SCCA Club Spec program concept - to include S197 Mustangs

[Albino500]

Is that the " black" car that finished in the top 3 at the runoffs?
It really is a thing of beauty.
Would this be a good time to bring up that I'm looking for a 3 valve block to build?

yellow car with GOODYEAR down the sides of the doors..

 

[blacksheep-1]

yellow car with GOODYEAR down the sides of the doors..

Sorry, don't remember that one

 

[MikeBard]

Just posting for anyone curious about club spec and searching. I built one and took it to VIR for the TT national tour. The car is a ton of fun to drive and very friendly. We got our time cut pretty short because of incidents with all the rain on Saturday so I didn’t get as much seat time as I’d have liked.
Here is a video of my best lap, keep in mind I’ve never done competitive laps on a full track, only track sprints and autocross. This is my first time driving a solid axle rwd car (other than one autox). All of my experience has been in various Miata’s, vettes, and a season of solo spec coupe.
Tdlr: if you’re on the fence, the car is a blast to drive.

 

[mavisky]

We had two spec mustang class cars show up at our latest autocross and did great. One a Bullit who changed his 3.73 gears to 3.55 and anotehr was a GT/CS convertible. The Bullit ended up finishing only about a second behind my car on a course where the fast time of the day was in the 35's. We were both in the top 20 which shows that this is a pretty competitive "spec" overall.

 

[Dave_W]

@MikeBard nice video, looks like a lot of fun. As a long-time autocrosser, I sometimes watch track videos and think, "Why are people spending so much time not turning?" Or somtimes, "You could make a killer slalom down that straight."

One thing that I noticed - you might want to try not hooking your thumbs around the wheel spokes like you do. If you hop an apex curb or drop a wheel at corner exit, the wheel can sometimes get jerked, and with your fingers like that you could end up with a dislocated thumb. Nearly happened to me early in my a/x life when I spun and the front wheels got traction again - didn't dislocate my thumb but I sprained the ligaments badly. Just something to think about.

 

[Fabman]

@MikeBard nice video, looks like a lot of fun. As a long-time autocrosser, I sometimes watch track videos and think, "Why are people spending so much time not turning?" Or somtimes, "You could make a killer slalom down that straight."

One thing that I noticed - you might want to try not hooking your thumbs around the wheel spokes like you do. If you hop an apex curb or drop a wheel at corner exit, the wheel can sometimes get jerked, and with your fingers like that you could end up with a dislocated thumb. Nearly happened to me early in my a/x life when I spun and the front wheels got traction again - didn't dislocate my thumb but I sprained the ligaments badly. Just something to think about.

I learned that the hard way.
Sometimes the wheel gets jerked out of your hands when you least expect it, and if your thumb is wrapped around the wheel or if you are holding on too tight you can end up with a broken thumb or wrist.
Ask me how I know.

 

[MikeBard]

I learned that the hard way.
Sometimes the wheel gets jerked out of your hands when you least expect it, and if your thumb is wrapped around the wheel or if you are holding on too tight you can end up with a broken thumb or wrist.
Ask me how I know.

I see what you guys are saying and I’ll try to be more mindful of that going forward. I hold the wheel there because the spokes keep me from death gripping the wheel. My thumbs just kind of ride on top the spokes instead of wrapping behind. At least that’s my intention.