Has anybody done this?

A couple years back, my brother went up to Mass, to an abandon air-field, where a group of guys got permission to do a little recreational auto-crossing. Set up a bunch of cone "gates" you had to go through, lots of twists & turns so you never were going too fast.

I am sure some of the Pinto's on this site would be great for this. My car, for example, is lowered, with a high-reving motor, and sticks in the curves on the road like no tomorrow.

So, got me thinking, if anybody else has had this idea.

When I start working on wifey's car (79 Pinto) this summer I may do a few mods to improve handling and see how it does at an autocross event.    Maybe I can get her interested. 
My 1973 Pinto thinks it's an old Porsche 911...  If I go hard into an off-ramp and lift off the gas the rear end wants to slides out.  If I stay on the power or gradually power down I can control it a long as I don't enter the turn too fast.  So for now I brake hard just before the turn then power through the turn.    Having the 1600 engine I sure don't need to worry about over-powering the rear wheels!   
Does your car do that and what did you do to reduce that step-out effect?     

When I start working on wifey's car (79 Pinto) this summer I may do a few mods to improve handling and see how it does at an autocross event.    Maybe I can get her interested. 
My 1973 Pinto thinks it's an old Porsche 911...  If I go hard into an off-ramp and lift off the gas the rear end wants to slides out.  If I stay on the power or gradually power down I can control it a long as I don't enter the turn too fast.  So for now I brake hard just before the turn then power through the turn.    Having the 1600 engine I sure don't need to worry about over-powering the rear wheels!   
Does your car do that and what did you do to reduce that step-out effect?     

No, I honestly never noticed that. The only time the @$$ end of my car wants to kick out is if I am taking a really sharp corner and I give it too much gas, making it want to to more of a power-slide. The good thing with the car is that if I do start to slide, it doesn't kick out too much and just letting off the gas will bring it back fine. For the most part though, I do what you do, brake prior to the corner, usually down-shifting to bring up the RPM's, and gas through & out of it.

Eric, let us know how it goes. Where about's are you located if you don't mind me asking. Maybe some other guys would be interested in trying it out. How funny would that be, rolling up to the air-field with a half-dozen Pintos LOL

its an old air field in fort myers, actually in lehigh acres, fl. im in no mans land from most people on here. 6hrs from the fl. ga line.
 
 

here is the web site for the autocross,
enjoy!!!
 
eric
 
http://www.gulfcoastautocrossers.com/index.html
 
have a ton of pics and stats as well!

I'd like to get mine in shape to do a little autocrossing this summer. Get a turbo 2.3 in it, 5 speed, 8.8 rear end and put some new shocks in. For now I just go out on random woods and mountain roads - it corners amazingly considering it's an old economy car with blown out shocks and worn bushings. Mountain passes with old cars and CB radios are a blast.

I've got a lot more planned down the road as I get money and get better at welding...

well it certainly looks like you kept the pressure on all those other 'sports' cars.  Your times looked to be quite competitive