I took the Dark Horse to autocross this weekend

[GhastlyTT]

I've never autocrossed before. My high performance driving experiences have always been via a Mustang at the drag strip or a sport bike on a road course. My goal with the Dark Horse is to start working towards track days so I started small this weekend and signed up for an SCCA autocross event.

What a blast it was! I went in thinking I was a decent driver and would be able to put down a good novice time... nope! I was humbled and have much to learn. The car has so much more cornering grip than I was comfortable using and I was consistently exceeding 1.10 lateral Gs according to the car's own monitoring.

I'm looking forward to the next event. So if you're like me and haven't autocrossed, you should definitely consider it! Best 50$ I've spent on entertainment in a long time.

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[GripTime]

I've never autocrossed before. My high performance driving experiences have always been via a Mustang at the drag strip or a sport bike on a road course. My goal with the Dark Horse is to start working towards track days so I started small this weekend and signed up for an SCCA autocross event.

What a blast it was! I went in thinking I was a decent driver and would be able to put down a good novice time... nope! I was humbled and have much to learn. The car has so much more cornering grip than I was comfortable using and I was consistently exceeding 1.10 lateral Gs according to the car's own monitoring.

I'm looking forward to the next event. So if you're like me and haven't autocrossed, you should definitely consider it! Best 50$ I've spent on entertainment in a long time.

This was similar to my first experience. So much more technical than I was expecting but it is loads of fun! I already know the DH grip is more than I can handle. I need to change my username!

Any issues at all with the car?

 

[GhastlyTT]

This was similar to my first experience. So much more technical than I was expecting but it is loads of fun! I already know the DH grip is more than I can handle. I need to change my username!

Any issues at all with the car?

Not a bit of trouble at all!

 

[Q6543]

That’s a good deal, autocross around me is $250/day.

 

[GhastlyTT]

Had another day of autocross yesterday. I'm getting better at it but definitely far from the car's limits. Here's a vid of my best run: Middle of the pack and 5 seconds slower than the leader but still puts a smile on my face!

 

[jboogie1289]

Had another day of autocross yesterday. I'm getting better at it but definitely far from the car's limits. Here's a vid of my best run: Middle of the pack and 5 seconds slower than the leader but still puts a smile on my face!

That thing sounds ANGRY my friend!!! What have you done to it to get such a menacing growl??? Good vid and Great driving on the course!

 

[GhastlyTT]

That thing sounds ANGRY my friend!!! What have you done to it to get such a menacing growl??? Good vid and Great driving on the course!

Thanks bud! Steeda H-pipe and Whipple are the only mods I've done that would affect the sound. I am quite the fan of her exhaust note, too!

 

[GhastlyTT]

Sticky tire problems

 

[Zig]

Sticky tire problems

That’s one way to keep them out of the ‘aero’ holes.

 

[Wiley Marmot]

I've got 3 friends who're members of a Car Club that sponsors/has Track Days at either /Gratten or Gingerman (MI). They all have either dedicated lightly kitted out track cars, or at least swap out brake pads and wheels/tires for events.

Their tires all look just like yours!

 

[REV745DH24]

Sticky tire problems

Trofeo tires, yup, real sticky and that’s why switched to Michelin tires! Trofeo is good for tracking or racing! Now you know how it makes all that noise spitting rocks underside of the car and wheel wells!

 

[GhastlyTT]

Autocrossed the Dark Horse again this last weekend at night. We only got 3 runs due to the number of people signed up and the limit on time. Temps were nice and cool but that meant I couldn't get the Trofeos to stick. 1st run was like a slip and slide. This recording was my 2nd run which felt really slow but was still enough to get me fastest novice. I lost the rear and spun around on my 3rd run trying to take the first right turn too aggressively yet cooked through the rest of the course because I was only a second slower than my 2nd run after the recovery... too bad.



I've got Steeda's strut tower cutting tool coming to max out my front negative camber and I plan to stiffen the front and loosen the rear anti-roll bars a little to see if I can tone down the oversteer a notch for the 2 remaining events this season.

 

[GhastlyTT]

Another awesome Sunday autocross down. Grabbed first place novice by 2-thousandths of a second index time on my final run... close call!

On another note, I need new street tires because Virginia rejected my state safety inspection because I don't have enough tread on the outside of the Trofeos to satisfy the inspector. I guess it's time to put some Pilot Sport 4S tires on the stockers and get a new set of dedicated autocross wheels and tires to swap on before events next season.

Any suggestions for track only wheels that fit a handling pack Mustang?

 

[MCS]

I guess it's time to put some Pilot Sport 4S tires on the stockers and get a new set of dedicated autocross wheels and tires to swap on before events next season.

Any suggestions for track only wheels that fit a handling pack Mustang?

I went the other way and got Nitto NT555 G2 for my street rims and tires and kept the handling pack rims and Trofeo RS tires for HPDE days. I have never experienced a tire that is as grippy as the Trofeos so wanted to keep those for track days.

 

[GhastlyTT]

I went the other way and got Nitto NT555 G2 for my street rims and tires and kept the handling pack rims and Trofeo RS tires for HPDE days. I have never experienced a tire that is as grippy as the Trofeos so wanted to keep those for track days.

Valid. You find the VF10s more aesthetically pleasing than the stockers so it makes sense that yours would be relegated to track beater duty for you lol.

I'm the weirdo that prefers the stock wheel design over everything I've seen yet so I'm happy to keep rocking them for street duty. They're also 10 pounds or so heavier than most aftermarket 19" offerings, so picking up a lighter weight beater track set would also reduce some un-sprung mass on my Dark Pig .

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