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First Autocross in my '98 SVT Contour

J

jtrimm

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Apr 30, 2007
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So after 10 years of ownership, I've participated in my first autocross event with the Philly SCCA. I came in second in the novice group (running GS/Novice my first time)-- and was only beaten in the novice group by a guy with with a Mitsubishi Evo. :cool:

http://www.phillyscca.com/solo2/results/2007/SO042907FIN.HTM

I took a grand prix racing class down at Bob Bondurant a few years ago and never did anything with it, so it's been fun getting an opportunituy to push the ol SVT Contour on an autocross course.

AS an aside, I also took a 2 day autocross class sponsored by our local club. Multiple instructors that drove my car to demonstrate various techniques made positive comments on its handling at the limit.

I'm running it pure stock (GS), and I'm looking at the Mini Cooper S's in my division... they appear to be the car to beat.

Quick question-- anyone know of lightweight 16x6.5" wheels that would be a compelling upgrade over the stock rims and still allow me to run GS?

-Jeff
 
I don't know about the wheels but I imagine there are some out there. You know in GS, you can run r compound tires. IIRC, you can also change the front sway bar and the struts.
 
what do lightweight wheels offer over stock, like how much difference does it really make? just a pound or two changes handling that much or does it make the car quicker?
 
I have a spreadsheet that calculates it based on scientific stuff. I plugged in some things. Based on two 16" wheels both with the same weight 225/50/16 tire, only difference being one is a 20lb wheel and one is a 15lb wheel, it says that makes about a 56lb of dead weight difference or roughly 2 ft lb of torque more to move the car at the same speed. I don't know how accurate it is.
Unless I was running race tires at autox/drag strip/road course then I wouldn't bother with getting lighter wheels to run on the street at track(s) if it's just for the reason of them being lighter. If it's because you think they look better or something like that, then that's another story.
 
i think loss of unsprung weight is better then sprung weight. i think for every 1lb of Unsprung weight is equal to 10lbs of sprung weight. i think thats the ratio.

most used on motorcycles and what not but i think im talking sane?
 
SVT Running With FCSCC and CART clubs in CT

SVT Running With FCSCC and CART clubs in CT

I also just started running auto-x this year. I ran in Rookie Stock the first week and also took 2nd. They use pax times at my club so I lost to my best friend in a stock '03 4 cylinder accord! This past weekend I did 2 events. One was a HUGE track at the old dog track in Plainfield,CT (fcscc.com). I was running rookie non-stock due to 17" wheels. I was 14 out of 21. Sunday we ran a tight course with CART (CARTCT.com) and took third out of 4 behind a Nissan SER V-Spec and a 944. I have ordered a bunch of stuff including wheels that are really inexpensive; Kazera KZ-s at TireRack.com for $100 a piece. I also ordered yokahama slicks, a BAT euro handling kit, and a 21mm rear sway bar. Also considering a camber kit. I love it when Evo and STI guys tell me they love the sound of my car!
 

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Gut it!

I gutted my old mercury tracer and was able to best C5 corvettes. Can't beat a light car (and good driving)
 
I was browsing the Philly Forums, and I noticed the SVT in the results.
Nice job, The guys in Philly will treat you well.
Tell, John Rush, Eric Simmons, Rob Leone I say hi..
They'll remember me (hopefully) and my green cougar.. ;)

I think Eric Simmons would be your best bet for an instructor
they are all great, but Eric has experience(in many cars) but
especially heavy FWD cars.

The Cooper S's are tough to follow, alot is course dependant
if its open and fast, you'll be closer, if its tight.. well
they are very good in tight stuff.

As for a second set of wheels, find a set of cougar 16's
they aren't too heavy(16.8lbs IIRC), and should be cheap to find.
 
Last edited:
If going into a stock car class, can you have an aftermarket clutch? Because I was thinking of entering one of these auto-x, but I don't think my stock clutch with 80k would last though these events.
 
EricF said:
I was browsing the Philly Forums, and I noticed the SVT in the results.
Nice job, The guys in Philly will treat you well.
Tell, John Rush, Eric Simmons, Rob Leone I say hi..
They'll remember me (hopefully) and my green cougar.. ;)

I think Eric Simmons would be your best bet for an instructor
they are all great, but Eric has experience(in many cars) but
especially heavy FWD cars.

The Cooper S's are tough to follow, alot is course dependant
if its open and fast, you'll be closer, if its tight.. well
they are very good in tight stuff.

As for a second set of wheels, find a set of cougar 16's
they aren't too heavy(16.8lbs IIRC), and should be cheap to find.
Click to expand...

