Frankenvette

Last night my oldest son and I ran our first autocross. I can't completely explain the excitement we enjoyed but what a great time... especially spending it with my son. We showed up early for tech inspection and had no issues. We walked the track several times with some of the more experienced drivers and picked up some tips on how to drive the course. There is more to it than simply trying to stay between the cones, but in my case as a novice I simply wanted to stay between the cones.

There were all types of cars including several newer vettes, lots of miatas and subarus, bmw's, camaro's, honda's etc... I was the only old vette. We made our registration number our of blue painters tape. Not pretty but it worked.

I was a little nervous having never done anything like this. I really did not know what to expect as it relates to how the vette was going to perform. I kept thinking something was going to break mid run and I was going to hear a lot thunk or snap. I rebuilt the rear suspension but the front has never been touched. The ball joints are most likely shot, as are most of the bushings.

Anyway, she handled wonderfully. We sliced and diced our way thru the course with only one issue. When I made really sharp turns I stalled. I think it was the carb fuel bowl sloshing around. Needless to say it killed my times but oh well. We were having way to much fun to worry about our time. Even with the stalls I did not finish last in my class. I highly recommend trying an autocross to anyone. It is a great way to enjoy the fruits of our labor working on these old cars.

JIm

C3 4ME

Sounds like a lot of fun. I've always heard Vette's aren't particularly suited to autocross, as they're too big and heavy. Apparently that's why you see a lot of Miatas, and S2000's as well as other small cars. I'd love to give it a try some day though.

SmokedTires

Good to hear you're enjoying your vette, and with your son too. People that enjoy going straight down a 1/4 mile in 11-15 seconds should try an autocross to see how much adrenalin comes when white knuckled for about a minute

my 76 ray

I did autocross when I was in my 20's. I have also driven a formula 2000 race car at Pocono speedway and NASCAR cars at Walt Disney World Speedway and Kentucky Speedway. I know it's hard to believe but a good tight autocross course at 30 MPH generates as much excitement as the race cars (my top speed was 141).

Frankenvette

Some of the other drivers commented on how "long" the vette is relative to the turns. A BMW M3 and an old Honda Civic had the best times of the night. The Miatas were doing quite well. There was an old Ford Maveric with some type of big block that ran nicely. His engine sounded awsome when he got on it. On the other hand some of the newer cars made almost no engine noise. Sounded like electric cars running the course. Not as much fun to hear as an old big block or a Chevy 350 or LSx series engine.

Jim_Harrison

A C-3 is very competitive when set up correctly and the C-5 Z06 is one of the best stock cars to run. I often set fastest time of day in my C-3 beating all the cars you listed. Have a great time with your car.

jordan89

I can't wait to try it for myself. I have a completely new front suspension, and am waiting on parts for the rear suspension to put the Vette back together. I'm setting it up for autoX/street. Now that you've tried it, are you planning on doing any mods to set your Vette up for autoX?

Dalannex

I have auto crossed my c3 for years and it is very competitive. My son is 12 and my daughter is 10. My son rides with me, my daughter rides with my wife on the autocross track. The kids can't wait to reach age 14 so that they can drive at the autocross. I tell the kids that street racing will not be tolerated and if they show that they can be responsible on the road, I will let them race at the autocross course. It's great fun. If you haven't tried it, give it a shot, don't worry about how you do and just have fun.

-Justin

Frankenvette

Absolutely. Now I actually have a goal as far as how I want to rebuild the suspension. Once you try autocross you will be addicted.

SEVNT6

I've never done one in the Vette..........I don't want to take the chance of getting my first stress crack in my original paint. But I have done a few in my other ride.........which seems like it was built for autocrossing......