I like a little variety in my life (autocross content)

This past weekend I had the opportunity to co-drive a friends' car at our local autocross, and I had the thought that I've driven a pretty fair number of different vehicles around the cones.

Since everyone loves a list and review here is mine, who's a bigger car whore than me?  These are all the cars I've done a full event in, a couple more I've taken single runs in but they don't count.

1980 Toyota Corolla SR-5- mine, first car, underprepped but I had fun in it back in the day.  After 1989 I forgot about AX for a while....

2007 Passat wagon-mine, unprepped GS car that I reintroduced myself to AX in 2012.  Heavy, sounds awesome but not a good cone dodger.

1997 Miata- Mine, went the distance with this car from ES, to STS, to STR, to CSP.  A blast to drive and sold it to a friend last year, fast but always wants more power.

1991 Miata-Friends' car.  National prep STS car.  Miserable to drive and underpowered but very quick.

1996 Nissan 200SX- Friends' FSP car.  Hoosiers and quick but I don't like front wheel drive.

1992 Nissan 240SX- Friends' DSP car.  Very quick, feels like a big Miata, and that's not a bad thing.

2001 Toyota MR-S - Friends' ES car.  PAX easy button but just felt underwhelming.  Never even sat in one before pulling it to the line and finished 3rd in PAX at three events in a row.

2003 Corvette ZO6- Friends' SSP car.  Hohohoho, so much power!!  Sadly on a small course it was just too much, the handling is good but not Miata good.

2006 Mazda MX-5- Friends' STR car on Hoosiers so CSP lite.  Pretty near perfect, this thing was amazeballs.

1979 Chevy Malibu- Friends' EM car.  Power, hoosiers, modded all to hell.  A blast to drive, actually similar to the ZO6.

1993 Monster Miata- Mine.  Street tires and infinite power was a bad idea.  Entertaining but slower than a stocker, needed a ton of development.

1999 Ecotec Miata- Mine.  Good, fast but short legged and clearly not optimized for AX so it went away quickly.

My list is much shorter:

1990 Mazda Miata: Mine, started as an STS car, then became a C/SP Lite car that was uncompetitive, now a psychotic 245whp supercharged "SSM" car that terrifies me and everyone who rides/drives it. 

2012 Fiat Abarth 500: A fellow AX-ers G/S car that I took for a rip a few times. Absolutely hated it. Weirdly weighted shifter, non-communicative clutch, laggy turbo motor. He had won on PAX, so clearly there was something to it, but I couldn't tell what the car was doing or wanted me to do.

2016 Subaru WRX: A bone-stock D/S car. Ooooooh, I loved this car. Had never driven it before, but felt like I'd driven it a million times. Capable, easy to drive fast and ripped off times almost comparable to my car on the first lap. Seriously had me considering selling my Miata for one.

200? BMW Z3 M Roadster: One of the later S54-powered johnnies, all-stock except for RE71Rs. You can read my in-depth review here, but, wow, what a car. So much power. So much grip. Resulted in my best-finish ever for an event. Wouldn't want to own or maintain, but love to drive.

198? Porsche 944: Completely stock. Didn't really get the 944 love. No power and the engine really didn't win me over in any other regards. Shifter was meh. Chassis was wallowy. Steering was slow. A lot of turn, wait for the car to do its thing and settle, turn, wait for the car again. Bleh.

2014 Subaru BRZ: D/S car that damn near won our chapter and went to Nationals. Loved this car. Communicative, sufficient power (Compared to my 1.6L Miata), easy to drive. Also responsible for one of my best-ever finishes. Had me considering the Street path long and hard.

AP1 S2000: STR car that has won our chapter and many others, beautifully built car with a truly amazing driver. The F20 was a little soft down low, but pulled solid to redline. Tons of chassis grip but you could still finesse the rear into corners. It'd be fun to spend enough time in to be capable of hitting its limits.

I don’t think I could remember everything I’ve autocrossed. It’d be an obnoxiously long list. 

