Just joined. Ford guy, from way back... Contemplating my first Mustang purchase for autocross and rallycross fun. Old road racer (formula cars mostly), from the Chicagoland area and moved to rural Iowa upon my retirement. My only current fun car is a Sunbeam Alpine with a warmed up 351w, 5 speed, narrowed 9" and MII front end.
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Cool car. What about sliding all over the place on a farm road. I couldn't help myself. Welcome to the forum
Rumor has it that the 2017 GT is the preferred choice for both price and performance.
Find a good deal and let the modding begin!
Find a good deal and let the modding begin!
Thanks. I retired almost as soon as I turned 65. I just got done building a shop inside my pole barn. The yellow car is very squirelly on these gravel roads, and will destroy the lower painted body (even after I find some decent splash/mud/rock guards). I've yet to try it on a road/autocross course. It's a recent build and only has 130 miles on it...
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Welcome to the site! Are you originally from that area? I grew up in Waterhole - um, Waterloo - but lived in Kalona before moving to the Atlanta area. I lived on a gravel road and would have to drive my Cobra out to the highway at almost idle to try and preserve the paint job. Just for grins, here's a shot of my ex driving it through the 4th Street Cruise in Waterloo a couple years before I moved.
(I also run a MII front end....
)
(I also run a MII front end....
)I grew up in suburban Chicago, and worked downtown (30 years), and it was great (for the most part). When COVID hit, I was able to work from home and I retired in late 2020. The chaos and crime had gotten stupid bad, and I came out to rural Iowa, following the grandkids. I'm halfway between W'loo and Mason City. I find that I do miss the close-by car shows and swap meets.
If you decide to go with a Fox Body or SN95 Mustang, I'll be happy to help suggest mods for autocross. You can also find a ton of information about autocrossing 79-04 Mustangs on my YT channel: https://www.youtube.com/@warhorseracing/videos
I've never rallycrossed my Mustangs, but I had an awesome opportunity to help the Humble Mechanic with his SN95 Mustang autocross/rallycross/drag race competition car. Getting a car to do all of those things was a challenge. I cover many of the mods in this video:
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCZd-Hy3kaI&t
I've never rallycrossed my Mustangs, but I had an awesome opportunity to help the Humble Mechanic with his SN95 Mustang autocross/rallycross/drag race competition car. Getting a car to do all of those things was a challenge. I cover many of the mods in this video:
View: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCZd-Hy3kaI&t
I am 25 months away from retirement myself.
I wish I could wind the clock faster.
That Sunbeam will be a hoot on a road course or Slalom course.
Chassis and tire. Add some throttle control and off you go.
I wish I could wind the clock faster.
That Sunbeam will be a hoot on a road course or Slalom course.
Chassis and tire. Add some throttle control and off you go.
I watched those videos. Well done.
The first hurdle I have is: Automatic or Stick Shift? Having a road race background, I've not liked the automatic experience in cars that I have taken around "real" race tracks. Seem to tear up brakes, too. I'm leaning toward getting a stick shift car, but there are many more autos, than sticks for sale... Sticks are more fun, too.
What do you feel about an automatic car for autocross?
Thanks for checking out my videos!
I always try to provide balanced information, so please forgive the long reply. As an instructor, I’ve been able to ride in and drive many, many Mustangs. I’ve instructed several students with automatics. It is certainly possible to autocross an automatic, but there are a few things to consider…
Fox Body and SN95 Mustangs with OEM automatics have relatively soft shifts that will cost you time out on course. The automatics want to (and often need to) “kick down” into 1st gear when digging out of slow elements, whereas a manual can usually stay in 2nd gear. Every shift costs you time at an autocross, and soft (slow) shifts will cost you more time. A shift kit will help. I’d also recommend a transmission cooler. Check the SCCA Rules to see if those mods are allowed in the Category/Class you want to run in.
You will also have to “time the shift” when you autocross an older Mustang automatic. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing because it teaches you to be early on the throttle. Keep in mind, driving around the delay in the shift, holding the car in 2nd gear by keeping the rpms up in slow elements, or getting aggressive on the throttle early to time/force the downshift will take some getting used to. In some places out on course, an automatic just doesn’t feel as “present” as a manual.
