Reply to "Autocross the cat ?"

Hi Bob:

A few years ago I left my Pantera at home and took my BMW M Coupe to a weekend SCCA autocross school in SoCal. I found it to be very tough even on that year-old, full-warranty car and I swore that I'd never put my Pantera - which is fully race prepared by the way - through the kind of abuse I experienced while autocrossing. An instructor at Skip Barber once explained that, even though your car might be at full throttle, a road course would still allow it time to "breathe". This is not the case on an autocross course.

I suspect that Jack DeRyke, who is much more knowledgeable about every aspect of Panteras and their ownership than I, would disagree if the car were properly prepared. In fact, I understand that Jack autocrossed his own Pantera for several years. So try it - you can always just park your car if you don't like it. Lastly, I would suggest that you make sure you�ve got an upgraded oil pan before starting out.

Matt Merritt
#2171


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