SCCA STREET CATEGORY OVERVIEW & MODS I WOULD MAKE

Warhorse Racing

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If you’ve ever thought about autocrossing your STOCK or RESTORED 79-04 Mustang, the SCCA has a way for you to attack the cones without having to modify your car, or having to compete against fully-prepped autocross cars!

The SCCA Street Category provides the lowest barrier to entry to get into autocross. If your pony is bone-stock, it’s legal to run in Street Category.

But there are a few mods you can make and still be legal. This video gives a brief overview of the main modifications that are authorized, and a breakdown of the Street Category Classes 79-04 Mustangs fit into.


A lot of people ask me what mods I would make if I were building a 79-04 Mustang to compete in Street Category, so I put together this video…


If you have any questions about autocrossing your Mustang, please ask me here or in the comments on YouTube.
 
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Warhorse Racing

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Thank you for your dedication! I’ve learned so much and can’t wait to apply it.

You're going to have a lot of fun throwing your Mustang around on course! Thanks for checking out my videos. I'm happy to help with any questions you might have leading up to your first autocross event.
 

Neumie71

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If you’ve ever thought about autocrossing your STOCK or RESTORED 79-04 Mustang, the SCCA has a way for you to attack the cones without having to modify your car, or having to compete against fully-prepped autocross cars!

The SCCA Street Category provides the lowest barrier to entry to get into autocross. If your pony is bone-stock, it’s legal to run in Street Category.

But there are a few mods you can make and still be legal. This video gives a brief overview of the main modifications that are authorized, and a breakdown of the Street Category Classes 79-04 Mustangs fit into.


A lot of people ask me what mods I would make if I were building a 79-04 Mustang to compete in Street Category, so I put together this video…


If you have any questions about autocrossing your Mustang, please ask me here or in the comments on YouTube.
Thanks for the info. Your YouTube videos have been a big help with my 98 GT cam car.

Sent from my SM-S215DL using Tapatalk
 
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Warhorse Racing

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I'm glad to hear my videos have been helpful. Running in CAM is a ton of fun. Please post about autocrossing your 98 GT. Sharing your mods, your experience, and your results will inspire more people to autocross their Mustangs.

And if you ever have any questions, please ask.
 

white95

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You're going to have a lot of fun throwing your Mustang around on course! Thanks for checking out my videos. I'm happy to help with any questions you might have leading up to your first autocross event.

The next event is January 31st and that is the maiden voyage for this car. I’m going to take it easy and try to get a feel for the ol girl. I feel like my 350mm steering wheel is too small :oops:
 
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Warhorse Racing

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The next event is January 31st and that is the maiden voyage for this car. I’m going to take it easy and try to get a feel for the ol girl. I feel like my 350mm steering wheel is too small :oops:

Because it's your first time, make sure you get to the event early and walk the course as many times as you can. Clubs are doing things differently during the pandemic, but you can usually find an experienced person to walk the course with prior to the formal guided Novice Course Walk (most clubs do one, some don't). I walk the course 4-5 times before I lead the Novice Course Walk at my events. I'm a firm believer that you can never do too many course walks. The cones can be really confusing your first time. Don't be afraid to tell people you haven't autocrossed before. The vast majority of people and staff at events want to help novices. If your club has a guided Novice Course Walk, I encourage you to participate.

Most clubs aren't doing in-car instruction at events due to Covid-19 restrictions. Having an instructor watch from outside the car and give you advice after your runs can be helpful.

Your goal is to turn the wheel as little as possible, so your steering wheel will be fine. Just remember to put yourself in the proper seating and steering position to avoid having to take your hands off the steering wheel (unless your forearms touch). There's a video on my channel about seating and steering position that might help.

Taking it easy is the best way to learn. Here are some other tips:

Make sure your battery cables are tight and your positive battery terminal is covered. Check your lug nuts the night before the event. Remove any loose items from your car before tech inspection (anything loose in the car will go flying around during your runs). Bring painter's tape that contrasts with your car color to put your class and numbers on the side of your car.

If you don't have your own helmet, make sure loaner helmets are still available. Many clubs have stopped sharing loaner helmets due to the pandemic.
 

white95

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Because it's your first time, make sure you get to the event early and walk the course as many times as you can. Clubs are doing things differently during the pandemic, but you can usually find an experienced person to walk the course with prior to the formal guided Novice Course Walk (most clubs do one, some don't). I walk the course 4-5 times before I lead the Novice Course Walk at my events. I'm a firm believer that you can never do too many course walks. The cones can be really confusing your first time. Don't be afraid to tell people you haven't autocrossed before. The vast majority of people and staff at events want to help novices. If your club has a guided Novice Course Walk, I encourage you to participate.

Most clubs aren't doing in-car instruction at events due to Covid-19 restrictions. Having an instructor watch from outside the car and give you advice after your runs can be helpful.

