OK, you guys have been holding out on me. Maybe it was the embarrassment of losing to both an SVT Focus and a couple of Grand Am drivers, but I see Detroit region ratted you out by finally posting the tell-tale results of the Memorial Day Detroit autocross.
The SVT Focus dominated the G Stock-Street tire category and no SVT Contour in any of the classes was even close. The SVT Focus time, with probably a ringer driver from Ford, beat the second place Protege MP3 by 1.4 seconds, and rest of the field by 2 seconds and more. It's 95.656 time compared favorably to National driver Steve Couture's Neon ACR time of 90.711. When you apply the "3 second per minute course" rule for autocross tires, the Foci would have been 4.5 seconds faster had it worn race rubber. That still would have left it about a half second shy of Couture, which ain't bad on such a long course.
Of course, I could not resist "bench racing" and applying times of Todras and Steve Grzesiak (screen name?) as the benchmark. They were both consistent between results at SZ and Detroit. Their times led me to project an averaged time of 96.179 if I had run. Or if I use Couture's time instead, it yields 95.051. Adding more comparison using Super Stock Corvette drivers Bill Rietow compared to Mark Sipe (finished 13th and 10th respectively at 2001 Nationals)and then applying that ratio between me and Sipe, yields a 92.477 time with autocross tires.
Oh well, back to drawing board...actually going to negotiate a price on a stripped 5-speed 3.5SE Altima RIGHT NOW!! Wish me luck. It may or may not be faster than the SVT Contour for autocrossing, but I guess we will find out.
I just can't picture myself driving a Neon ACR or Celica GT, and all the D Stock contenders are either too expensive (IS 300,330i,S4), or too small (WRX/RSX-S), or too old (Integra Type R).
