New Guy
 

Hey all. Just found this board. I'm pretty active over on the I-club and Edmunds forums. I'll give you some history...

I owned an '88 XT6 which I Auto-xed here in the NE for 2 years, ran awsome for 40K miles from when I bought it for $1000 in '99. Recently wrecked the lower control arm and sold that one. Picked up a '91 XT6 and now Auto-x it up here as well.

My Aunt bought a '92 SVX new and now has 72K miles on it. I will soon be buying that from her (probably in the fall) and just wanted to put out some feelers on here as to what you guys think of the SVX and find out what problems/mods/upgrades I'll be encountering. Also your feelings on doing a 5MT or 6MT STI Tranny swap as well as how this car would perform @ Auto-x or track events.

Thanks in advance.

-mike

Mike,

The SVX is basically a luxury GT car. I think it will prove too heavy to auto-x sucessfully.
Where on SI are you? I grew up on the west side of Manhattan and still have relatives in Queens & Brooklyn.
I now live in northern Delaware about 35 mi. south of Philly.
I still root for the Yanks Giants & Rangers. I gave up on basketball when it became a full contact sport and they stopped calling fouls for traveling, palming the ball, and hacking.

or

Yo Paisan,

Wha' parta da city u from?

Larry III PS: My grandparents came over from the Palermo area.

How well do you really trust your aunt?
 

Seriously, picking up her car would be excellent. Transmissions and wheel bearings have been things to watch out for. Has she had the tranny replaced/rebuilt? Has she had it serviced since new? Fuids flushed, anything? I would imagine if she is an easy driver her car could be a real gem.

It's true the SVX is definately not the best car for autocross, however, my one and only time participating at an autocross event I ran quicker than a repeat participant and his newer Firebird WS6. :p

Leave it in 1st gear and it wil shift when it has to at 6500 rpm. Open the hood between runs to let it cool down. For 1K you can aford to loose the car? Have fun. Search on auto cross as ther are some posts.;)

Re: New Guy
 

Mike,,
I have autocrossed a SVX since 1995. First a '94 FWD (my youngest son now drives it and still autocrosses it with 114K on it) and now a '97. While not the fastest, the SVX does very well considering it's weight. As one respondent indicated, he had better times than a Firdbird.
The Firebirds and Mustangs run in the SCCA class "F Stock". The SVX runs in "G Stock". With the index'ing (to compensate between classes), there is usually no real problem beating the Firdbirds and Mustangs on a good day - especially in the rain! :D And now that the SCCA has moved the WRX out of the G Stock where it started out, the SVX is even competitive with the WRX.
We autocross with the local Mercedes Club (they allow us "foreign makes"). Check out their web site for a comparison of times between different cars. The site is >www.gws-mbca.org<, and the autocross icon in the top left.

Take the SCX to autocross and enjoy. BTW, I run the Kumho racing tires at autocross, and someone else mentioned, pull it back into 1st and leave it there. We sometimes reach 60 - 70 MPH on the parking lot we autocross on (yep, it is a large lot), so the SVX will jump up to 2nd at times. But it will also down shift appropriately as well. Send me an e-mail if you would like to discuss autocrossing the SVX. I say do it! BTW, would you believe I had five SVX's at our autocross one month last year? Now we usually have at least 6-7 WRX's. Yes, it does nother the Mercedes crowd a little - But the F Stock guys more!
Enjoy!
Harry
newsvx

Hallo and welcome to the maddness,
what ever you do...be Very nice to your SVX...

Kelli:D

Earthworm,

Don't judge the SVX against the Camaro/Firebird twins. These are muscle cars (pony cars). They are fine for straight line dragging, but don't expect them to compete well on a twsity course.


Larry III

Welcome to the network as well. How did this one slip out of my hand?


Be nice? Which one?

Lwin

just be the little prince we all know that you are, even if you don't have your royal purple prom dress

Kelli

Well my aunt has been very gentle with the car. I think I'll be paying $5K for it. Also my uncle was a race driver in Sicily and was a mechanic over here so it's been well maintained. I plan on doing the ATF cooler on it as soon as I get it.

-mike

Larry III,
The late model Firebird / Camaro (as well as the late model Mustangs), actually handle quite well. Now your statements are VERY correct for my old 1969 Firebird 400, 4 speed. It would not turn worth a toot at speed - or stop well for that matter. But the newer F bodies do very well these days. And in raw time, they will beat the SVX almost every time. That's the reason they are in F Stock and the SVX is in G Stock. And if I recall correctly, while the WRX started out in G Stock, SCCA moved it first to F Stock, and then (because it was consistently beating the Firebirds / Camaros / Mustangs) moved it to D Stock. The "indexing" equalizes (sic) the times between the classes. The SCCA classes actually tell the tale, and one can benchmark against other cars using the index.
But regardless, autocrossing the SVX is FUN! And there is always someone that asks, "What is it?"
Harry
newsvx

paisan,

i re built a 88 xt6, complete new motor + all kinds of mods. built for the alcan5000 rally in 99. check my locker , you may have seen it on other xt6 sites as well. sold to a "chad" in neb. it was a great car.


welcome to the svx board.

Harry,

The newer firebirds, camaros & mustangs probably handle twisty courses alot better than the old ones but how do they compare to Celicas, Supras, Miatas, etc.

Larry III

Larry,
The new pony cars eat the Celicas and Miatas for lunch these days. We even had a "tricked out" / modified Celica GT that couldn't keep up - even with the SVX. Now the 300 HP Supras, that's a different story. I would love to have one of those! They run with the best. As with the pony cars, one just can't beat horsepower! - and in a superb handling car to boot. Yes, the Supra outperforms the F Bodies. And they are in a higher stock class as a result.
Harry