The Philly SCCA has generally been a great group of guys. Very helpful and generally good natured. The 2 day novice class I took ~4 weeks ago was very helpful. I took a 3 day class at Bondurant ~3 years ago (and never did anything with it since), but autocross is quite different from Grand Prix-- much more frantic turning, lower speeds, and so far, very little use of my heel-toe downhifting skills. :p The 5 different exercises and ~4-5 hours of seat time were invaluable. My instructor was Brian Yoder and has been very helpful during the class and during my course walkthrough last weekend. He drove the heck out of an 87 Toyota, beating my time by 2 seconds. :crazy:

In any case, it has been a fun experience. Other than more seat time, and feedback from the more experienced club members, I'm hoping better tires (I'm still running my Firestone Wide Ovals that are my pre-autocross tires), and perhaps lighter rims will catch some some of those Mini's with my now 10-year old?!? SVT (doesn't seem that long ago when I bought it new...)

I found these rims on Tire Rack: http://www.tirerack.com/wheels/Whee...ilterSpecial=false&filterBrand=All&sort=Brand

According to the mfgr website they are ~12lbs http://www.motegiracing.com/wheels/...ce forged alloy, painted center, machined lip

They are expensive (for a 16" rim), but appear very light and hopefully strong. Any idea how much time improvement I might realize over the stock rims (I want to stay GS) all other things being equal?

As for tires, these Potenza's seems to be a good value and with lots of positive reviews (I want something I can drive to the track vs. having to change wheels there)

http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tires...peed_rating=W&speed_rating=Y&minSpeedRating=H

Any feedback on the wheels or tires in terms of how much better can I improve the hardware while still keeping my car GS are appreciated!

I have a K&N, I'm running synthetic oil and just changed the MTX fluid to the Ford synthetic, both of which had noticeable seat of the pants improvements in response. Other than that, I haven't done anything to the car.
 
Brian Yoder(forgot him in my list, excellent driver)

I think you'd see more of an improvement in tires before seeing a huge improvement from the wheels.

GS allows for DOT comp tires. But unless you have a second set of wheels
finding a good set of street tires is your best bet, the BFG KDW's are nice, and
available in stock sizing. BUt there are plenty of options for street tires out there, I'll let others chime in on those.

Seat time seat time seat time.
 
200SVT said:
If going into a stock car class, can you have an aftermarket clutch? Because I was thinking of entering one of these auto-x, but I don't think my stock clutch with 80k would last though these events.
Click to expand...

Clutch puts you into Street Prepared, you would need other supporting mods to be competitive in this class but its possible. Thats where I am with my Cougar, due to the Fidanza and SVT clutch, we'll see how things go.
 
200SVT said:
If going into a stock car class, can you have an aftermarket clutch? Because I was thinking of entering one of these auto-x, but I don't think my stock clutch with 80k would last though these events.
Click to expand...

Clutch would need to be stock spec. That said, there is little shifting in autocross. Particularly in a V6 Contour, you should be able to run the whole course in 2nd gear after shifting out of first. Sometimes there may be a need for 3rd gear, but in general you are screaming at high RPM's in 2nd, so it shouldn't really be stressful on your clutch at all.

I usually launch at ~4000 rpms or so, my clutch is the original at 70k miles. Launches and shifts have been without drama. Half the time I find myself having to make a sharp turn immdiately after the start, so it's not really a drag race start.

As an aside, I found the MTX fluid change to the Ford synthetic to very beneficial in shift smoothness and even to some extent, responsiveness in accelleration.
 
ya I guess this clutch and trans in the svt contour is pretty heavy duty. Isn't the clutch a harder compound than the stock contour clutch, so it won't burn up as quick? With my last car that I had for 2.5 years being a civic, I went though 5 clutch's and one flywheel, and had to get the bell housing welded due to a crack. So clutch capability is a major factor for me.
 
maybe you should take it easy on the clutch. my car has 130,000 on the original clutch and i beat the hell out of it. actually the svt gearbox is the same as the standard 2.5L except the clutch and flywheel someone correct me if im wrong
 
i have run my car with 130000 miles on st200 wheels at kcrscca.org is the website running in sts class last year no one could touch me. the contour is a beast on an autocross course. the key to autocross is not the car. it is the driver. tires are the best modification. light weight wheels help greatly less unsprung weight to slow you down and it will also increase your steering response (easier to turn the wheel). if you can get some "gram lights" i dont know if they fit the tour but if they do go for it. they will show great improvement in the cars overall feel. i autocross for the fun of it. i wish i could go to every event but i dont have the ca$h. if i had a sponsor id be set. anyone?
 
200svt - why would you chance it! Clutch jobs in an SVT will run pretty high!
 
I don't want to take a chance with the stock clutch in CSVT. But I want to some day dring it to a track like auto-x and see what it can do.
 
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