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Comment by BayAreaEscapee | Hacker News Reader

For awhile I was into autocross.

I remember one guy who would always show up in a Porsche 914 with racing tires, and he would run circles around us amateurs.

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It's not always the dog in the fight, but the fight in the dog.

I knew a guy that was an incredible mountain biker, won all the races he entered etc. He used to show up with crappy bikes probably 10lbs heavier than everyone else... he'd still win. Sometimes you either have it or you don't, and all the equipment in the world won't help you.

In this case a 914 is close to the perfect car for autocross. They are super light, so they change direction like a fly. The mid engine layout means they have excellent balance. Autocross is a low speed event, so the lack of power isn't the penalty it would be on a larger circuit. With modern tires a 914 should do extremely well.

The mid engine induced balance and short wheelbase on the 914 just made it ridiculous for autocross. It was like playing a video game where you stick to the ground. I certainly raced more powerful and faster cars, but it was possible to coax everything out of the 914 with an ease that few other cars could match.

Sounds a bit like my Lotus Elise. I never tried autocross but that car loved tight not too high speed tracks.

Those are a blast. I took a friend's one around a listed 15 mph corner at darn near highway speeds (on warm semi-slick tires) with not near the understeer you'd expect.

Yea I've seen some pretty sprightly little 90HP cars do autocross really well. Old 2002 BMWs, Porsche 914s, Mini Coopers, and some little Toyota spyders.

I autocrossed my '71 914/4 and it was so much fun. Somewhere I have a picture of me 3 wheeling it around a corner.

I keep reading stories if people going to track day on their liter bikes and getting outrun by the instructor riding a 250cc scooter.

That’s a funny sport. For years the SF area events were dominated by a guy who ran a ‘78 Toyota Corolla hatchback. Or what had once been that car, anyway.

We had a guy in some Ford station wagon that would win all the time. The smoothest driving I've ever seen; I don't think the tires even made a noise.

We all know those autocross guys…

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