I want to try, although it has been a while since I autocrossed so who knows:

1993 Sentra SE-R: GS
1991 MR2 NA: ES
1987 MR2 NA: ES/STS2(?)
1991 MR2 V6: SSM
1988 MR2 SC: SSM
Honda 2 stroke shifter kart: F125
FSAE cars (x4)
1967 Oldsmobile F85: FS
Some Sort of Super 7: BM?
1996 Dodge Neon: SMF
1985 BMW 535is: STsomething
200? S2000 Supercharged: SSM
200? Mini Cooper S: GS
200? Neon SRT4: SMF
2002 WRX: ?SP
1988 MX6: STS?
1988 Impulse Turbo: SM
1986 Civic: STS
Some sort of NA Miata
1984 RX7: SSM?

I'm certain I've forgotten something.  Of all of these the SC S2000 and higher powered MR2s are the only ones I really want to drive again, although the Olds was a party on wheels.

List not in any order...

97 Mustang Cobra ESP then CAMC -Mine

95 Miata STS - Mine

XP FFR cobra supercharged on bias plys

XP supercharged cobra on hoosiers

XP subaru impreza

Audi coupe quattro DSP

FSP BMW 318ti

Race prepped TR6

Exocet on American Racer bias plys

Turbo NB Miata 

Old Chevy nova with LS and a spool on baaad tires...  

7? Spridget with some mods on all season-ish tires

DP miata on 200TW tires

FSAE car 

GS celica that won nationals...  ON SNOW TIRES!

and a few assorted stock-ish cars and other things that dont stick out to me or I just plain forgot...

My list is short and perhaps a little boring:

2002 SE-R Spec V - STX trim.  Mine.  Reasonably fast, stupid twitchy and loud.  Fastest when driven at 11/10ths.  Preferred method was to come into a corner too hot, slide the rear end then catch it with a truly excellent LSD.  Didn't suit my driving style well.  I rarely got the most out of the car.

1994 Miata - ES trim.  Reasonably fast, very predictable and almost boring.  Suited my driving style well but was always held back by 1. a 70 lb roll bar hanging way up over the CG, 2. 14 inch wheels 3. a power deficiency to most current ES cars. 

2003 Miata - ES trim.  Only had it out once.  Still on stock suspension and Conti Extreme Contacts instead of "autocross rubber".  WAAAY more fun than the 94. A combination of the extra power, extra rubber (even if it isn't as sticky) and lighter weight pretty much cures the ills of the 1994.  Although it could be made faster (obviously), I may leave it "as is" for a while just because it's so much fun to drive currently. 

I may be forgetting the odd "fun run" or codrive here or there, but that's about it.

Mines not super long:

1980 280zx: underprepped BSP car. Fun to drive but needed love (its cureently undergoing said loving)

1994 miata: went straight from ES to CSP. Was underprepped for CSP but was lots of fun

2003 (I think) Mini: first time in fwd, lots of understeer, fun once I got the hang of it

Sn95 cobra (NA version) 'vert: fun. Loved v8 noises and it drove like a bigger version of my ae86. Beat the owner by over a second

1985 AE86: my baby. Built for XP, supercharged and has had everything thrown at the suspension. A handful at speed but can routinely beat much more powerful cars.

My 93 miata and my 05 p71.

I've refused to drive other people's cars when offered, but always let others take mine. I'm to worried about something bizarre happening to someone else vehicle and being on the hook to fix it. This worked out for me with a mini Cooper, I turned down a ride and a wheel came off on its next lap. 

Mine isn't long, and all the cars are mostly the same.

2012 Impreza - HS. First car, all I remember was understeer and overdriving it. Had it maybe 2 events before it was lemon'd

2000 M5 - FS. Totally different than the Impreza cause it had POWAHHH, but also understeer. Too big for me to learn how to autox, and consumables were expensive. I did a few events back in 2012/13 in it.

1996 318ti - STX-lite prep and awful with no power, open diff and old Star Specs. Maybe did 8 events in 2014 with it.