It’s worth mentioning that the AOD my 1992 GT was born with only made it about 60k miles before it stopped shifting into overdrive (the car was modified but never raced) & my 2000 GT (born with an automatic) had shifting issues after 100k miles (I know the original owner, that car was never autocrossed). Most used 87-04 cars will probably have high mileage at this point, so they might have some expensive automatic transmission issues.
Based on my experience, an automatic Fox Body or SN95 Mustang wouldn’t be my first choice for an autocross car. The vast majority of your competitors will be driving manuals. But I never want to dissuade anyone from autocrossing their Mustang. The people I’ve instructed with automatic Fox Body and SN95 Mustangs have all enjoyed autocrossing their cars.
There are Mustang-specific salvage yards that sell manual transmission conversion kits for Fox Body and SN95 Mustangs. I got one from MPS Auto Salvage over 10 years ago, and I’ve been very pleased with the results.
Later s197 and s550 Mustangs have automatics that shift better (and some can be shifted from the steering wheel). I’ve been impressed by how well the s550 automatics shift. I don’t know how reliable they are over time. One of the fastest drivers I know runs a 3.7L s197 Mustang V6 automatic in CAM-C and he does very well at my local events.
The newer automatics will perform better than the older ones, but I still think most people would choose a manual for an autocross car.
I hope that helps.
I always try to provide balanced information, so please forgive the long reply. As an instructor, I’ve been able to ride in and drive many, many Mustangs. I’ve instructed several students with automatics. It is certainly possible to autocross an automatic, but there are a few things to consider…
Fox Body and SN95 Mustangs with OEM automatics have relatively soft shifts that will cost you time out on course. The automatics want to (and often need to) “kick down” into 1st gear when digging out of slow elements, whereas a manual can usually stay in 2nd gear. Every shift costs you time at an autocross, and soft (slow) shifts will cost you more time. A shift kit will help. I’d also recommend a transmission cooler. Check the SCCA Rules to see if those mods are allowed in the Category/Class you want to run in.
You will also have to “time the shift” when you autocross an older Mustang automatic. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing because it teaches you to be early on the throttle. Keep in mind, driving around the delay in the shift, holding the car in 2nd gear by keeping the rpms up in slow elements, or getting aggressive on the throttle early to time/force the downshift will take some getting used to. In some places out on course, an automatic just doesn’t feel as “present” as a manual.
It’s worth mentioning that the AOD my 1992 GT was born with only made it about 60k miles before it stopped shifting into overdrive (the car was modified but never raced) & my 2000 GT (born with an automatic) had shifting issues after 100k miles (I know the original owner, that car was never autocrossed). Most used 87-04 cars will probably have high mileage at this point, so they might have some expensive automatic transmission issues.
Based on my experience, an automatic Fox Body or SN95 Mustang wouldn’t be my first choice for an autocross car. The vast majority of your competitors will be driving manuals. But I never want to dissuade anyone from autocrossing their Mustang. The people I’ve instructed with automatic Fox Body and SN95 Mustangs have all enjoyed autocrossing their cars.
There are Mustang-specific salvage yards that sell manual transmission conversion kits for Fox Body and SN95 Mustangs. I got one from MPS Auto Salvage over 10 years ago, and I’ve been very pleased with the results.
Later s197 and s550 Mustangs have automatics that shift better (and some can be shifted from the steering wheel). I’ve been impressed by how well the s550 automatics shift. I don’t know how reliable they are over time. One of the fastest drivers I know runs a 3.7L s197 Mustang V6 automatic in CAM-C and he does very well at my local events.
The newer automatics will perform better than the older ones, but I still think most people would choose a manual for an autocross car.
I hope that helps.
I didn't have to do anything to the computer on my 1992 GT when I swapped in the T-5z. I have seen several forum posts from other people who had issues using the automatic computer. MPS sent me a manual computer for my 2000 GT with the conversion, but I purchased an SCT tuner that made it possible to use the OEM automatic computer with the 3650 transmission.
I'm always happy to help. I'm looking forward to seeing which generation of Mustang you choose.
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