Cass944

Hey guys!

been away for a while...

I am interested in doing autocross with my car. I went to an event with a friend and drove his miata which was super fun... but I would like to get my car in shape for it now.

I need help figuring out what class i need/want to be in within scca. The mods on the car currently are just front coil conversions with koni adjustable inserts. I plan on getting adjustable konis in the back to but currently have stock shocks. I have turbo sway bars front and back but am interested in finding some big boy m030s to throw on. for wheels I have cup 1s which are wider than stock but i dont remember the actual size right now... (correction: they are 17x7.5 and 17x9)

still has a complete interior, planning on keeping it that way... maybe ditching the top of the rear seats on track days

Am i headed in the right direction or am I way off?... I'm new to all this so Im just looking for some advice on how to get started.

Thanks everyone!

btw... since I've been gone I picked up a new GTI

Cass944

Oh I guess I should also throw in...

I have the rennbay lowered car ball joints (the longer ones to level out the a-arms when lowering the car). is it safe to use these when auto-xing? or would it be safer to use regular ball joints?

I also have a set of cookie cutters if those would be more ideal for some grippy tires than the cups, or to allow me to be in a class I would be more competitive in.

Richgreenster

Do you want to be competitive and go to nationals or are you out there to just have fun?

dirtyTurbo

^^^What he said. I'm not sure but I believe with upgrades like that you'll be in a modified class with crazy race prepped cars. So just go and have fun!

thirdgenbird

x2

Mod the car and just go enjoy.

Hot gti by the way!

gwest1984

These guys are right just go have fun. Learn the car at speed first before you start modifying. The NA isn't really suited for the sprinty style racing that auto xing is, but to help... Remove as much weight as possible. Tires for your 17"s should be easy enough to get your hands on but your 15"s are better, see if another racer there has some used slicks that fit (low pro). Lower and stiffer is the way to go. You definitely need stiffer suspension...max them out...just remember to turn them back a hair.

Cass944

yeah I just want to go have fun. Im new to the whole thing so i dont expect to win. I was surprised to even be 36th out of 46 in the class I was in when I drove my friends miata.

the car is already plenty low. so i will just need to stiffen up the back, get some bigger bars, maybe a strut brace, and some sticky tires.

I've already removed just about every ounce of possible weight from the engine be deleting anything that wasn't absolutely unnecessary to make the car GO planning on ditching the headlights as well. maybe just one of the CGT bucket rep kits I see floating around


here is how it is sitting height wise

morghen

i like your pics style, the gti-6 looks great !
i'm a porsche/vw man myself daily driving a silver coupe TDI MK3 on kw race + D90 wheels
for special ocasions and holidays i drive my 924 Carrera GTS wannabe, 924 turbo with GTS spec parts and mods.

would you send me the picture that is your avatar in high resolution? i find it very artistic and i'd like to add it to my collection of porsche pictures.
thanks.

Cass944

hah sure let me see if I've got it saved somewhere...

here ya go
https://i.imgur.com/gMKbi.jpg

also, lost of good stuff here http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v3...44/944%20junk/

and in the link in my signature

Richgreenster

I think that you should save your money and leave the car stock. If you want to move up from 36th place to first then spend all of your time and money on learning how to drive.

To give you an idea of how big a factor the driver is in racing consider this. The last Auto-X national event I did, the FTD(fastest time of day) in stock cars ran a :52. This was a Boxster S. Keep in mind that he beat 911 Turbos, 911S's, Cayman's, etc... At the same event, I ran in a street prepared class with a 951 against a ton of 911's which weighed 600-800 lbs lighter then my car and had more torque and HP. I managed 3rd with stock suspension out of 16 drivers.

thirdgenbird

While I agree that practice and experience will mean more than moduifications, his weight reduction modifications likely place him beyond the point or return mod wise.

jred42

Based on the modifications listed in your first few posts, you should be in STR (Street Touring Roadster). This is a very good beginner class because it does not allow R-compound tires, which are any tire with a tread wear rating of under 140. This will save you money on tires, which are by far the most important components for autocross. ST classes allow you to do many suspension modifications, however are very limited in the areas of weight reduction and engine mods. You mentioned weight reduction, and depending on what you did, you may be in a higher class.

Go to this link: http://scca.cdn.racersites.com/prod/...ry_reduced.pdf and read the rules. I'd recommend reading them in detail before modifying your car further.

As far as competitiveness goes, just plan on having fun for a while. You are probably 5+ years of experience away from being a competitive driver, let alone having a competitive car nationally. I really don't see any class the 944 can do very well in nationally.

Good luck and have fun. Let me know if you have any more questions.

jtsporsche

I finally just did my first autocross, had a blast. like everyone else is saying, just have fun.

Cass944

the weight reduction I was talking about before was not actually meant for anything other than cosmetically cleaning up the engine bay. I understand that doesnt matter though

the AC is gone, power steering has been replaced with a manual rack, cruise control module is gone... and the ignition coil has been relocated to the battery area. thats about it.

I'll check out the official info at the site you linked to

thanks!

jred42

The steering rack kills you. It puts you in street prepared. One nice thing about street prepared is that is has the "update/backdate" rule. It means that you can have any part from any car that is specified in the "same line" as your car. For 944s the line is: Porsche 944 (ALL). That means you can put any part from any 944 on your car and it is not considered a modification in street prepared.

This used to be a rule in the street touring categories, but the domination of the "franken civic" (an 89 civis si with a newer model engine) put an end to that fun in ST.

You would go into BSP, the same class my dad and I race our 911 in. We run there because it allows for us to be fully prepared for PCA prepared class. It is a lot of fun, but you won't be winning any divisional events if someone shows up with a prepared S2000, RX-8, or Solstice GXP. I was happy to be within 10 seconds on a 60 second course against the last Solstice I ran against.

Edit: If the manual steering rack was available for your car in the same model year, it does not count as a modification. The only catch is that if you have any other parts that were on your car stock that were not available with the manual steering, then you can only run it if the said stock part is an allowed modification. Clear as mud, right?