If you had your choice...new car for autocross (stock) theoretical question

Based only on what I've seen locally, the "hey, I'm a noob" guys who end up doing pretty well are usually driving FoST's. They seem to have a nice mixture of power to cover mistakes and relatively docile handling. Any variation of Miata/MX5 is going to be fun and will always be part of a fairly large class.

What's he really looking for? Winning? (FoST) Close competition? (Miata - any vintage) Place to hang out with like-minded idiots? (Whatever he's interested in, the weirder, the better) Just to make some smoke and noise and not get arrested? (Something in FS - Camaro, Mustang, etc or maybe a resto-mod in American Iron)

The answers to these questions collectively might change my recommendation.

Possibly unwarranted assumption: Boss = money really isn't an issue.

EDIT: Or, if he's mostly looking to impress family/friends/girlfriend, anything Mazda. Then you can sign up for Mazda motorsports and tell said family/friend/SWMBO you are a "factory sponsored race driver". Of course, if they ever actually show up and see him racing Miata around cones, the mojo is gone.

I'm also in the Miata or FRS/BRZ camp. Not really into open top cars even though I have an NB Miata autocross car, the ND Miata just seems to check the boxes for the KISS principle.

NickD wrote: In reply to fanfoy: Must be at your chapter, because the FiST and FoSt clean house at the two chapters I've competed with.

I drove a novice's Fiesta ST at a recent local event, and I swear the thing was nearly as fast as my Sentra down the straights. An experienced driver in another one was barely behind my time at that event.

kazoospec wrote: What's he really looking for? Winning? (FoST) Close competition? (Miata - any vintage) Place to hang out with like-minded idiots? (Whatever he's interested in, the weirder, the better) Just to make some smoke and noise and not get arrested? (Something in FS - Camaro, Mustang, etc or maybe a resto-mod in American Iron) The answers to these questions collectively might change my recommendation. Possibly unwarranted assumption: Boss = money really isn't an issue. EDIT: Or, if he's must looking to impress family/friends/girlfriend, anything Mazda. Then you can sign up for Mazda motorsports and tell said family/friend/SWMBO you are a "factory sponsored race driver". Of course, if they ever actually show up and see him racing Miata around cones, the mojo is gone.

I assumed he meant winning. He plays tennis and likes to talk about it. A LOT. So I assume he wants to win, even at the expense of fun.

I do not. I enjoy the berkeley out of hooning my Abarth around the course even if I only have mediocre skills and not the most competitive car in STS. But I have fun. With other fun people.

As a side, he probably does want at least a bit of an impression on others so maybe the "Mazda Factory Racer" isn't so far off.

NickD wrote: In reply to fanfoy: Must be at your chapter, because the FiST and FoSt clean house at the two chapters I've competed with.

Yup. I codrove an HS fiesta 2 weeks ago with just Konis and bridgestones. Won pax by 3 tenths and placed 15th raw (top 7 were all karts) against some very talented drivers. The car is seriously good.

I think a FS 5.0 Mustang is what I'd want to stay in stock class. Fun all around.

If he is a convertible guy then ND Miata.

No idea what the ND will perform like vis-a-vis the FRS, but here in Canada there is a $13,000 price premium for the Miata. This was based on a $32,000 all in for the FRS in my driveway and a quote from Probart Mazda in London ON for the first cars they had on the lot. It was loaded.

No idea what it would be in the USA.

The ND is soft but seriously capable stock. Aug 2nd event ND with 200tw tires (not even the re017rs or whatever) 3rd place overall Aug 30th event ND with 200tw and cusco street coil over setup 2 place overall

This is with 90+ drivers in attendance and the BMW club which has a lot of prepped M cars and actually a ton of prepped miatas

I suspect the ND will end up in CS, and if so, it will relegate everything else to also rans. If it ends up in BS, which I doubt would happen, it might could still sometimes trophy. Still, if were buying a new car to autocross today, it would be a ND without a doubt.

you mentioned rally-x as well in the initial post, if you think he'd ever try his hand in the dirt, frisbee twin is the answer, and I'd go BRZ because of Subaru contingency monies.

I would get a FR-S/BRZ first, then a ND Miata second for a brand new autocross car. A distant third would be a 5th gen Camaro 1LE.

