STX Set-Up Sharing & Results Thread

[UncleFester]

Originally Posted by Evil86

I am really unhappy with the Zll tires, we are slower on them compared to the hankooks, and I liked the Zl tires better. We really dropped pressures from rs-3 levels.

All the hype surrounding them made me go another route.

[Wepeel]

Originally Posted by whataboutbob

AWESOME PIC

Just wanted to say that that's an awesome pic.

[was385]

Originally Posted by Evil86

I am really unhappy with the Zll tires, we are slower on them compared to the hankooks, and I liked the Zl tires better. We really dropped pressures from rs-3 levels. At least a second or so slower than the hankooks on good quality airport asphalt on a 50 - 60 second course, very peaky. We have the tires down to low 30s.

When are you going to be replacing them with the rivals? I'm very curious to hear opinions on those once people get a chance to run a couple events with them. Right now I'm new so I'm just running the stock wheels/tires until I kill the tires (because I'm new so I wouldn't be competitive anyways), but after that it looks like it's between RS3s and the Rivals.

[Evil86]

Originally Posted by was385

When are you going to be replacing them with the rivals? I'm very curious to hear opinions on those once people get a chance to run a couple events with them. Right now I'm new so I'm just running the stock wheels/tires until I kill the tires (because I'm new so I wouldn't be competitive anyways), but after that it looks like it's between RS3s and the Rivals.

When I wear them out. Unfortunately, they seem to wear very well.

[Simmons]

Originally Posted by Evil86

I am really unhappy with the Zll tires, we are slower on them compared to the hankooks, and I liked the Zl tires better. We really dropped pressures from rs-3 levels. At least a second or so slower than the hankooks on good quality airport asphalt on a 50 - 60 second course, very peaky. We have the tires down to low 30s.

I am not sure what I think about the Z2's

I drove the car yesterday, and was having problems with front and rear grip?

Back to the drawing board.


Simmons

[Evil86]

Did the Pro-Solo on Hankooks 255x40x17, co-driver took third (a tad under .3 seconds under the lead) and I took thirteenth out of twenty-one. Had to make suspension adjustments for Sunday's competition. I had to learn how to launch better, I was spinning tires all Saturday and on the first run Sunday. Hell, I didn't know.

We have a few ideas on how to improve a set up in progress. We got the weight down to 2630, and the next step is a battery change. Hopefully, we will do better at the Farmington Pro-Solo.

[Evil86]

Hmmm, I went back to the z2s for a local event. I sucked for comp runs, but my TO runs were fast, 5th in the TO runs, only a second behind the El Toro STX winner (he drove my car for a run).

In comp runs, the tire were 29 psi all around, but I forgot to air them before I ran, so I had 27.5 all around. I am thinking they need to be soft.

[race2win]

Originally Posted by Evil86

Hmmm, I went back to the z2s for a local event. I sucked for comp runs, but my TO runs were fast, 5th in the TO runs, only a second behind the El Toro STX winner (he drove my car for a run).

In comp runs, the tire were 29 psi all around, but I forgot to air them before I ran, so I had 27.5 all around. I am thinking they need to be soft.

What type of surface? Everyone local to El Toro seemed to think RS3s were the best choice & were happy on that surface. We started the El Toro weekend at 35F 30R on our ZIIs, which is how we had it at a prior event, but that was on concrete. I raised pressures Sun morning to 38F 33R & the car was much better.

We have found that the ZIIs do like lower pressures on concrete, but on pavement higher may be better. I would test that theory out this weekend, but our Rivals just came in

[Evil86]

Originally Posted by race2win

What type of surface? Everyone local to El Toro seemed to think RS3s were the best choice & were happy on that surface. We started the El Toro weekend at 35F 30R on our ZIIs, which is how we had it at a prior event, but that was on concrete. I raised pressures Sun morning to 38F 33R & the car was much better.

We have found that the ZIIs do like lower pressures on concrete, but on pavement higher may be better. I would test that theory out this weekend, but our Rivals just came in

Bondurant is asphalt. It is also very smooth.

I was wondering if the improvement in traction had more to with the course being well rubbered.

