QuestionI'm thinking of racing mini stock and i wondering how an s-10 would do? What r the best vehicles for a mini stock class?
AnswerI've raced against several S-10s and they are a worthy opponent! The engines are tough, there's a ton of performance parts available, you have the advantage of rear drive which using weight and scaling methods get this truck to handle with minimum guess work. With lowered springs they hug the track like they're on rails, and last of all a lot of weight can be cut off to get them close to cars. They will still be heavier, but the extra width and long wheelbase offsets the weight penalty quite nicely.
If you go with front wheel drives, the chrysler Neon is an excellent choice, or Ford's probe are dominating, especially at tracks where rules don't allow you to do very many modifications.
In stock trim they out handle and out "horespower" almost anything else.
The Neons have the advantage that Mopar put a lot of research into racing applications from the start, and a lot of racing components are readily available.
If you choose rear drive, the Ford pinto or mustang 2 (mercury capri) are also a good choice for the same reasons. There are engine parts for the 2.3 that'll get you into the 200 plus range easily and, like the S-10 you can draw from tried and true wisdom for all rear wheel drives which all other classes have been running from the dark ages. Smith racing publications have a book specifically for building these into a mini stock, follow that book and you'll be hard to beat.
Whichever you choose, build yourself an extra safe roll cage, remember to replace any and all mounts and bushings with either polyurethane or solid bushing mounts which will make any racecar more agile and consistent. Loose every ounce of unnecessary weight down to any trim, nuts, bolts, old mounting brackets, inner fender wells, even undercoating. One day I just spent stripping out undercoating, extra tin from behind bumpers, old brackets, etc. I put all this stuff into a bucket and came up with 75lbs of dead weight!! THAT makes a noticeable difference especially in the corners. Mount your racing seat as low as you can, to the left a little if possible ( an important rule of thumb is to allways keep your weight low and left). Also, a standard stick tranny beats out an automatic hands down, a lot of horsepower is wasted in automatics, and they have a lot fo reciprocating mass which makes them slow off corners.
These basic points all add up to quite a difference.
Talk to folks who drive the type car or truck you're thinking about running. You'll find racers are good people and willing to help out. They'll become important assets until of course you start beating them too often. Good Luck, email me whenever if I can be of more help. "Blue" Mike Peterson
Whatever you