1994 325is - friend's nearly full STX prep car that I had a few tastes of before my 328i. I don't like his setup but it was more prepped than my 318ti, and why I decided to switch.

1997 328i - nearly full STX prep, learned how to drive with this and going to nats with it. Finally to my liking in 2018, and I bought it in 2015. Consistently beat on this for 3 years while building it up.

2009 Cobalt SS - DS (come on let me in GS SCCA!) Bone stock, 3 different all-seasons on it, and Monroes that are underdamped but the most fun I've had in a while. It doesn't understeer and the rear rotates around. Was very comfortable in it even coming from an STX car. If I still have it in 2019, I may prep it.

RevRico said:

My 93 miata and my 05 p71.

I've refused to drive other people's cars when offered, but always let others take mine. I'm to worried about something bizarre happening to someone else vehicle and being on the hook to fix it. This worked out for me with a mini Cooper, I turned down a ride and a wheel came off on its next lap. 

^^^ 100% this.  My dad's rule was always "Don't borrow it if you can't afford to fix it".  Along with other gems ("Married people should never go on canoe trips"), it has served me well over the years.  If I loan mine out for a co-drive it's always with the stated understanding that it's my car, my fix if it breaks. 

Mine is sorta long, a bit of variety in cars and trucks.

1992 Achieva SCX W41 - lots of fun to learn on. Did pretty well for FWD GM. Engine was a lot of fun.

2003 Mustang GT - 5 speed, fun as well, did okay stock, Roush suspension kit helped a bunch.

1967 El Camino - modified suspension, 3-link rear, custom front, r-comps. Was quite fun, a bit long though (115" wb)

2000 Dakota R/T ext cab - lowered 2", otherwise stock. Not the best autox choice, but fun

1999 Bonneville SLE - probably the worst autox car, didn't do anything well. Good daily though.

1981 Camaro CP car - easily the best setup car I have owned, had more abilities than I could get out of it. Gimp has the engine from it now, rest of car is in Tennessee. Operating costs were what led me to selling it.

2012 Camaro SS mt - Fun car, capable of good times. In Street class it was outclassed by 1LE cars and 6th gen Camaros.

1999 Camaro V6 auto - capable autox car, with some upgrades it would have interesting to see what it would have done.

Other cars I have co-driven

2000 Mustang V6 CP car - Friend also owns the 86 below. Pretty capable in prepared form.

1986 Mustang V8 CP car - current co-drive, quite capable, V8 is more fun than V6.

2014 Mustang GT - only drove a couple times, would like to drive another newer Mustang.

1997 Eclipse GSX

1993 Celica All-Trac

1998 Dodge Neon

1995(?) Dodge Neon ACR sedan

1997 Ford Aspire(automatic)

2000 Dodge Dakota

1983 VW GTI

2004(?) WRX in ST(whatever it was at the time) prep

AP1 S2000 in ST-prep

Mitsu Evo IV(?)

Renault LeCar FSP

MINI non-S in HS

2000 Mazda Protege

1976 Dodge Colt Gr2 rally car

1994 Miata R

1996 Miata

1990 Miata(STS)

1985 Vette

1988 Vette(or most of it anyway)

2017 Hyundai Veloster(automatic)

1984 Fiero 2m4

1986 Fiero GT

I’ll update if I remember any others...

1991 Corolla in SR5 to moderately modified GTS trim. Would've been an easy championship contender if it was finished a couple years earlier.

200? Toyota RunX Supercharged drag car (not great in the corners, but almost made up for it on the straights)

200? Suzuki Ignis

Peugeot 205 rally car with KY Jelly sponsorship Only really let down by a uselessly short 1st and a transmission that would pop out of gear.

2002 third-world-spec Impreza autotragic - because sometimes you have nothing to drive and bring a sad family sedan to try to salvage points.

BMW E87 116i - not bad at salvaging points!

Ford Probe race car with 2edgy4ubro handling

Chevy S10 - built to handle, surprisingly quick!