Typically, I run the Hankooks high to make up for the soft sideways, and the specs low to compensate for the stiff sidewalls. Unfortunately, I have to wait on the rivals, I just can't justify dumping tires cheap right now, so I will have to wear out the specs. Fortunately, I have enough rubber left on the Hankooks to cover big events for a while. Also, I tend to keep my pressures even all around on either setup.

[xwd]

Quick question. Do the 17x9 +35 RPF1s have enough clearance for the Essex brake kit? Or does the +45 have more clearance? I've heard different things based on the fact the spokes are different on the +45 versus the +35...

[BlaineWasHere]

Originally Posted by dwx

Quick question. Do the 17x9 +35 RPF1s have enough clearance for the Essex brake kit? Or does the +45 have more clearance? I've heard different things based on the fact the spokes are different on the +45 versus the +35...

+35 clears the AP Caliper.

FT86 Speed Factory has 17x9 et 35 RPF1s with Essex Sprint Kit on their car.

[GTM_Challenge]

Originally Posted by dwx

Quick question. Do the 17x9 +35 RPF1s have enough clearance for the Essex brake kit? Or does the +45 have more clearance? I've heard different things based on the fact the spokes are different on the +45 versus the +35...

As far as I know the both offsets in the 17x9 have the same faces. It's the 8"s that have different faces. The 17x9 +35 will have more clearance than the +45 due to 10mm more pad height on the back.

I'm unsure if either of the 9" wheels clear the Essex kit, but I know CSG is running the 8"s +45 with theirs just fine. I think pcasso has the 9" +35 and the Essex kit, but I'm not certain.

[race2win]

It's been over a week, but I thought I would share our experience at the El Toro Pro Solo.

First off, let me congratulate Elliott Speidell for his fantastic podium finish in Evil86's car. I'll let them tell their story, but I know they made some changes before Sunday's runs & Elliott pulled off some last-run heroics to jump up to 3rd!

For us, the results were bittersweet...on one hand 6th out of 21 for me doesn't sound very exciting & was further down in the standings than we had hoped, however I was very happy to be "in the hunt" all weekend with a car still very early in it's development & against such STRONG competition. To show how deep the talent was in STX, the top 6 were all in the top 20 in PAX (230-ish drivers) & the entire top-5 all made it into the Super Challenge...I missed getting in by .079 seconds & 2 positions.

We struggled a little on Sat with the set-up, the car was nervous in transitions, pushed in sweepers, & was very loose coming out of corners. So on Sun morning we softened front rebound a little, increased rear rebound, & softened rear compression slightly. We also raised tire pressures from 35F-30R to 38F-33R, & all told the changes transformed the car! It was much easier to be aggressive in transitions, & we were able to get into the throttle much earlier coming off the corners.

Unfortunately I just wasn't able to execute my runs when it counted & everyone else did, so I dropped in the standings. With only 2 runs left I was in 3rd, but fell to 6th after a red-light on my last right side run, & 2 near spins on my last left side run Catching the top 2 cars would have been tough as they were absolutely flying all weekend, but a solid top-3 was realistic without the mistakes.

Here are some data-points I took away from the weekend...

- The Twins may not be the best choice for a Pro...launching the car was tricky, too much RPM resulted in time consuming wheelspin, but too little RPM and/or feathering the throttle put the RPM right in the middle of the dreaded "torque dip" when it hooked up. We were consistently .1-.3 slower to 60ft all weekend & even further behind at the first turn.

- Adding to the slow starts, we had ECU/tune issues all weekend. For some reason the tune did not seem effective...power felt OK, but the launch control only worked twice all weekend, & the rev-limiter was still at the factory setting. The latter hurt us the most...the courses were VERY fast & open but still very transitional, so I was in the limiter quite a bit every run as there was nowhere to effectively get 3rd gear. As you all know, hitting the factory rev-limiter in 2nd gear is like driving into a giant bowl of jello in these cars...

- The top 5 cars were all on Hankook RS3s, & the 4th place car switched from ZIIs to RS3s after Sat morning runs & picked up tons of time. Most ST* drivers from So Cal that we spoke with said the Hankooks do work very well on that surface (grippy pavement in that area of the site). I think the ZIIs might be "as" fast at their peak, but the round robin format of a Pro played into the RS3s strength...HEAT! Around the middle of my 4th runs in each group I could really feel our tires start to fade...especially if they had been slid around at all.


