beginner autox car?

[that new guy steve]

Any recommendations on a first autocross car?

I'm on a college student budget so I've gotta sort through ebay motors and craigslist for good deals but what should I look for?

[dave99rt]

1988-1991 civic hatchback or crx, preferably in Si trim level.
1992-1995 civic coupe or hatchback

fwd, universal 4x100 bolt pattern, decent setup out of the box.
besides the engine (and maybe another part of 2) nothing on the car cost over $150 to replace.

you'll also get hybrid'ish gas mileage.

bunch of other choices.
neon, miata, rx7,

[stevebullitt]

RWD is better! Miatas are everywhere and parts are crazy cheap for them. They're tons of fun. Also, something like an old RX7 like the club car is fun as well.

[that new guy steve]

I was thinking mazda something bcuz I keep hearing about how if you attend a certain number of racing events Mazdaspeed will give you a discount on parts or some deal. My dad and uncle have miatas, one for autocross and one for the track but at the same time I know honda's are inexpensive overall.

The only problem with a miata is headroom, i'm 6'5 so its a little difficult.

[dave99rt]

hmm, good luck driving a Miata if you are 6'5
no tilt steering (for NA and NB), at minimum you'll have to get a smaller steering wheel.
your head will probably be touching the hard/soft top, definitely with a helmet on.
you can probably modify the seat to sit a little lower and swap to a smaller steering wheel and fix the issues above.

safety wise, your head will probably be above the windshield frame and most bolt-in rollbars.

i have no clue about your experience. the learning curve with a Miata can be high at times.

[Mr.Rauq]

I vote for whatever you want to drive on the street. I love driving my car on the street and the drag strip, and while I'm not the fastest at autox's I still have good competition with myself and have lots of fun.

[101101]

(06-11-2011 01:37 PM)that new guy steve Wrote:  I was thinking mazda something bcuz I keep hearing about how if you attend a certain number of racing events Mazdaspeed will give you a discount on parts or some deal.

From Mazdaspeed Motorsports Development website:

Quote:Mazda's Team Support provides parts and technical support for Mazda racers competing in all forms of racing, from the professional and amateur level, including autocross, in the United States and Canada. It is your pipeline to stock (Genuine Mazda Parts) and competition parts at a discount price. The Team Support Program also offers a comprehensive contingency awards program for certain types and levels of motorsports.
[...]
Eligibility Requirements-

To be eligible for the purchase of "stock" Mazda parts you must provide copies of official race results from 2 events you participated in within the past twelve months. The race results must include the following information:

- Event name and date held
- Sanctioning organization/club holding the event
- Your name
- Model of Mazda raced
- Finishing position

(06-12-2011 12:45 AM)dave99rt Wrote:  hmm, good luck driving a Miata if you are 6'5
no tilt steering (for NA and NB), at minimum you'll have to get a smaller steering wheel.
your head will probably be touching the hard/soft top, definitely with a helmet on.
you can probably modify the seat to sit a little lower and swap to a smaller steering wheel and fix the issues above.

safety wise, your head will probably be above the windshield frame and most bolt-in rollbars.

i have no clue about your experience. the learning curve with a Miata can be high at times.

Depends on his build. Long torso may be an issue. Depending on what driver seat you put in and how you mount it you may be able to get around it. I'm average height (like 5' 10") and have about 3" clearance to my hardtop (without my helmet on) but my aluminum seat is bolted to 1/8" steel reinforcement on the floor pan (not much lower it can go). A 6' 2"-ish guy I work with has a first gen (not sure year) with an ultrashield (aluminum race seat, not sure how his is mounted) and he drives around fine and fits well below his roll bar. You can also play with incline angles while mounting it to get more head room. Best way to find out is to just try one out. The stock seat can be modified to let you sit about 1-2" lower, I think.

I love my Miata because it's so easy to work on and parts are cheap. I wish my Subaru had this much room around components to work on.

Edit: Dave, what do you mean by the learning curve can be high? Having driven a Camaro, Miata, MINI, and Subaru STi I've found the Miata to be the most confidence inspiring one.

[JB]

Don't buy a car you have to thoroughly modify before you can even track it safely. FC RX-7's are really fun to drive and last a decent while as long as you take care of the motor. If you have a bit of extra coin and want a bit more speed a Turbo II rx-7 would be an awesome autocross car.

