sileighty21

ok, here's the deal. i have a 1990 LX with 158,000 on the clock. i really want to get into autocross, but am scared about reliability. should i race and say to hell with it? or should i keep it a regular driver since it's got so many rounds on the clock? i don't wanna start racing and have stuff breaking on me. since i'm in college, i'm poor and can't afford to be fixing stuff all the time. although, i do work at a dealership so i can get cheap parts

jeremy

i have a 90 lx..not with that many miles but as some advice:

auto cross is tough as **** on your tires and your car..if i was going to get into that i would have a back-up..

the more parts you add to your engine for racing (if you get serious)....the Less reliable it becomes for everyday driving..

LAtER

Identity_X

First of all, the engine is the last thing you should be worried about when autox-ing. Suspension is much more important.

And could you please elaborate on how exactly does upgrading parts of the engine make it less reliable?

carguycw

I strongly disagree with this. Autocross is hard on your tires and brakes, and that's mostly it; your clutch might take a beating too, but this is very dependent on whether your local club designs courses with drag race starts. A *well-maintained* street-driven car can usually be autocrossed with few ill effects. This is especially true of Mazdas, which can generally take pretty harsh beatings and bounce right back for more.

Granted, autocrossing is harder on your car than just puttering around on the street, but it's MUCH easier on the equipment than almost any other form of motorsports. Compared to road racing, drag racing, track events or even fast back-road runs, there is little extended full-throttle driving, very little shifting (usually one shift per run), no high-speed braking and (most importantly) almost zero chance of crashing into inmmovable objects or other cars at high speed.

The key is that your car needs to be in good mechanical shape; no loose suspension parts, bent wheels, coolant leaks, etc. If it is basically in good shape, autocrossing shouldn't break it. Put it this way... there is a guy in my area who has won numerous National trophies (including a championship) in an 89 Civic with over 200k miles on it.

Actually, that's one of the nice things about autocrossing... horsepower is relatively meaningless. If you can't drive, 20 more hp will not do squat. Therefore, there's no real reason to spend mega dollars extracting that last 5 hp from your engine... unlike road or drag racing.

Davard

As long as you do regular maintenance, your car should last a good long time. Admittedly, my '90 suffered the dreaded crank-nose failure, but that was with 180k of very hard miles. I am still racing my car (as featured in the March '03 Grassroots Motorsports magazine) with 192+k miles on it, and I'm still on the original clutch and tranny. I replaced the front wheel bearings at 130k miles as a precaution, but probably didn't need to.

If I were you (and I once was, having started autocrossing in college), I would go back to the stock intake, remove the strut bar, and go racing in stock class (HS), especially if your local region has a street tire class. A set of 14" Azenis are under $200. You'll be far more competitive on a budget in stock class than you will in STS (where the intake and strut bar place you). The only other mod would be a set of ZX-2 struts (under $200), but that can wait.

I would make sure that your maintenance is up to date (timing and other belts changed, new hoses, plug wires, cap & rotor, brake pads & fluid, etc.).

motorhead16v4

Will my Kartboy shifter place me in STS? I have a 2002 Pro and I think it would be competitive in stock class (provided I can drive ). How would it do in STS?

PhotoPro5

You'd get pasted running in STS with nothing but a shift kit. I know STS cars can run (somebody's going to correct me) different springs, shocks/struts, intake, exhaust systems, and some other misc. items...on street tires. Falken Azenis seem to be the popular choice in the tire category.

An HS car, like mine, usually runs 4-6 sec. slower than the top STS runners like Davard.

I don't know whether your shift kit will be a big deal, it might not be on a local level, seeing as you only shift once during a run. Hopefully someone else can clarify that for you.

PhotoPro5

Yeah, I left out the part about how much I suck.

Now the secret's out...