I finally went out and did my first Autocross today. It was a blast! I need to get a mount for my iP4 to take video, especially before Track Attack next month. The fastest times were in the 44-45 sec range. I'd say about a hundred cars showed up!

Here's my times:

Run 1 - 52.088
Run 2 - 49.905
Run 3 - 66.472 (spun it at about 40 mph !)
Run 4 - 50.405

Despite no frame of reference I think it was a technical tight track. I could light them up at will at any point in the course. I kept it in 2nd. It was not flat- it had ups and downs like a drive in movie theater parking lot. A fair amount of gravel as well. Too bad the lot is going away to make room for the SF 49ers new stadium.

I'm hooked.

 

Very cool, who organized the event? I went to my first autocross last weekend but didn't enter as my car only had 200 miles on it. It was an SCCA Solo2 event. I was told I'd have to run AS but since I changed my spoiler I'll need to run some other class. Doesn't matter since I'll just go for fun anyway.

 

Here's the website with the schedule: http://www.baautox.com/forum/index.p...frm_id=2&rid=0

As I was about to do my first lap a guy asked if he could ride along. Sure. He turned out to be on the committee that assigns new cars to classes. He said they put me in S-Stock since they figured it would be faster around a track than a GT500. Not sure what S-Stock means but I'll looks some stuff up and find out.

 

From the photos, it appears to be the overflow parking lot at Great America....in the spot where the S.F.49ers are slated to build their new stadium... and yet another AutoX site bites the dust! Likely it was SCCA or BMWCCA

 

Yes. That's the place. SCCA.

 

Super-Stock is SS. That's the class with Z06s....

 

Which is absurd. A Z06 weighs 500 lbs less, has 60 more hp, an inch more rubber all around and costs $30k more than a Boss.

 

It'd sure be nice to see any of the race sanctioning bodies stop their knee-jerk overreaction to this car. Not holding my breath, but it sure would be nice. For a change. SCCA, among others, baffles me with their Boss classification. Somehow, Shelbys and regular GTs run F-Stock, yet they toss the Boss all the way up in A-Stock?

And it's not just this car. This happens all the time to almost every new performance car. It's almost as if they all are in this mode of thought - "OMG, we could not stand it if a new kind of car was actually competitive, better up class that thing!"

 

So adding the LS spoiler bumps me out of the stock class right?

 

It should not. Rules allow body modifications that do not reduce weight or add a performance advantage over stock,
At autocross speeds the heavier wing should not give any performance increase, so in our region we would allow you to run A-stock.

Perhaps they think at 50mph you get that much downforce as to increase your rear grip?

 

http://www.scca.com/documents/2011%2...lo%20Rules.pdf

This should be the link to the Solo2 Rule book, if it does not work, please go to scca.com
click on the solo tab and use the option cars and rules to the left of the screen, this should take you to a page that has a link to download the pdf of the rule book.

Rule 13.2 BODYWORK
A. Accessories, gauges, indicators, lights and other appearance, comfort
and convenience modifications which have no effect on performance
and/or handling and do not materially reduce the weight of
the car are permitted. This does not allow driver’s seat substitutions,
or the removal of “tow hooks”, a.k.a. “tie-down loops”. Delayed shutdown
devices such as the “Turbo Timer”, which perform no function
while the car is in motion, are permitted. This does permit the installation
of an additional mirror (e.g. a “Wink”), but does not allow the
removal of the original mirror. “Grounding kits” specifically designed
to support sound systems are permitted but may serve no other purpose

 

LateApex: I believe the thinking is to; Park it in a class where it can do no harm until they get data to re-classify it where it belongs. Of course the data they look for is for a well prepared car with a good driver compared to other well prepared A-stock cars with good drivers at the same event. But with the car is such an uncompetitive class I don't think anyone will spend the time and money to prep it and then run just to prove a point. It will take a good letter from an SCCA member with a lot of research to the SCCA SEB to re-classify the car since I think no event data will be available.


What the experienced autocrossers are doing:
At the Toledo national tour Marcus Meridith (Known Good Driver) showed up with an mildly prepared boss 302(10.5 inch wheels/315 tires) and ran in ESP (E-street prepared) and finished 5th (out of 7). two other bosses finished 2nd and 3rd. A 2007 mustang GT won the class. So it would seem ESP is a good class for the boss.

Have not seen any boss cars show up in A-stock class results yet.

 

Let me help you. Marcus and Jen ran on 295/30/19's with some heavy **** 10" wheels. I know because I helped mount them after a sway bar change (mount broke). They also had aftermarket springs/bars, slight tune, and factory shocks. Besides their front sway bar issue, they where giving up 1" of tire patch f/r and fighting a severe push. I agree with your assessment that the car will be decent only in ESP.

To add to the fire, the GT500 is buried in B-Stock 2007-11'. Weighs quite a bit more than the Boss, but makes a little up in hp. Logic?

Dave

 

Um, maybe you guys need to take a breath. The car is in A-stock, not Super Stock. FWIW, I know it's a small detail.

 

Yep... The LS spoiler is functional, also not a stand alone option on the car. If it was offered, then you could legally run it.

 

Let me say something regarding the GT500 classing. I am on the Stock class advisory committee. I am only one member of it. I argued the GT500 and Boss should both go to the same class. In the end, it was felt it wasn't worth the effort (and this is key) for cars that don't show up anyway. Might as well worry about something that matters. If a GT500 showed up regularly (there is but one running seriously in the USA that I know of) and some Boss's showed up for AS I think you'd see them combined at some point.

It's easy to throw stones, but the fact is most folks have no idea what goes on.

 

Not sure about the States, but up here in Ontario I have yet to come across an autocross opportunity in which to try out the car. If they were better promoted I bet more would attend.

 

I hear you, Sam, and I understand it. Your position on classification would have been quite acceptable to most folks around here, I think. I do want to point out that, while what you say regarding participation is valid, the flip-side of that argument is also quite valid - maybe more people would show up if the car was classed such that it did not make people feel as if they were just wasting time and money.

In any case, the culture and the approach are the SCCA's to set as they wish. Some will agree, some will not, as with anything.

There's much more of a "the directors hate Mustangs" feeling within NASA than the SCCA, I think. My reaction was to the severity of how the SCCA classed Bosses, not really Mustangs in general - which I think has been generally OK the past few years or so. I simply feel that AS is ridiculous for the Boss.

ESP is intriguing, but who knows...

 

tell that to the SCCA guy who told the OP that the car is classed in SS!

 

Hey Sam-

Did the proposal on the top of page 2 get rejected? This is what it reads:

"- The SAC has indicated its intention to place the Ford Boss 302 Mustang Laguna Seca
Edition on the Stock exclusion list when the car becomes available. It is anticipated
that the regular edition of the Boss 302 Mustang will be classed in BS.
SCCA FasTrack News February 2011 "

http://www.scca.org/documents/2011%2...04-25-2011.pdf