Gentlemen:

I have never seen such a wimpy group of sports car owners as those who own Crossfires. Every independent, or SCCA track event I have participated in for the past two years have proved that, because I am always the ONLY Crossfire who has ever had the ***** to put the pedal to the metal and compete with this wonderful car.

I'm really disappointed that those of you who discuss modifications, more HP and better handling, only do so to drive in bumper-to-bumper traffic, or thump your chest in the comfort of your own home, in front of your computer screen.

Get off the f'ing computer and come out and drive the car during track events... Heck, I have seen little girls in Miatas on the track that have bigger ***** than most Crossfire owners. I would think that you all would get a clue and represent the Crossfire community. No wonder they are discontinuing the car, most of the people who bought them are lame sunday drivers who only get into arguments about how to MOD the car, when none of you would even take the pleasure of enjoying the MODS on a race track.

I was running an event a few weeks ago that had 36 Mini Coopers in attendance... Now if Mini's can get together for track days, why can't the Crossfire owners? I have my theory, but it would be too rude to put on this forum...

It seems that the owners of this wonderful sportscar are some sort of weird breed of people who talk about making their car fast, but don't do anything about it. And they don't even experience the car for what it was designed for, nor do they even know what mods are necessary to improve it...

If you want information about how to become involved in track events with your Crossfire, drop me a PM...

 

I totally see your point. But, I will say that my reason for not going to track days is costs. Please correct me if I am wrong, but tires alone will set you back almost $900. Then, your brakes will fade early, your suspension will become loose, and your frame will begin to rattle more often (due to taking hard cornering). I had a friend who auto-crossed his M5 many times at Watkins Glen, and his car felt very beaten on. If I had the extra cash, I would buy a second car for the track, because currently, the Crossfire is my daily driver. Plus, wouldn't insurance not cover collisions on a race track? I will repeat myself...if it wasn't for the (assumed) cost of driving your car on the track was very low, I would be to the track/autocross every weekend. Nevertheless, I really like the mods that you did to your car, especially the SPARCOS!!! Were they a simple installation? And, more importantly, can you give us all an estimate cost of running the Crossfire on a track?

 

Anyone know the of a place to autocross near Philadelphia Pa.?
I work on muscle cars for a living, so I only know about 1/4 mile tracks.

I averaged 15 mpg at my last fill up, so I must be doing something right. lol
I would be interested in giving this a try.
Thanks for any help or info.

 

Dittos, I drive about 100+ miles a day in my XF and the factory warranty will not cover any autocross caused damage. There is no insurance coverage on tracks. Also, I live in Ventura area near the cool beach air 65 degrees and hate to drive in the heat 100 degrees+ of the Desert! Almost 75 miles or more away. I'm spoiled I guess and a wimp!

 

WHOA... HDDP, aka Steve, as in (McQueen) lighten up a little. Just because most, if not all other XF owners do not race their cars doesn't necessarily make us a collection of wimps. (Well maybe in my case it does, but that's another story.)
There are lots of reasons for not racing our cars, and probably #1 would be economics. Racing may improve the breed, but for the most part it destroys the car, ruins resale value, and generally puts your car in harms way. Other factors like the average age of the XF ownership, time involved, # of cars owned, location of the race tracks, all come into play too. Besides, we're probably all "Walter Mitty" racers everytime we get into our XFs, well at least some of the time anyway. You are correct, it's a shame there aren't alot of XFs on the tracks around the country because the publicity would probably improve Chryslers bottom line. I mean let's face it, hard core sports car enthusiasts, usually spend their money on cars with a little more "Track Proven history". And even though MB is doing pretty well racing these days, DaimlerChrysler isn't enjoying any fallout from their success. The old saying "Race on Sunday, sell on Monday" is still valid. Just look at how many Dale Ernhart Monte Carlos you see. (Well maybe not in Calif. but down South). Maybe as prices keep falling and even more used XFs become available, we might begin to see more XFs turning up track side. I hope we do. Unfortunately, the lack of performance engine parts for our cars won't help matters any.
I fondly remember how proud I used to feel after attending Trans Am races back in the late 60's and early 70's to have my favorite marquee do well. Even though I knew my car had about as much in common with a T/A racer as a F-16 has with a Lear Jet. It still felt great to see an underdog compete with the Big Boyz and show'em some tail light.
I realize you were probably just "venting". I can appreciate your frustration, but why not revel in your individuality and take special enjoyment out of the fact every spectator at the track is talking about YOUR car. Be glad you don't have to share the Lime Light with a half a dozen other cars just like yours. Good Luck! Be Safe!

 

a very classy response, +fireamx.

 

I don't post much and this is my experience and not what I think you should or should not do.

My Crossfire is a daily driver and I drive it 35+ miles a day during the week.

I've been to my first SCCA II event a couple of weeks ago and I have to say I had a blast! How much did I spend? A total of $134 ($100 helmet, $28 registration, $1 magnetic number rental, $5 gas). My car has stock everything, so it was placed in the D-stock class.

There were 98 cars that day including Miata's, Mini Cooper's, S-2000's, STi's, G35's, Porsches, M3's, and Datsun's. I have to point out that there were 7 G35's to 1 350Z. Even the salesman that sold most of the G35s was at the event. And they had nice rims and suspension and other stuff you'd expect them to put on their cars. There was also a mixture of beat up 240sx's, Honda's and Toyota's. There was also a Chevy S-10 (the older, bigger model), a Nissan Pathfinder and a Honda Odyssey. And 1 Crossfire.

