65 MPH which is perfect, the low end grunt keeps the car moving even in second gear. On this course, I'd be 3.73's or 4.10's would have been nice to give that boost in the lower part of 2nd gear, but I wouldn't give up my 3.55's for nothing as the courses we run in the summer are long and fast thanks to the Lincoln Air Parks HUGE pad.

The results show me as 24th of 73 entrants. That isn't too bad, exactly in the top 3rd Probably the highest I've been all year! 73 entrants though, WOW. I wish I had a picture of the paddock area, it was a nightmare for parking. If you didn't claim the parking spot, you were screwed if you tried to get back into it after your runs. The grid was equally messy as they did 3 tiers and it just never flowed well to the start line. Very difficult area to set up an event for that many entrants, but the good news is at least a dozen are new faces to the NRSCCA. We also had lots of, erhm, observers from the hill sides surrounding the Mall which may become interested and check it out!

Onemanzu - Forgive me, didn't know what a Foz was, now I do You could try, I'm not sure if the Nebraska Region would allow it. Might be pushing it depending on mods. I know that guy at the Iowa Region looked like he was going to be sea sick after each run, and the body roll matched his look!

[Smilieboy]

Have you thought about getting the springs they used in the Shelby GTs?

[trialmaster]

Sounds great,

70 sounds like a very good turn out! The results were just released for the last auto x in CT for Sunday and there were 98 cars running!!! I knew there were a lot, but wholy crap (and we got 6 runs in too!) I ended up pretty much right in the middle for the PAX, 47th out of 98. But the catch is that I am running in ESP with street tires and very few mods...so my multiplier hurts me very much so. But, there was no cars in FS and I would have to take off my CAI; there are usually a few cars in ESP so there is competition. I dont like winning by default although it does happen sometimes. This was the map for the course is located here: Final Results, #11 - FCSCC 2011 Non-Points Season Closer - Special Olympics Autocross Series & Tri-State Championship - Sun 11-06-2011

Also, I just came upon a pretty sweet deal IMHO. The shelby store sells take offs from GT500's which are converted to better models (supersnake, ect.) and they sell them in one big bundle (tires, wheels, brakes (I think they are Brembo's!), sway bars, springs...ect) check it out, I may be looking into this over the winter when and if I come upon a little extra money: Shelby GT500 Take Off Parts

[Whiskey11]

Originally Posted by Smilieboy Have you thought about getting the springs they used in the Shelby GTs?

Not F-Stock legal unless you do the whole conversion. I don't feel like paying to put heavier seats in my car, change the front bumper, add the little bits and bobs that the Shelby GT has all for a set of springs. I'd rather at that point jump to ESP and continue to run in the Street Tire PAX where the competition is friendly rather than so fierce! Besides, the Shelby GT runs on the full Ford Racing handling pack which isn't too bad, but add in everything else the Shelby GT has that I would have to add for it to be F-Stock legal, that's insane.

Originally Posted by trialmaster Sounds great, 70 sounds like a very good turn out! The results were just released for the last auto x in CT for Sunday and there were 98 cars running!!! I knew there were a lot, but wholy crap (and we got 6 runs in too!) I ended up pretty much right in the middle for the PAX, 47th out of 98. But the catch is that I am running in ESP with street tires and very few mods...so my multiplier hurts me very much so. But, there was no cars in FS and I would have to take off my CAI; there are usually a few cars in ESP so there is competition. I dont like winning by default although it does happen sometimes. This was the map for the course is located here: Final Results, #11 - FCSCC 2011 Non-Points Season Closer - Special Olympics Autocross Series & Tri-State Championship - Sun 11-06-2011 Also, I just came upon a pretty sweet deal IMHO. The shelby store sells take offs from GT500's which are converted to better models (supersnake, ect.) and they sell them in one big bundle (tires, wheels, brakes (I think they are Brembo's!), sway bars, springs...ect) check it out, I may be looking into this over the winter when and if I come upon a little extra money: Shelby GT500 Take Off Parts

Wow, the prices on some of the stuff on that webpage is insane. $400 for a GT500 take off blower with no brackets or anything... Wow....

Yeah, 73 doesn't sound like much until you see how tiny the lot is, then it's ALOT. I hope that we start getting those turn outs at longer courses next year at the Nationals Site. A much better site all around.

[94racing]

Ive seen pics of srt10 dodge trucks goin round one. Actually theres a red one that is in hpde3.
When i had the colorado i was wanting to do rallycross in it. Alot of the zq8 colorado guys ran autox. They are pretty low to the ground tho. Id like to see what a gmc terrain would do .
What kind of suv do you have?

[Whiskey11]

Originally Posted by 94racing Ive seen pics of srt10 dodge trucks goin round one. Actually theres a red one that is in hpde3. When i had the colorado i was wanting to do rallycross in it. Alot of the zq8 colorado guys ran autox. They are pretty low to the ground tho. Id like to see what a gmc terrain would do . What kind of suv do you have?

He said he had a Forester. Race trucks are certainly allowed at the local road courses (Motor Park Hastings and Mid America Motorplex) but they go through special tech to ensure safety. The SCCA has no provisions for it, and my region is pretty tight on the rules so it would be a no-go for proper trucks and SUVs. The forester might be a go if he can get eventmaster approval but I'm not sure it would be that much fun!

[Whiskey11]

Called Sam Strano today, had a good conversation with him about the future for my car. Koni's are on back order still, minimum 3 months, most likely 5-9 months and no guarantees that I'd get them when they start coming back to the states. He talked me into the D-Specs, they are on the FedEx truck and on the way.

