2016 SCCA Pro Finale/Nats

[SteveW]

2016 FSL National Champion!! :first:

In the rain on Friday. I really wish I could have run that course in the dry. My first day runs were all messed up, first run was nerves, second run I bombed 2 corners and lost at least .5-1 second, and third run, the car was tail happy??? Maybe OPR. I went into day 2 with a nearly 0.5 second lead over the Camaros. Good enough to hang on in the rain for the win. I was asked after it was over what I did different for the rain, what rain tires I used. LOL, I let some air out of the tires I had....... I've had 3 2nd place trophies at Nats, glad to finally get the first!

Congratulations and nice job holding onto your position!

I know I saw your car around the pits a few times but sorry I didn't get a chance to introduce myself.

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[Cindy42]

I think you guys were on the opposite course during the same heat. I had wanted to watch the STP class, but was a bit busy.

 

[Mountain376]

Figured I'd share this with you guys as I am figuring out Camaro life in autocross (see attached picture). This is from our region's last solo event. It was a pretty cool opportunity for two of my close friends and I to compete 100% stock cars against each other. I can say this, 2015+ Mustang (GT PP and EB PP) and 2016+ Camaro (SS and very likely V6/V6 1LE) are very close to each other in autocross. I am not shocked at all that the EB was able to pull in the top 10 this year in Nationals.

This is what I will comment about the Mustang vs. the Camaro:

I have co-driven my buddy's EB PP car before and we are pretty equal drivers. The Mustang is a lot easier to drive, whether EB or GT, than the Camaro SS with a manual. The reason why, and this is something I began sensing at this event, is that the gear ratios are not that autocross friendly for the manual SS. It is the same manual that is in the 2013-2015 SS 1LE, except that car has a 3.91 rear gear and the 2016+ has a 3.73... From what I hear from my co-driver and what I heard from some of the GM guys driving the two cars that went to Nationals, the autos are much easier to drive in autocross. I have not driven an automatic Camaro SS in autocross conditions, but I have aggressively in other conditions... My co-driver, however, has (LOTS of time with the A8 6G Camaro SS) and was really thrown off by the manual. First gear will go to 50MPH easy. You can't get away with sticking the trans in 2nd gear as it really hurts slow corners. The car boggs down too much and also hurts engine braking. Keep in mind this is on a 100% stock car, so 20" wheels with a tire package nearing 28" tall - 19" wheels and shorter tires could make the difference (something I'll be finding out). Since the gear ratios in the V6 are more-similar to the autos, I think the V6 and V6 1LE 6G Camaros will likely be better than the SS (none-1LE) in autocross.

Sight was a small issue, Camaro vs. Mustang. For me, the sight wasn't a problem, but my co-driver is much shorter and it gave him a small challenge over what the Mustang offers.

Other than that, both cars are CLOSE, stock to stock. This is awesome as it adds more flavor to the FS scene! I am looking forward to seeing more EB PP FS efforts and, hopefully, some V6 6G Camaro FS efforts!

Our last two runs in the Camaro are more representative of the car as that is when we started using 1st gear more, instead of 2nd for the full course, and we finally put proper air in the front tires:

 

[Carfanatic]

you guys running squared or staggered wheel set ups? I"m looking into what I should do for an autox set up.

 

[Conedodger]

You guys were on Hoosiers, right?

The best I did was a 38.0 on 285 Bridgestones in the four runs I did.

Just finding this now. I ran a 37.6 in four runs on the practice course.

 

[Conedodger]

you guys running squared or staggered wheel set ups? I"m looking into what I should do for an autox set up.

I believe everyone is running square set ups. I am running 19 x 10's
I would hold off on buying though as I hear that STP will bet 11" wheels for all cars in 17.

 

[Carfanatic]

You cant fit an 11 inch in front with out a spacer I believe...

 

[tyshenry]

You cant fit an 11 inch in front with out a spacer I believe...

Definitely not true. 11's will fit and even possibly 12's with a bit of work.

 

[Carfanatic]

Good to know! What offset?

 

[Conedodger]

11's will fit with a 25mm offset in front.

 

[Brent Dalton]

It all depends on the offset of the wheel. There are no "a 11in wheel fits with XXmm spacer". Forgestar will make whatever offset you want(along with many other wheel companies, like CCW). The guys like Sock that are running a 18x11 setup without a spacer don't have the ability to rotate their setup. Plimmer, for example, does run a rotatable setup... and because he does, he needed a 1/2 in spacer in the front.

 

[Carfanatic]

Gotcha. I'll keep doing research. New to rwd set ups.

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