I went all the way down to Laurinburg, NC, for a Tarheel Sports Car Club autocross. Normally, I wouldn't drive 6+ hours for a "local" autocross, but my girlfriend and I were invited to instruct on Saturday for an autox school. We each received $100 in pocket money so it was somewhat worth it.

The autocross was at the Laurinburg-Maxton airport, and it was freakin' huge! It was a typical airport layout with narrow runways, but it was on pretty grippy concrete. The course had a ton of offsets with a few sweepers connecting the runways.

I drove in the street tire class (i.e., no R-compound Hoosiers/Kumhos or slicks allowed). Basically, all the street tire cars are lumped together, and the standings are determined using an index # -- or PAX -- based on your regular class (which was ESP for me).

The car was freakin' awesome! Bridgestone S-03's kick ***! I'm still amazed at how good these tires are. The sidewalls are pretty stiff, too -- I have measley -.1 degrees negative camber in front and the little triangle markings on the edge of the tires are still there!

I thought I hit cones on all four of my runs, but I guess the cone stayed in the box on my last run, which was my fastest. So I ended up 2nd in the class but had the fastest raw time out of all the cars on street tires (including STS)! See results.

 

Good work! Based on what I've seen locally, the Goodyear F1 tires that come OE on the Z06 Vette are the stickiest non-R-compound tires out there. They are different from the F1s that you can get for your car, however - much different. But in a class that lumps all cars together in one street tire class, the Z06 has to be the car to beat due to this (among other strengths).

 

alot of mazda's!! they must make good auto cross cars..

 

Yep, 8-zillion Miatas.... if you've ever ridden in one you'll know why they're good for autocrossing though

They're about this big: [--------] And go exactly where you tell them to when you tell them to.

 

In a class like that, a good "street" tire to buy is Blizzak winter tires. They have a soft compound to grip the ice and snow and will work well at the track.

 

Um, I hope you're joking.

 

And different than what some people get on their trucks.

I remember autocrossing my Lightning earlier this year. There was also a guy running a Z06, and his Goodyear Eagle F1's were picking up sand and small pebbles. My Goodyear Eagle F1's (300 treadwear M+S tires) were not.

 

Nope, they have very sturdy sidewalls and are constructed from a hard compound but I'm not sure what compound there made from. It would be worth finding out if there allowable in your class.



EDIT: Also you guys may not beleive this but fNord pintos make great autocross cars also but most people wouldent be caught dead in one so there not commonly used.

 

For autocrossing and roadracing, I don't think they'd work because they'd start chunking. The heat changes are too drastic. Just in my experience with Blizzaks on the street, I wouldn't try them. Stiff sidewalls are good, but harder compounds and thick tread blocks don't work well.

In the Wash. D.C. SCCA region, there's a "GT Pinto" road racing class! It's pretty popular, too. I think they get around 20 cars per race weekend.