I would second the SVT or even 5-speed SE Ford Contour as a good choice,
though the big HP of a Impala SS could be fun in ESP with a few mods.
I've got a Contour SE that is a great car to drive on a daily basis and
autocrosses without embarassing itself. But, Matt, do not *dare* say it's
competitive. :-) It's not... not a great camber curve, and NO way to adjust
it. That kills, absolutely kills, the car from being really competitive
because there is a lot of front-end weight (relative to rear) from the
engine. Nose heavy + no camber = non-competitve. A good shoe from Chicago
can get almost -3 degrees in his Corrado (another nose-heavy car) and I
think I only beat him once in about 10-15 attempts. The camber issue is
huge.
Now, I don't think that kills it for the street at all... I really like it
every day. But, for example, one of our local drivers (one whom I respect a
great deal) finished 8th at Nats in GS in a 11-year-old car. Pretty
impressive, but he considered my getting within .6 of him at one event a
*win* in my favor... and I'd have to agree. It's hard... darn near
impossible to get within 1, sometimes 2, second(s) of a top-flight GS car
(Type R, Eclipse). And I've beaten countless SVTs, so I don't think that car
would make a difference... same problem, no camber.
Cheers!
--Dave
PS -- The Impala SS with big tires sounds like a fun car... a little big for
an autocross, but it could be quite fun. Just don't expect to beat the
ponycars. :-)
Date: Tue, 14 Nov 2000 11:21:00 -0500
From: "Murray, Matthew D." <MDMURRAY@gwns.com>
Subject: Re: Looking for autocross car
You might also look into the Ford SVT Contour. Any dealer with one on the
lot
will cut one hell of a deal. Not a bad G Stock car. With some struts/shocks
and an anti-roll bar, the car could be quite fun (and I dare say
competitive).
Matt Murray
_________________________________________________________________________
|