I've been visiting the Autocross forum quite a bit and see very little if any participation by the C3 folks. I'd like to use my '69 for autocross when I get it complete and I'm wondering why with all the folks using VBP, Vansteel and other upgrades there doesn't seem to be much interest with SCCA or NCCC events?

Thanks,

Ryan

 

I autocross my 68 4-6 times a year at mostly NCCC events and occasionally an SCCA event. It is interesting to see what kind of cars are in your class at an SCCA event. At the NCCC events the fun is beating C4s and some C5s. Have fun. Craig :chevy

 

I'm pretty sure there are a few other C3 members that autocross. I know George (gkull) has his car setup pretty good for "road racing" and I'm sure it would do good in an autocross event.

Personally I never really got into autocrossing, I enjoy drag racing.

 

Ryan, the guy that used to own the LT1 you are buying from me was big time into autocrossing c3's. There are quite a few guy here that do it.

 

Ryan,
When mine is finished I plan to run the SCCA events as much as I can. I built mine and intend to find out what it will do and the handling abilities of it. The people who stay on the circuit will do everything to help and teach us newcomers....Got to love it....
Neil in Tenn

 

I'll be running mine in SCCA events as soon as I put it all back together. The autocross section is dominated by the C5 guys which will eventually become C6 dominated, and then 10 years from now C7 dominated. By then some C5 owner will be asking the same question in the C5 forum that your asking here in the C3 forum. :D

:cheers:

Mark

 

81Vette Well I only thought that since C3's are pretty reasonable as far as price, fairly simple to work on, have a great deal of aftermarket parts .... just seems that more folks would be interested in tinkering with them. I've always been the type to purchase something and tweak it just the way I want it, I know I'd like a C5 just fine but I prefer to feel that my toys are distinctly my own.

Personal preference I guess. And to a limited extent the same can be done with a C5.

Ryan

 

I'd like to do it some time after I finish all the suspension work. Not this year, but maybe next after I make some chrome moly sway bars.

 

the c3 is really at a disadvantage in auto-x, especially in SCCA competition. the SCCA rules are so jacked up that up until about two years ago, they had c3's running in the same class as porsche 911s and c4's. sorry, you have to be one superhuman driver to run a late '70s c-3 against a '90 z51 car. the differences are just astronomical.
additionally, the wheelbase is generally too long and the body too narrow for decent roll resistance on a course that is as 'busy' as auto-x tends to be. with a decent amount of preparation, a c3 is far better suited to the riggors of the road course than auto-x.
it can be done, i've done it as have many others on this board. and the one thing every one of us will tell you is the first time out you will get a whole new respect for miatas and CRXs.

 

clutchdust I don't necessarily expect to win, but I expect to have a lot of fun and look :cool: doing it! You and I have discussed my agressive plans for this car. Short of channeling the car it will have every system looked at to make it the most of a 30 year old machine.

I have no idea what class my '69 will end up in. I may end up running against C5's and Vipers. I'm actually hoping to see some other C3 and Vintage makeover type folks out and about at these type of events. That would also greatly increase my personal enjoyment, just the fact that a 3 decade old car can even be made to compete regardless of how competitive with current tech.

I hear ya on the road racing thing, I have yet to convince my wife that road racing is a safe idea. I am also still pondering my overall gearing selection which in the end will drive the top end speed. I'm picking up my LS1 motors this morning and the LT1 cowl back clip from sdixon next week. As far as the gearing I'm currently looking at the Richmond ROD 27/31 set 3.01, 1.88, 1.46, 1.19, 1, .62 - .52 for OD coupled with a 3.36, 3.42, 3.55 or 3.73 rear. I understand the ROD to be a little more rugged (i.e. real brass syncros, etc.) than the tremec's. Gonna go with 17", most likely 9.5 rims all around.

Any thoughts??

Ryan

 

Not sure why more guys don't do it. I suspect that it isn't a matter of guys with C3s not autocrossing as much as it is that guys that autocross don't use C3s. They're not as competitive as C5s and many other cars.

I just autocrossed my car for the first time at the Cruise In. Had a blast doing it, but I wasn't even close to the guys running Z06s. Ok...I'll rephrase that...the guys running Z06s that know how to and were willing to drive at the limit. I beat about 1/2 the people there and it was like driving on slime in my car with my trusty 225-70-15 tires with the sticky 400 treadwear rating. :lol:

If I was to run my car in SCCA events, I'd automatically be dead last. Thanks to my engine not being stock at all, they'd put me in B-Street prepared, running up against guys with dedicated race cars who trailer them to the events. That's certainly one demotivator. The cost of real tires is another.

 

Ditto ddecart re B-Street Prepared. This happened to me a few times and I was so non competitive it ws embarassing (OK, I admit that I'm no great auto-x driver).
So I decided to just build it the way I wanted to and not worry about trophies..........

 

My last autox was at a SCCA event. I beat the other C3, C4, and C5's except for one Z06 that had slicks all the way around and wasd trailored in :rolleyes: , he beat me by almost 2 seconds.

Because of how tight the tracks usually are, I find that steering with the rear tires works best :D .

Personally I find autox much more challenging and a higher thrill than drag racing. You get an intense 45-50 seconds than 12-15 seconds :) .

 

smokedtires I happen to have a buddy that was racing GT cars a picked up some Hoosier drag radials for all the way around in 275/40/17. I'm thinking about starting with 9.5 rims all the way around. I don't know how long they last but they sure seem sticky.

All I'll have to create a post at some point and outline what I intend to do to the car in the way of suspension, engine and tranny. I would really like to talk with some racers on choosing my tranny and rear end gearing. I understand the ratio shifting technique of selecting gears, but that tailors towards straight away acceleration and doesn't lend itself to hard braking into a corner punching into a lower gear and pulling yourself out.

The LS1 has a nice flat Torque/HP curve and with the right mods I expect to put down 400 rwhp +. I'm very interested in rear suspension, I'm watching the Lohkey post intently. I have a machine shop and should be able to manufacture most of my own components.

I think it will be a lot of fun and one cool machine when complete.

Ryan

 

I have autoX a couple of times. bone stock, and it was a blast.

Someday I will do it more...

 

My wife & I both autocross our C3. I don't see many C3 autocrossing at most of the NWACC events. There were only 2 of us at the event in Portland (PIR) last summer. I installed VB front transverse leaf, along with some rear suspension of upgrades and 16" wheels & tires.
Dan

 

Going to 17's is a great move :yesnod: . I was really suprised at the difference in handling when I stepped up. The 17's made a bigger handling difference than my suspension upgrade, but my car is very flat in the corners with the VBP Street & Slalom kit which is one of VBP lower line kits ;) .

 

Yup. You'll pick up a LOT more in tires than you will in suspension when you talk about the difference between 15" and 17" tires. Going to a lower profile makes a huge difference in max lat. And believe it or not, tire width has a rather small effect on max lat. :yesnod:

 

That's what I understand, one reason I'm not killing myself to get 10.5 or larger rims on the back. I'm thinking that with the right tires the 9.5 rims all the way around ought to stick.

Ryan

 

People are surprised and a bit disbelieveing, thinking that a wider tire is necessary. While it certainly helps, it's the lower profile, higher lateral stiffness that really matters.