Me and my brother are thinking about picking up a beater for occasional fun commute but mainly for messing around at the autocross events. Our first choice was obviously the miata, but I am a bit too tall for it. Our second choice would be a crx, but I’m a little wary about it being fwd. How good is the crx at autocross in its stock form? Are there suspension differences between the trims? How’s the understeer on it with the stock rsb? I don’t think we would get the crx si though.
CRX’s can only be called giant killers. They are not as competitive in Solo 2 in stock form as they once were but still earn national titles in classes that allow limited modifications. The understeer is easily reduced by pumping up the rear tires to 45 psi (track only!, bring a portable air tank) or so. Stealing some traction from the rear by over inflating the tires will reduce understeer by as much as you can stand.
If you want a competitive stock class car, look at what cars did well in their classes in 2013 here:
http://scca.cdn.racersites.com/prod/assets/results/2013%20Tire%20Rack%20Solo%20Nationals.pdf
Yup, I autocrossed my CRX Si a few times and as Mustangman said, it did quite well with tire pressure adjustments.
Thank you! CRX it is then! 
Let us know if you can find one. They’ve become pretty rare, ESPECIALLY the Si…
Yes, and unfortunately the few Si’s I see around now have been modded/hacked pretty badly.
I just checked cars.com, it lists 5 in the entire country, with 3 of them being the Si.
There’s a bunch for sale here around Boston on Craigslist, mostly the base model. For some reason it seems engine swaps are popular, and whenever I see an Si for sale it never has the original engine. Those 1.6 liters were great little engines, and the only reason I sold mine was the body was rusting out.
Autocrossing a CRX sounds like tons of fun. Isn’t fun the only reason for autocross? I autocrossed my 1960 Austin Healey Sprite Mk 1 3 times in 1970 (it was still known as gymkhana). With 45hp and bias ply tires I didn’t expect to be competitive but it sure put a grin on my face. In 2006 I watched autocross at Reno Stead airport. Miatas were doing well (I miss my 1996) but the mid 1970/early 1980 Corvettes were the most entertaining. Lots of spins and scattered cones! There was a little mid 1960s Datsun receiving it’s fine tuning nearby. It was so cammed up it idled at about 3,000 rpm with constant popping. When it had it’s turn it cleaned everyone’s clock! Have fun!
For some reason it seems engine swaps are popular
Because for around a grand you can add nearly 100 horsepower if you do your own work, which in a car that light makes for incredible performance gains.
That said, I’ve got a friend with an Si, original motor, but he put the JRSC supercharger kit on it, along with a bunch of other mods, and that thing is scary-quick.
The CRX was a great little car. I’ll never sell mine. I should autocross it again, but just never have the time.
In it’s day, the CRX was one hell of an autocross car.