Overall, it was a great weekend & it was fun mixing it up with some great cars/drivers. What more can we ask for with class diversity...4 different cars in the top 6 positions all separated by .580 Big congrats again to Clint Child, Steve O'Blenes, Elliott Speidell, Alex Muresan, & Jeff Stuart for your trophys in STX & making it to the challenge!

[ChopsMcgraw]

Originally Posted by race2win

It's been over a week, but I thought I would share our experience at the El Toro Pro Solo.

First off, let me congratulate Elliott Speidell for his fantastic podium finish in Evil86's car. I'll let them tell their story, but I know they made some changes before Sunday's runs & Elliott pulled off some last-run heroics to jump up to 3rd!

For us, the results were bittersweet...on one hand 6th out of 21 for me doesn't sound very exciting & was further down in the standings than we had hoped, however I was very happy to be "in the hunt" all weekend with a car still very early in it's development & against such STRONG competition. To show how deep the talent was in STX, the top 6 were all in the top 20 in PAX (230-ish drivers) & the entire top-5 all made it into the Super Challenge...I missed getting in by .079 seconds & 2 positions.

We struggled a little on Sat with the set-up, the car was nervous in transitions, pushed in sweepers, & was very loose coming out of corners. So on Sun morning we softened front rebound a little, increased rear rebound, & softened rear compression slightly. We also raised tire pressures from 35F-30R to 38F-33R, & all told the changes transformed the car! It was much easier to be aggressive in transitions, & we were able to get into the throttle much earlier coming off the corners.

Unfortunately I just wasn't able to execute my runs when it counted & everyone else did, so I dropped in the standings. With only 2 runs left I was in 3rd, but fell to 6th after a red-light on my last right side run, & 2 near spins on my last left side run Catching the top 2 cars would have been tough as they were absolutely flying all weekend, but a solid top-3 was realistic without the mistakes.

Here are some data-points I took away from the weekend...

- The Twins may not be the best choice for a Pro...launching the car was tricky, too much RPM resulted in time consuming wheelspin, but too little RPM and/or feathering the throttle put the RPM right in the middle of the dreaded "torque dip" when it hooked up. We were consistently .1-.3 slower to 60ft all weekend & even further behind at the first turn.

- Adding to the slow starts, we had ECU/tune issues all weekend. For some reason the tune did not seem effective...power felt OK, but the launch control only worked twice all weekend, & the rev-limiter was still at the factory setting. The latter hurt us the most...the courses were VERY fast & open but still very transitional, so I was in the limiter quite a bit every run as there was nowhere to effectively get 3rd gear. As you all know, hitting the factory rev-limiter in 2nd gear is like driving into a giant bowl of jello in these cars...

- The top 5 cars were all on Hankook RS3s, & the 4th place car switched from ZIIs to RS3s after Sat morning runs & picked up tons of time. Most ST* drivers from So Cal that we spoke with said the Hankooks do work very well on that surface (grippy pavement in that area of the site). I think the ZIIs might be "as" fast at their peak, but the round robin format of a Pro played into the RS3s strength...HEAT! Around the middle of my 4th runs in each group I could really feel our tires start to fade...especially if they had been slid around at all.


Overall, it was a great weekend & it was fun mixing it up with some great cars/drivers. What more can we ask for with class diversity...4 different cars in the top 6 positions all separated by .580 Big congrats again to Clint Child, Steve O'Blenes, Elliott Speidell, Alex Muresan, & Jeff Stuart for your trophys in STX & making it to the challenge!

Definitely a rough class that weekend, reminded me of my first years in BS with Isley, Braun, Goeke, and Thompson in the class and getting my butt whomped on.

Car was very loose transitionally and moderately loose on exit all day saturday. I don't mind a loose car so I just tried to drive around it saturday with only some shock, but threw some changes at it Sunday, once I got some confidence in the car I was fortunate to get a couple clean runs Sunday morning.

We currently have a ride height-shock travel/valving issue in the rear, working with the vendor to resolve before I post more specifics-




Elliot