Why Yes Old Cars Are Slow and Handle Badly; It's Why I Love Them.

In some cases old cars handle so poorly, and make such lousy power, that a little bit of work and modern know-how can make such a big difference you feel like you're a genius

It's also easy to do big, smokey burnouts on crappy old bias ply tires.

Makes you feel like your old muscle car might be able to outrun a modern minivan.

Being a Miata guy, I was all about the "slow car fast" thing.  Then we built the Exocet and upgraded it to a built K20 with about 270HP.  1550 lbs and a supercar power/weight on A7s with no computer controlled driving aids.  It ran head to head with the vettes, vipers, built evos and subies and it was a blast being in the mix of things with the fastest cars on the track.  It was also stressful as hell driving it.  It was super "lively" and busy.  We never did sort out the oversteer - I'm pretty sure it was just the light ass end of the car so that was a constant balancing act.  And there was a feeling of being exposed.  Your helmet would start to lift off your head and pull on the chin strap as you crossed 100mph.  It was exhilarating, but a handful, and I got to the point of not wanting that much excitement...

Relevant to the thread - this is "Old Car Tech" - just you and the controls with nothing to help fix your mistakes.  I think of the computerized driving aids as being crutches but ultimately necessary as the capabilities of newer cars keep escalating, especially for drivers with less than professional level skills.  (most of us)

A customer of mine had an 06 Ford GT (not the Mustang)

Probably one of the last, if not THE last supercar without driver nannying.

No traction control, launch control, active suspension, nothing but ABS.

Just a brutish, powerful monster that you had to actually be able to drive.  It was wonderful and more than a little scary. 

I've talked about it before, but I started autoxing with my mustang, went to ESP with rcomps with it and it was pretty quick. Faster it got the more the limit was a razors edge. Ran a Miata in STS for awhile and it was slower, but whereas the mustang could misbehave, the Miata didn't. It just did what it was told. 

Brief stint back in the mustang on 200tw tires, then I went full bonkers with the Fmod. There's a special fun of a car fast enough that your hand shakes after a good run. 

Then I didn't feel like getting water spray to the face at a cold rainy event, so I took my bugeye. It was slow, but a handful in a way... I was hanging the rear end out so far at such a low speed that I went off course my first run because I was laughing too hard. Cleaned it up and had a ton of fun hustling it to faster times than I expected from 67 raging horsepower...

Each has its own degree of fun. 

Sadly it looks like HCS is a regional only or worse class now as it was omitted in a recent rulebook revision. I get it that enough of them weren't coming out to play. It's a shame, as it's a fun premise.

In reply to Apexcarver :

I autocrossed a friend's Spridget once and it was indeed hilarious fun.

The older I get the more I realize theres too many big fish out there for a guy with something to prove. As long as I'm having fun, that's all that matters.  Less than perfect or even less than good equipment is fine, as long as it's not frustrating you 

"Ah., so by that rational, if an old car had better performance, it would cease being a terrible vehicle. Is that true?"

"Well we'd have to be talkin' about one performin' motherberkeleyin classic. Imean he'd have to be ten times more performin' than that yellow Camaro in Gumball Rally you know what I'm sayin'?

That's awesome.

"Look at the big brain on Appleseed!"

In reply to Appleseed :

If it's on tires wider than 205s I don't want to drive it.

In reply to Tom1200 :

I'm currently building my 79' Datsun wagon for autocross,  67 HP Never felt so "fast".

In reply to DannyDattos :

210 wagon?

Depends what your goals are. Want to win races? I can't dispute all the electronic wizardry does wonders. However for a car that is driven primarily for the experience, yah the older cars are nice. Working on them is a lot more pleasant too. My M4 is a couple orders more complex to do anything on than my c5. I still like ABS though. Its nice to have traction and stability available for wet days. Newer versions of those work better. In the end the real joy is squeezing the most out of whatever  car you have.

theruleslawyer said:

In the end the real joy is squeezing the most out of whatever  car you have.

I had a rental Ford Contour once.

No amount of squeezing would result in any joy from that heap.

In reply to Tom1200 :

Yessir, 79' 210. A15 and 5 speed swapped : )

DannyDattos said:

In reply to Tom1200 :

Yessir, 79' 210. A15 and 5 speed swapped : )

I run a 210 5 speed in the 1200 I race. I was running an A15 (made 99hp at the wheels) but it bumped me up into the 2 liter group. I've gone back to an A12.......the new one I'm building will be belting out almost 90whp.

In reply to Tom1200 :That's awesome! How'd you go about making more power out of the A series motor? It seems like swapping is the cheapest way to make more power, Is it worth dumping money into em'? It's Plenty fun with 60hp but I imagine 90hp would make it feel pretty quick. Thanks In advance :)

"I can't dispute all the electronic wizardry does wonders"

I'll never get that. So, be better than you really are? or You're not really that good. It's the computers and programmers? Look at meeee. zoom zoom! Rant over.

I've always autocrossed big, ridiculous heaps and always had a blast. No, I wasn't fast and yes, I was absolutely spent, but it was fun. I know not everyone wants to hustle a full-size Caprice wagon around an autocross course, and that's ok. Why do I? Who knows.

But then I just did 1 2k mile round-trip drive to Minnesota in my Mercedes 300SDL. No, it doesn't do anything exceedingly well, but it was comfortable, reliable, and averaged 25mpg.

In reply to Jordan Rimpela :

We had a local who would bring his 65 Impala to autocross......always loved the car.