C6Z for me. Or a 15 3.8 Gen Coupe for FS because that thing sounds sweet uncorked.

I have fun in my Foxbody Mustang, not the fastest but major grin factor. I thought I was doing ok with the car until my friend co-drove with me. Nothing like getting beat in your own car to make you realize you can go faster. Still love it though. Here's a vid from our last autocross .

Picton autox

Ian F wrote: New GT350. I don't care how it's classed (probably SS or straight to ESP). More realistically: ND or FRS/BRZ. I'm guessing we'll get a hint of where the ND ends up after Nationals and Andy Hollis does Non-Comp runs with it.

GT350 or if I wanted to be a classy motherberkeleyer, an ATS-V. Might as well go big and realize you suck.

I wonder if the ND will end up in ES. The MR2 Spyder isn't that far off in specs (a bit wider, a bit less power, a bit lighter) that I think the ND won't advance the class to far. I'm not sure the ND will be able to keep up with the FRS/RX8 in CS and even if it does what purpose does it serve to have the current ES class. The newest competititve ES car is 10 years old. At least right now the NB Miata isn't competititve with the MR2. If you put the ND in CS and it struggles at all against the FRS you've buried the new hotness. If you put it in CS and it advances the class to much you end up with FRS burried. There are a lot of classes with index between .806 and .814 with a big jump to BS at .826. Unless they are dead equal I would reshuffle some slower stuff from BS and CS and ES to make 2 classes with the ND on top of 1 and the FRS on top of the other.

FRS BRZ seem to be MADE to be an autocross. I'd never but one to sit in traffic or around town. but autocross hell yea

Coldsnap wrote: FRS BRZ seem to be MADE to be an autocross. I'd never but one to sit in traffic or around town. but autocross hell yea

Huh?

I love my BRZ seats. It's literally my favorite car of all I've owned. (Including S52 swapped E30, 350Z, Speed3, Coyote Mustang)

Anyway, back to the original question, C7 Z51, although a 4C would be slightly tempting.

ND will be in CS, end of story where it will be a slight overdog over the NC, RX8, and Twins. RX-8 and Twins owners who want to remain nationally competitive will have to go to STX. The initial testing at Tire Rack indicated the ND was a little quicker than the NC, and since the Twins are generally a little quicker than the NC, they should still be pretty competitive.

I think you'll be surprised about ES, the NB will still capture a good portion of the trophies.

Since I drove one today for a while an A8. The big motor with forced induction is just incredible. It really is a 4 door supper car.

Oh another thing I learned today is there are A6 4.2s that are supercharged. Talking about a sleeper!!!! Free kin ausom car!!!!

Me purchasing it new? For some reason I want an ATS for the autocross.

FoST is FWD only, correct? No AWD option?

Actually, I would go with the new C7 Stingray second over the ND Miata.

dean1484 wrote: Oh another thing I learned today is there are A6 4.2s that are supercharged. Talking about a sleeper!!!! Free kin ausom car!!!!

Huh?

Audi has never sold a supercharged 4.2, AFAIK. There were some aftermarket blower kits for the 4.2, but none of them ever was ever really terribly successful. The only supercharged engine Audi's sold in it is the V6 3.0 "T" (the "T" is a lie, it's a blower, not a turbo). The A6 did come with a naturally aspirated 4.2 for a number of years, which is a nice motor if you can get past the fuel economy.

There's a 4.0 turbo V8 in the S6, which is fast.

I like Audis a lot (I'm on my third at this point), but I'd never buy one as an autox car, they're far too heavy. To answer the original question, I'd buy an ND. Duh, that's obvious. :)

Mr_Clutch42 wrote: Actually, I would go with the new C7 Stingray second over the ND Miata.

Depends on who is buying tires for it...

Plus, huge cost disparity between the two. If I'm spending new C7 money, the GT350 wins that battle for me. It's just more... special, if for no other reason.

And I agree - all Audi 4.2 V8's were not forced induction. The B6 S4 used this engine as well. This gave it the dubious distinction of having the lowest MPG rating of any compact-class car: Low to mid teens. City rating was something like 11 mpg.

Ecoboost, 6-speed manual, the widest, stickiest tires allowed by the rules that will fit the stock wheels, and every go fast bit and doodad offered by the factory.