Your goal is to turn the wheel as little as possible, so your steering wheel will be fine. Just remember to put yourself in the proper seating and steering position to avoid having to take your hands off the steering wheel (unless your forearms touch). There's a video on my channel about seating and steering position that might help.

Taking it easy is the best way to learn. Here are some other tips:

Make sure your battery cables are tight and your positive battery terminal is covered. Check your lug nuts the night before the event. Remove any loose items from your car before tech inspection (anything loose in the car will go flying around during your runs). Bring painter's tape that contrasts with your car color to put your class and numbers on the side of your car.

If you don't have your own helmet, make sure loaner helmets are still available. Many clubs have stopped sharing loaner helmets due to the pandemic.

Solid advice! I’m new but I’m not a virgin :D I haven’t even formed any bad habits yet.

upload_2021-1-4_16-4-44.jpeg
 
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Warhorse Racing

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So this is the maiden voyage for the car, not the driver. I misunderstood. Sorry about that.

It's always fun taking a new build to an event. I'm looking forward to hearing how it goes!
 

white95

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So this is the maiden voyage for the car, not the driver. I misunderstood. Sorry about that.

It's always fun taking a new build to an event. I'm looking forward to hearing how it goes!

Exactly. I’m going into this as if I don’t know anything and will still apply so much I’ve picked up from the videos.

My wife thinks I’m nuts but I practice steering until almost touching elbows on the street and in parking lots daily.

Oh, I will have videos to critique after! Can’t get better without learning.
 
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Warhorse Racing

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I'm excited to see your videos!

Steering is one of the few aspects of autocross that you can safely practice during normal driving. I do it all the time. A proper "leverage" position can be uncomfortable, so the more familiar you are with it, the less awkward it feels.
 

ReplicaR

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I ran street class in SCCA with my G37S (FS) and the conclusion I came to is, there is that one or two cars that are just above all else in every class. It's super hard to compete in a Mustang, especially SN95 in street class. You would end up in FS as well, up against 6th gen SS, E46 and E92 M3 (Competition package has 9 inch front wheels and 10 inch rear wheels), all those cars have a lot more power, way better suspension geometry, it's just not going to be competitive. Let's say that you get the optimum car from SN95 for that, the 2003 Cobra. It's the one with the most power, widest factory wheels, decent brakes, but even with all of that in mind, it's nowhere near as good geometrically as M3 or SS.

It's true that if you want to have fun, you can run pretty much anything (as long as it complies to width vs height restriction of SCCA), but if you want to be competitive, you really need to be in the cars that set the pace on national level, otherwise you'll always be chasing the lead.
 
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Warhorse Racing

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I ran street class in SCCA with my G37S (FS) and the conclusion I came to is, there is that one or two cars that are just above all else in every class. It's super hard to compete in a Mustang, especially SN95 in street class. You would end up in FS as well, up against 6th gen SS, E46 and E92 M3 (Competition package has 9 inch front wheels and 10 inch rear wheels), all those cars have a lot more power, way better suspension geometry, it's just not going to be competitive. Let's say that you get the optimum car from SN95 for that, the 2003 Cobra. It's the one with the most power, widest factory wheels, decent brakes, but even with all of that in mind, it's nowhere near as good geometrically as M3 or SS.

It's true that if you want to have fun, you can run pretty much anything (as long as it complies to width vs height restriction of SCCA), but if you want to be competitive, you really need to be in the cars that set the pace on national level, otherwise you'll always be chasing the lead.

I agree that it can be tough for an older Mustang to be competitive against newer cars in Street Category. But, it's not impossible. I am nowhere near the fastest driver in the world, and I was able to drive a student's bone-stock New Edge V6 on all season tires to about 2 seconds behind my time in my IRS-swapped CAM Mustang. I suspect that time would have been decent in Street Category. I've often wondered what time I could've posted if that car had all the authorized Street Category mods.

I meet a lot of people who assume they can't autocross their SN95 Mustangs without spending thousands of dollars rebuilding the suspension. Street Category is great for people who want to improve their driving skills, but don't want to heavily modify their cars. Driving around the limitations of an older car in Street Category will make you a better driver overall.

Even if someone autocrossing their SN95 Mustang in Street Category never ever beat their competitors driving modern cars, they would still be able to track their progress over the course of a season, learn what impact the limited adjustments they're allowed to make have on the handling characteristics of their car, and they would have a blast pushing their car to the limit.

Many people choose to stay in Street Category, but others use it to build a strong autocross foundation before moving up to a Category that allows for more mods. It's also great for people who either don't have the budget to buy a newer car, or don't want to autocross their newer car.

94-04 Mustangs fit into FS (V8) and HS (V6). I just want to make sure people reading this thread don't think their V6 has to run against a newer M3 or SS Camaro in Street Category.
 
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i used to run cam c. i think if i was actually competitive i would be tossed into a higher class like CP

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