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Road Racing

tophe7d

CEG'er
Joined
Aug 20, 2007
Messages
180
Location
Chicagoland Burbs
Does anyone actually road race a Contour? I've been debating on building one for my next project. Right now it's all talk, but I'm hoping to get back into a wheel 2 wheel car again... Soon :laugh:

Any advice or suggestions?
 
i dont have any suggestions, but one of my co-workers friends used to race an SVT contour. he told me that the car kept blowin engines up, i think he said that his buddy went through 3-4 motors before switching to another car. i dont know of any of the mods done to the car or if they even had an upgraded oil pan.
 
Yeah, I spent a good portion of the day searching the IT forums to see what the word was and it wasn't good. Looks like I will continue to daily drive my SE and put the possibilty of a SVT road racer on indefinite hold. :(

Chris
 
I think you could make a solid racer out of an SVT, or an SE for that matter. You just need to really pay attention to what you are doing to the engine to make it live. Capaldi, and Dimitroff, and some other guys have proven that you can make a Duratec V6 live on the race track.

The big question is where would the SVT be classed favorably? I can't think of a good class to race one where it would be competitive.
 
I think you could make a solid racer out of an SVT, or an SE for that matter. You just need to really pay attention to what you are doing to the engine to make it live. Capaldi, and Dimitroff, and some other guys have proven that you can make a Duratec V6 live on the race track.

The big question is where would the SVT be classed favorably? I can't think of a good class to race one where it would be competitive.

What classes are the tour classified in?
 
Actually, a well prepared SVT might be pretty good in NASA's Performance Touring class. Wouldn't really know for sure until someone tried it though . . .
 
I know both Craig Capaldi and Dan Demitroff. I raced against both of them at Waterfordhills in my '88 ITA Integra back in the day. Dan always seemed to have fuel/engine issues and Craig was usually behind me :D They were both gorgeous rides that were well taken care of, but not very fast. Maybe they'd do better at a larger track where they can let their V-6's breathe, but handling wise they were no match for well prepped ITA & ITS cars.

The car is currently classed a couple of different ways:
SVT - ITR
Se V6(1995) - ITS
SVT - SSB

I'd prefer to still run in IT. The problems are weight and hp. The car is allowed to weigh around 2590 with driver. I believe stock is ~3200? There's no way I will be able to drop ~700lbs from stock trim to full IT race prep. Maybe ~300 if I try real hard and gut every last piece allowed by the rules. Without the ability to run fiberglass parts and lexan windshields, there's no way. The guys on the IT forums also don't think the car will be able to put down the HP numbers that the other ITR cars are capable of. Not a knock against the engine, but again in IT trim probably not obtainable. The advantage for the car in ITR is it's low weight. Not being able to get to that weight is it's main problem.

There were other issues that were discussed, but those two basically killed it for me. I'm thinking I might be able to get it reclassed with MC, but am not sure.

Thanks,

Chris
 
I never got my SVT to an open track event at Gingerman Raceway. I did autocross it a few times and it did ok. The short events were harder than the longer faster ones.

Just built a 1984 Mustang for track use and I think I will stick to racing rear drive cars. For me its easier to drive a rear drive car fast than it is to drive a front wheel drive car fast.

I think Leo Capaldi raced them at one time, now he is racing Spec Focus. I talked to him at Grattan Raceway this past summer.
 
Yeah, Leo raced the Cougar in WC, but again didn't do much. I'm not trying to talk smack, just telling what I've seen. I was talking with Leo and Ted Severens (Spec Focus Director) back when the Spec Focus series was just getting started. I even gave racer/Focus owner input before the rule book came out. Ted and Leo are putting together a nice package, but I consider it a glorified showroom stock car. Not to mention the IT cross-over is virtually nonexistent. That was the big reason I ran my ZX3 in IT and not SF.

But that's all besides the point. What I was trying to do is build an IT car that wasn't a Honda and wasn't a Miata. I've already raced a Focus and am now looking for a new platform. I'm a Ford person at heart and want to stay in the stables. Part of me says, I like the SVT so race it anyways. The fierce competitor in me says no way, it's not competitive for the class. Whatever. Maybe I should just stop screwing around and build my Vintage Mustang instead.

:shrug:

Thanks for all the replies,

Chris
 
Yeah, that's the big problem w/ the Contour/SVT in general because its too big/heavy to run in the classes where it should be competitive. I don't think the problem has ever really been the engine, but more chassis vs. weight. I think the unfortunate reality is that the Focus is a better option, and not just because of the spec focus class. A good friend ran a couple of Foci in SSB a few years back and did decently, and he and another friend are building a spec Focus car right now too. I think if I build my own car any time soon, its going to have to be a Mustang for either American Iron or AV8SS.

Chris, I never got nearly as far down the road as you did in looking into it, but we both decided against it for pretty much the same reasons. Plus, I've been tied up working with a Grand Am Cup / Koni Challenge team for the last 4 years instead of building my own car to run. . . That, and I've been too freaking lazy to finish up even my street car project lately, lol.
 
I AutoX my first SVT from May 2000 - 2002 in GS and it did not stand a chance. At that time the Celica GT was the car for the class. I had 50hp on the Celica but it had about 500lbs less weight. When both cars are running on 225's 500lbs is much more important than 50hp.

I again learned last week how important weight is in Road Racing. Had a track day at Hallett (1.8 Mile 10 Turn road course, lots of hills) and ran my RX-7. It is tracked prepared with Stance Suspension, Victoracers, track alignment and many weight items removed. Since I still have to drive the car to the track and back many of the creature comforts are still their. Such are glass windows and windsheild.

My friend has a similiarly equipped RX-7 but is completely stripped. His weight is ~2000lbs. Mine is closer to 2400-2500. I had raced him before and it was a fairly close match but he was not driving 10/10ths. This day he was. My best time for the day was a 1:35:xxx His best times were 1:31:xxx. Our last session of the day we switched cars. I ran a 1:33:xx in his car and he ran a 1:36:xxx in mine. I could definately tell in the heavy brake zones the difference in weight. His car stopped and mine would not. A couple more sessions in his car and I also could be running 1:31:xxx.

So, back to the point of Weight makes a Huge difference and the CSVT is just too heavy for the classifications it is in. But they do make fun AutoX and Track Day cars. Just not competative.
 
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