I'm going to miss a lot of cars I think, but here's a list.  Some were mine, some weren't.

'83 Mazda RX7 GXL  (my first autocross car) and RX7 GTUs

'83, '84 Alfa Romeo Spiders

'73 Alfa GTV

'76 Alfa Alfetta GT / and near twin '78 Alfa Sprint Veloce

'74, '76, '79, '80 and '81 X1/9s.  The '80 was Steve Hoelscher's National Championship car, and still the best autocross car I've driven

'85, '86, '87, '89. '91 and '95 MR2s, the '91 and '95's Turbos.

Formula Vee / F440

'89 Mitsubishi Mirage Turbo

'88 Golf GTI

'87 Jetta GLI

'84 Scirocco

'86 944 Turbo and '87 924S

Neon ACR

'86 and '04 Corvette

'58 Saab 93 

'90, '91, '93, '96, '99, '01 Miatas ('96 supercharged)

'72, '02 911

E30 BMW (year unknown)

E36 325 and M3 BMWs

'88 Fiero Formula

'04 Celica GT

1997 Supra

2003 WRX

Lotus 7

'84  and '97 Trans Ams

Suzuki Swift GTi

'73 240Z

late '80's 300ZX

And probably a few more I'm forgetting.  I was a car whore in a past life!

As best I remember:

1987ish 911 (HCS cheater car or BSP-ish, old street tires)

1987 944 Turbo (FP, underprepped but insanely fun)

2000 M Roadster (SM-street tire underprepped, mine)

2015 Fiesta ST (HS, wrong tires, mine)

1998 Boxster (STR, wheels and tires only, wrong tires but the wheels and tires were effectively free, mine)

2000ish Camaro (ESP, actually competitive)

2007 Solstice GXP (FP, very competitive)

2011 370Z (ASP (since moved to BSP) moderately prepped, super tight diff that was constantly trying to kill us)

...That's the list from the last year or so. The full list isn't actually much more exciting, highlights are basically two different STS miatas, a different 944 Turbo, and some other boring stuff from when I was a poor college student. And some stuff that was only a run or two.

Good list, I've autocrossed all of my road race cars so I'll include them as well.

1981 Nissan 720 P/U

1972 Datsun 1200 in H-stock, DSP & DP. I first autocrossed it in 1989 and I'm currently vintage racing it. I will autocross it in 2019 to celebrate 30 years of competing with it.

Geo Prizim it was the wife's

1968 Beach Formula Vee

1990 Mazda Miata we rented

1990 Miata showroom stock C I road raced,

1994 Miata that is a friends

D-Sports Racer.

1971 Plymouth Valiant

1971 Volvo 142E

1968 Porsche 912

1984 MR2

1988 MR2

Fiat 850 (not sure what year)

1976 Civic

Renault Alliance GTA

1982 Celica GTS

1970 MGB 

1968 Austim Healy Sprite 

1972 Datsun 510

850 Mini

1275 Mini 

2006 Novakar F500

Exocet Miata

1987 Novakar F500, my current autocross sled.

I think that's all of them.

In reply to Pete Gossett :

An FSP LeCar!? My 2002 slid all the way down to FSP... Wonder whether that was at the same time. Would suggest the LeCar was underrated, or the 2002 over...

My list is pretty short and has a lot of internal similarities. (I'm hoping the bulleted list is a little less vertical-space-intensive...)

• 1980 Rabbit (something stock)
• 1984 GTI (something stock)
• 1973 BMW 2002 DSP
• 1970 BMW 2002 FSP (2002 got demoted)
• 1987 BMW 325is SM
• 2016 Mini Cooper 4-door Hardtop GS

In reply to Ransom :

“The” FSP LeCar...I don’t believe there’s more than one. Dan Marx is the owner & he’s had it to nationals at least once. It’s Smurf blue now - he flipped it on the roof at a local event about 15-years ago & had to weld another roof on, necessitating the paint job. It was a Renault Cup car originally.