I'm waiting for him to get his Sway Bars back in stock. He assured me the November Fasttrack stock changes were going to go through and recommended the rear sway bar rather than adding spring rate to the front.

Dunlops will be ordered with the tax return in February. Things are coming together. I'd like to find the Ford Authorized Camber Correction Kit for cheaper than the 120$ I saw earlier. Saw it on eBay for about 102$ shipped so that is one option. Seller had questionable reputation though...

[Onemanzu]

I have wrx springs, it will lower the car an inch. If I can get some wrx struts that will lower it another inch.

I can then pick up some sways for roughly $350 front and back, brand new, shipped. Thinking about it, but money is tight.

[DiMora]

Originally Posted by Whiskey11 Called Sam Strano today, had a good conversation with him about the future for my car. Koni's are on back order still, minimum 3 months, most likely 5-9 months and no guarantees that I'd get them when they start coming back to the states. He talked me into the D-Specs, they are on the FedEx truck and on the way. I'm waiting for him to get his Sway Bars back in stock. He assured me the November Fasttrack stock changes were going to go through and recommended the rear sway bar rather than adding spring rate to the front. Dunlops will be ordered with the tax return in February. Things are coming together. I'd like to find the Ford Authorized Camber Correction Kit for cheaper than the 120$ I saw earlier. Saw it on eBay for about 102$ shipped so that is one option. Seller had questionable reputation though...

The D-Specs will serve you well...I like them a lot.

I also run Steeda sport springs (well, actually, I run the whole Steeda suspension catalog except the Watts link)...it will make a HUGE difference in how your car handles! I am shocked you are running that with stock suspension...but that can be fun too. Major body roll, but wheeeee!!!!

I can see what you mean...a supercharger would be fun on that course, but also a double-edged sword...it would be all about throttle modulation to avoid lighting up the rear and spinning out.

Something like an M90 might be a riot - I used to run one...it would be great in the sense that it doesn't produce a ton of power, but it spools up quick and if tuned correctly, could be easy to modulate. My TVS would be overkill if that is how you normally run - but you could always train your right foot!

[Whiskey11]

Originally Posted by DiMora The D-Specs will serve you well...I like them a lot. I also run Steeda sport springs (well, actually, I run the whole Steeda suspension catalog except the Watts link)...it will make a HUGE difference in how your car handles! I am shocked you are running that with stock suspension...but that can be fun too. Major body roll, but wheeeee!!!! I can see what you mean...a supercharger would be fun on that course, but also a double-edged sword...it would be all about throttle modulation to avoid lighting up the rear and spinning out. Something like an M90 might be a riot - I used to run one...it would be great in the sense that it doesn't produce a ton of power, but it spools up quick and if tuned correctly, could be easy to modulate. My TVS would be overkill if that is how you normally run - but you could always train your right foot!

Aye, as I posted in the 05-10 section, the front Tokicos are in and the ride difference is noticeably better even at full hard! But yes, I have been running this entire past season in full stock trim except motor oil (Mobil 1 Full Synthetic 5W20, will be switching to 5W30 next year) and the air filter is a K&N drop in filter for the stock airbox. Otherwise, stock dampers, stock sway bars, stock springs, etc etc etc. It's really not that bad. I was quite impressed. The biggest downfall for the S197 in autocross in stock trim isn't body roll or even body control, but the understeer that Ford gives us so much of in combination with lack luster tires and the weight. On tighter courses it is REALLY frustrating to drive. Chicago Boxes are the bane of this car. Thankfully the V8 has enough grunt in second gear to get it moving again, but it's never going to be fast through one of those cursed boxes.

Right now the SCCA Stock Advisory Board has submitted via FastTrack to the rule board a proposal to allow a front or a rear sway bar (not both). Sam was saying that it is pretty much a rubber stamp and done deal. When it gets approved, I will be buying the rear swaybar from him and that will pretty much complete what I can do until tax season with new tires. F-Stock is LOADS of fun though, even more fun when running in the Street Tire PAX since the modifier is so generous.

As for the supercharger, well, a Supercharger will certainly help if you can get that power to the ground. We don't race at Southroads very much, they are only planning 2 events there next year, the rest will be at the Lincoln Air Park or if we can get it the Omaha Police Department has a "Road Training Facility" that amounts to about 12 city blocks worth of concrete course laid out in a 3x4 pattern of roads and a 400'x400' skid pad. The events at the LAP are going to be much more friendly to supercharged cars because the courses are longer, faster and on arguably the worlds grippiest concrete. If I win the lottery, a Saleen Super Shaker isn't out of the question as I really want one! It will just not be a balls out Supercharger build like some folks have done. Maybe 450 RWHP/TRQ. That seems to be about as much as I'd like. Unfortunately that would put me in a very competitive class against my friends' (yeah, all 3 of em) STI and 2 Evo's (a IX and a X) in Street Mod. I don't think my car on slicks will compare to them any time soon!

[cschoening09]

Originally Posted by RZNCAIN It looks like it would be tough to tell where you are supposed to go.

i was thinkin the same thing. they need more lines to be painted it looks like

[Whiskey11]

Originally Posted by cschoening09 i was thinkin the same thing. they need more lines to be painted it looks like

It's really not that bad. As I said earlier, the video doesn't correctly give you a sense of field of vision while driving. When you walk the course, you can do it as much as you want prior to the first car on track. If you show up early enough you can walk the course 4-5 times if it's that confusing. They also do a Novice walk where they will go over the course one more time with instruction on how the more experienced drivers would go about it.

Next April you should come out to an event and see for yourself how easy it is! It's super easy to remember the course.