Photos by Rupert Berrington
Does the world need yet another motorsports class? After our first encounter with Club Spec Mustang at the SCCA Solo Nats, we believe the answer is yes.
Club Spec Mustang follows a new vision for the SCCA: Create a rule set that allows one car to participate in multiple club offerings, meaning autocross, Time Trials, RoadRally and RallyCross.
Club Spec Mustang, as the name might suggest, features the Mustang–specifically, the 2005-’09 GT model as well as the Shelby GT, Bullitt and California Special.
The rules then require a spec suspension setup developed by Sam Strano of Strano Performance Parts: Koni yellows, Eibach Pro-Kit, UMI Performance anti-roll bars, and camber/caster plates from Maximum Motorsports or BBK. Wheels must measure 18x9.5 inches and can’t weigh less than 17 pounds. The spec tire is the Goodyear Eagle F1 Supercar 3 in a 275/40R18 size. (After rebates, it’s currently $939.96 for a set at Tire Rack.)
Then there are some optional items. The intake and exhaust can also be opened up–check the rules for specifics–while competitors may install a Hurst short-throw shifter. A Ford Racing big-brake kit can also be fitted along with an upgraded third link bearing and Panhard bar. Yes, you may also run an oil cooler.
We’re co-driving Eric Sienkiewicz’s 2005 Mustang GT at this week’s Tire Rack SCCA Solo National Championships. There are 19 drivers in our class.
[Live thread: The 2024 Tire Rack SCCA Solo Nats]
First impression: A Club Spec Mustang seems rather reasonable to build and run. Eric bought a nice, low-mileage Mustang for less than $10K before adding the spec parts.
He skipped the optional tune, though, leaving about 30 horsepower on the table. However, this allows him to race (and cart the kids to school) on 87 octane. Fuel mileage on the street is 27-28 mpg, even with the race tires.
So, tires: Eric reports that the required Goodyear Eagle F1 Supercar 3 tires last forever and don’t display any bad wear patterns. He had plenty of tread left after running this same car in the Tire Rack One Lap of America presented by Grassroots Motorsports, but he bought fresh tires for Nationals as his others had experienced plenty of heat cycles.
These tires love heat–so much so that every single car but one at Solo Nats has a co-driver, and not one sprayer was spotted on grid.
We noticed drastically better feel after our first run. Most drivers claimed there was no limit to this tire’s appetite, but one said he finally managed to overheat them slightly doing back-to-back-to-back runs on a very tight course. All agreed that the more heat, the better.
Club Spec Mustangs are not muscle cars. Sure, they’ve got a live axle and a V8, but they’re fairly heavy, fairly soft, fairly slow cars, so drive them like a big Miata: Focus on smooth inputs, and try to brake as little as possible. This isn’t a point-and-shoot car.
As long as we were gentle with our inputs, Eric’s Mustang felt quite neutral, too, though some drivers complained of understeer. It seems counterintuitive, but these really are momentum cars.
And these cars make great noises. No, they don’t drive like muscle cars, but they certainly sound that way.
Final conclusion: Miata friendliness with V8 noises in something that can be easily bolted together.
When I was looking at retiring my XB Miata from autocross duties, I looked at these Mustangs for either F/Street (didn't seem terribly competitive) or CAM-C (seemed like it required too much modification and investment) and so passed on them, and eventually got an E/Street MR2 Spyder. Then, not long after, SCCA announced this class and I've heard from the local guy running that they're super competitive at a local level due to a pretty squishy PAX. So frustrating.
So far the CSM Mustangs at Solo Nats seem to be about 8% off the F Street times which is actually really impressive considering they're at a huge tire, power, rear suspension and development disadvantage. But the class has solid numbers (19 cars for a class that was announced less than a year ago, with participation by some top drivers), and has all the marks of having some real momentum. Weirdly even more than the NC Miata class, which I expected to be the stronger of these two offerings.
TT Nats registration is also showing the same trend, with seven Mustangs currently entered for the October championship event compared to just one Miata at the moment. It will be interesting to see how they fare over four days of track competition.
NickD said:Then, not long after, SCCA announced this class and I've heard from the local guy running that they're super competitive at a local level due to a pretty squishy PAX. So frustrating.
I'm sure the PAX will firm up soon. I really like the idea of these spec classes. I'm just not a huge fan of the chassis choices. I understand they were chosen to be accessible.
I wonder what is next? They don't have a turbo 4 yet. Spec WRX? I have to imagine a spec corvette would be popular with how many of them I see at events. (Not necessarily the same as the w2w class, but why not?)
I’ve wondered about a Spec Vette class, too, but which Vette would you choose?
It's a good spec, and I seriously considered building my car to it. But I had to be honest with myself that my days as any kind of serious motorsports competitor are over, so I ended up doing more of a street build.
"Club Spec Mustangs are not muscle cars. Sure, they’ve got a live axle and a V8, but they’re fairly heavy, fairly soft, fairly slow cars, so drive them like a big Miata: Focus on smooth inputs, and try to brake as little as possible. This isn’t a point-and-shoot car."
They're not a thing, then describe the thing to a "T"?
So when this class was announced I made a fuss about the usual SCCA Spec class issue; starts out low and then gets stupidly expensive for the level of performance.
Looking at Stranos' website it appears that you'll spend 6K beyond the price of the car if you build it to the limit.
$16,000 is pretty reasonable for something that will be competitive and that you can also still drive to work.
I'm watching this class and the NC Miata spec class with interest. Initial purchase price in on the mustangs seems to be lower around here, with some prices down in the $5-6,000 range. I'm not seeing any NC2 Miatas with clean titles and six speed transmissions for that.
I'm considering selling my 99 hard s Miata.
A difference of a couple thousand dollars for a completed build between the two classes could be a factor in what I choose. First thing is how well populated the class is locally, that's going to take time to see what happens.
Have they really promoted the csm into rallycross?
David S. Wallens said:I’ve wondered about a Spec Vette class, too, but which Vette would you choose?
I think the NASA spec C5 is actually a pretty good platform. Mild motors, big brakes, good but not $$$ suspension, cooling upgrades. It would actually be fairly easy to balance LS1 C5s and C6s using restrictor plates/weight penalties.
So, anyway, I think if you're going to do Spec Vette it needs to be a little more heavily prepared because they're already more capable than a lot of their components in stock form. Especially if it's going to be a track car as well, they need better brakes and cooling.
Displaying 1-10 of 41 commentsView all comments on the GRM forums
You'll need to log in to post.