[101101]

(06-14-2011 07:10 PM)JB Wrote:  Don't buy a car you have to thoroughly modify before you can even track it safely. FC RX-7's are really fun to drive and last a decent while as long as you take care of the motor. If you have a bit of extra coin and want a bit more speed a Turbo II rx-7 would be an awesome autocross car.

There's a significant difference between tracking a car and autocrossing a car. A car doesn't have to pass the broomstick rule for auto-x. As long as he can fit in a Miata with the top up (in the event of rain), he can auto-x it.

[Mr.Rauq]

Everyone's talking about fast autox cars... It doesn't have to be fast to be fun. Given that we run 3 autox events a semester, unless it's not going to be a dd, buy what you want to drive on a daily basis, whether that's because it's fast in a straight line, easy to fix, good on gas, a head turner, or whatever else you want out of your dd.

But if you're looking for a fast cheap autox-oriented car, then yes, Miata, FC RX7, and an early Civic Si (EG6?) are up there on the list.

[300zmankellan]

I'm with John, a Turbo II FC wold be great. Big enough for a tall person but still pretty light, and plenty of aftermarket support. I've thought about selling some stuff and getting one before.

[kbrew8991]

I second Dave's suggestions, even though FWD is evil. I never really made myself learn how to drive it exceedingly welll, but, there are quite a few things to be learned from it that will make you a more well rounded driver in the future. With a suspension upgrade of springs, shocks, and a big fat rear swaybar they can handle pretty awesome and the tail will step out if you ask it to. Couple that with the CRX and Civics being very light, being solid "daily driver" type cars, great fuel mileage, its tough to go wrong. Same with the older Neons too, they're pretty underrated but they actually are good cars.

I don't know if I'd recommend an old rotary powered car as someone's only car unless your nickname is "The Rotary Gnome" and you're really familiar with their odd care and feeding. As a 2nd car though an FB or FC could be fun to have around.

I don't recommend Miatas out of prinicple but they are pretty good "Fisher Price - My First RWD Car" cars - fairly easy to drive, work on, decent fuel mileage, fun, etc. When you grow tired of it and want a real driver's car though, get a Mk2 MR2 not that I'm biased, nooo... no way.

[Theodore]

(06-15-2011 10:07 AM)kbrew8991 Wrote:  I don't recommend Miatas out of prinicple but they are pretty good "Fisher Price - My First RWD Car" cars - fairly easy to drive, work on, decent fuel mileage, fun, etc. When you grow tired of it and want a real driver's car though, get a Mk2 MR2 not that I'm biased, nooo... no way.

While I hate to agree with Ken (out of principle) he's right. Miatas are fun cheap, easy to mod and lots of parts available. IF you do go to the MR2, you will need" Fisher Price - My First Tool Set"... which will fill up your garage.

IF you go with a miata, let us know. We have lots of parts and be glad to help you modify for AX... you can spend a lot of money with little or no gain. Marketers do a great job of convincing us "THAT product will make women want you", that "THIS product will help you lose 10 pounds in 2 weeks", that "THIS product will make your dog stop finding your leg arousing" and "THAT product will cut 5 seconds off each autocross run". Don't believe them... ask someone who tried them.

[kbrew8991]

All of my MR2s have been stunningly reliable - it is just a rearranged Camry after all The Tundra acts like a big fat V8 Camry that can tow to boot. So there We're much more likely to have an issue with the Mazda in our driveway I don't think the RX8 would be happy after 85 track hours, thousands of autocross runs, hundreds of thousands of street and highway miles. I also don't think it would be happy with 12k track-only miles like my other MR2

It is a more difficult car to drive (oversteer tendency + heavier in the back = catches alot of people out), but with the difficutly comes a greater reward I feel - better on the brakes, better in transitions, more grip off the corner, etc. YMMV though.

Miatae can certianly get the job done too - if you fit in it that is.

This battle should start to sound eerily familar to the debate you'd hear between Mustang fans and Camaro fans....

[B@lld33p]

Don't get an RX-7 unless you want a garage full of old rotary part... I did 2 motors and finally just did an LS1 swap. Don't care what anyone says, they have no torque, they burn oil, they are a pain to work on, they never run right. My second motor lasted 3,000 miles. LS1 lasted 10,000+, and all i did was beat on it