THIS IS HOW YOU AUTOCROSS A REATTA, SCCA SOLO II STYLE
In my personal experiences, the Reatta is a very forgiving car that still packs enough bite to keep things interesting. During the time I've spent racing my car, I have payed very close attention to how it reacts in certain situations and conditions. The two BAD things about its handling are the fact that a Reatta's weight distribution is 70% front / 30% rear and, as the case is with most FWD cars, it pushes pretty hard in the corners. regular tire rotation is a must with this car. You can pretty much quarantee to chew up the outside edge of your front tires if you autocross on a regular basis. If you have a Reatta and think you would like to race on a regular basis, I would have to recommend a second set of wheels with real racing tires on them. Not only will your lap times improve dramatically, but you won't have to buy new street tires every 20,000 miles either. There is now a fairly good selection of racing radials to choose from in sizes that will fit a standard Reatta wheel. I've heard good things about the BFG Comp TA R1's, and they are available in 235/60ZR15 and 215/65ZR15 sizes.
The weight distribution problem comes into play in the form of a severe front end dive into corners. This in turn causes the front tires to become overloaded and that's where the push comes from. This can be seen in some of the pictures below. In the wet, Reattas behave quite well. I've run an Autocross in the rain and it was no problem. The car held its line in the turns nearly as well as it did in the dry.
The only other real handling problem lies with the rear suspension tuning. Most of the time it is well under control, but from time to time in a corner, the rear end will side step over bumps and pot holes. This is a characteristic I normally attribute to solid axle RWD cars, not independant suspensioned FWD cars. It is very easy to get the tail end to come out and say HEY also. If you enter a tight corner at a significant rate of speed, lift off the throttle and quickly steer through the corner all at the same time, the rear end will do a nice little dance for you. This no cause for alarm however, a quick jerk of the steering wheel in the opposite direction will bring it right back into line. The rear sway bar is also a bit too stiff it seems, in tight 90-110 degree corners, it is easy to get the inside rear wheel totally off the pavement. I wish I had a picture of that. Seeing my Reatta doing a "Three Wheel Motion" is quite common at autocrosses.
Don't get me wrong here, I DO NOT ABUSE MY REATTA. The races I compete in are mostly low speed. And in every other area, my Reatta is treated like a new-born BABY!