I had four recorded runs and three "fun runs". I was able to shave of 16 seconds between my first and second run. I came in second in my class behind an Acura Integra Type-R. If I wanted to be competitive next time, I would dish out the cash for those R-comp tires, which would be the easiest way to mod my car without moving up a class. But I won't because I got what I really went there for. I got a chance to find out what my car can do, what I can do, some recorded times, some exposure for the Crossfire, and most importantly, a license plate frame that says "SCCA II. I'd rather be AUTOCROSSING".

How did this affect my car during my daily commute? It felt lighter. It felt nimbler. It felt faster. Mostly because of me. I "felt" what I can do in my car and it's so much more satisfying to feel it and not read about what it could and should do in a magazine or the Chrysler website. Judging by my times, the crossfire could do more. Or I should say I could do more. I'll be going again in a couple of weeks.

After previewing this post, I realized that this is not about the Crossfire.

 

I've also autocrossed my car and had fun doing it. But after watching someone crash their $30,000 plus car, I realized that no insurance will cover the car. As tempting as it is to race against cars that will smoke us in a straight line, I have to watch how we dust them on a track. I can't forget my already experience with a wrecked $36,000 car with no insurance and $18,000 to fix. I wouldn't want to go out there and not push myself and the car, that's extra wimpy. So, I would race every month if I had a second car. The only thing stopping me is that I don't have a garage. I think I'm still the only Xfire in Miami to autocross.

By the way my car is an auto and I still smoke a lot of cars out there.

 

From my viewpoint the reason why there are so few XF's on track seems to be the cost and FACT that they are not best suited to track. A used BMW with 40K on the clock will take a beginner with the bug (like MadRooster?) far further than a XF, mostly because of the availability of aftermarket parts.

I would love to see more XF's on the track but I can understand why owners don't run them. I can't understand why some owners on these pages spend ages talking about racing them on the streets, but don't track them. Racing on the roads can be much more dangerous and your insurance can only cover so much, loss of a license or life?

Here in the UK we have very little private track car racing, and most people who do it use a second car, Lotus, or a Westfield (perhaps with motorbike engine. Picture below is a 4 Pot Westfield, the V8 and bike engine version look almost the same. Bike engine is a Suzuki 1299CC (420 BHP per tone) with six speed sequential gearbox, 10,000 RPM in all gears, 0-60 in 3.2 seconds who cares about the top speed - no slow though. If I take a car on the track it will be a track car, clutch on the Westfield is under $100, 1 hour to fit, light on pads and tires. (And fun on the roads - in the dry!)





http://www.westfield-sportscars.co.uk/megabusa.htm

 

Another Westfield the XI.

 

DDDork Dan: Non-timed track days with a reputable promoter are considered driving instruction. If you are incompetent enough to crash, (which I'm sure you would do) your insurance company has to cover the damage, as you are not racing.

You have not stopped being full of yourself and professing BS knowledge in the past few years... Quit passing out mis-information...

As far as the warranty, for all intents and purposes, if you make ANY modifications to the OEM vehicle, the factory can deny your warranty, if the parts you modified had any direct effect on the parts that failed...

So, if you modified your intake and you had a problem with your pistons, rings etc... You are SOL if the dealer wants to take it to that level...

So... DDDORK DAN... Why are you such a noodle brain?... Don't you think everyone knows what implications come with modding the car...

I have yet to see your lazy as* out at the track, though you keep professing you're the hottest pizza in the oven...

I'm running with the Porsche Owners Group at Willow Springs next weekend, and with the Racer Factory in Pahrump NV at the end of October... Sure would like to see you put your as* where your mouth is, if it's not there already!!!

 

hottest pizza in the oven!? LMAO

 

It was a nice metaphor... LOL

 

Excuse me. "autocross" is not instructions and my mods are mine, and I have no excuses, so. have fun! And mine is leased!!! Anytime you're in Ventura just let me know! I'll shut your mouth up!
I'll pick the canyon!

As for tracking with you... I don't think so, just because you asked so NICELY! you rude as*---0!

 

Let's see...most tracks have ample run off areas, if a novice toasts his car, it's usually because he's got delusions regarding his own skills.

Autocross, serious accident damage in autocrossing is EXTREMELY rare. It has happened but it's almost unheard of.

Most damage is limited to some cone scuff marks. Tape up the potentially effected areas and the car is none the worse.

But CANYON racing, yeah, go play tag on a canyon road. Now THAT'S designed for safety when racing beyond speed limits. No risks to your precious leased car (with those high speed AMG mats) there!

Dan, do you actually even OWN a Crossfire (or ANY performance car), or are you simply a keyboard car jock?

 

I'd love to Autocross an Elise, fun little buggers!

 

FYI guys... Damage during SCCA Autocross or Solo events would not be covered by your insurance, because they are officially timed events, thus racing... But all of the events that I run with Speed Ventures, Speed Trial USA or The Racer Factory are considered "advanced driving instruction" because they are not officially timed events and they have professional instructors as part of the track crew... This is how they get around the insurance stipulation. In the past 5 years of events with "The Racer Factory", there has not been one incident of "Trading Paint" with another driver...

Canyon racing is insane!!! Not only are you endangering yourself, but others as well...

As far as Dan's car... Yes he actually does have one... I've seen it...

 

When did I say it was safer to drive a canyon??? FEAR FACTOR!!!

 

Most of the people don't race their crossfires, because most of the owners of the XF are not that driver/performance oriented. They bought the car because it looks good and has "bling", not to run autox/scca events. I wanted more performance and constantly flamed and attacked for even mentioning it.

The Wimp Group should be renamed "The non-racing, fan-boi, gotta have bling factor wimp group."

 

So what have you done performance-wise other than mount some snow tires? Or were you flamed, because you were one of those that constantly bit*hed but did nothing about it?