My BRZ ST* Autocross build

[apexaddict]

Originally Posted by Sam Strano

Andrew was funny when I saw him in Toledo... He said in the spring he was calling me to put all the stuff in a box and send it for his car. I guess he liked it.

I liked it quite a bit!

I think that as far as ST/SP autocross goes nowadays, the common thought is, "well, if a little bit is good, more must be better!" So people end up with cars with crazy alignments, 1000lb spring rates, and $4500+ shocks with a billion adjustments. As someone who has chased their tail and spent a lot of money on these exact things before, I really learned the hard way that most of it is not only unnecessary, but actually ends up making the car slower, too. In fact, unless you're a race engineer with all the equipment needed (think shock potentiometers) and a ton of data, you will rarely find much improvement from Motons/JRZs/Ohlins/etc. over something like a basic Koni (or in this case, KWs) - and that's if you're a good enough/consistent enough driver to find that limit in the first place. I know I'm not!

Sam's setup does not fall into this category - in fact, it's deceptively simple and works extremely well. I never felt like it needed to be stiffer, or that the spring rates needed to be changed, or that the shocks needed revalving, or anything like that. And a lot of people (including myself, if I looked at this a few years ago) would argue that his setup is "too conservative". It's not. The balance is very good, it's easy to drive fast, and at least for me, suits my driving style very well. Sure, you could throw more spring at it, or change the valving, but doing that would be a roll of the dice at best.

Anyone looking to swap the suspension on these cars would be doing themselves a favor by talking to Sam first, regardless of it being for autocross, track, or otherwise.

[Scooby South]

And....Officially STX...wahoooooooooooo Last event this weekend in Milwaukee.. we'll see how it does with no PRO index this time... Straight up STX.. No changes to the car from the Subaru challenge so it should be as good... its supposed to be cooler this weekend so we'll see how it does for grip. Having a great co-driver who can help set the car up has been instrumental in the success so far...Thanks Everybody

Bill

[Scooby South]

from todays event... 4th on INDEX out of 140, 7th Raw time and 1st in class

[Scooby South]

Adding this from the KW AX thread..

After about 100 plus runs on my car since new..I am still very impressed with how the KW Var3 works... I have said it from the beginning that they got it right to begin with. They did the R&D and its shows...I have done some minor tweaks to my initial setup but its not that far off from the factory recommended settings.. a couple of clicks on the Rebound and compression, the ride height, and camber settings...(I am using front Plates).. I don't know how the others compare to the KW's but I Know that I got the best product for the money to be competitive in my Class.. the car has a number of class wins and a couple of index wins.. so the car is competitive..
-Recommendations:
Alignment is absolute critical with this platform, My car has been on the rack 4 times before I finally figured out the 'sweet spot'
-KW's have multiple settings for bump and rebound...Don't be afraid to experiment a bit to know what the suspension is doing.
-Ride height is also critical with this platform... Slammed is not the optimum handling option for this car.. it will take some time to play with that too...again don't be afraid to experiment.
-spring rates are a personal choice...but I will say the KW's are pretty good out of the box...I have tweeked the spring rates to my liking making the car handle better..but Know that the stock spring rates are adequate..
-Sway bars: I have not found a need to swap out sway bars with the KW's... I have upgraded the bushings and the endlinks...as well as the Rear subframe bushings..Less movement overall makes the car more predicatable..

thats my review in a nutshell ... I won't get into specifics on my settings, Alignment or my setup...I will give you general information... ...besides that my driving style might be alot different than yours..... I will say my car is setup to shave 10ths off not just seconds... I will be fighting for a championship next year so I am trying to get the car as comfortable as possible that is fast and instills the most confidence driving it..

one last thing...Car is setup to run with NO Traction Aids whatsoever...ALL OFF..
hope this helps

Car is getting ready to get put up for the winter...where I can continue my build.
Plans are to finish the suspension with:
-LCA Bushings
-possible brake upgrade
-Engine and Tranny mounts
-Header
-overpipe
-catted midpipe with my trusty turn-down
-Possible LW Seats
-going to get tuned, but probably not until the spring to see what else develops..

Also going to wait on the diff as the Stock Torsion is working as Advertised..

Thanks to everybody for the support and following my build..I appreciate it.

Bill

[Scooby South]

Awesome action shot... full load, At Speed... not much roll there.....From my last Race of the year...4th on index out 150. I'll take it..
Enjoy

[Nazarite]

Congrats man, great work! I'm really keeping an eye on your build as the path for my car (at least suspension wise), so thanks for all your hard work and pioneering, best of luck to you!

[Neziah]

Hey congrats and thanks for sharing your experiences with the FR-S. I am hoping to hit up some of the local AutoX next year. And I have to say I am already a fan of the majority of the parts/people you are using on your car as well.
:happy0180:

[Pete156]

Scooby,
Do you have a TRD part number for the door stiffeners?
Thanks,
Pete

[Scooby South]

Originally Posted by Pete156

Scooby,
Do you have a TRD part number for the door stiffeners?
Thanks,
Pete

Check here...

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?p=363714

[Simmons]

Originally Posted by Scooby South

Adding this from the KW AX thread..

Car is getting ready to get put up for the winter...where I can continue my build.
Plans are to finish the suspension with:
-LCA Bushings
-possible brake upgrade
-Engine and Tranny mounts
-Header
-overpipe
-catted midpipe with my trusty turn-down
-Possible LW Seats
-going to get tuned, but probably not until the spring to see what else develops..

Also going to wait on the diff as the Stock Torsion is working as Advertised..

Thanks to everybody for the support and following my build..I appreciate it.

Bill

Does anyone make a Legal motor mount for the car?

Simmons

[Scooby South]

Originally Posted by Simmons

Does anyone make a Legal motor mount for the car?

Simmons

Subaru Grp N mounts will work..

Bill

[GMASTER6]

Bill i have been following your build so far and you really are in a very good path indeed!!!the good results are just the tip of the iceberg keep the thread alive and let us know how your spec list will get richer!
And remember seat time and practise will always be the best "modification" for good results

[Scooby South]

thanks soo much..
here is a gallery from the Subaru Challenge that Andrew Pallotta co-drove.. Awesome time.. and the car did really well

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?...1&l=1b174ce89b

Teaser...

[Scooby South]

So I made a wish list of my car and the approximate cost..I need to win the lottery..:/

Future STX mods
• Front Four Pot BBK upgrade with 2 pc Rotors $2000
• Header $500
• Over-pipe $300
• Catted Mid-pipe $400
• Rear Sub-Frame Bushing $50
• Frt LCA Bushings $200
• Rear Control Arms $600
• Engine and Tranny mounts (inserts) $???
• Front Adj Sway Bar $200
• 1.5 way Rear LSD $2500
• Front Splitter $250
• Tune… $1000
• Light weight Seats $750ea

with all this I expect to be around 2500lbs and have 200 Whp(Est) this is extra from what is already done:

* KW Variant 3 Suspension
* Front Camber Plates
* 17x9 Wheels
* Hankook 245/40/17 RS3's
* Kartboy Rear Endlinks
* Kartboy Rear Diff Bushings
* DIY Intake w/K&N panel filter
* Lightweight Battery
* Muffler delete
* Stainless Brake lines
* Motul Fluid Change
* additional Rear Bars as needed 16mm(WRX) 19mm (STi)
* Various other Kartboy items.