STX Rules and Setup Questions

[Shark_Bait88]

Originally Posted by DocWalt

We got 5 runs yesterday with 146 drivers. Could easily have had 6, we were on track to finish by 2:30 until a timing system issue in the last heat and a bunch of newbs working course at the same time delayed things. I was riding with someone and we got to a section of course with cones everywhere except for where they belonged... Same issue for the car in front of us, and they stopped to get a re-run too.

Yeah, we had a few instances where cars had to be held at the start line to reset the timing because a corner worker ran in front of the finish boxes.

[DocWalt]

Originally Posted by Shark_Bait88

Yeah, we had a few instances where cars had to be held at the start line to reset the timing because a corner worker ran in front of the finish boxes.

That seems to be "normal" as it's REALLY easy to forget that, lol.

[cjd]

Originally Posted by Shark_Bait88

Just got an email from RCE. They'll be able to send me a new set of camber plates in about 3-4 days. I want to try to sort out the spring perch situation too before installing them though.

I'm definitely looking forward to this season. I think you and I should have a pretty good time battling back and forth, and hopefully Jeremy and Jim start hitting more cones. lol

Sorry, I plan to leave you in the dust

[Shark_Bait88]

Originally Posted by cjd

Sorry, I plan to leave you in the dust

We'll see about that!

[2superblus]

Originally Posted by Shark_Bait88

We'll see about that!

It will be fun when all of the IL STX drivers come up to play in Milwaukee.

[Shark_Bait88]

Originally Posted by 2superblus

It will be fun when all of the IL STX drivers come up to play in Milwaukee.

Oh, I know that I've got no shot up there. You guys are too fast. haha

Doesn't mean I won't come play around when there's a weekend without conflicting events though.

My friend who placed 1st at the Chicago region event might offer some decent competition though.

[cjd]

Originally Posted by 2superblus

It will be fun when all of the IL STX drivers come up to play in Milwaukee.

I'll be there again all season, except for the opener which conflicted with Chicago

[justinco]

What have people done for lightweight seats/mounts, etc to get to the 25# weight limit for STX?

I just put together my Sparco EVO seat with Sparco base/slider/side mounts and the damn thing weighs 37.4# all together, about a ~5# savings over stock, argh.

It worked out good in my e36, with Sparco Sprint V seats and base/sliders. I didn't need side mounts though and those seats weighed in at 27# total. The passenger seat which was mounted directly to the base was right at 25#.

[xwd]

Get rid of the sliders? Those typically add a lot of weight. Very few people use race seats in STX in these cars, even at the pointy end, since the stock ones are fairly light and way more comfortable.

[cjd]

Originally Posted by justinco

What have people done for lightweight seats/mounts, etc to get to the 25# weight limit for STX?

I just put together my Sparco EVO seat with Sparco base/slider/side mounts and the damn thing weighs 37.4# all together, about a ~5# savings over stock, argh.

It worked out good in my e36, with Sparco Sprint V seats and base/sliders. I didn't need side mounts though and those seats weighed in at 27# total. The passenger seat which was mounted directly to the base was right at 25#.

I still drive to events. I'm not removing safety equipment, so stock seats are staying in my car.

[justinco]

Originally Posted by xwd

Get rid of the sliders? Those typically add a lot of weight. Very few people use race seats in STX in these cars, even at the pointy end, since the stock ones are fairly light and way more comfortable.

I'd say the sliders are the lightest of the bits, the base weighs a "ton" and the side mounts are heavy too. Supposedly the Buddy Club mount/slider kit is much lighter.

Originally Posted by cjd

I still drive to events. I'm not removing safety equipment, so stock seats are staying in my car.

Yea this experience has me thinking about putting the stock seat back in. Mostly because of what xwd mentioned above (stock seats being already fairly lightweight) and I have a Schroth harness which keeps me in secure enough that the race seat doesn't really make much difference there.

[justinco]

For others reference, I took my seat out to make adjustments tonight and weighed the mount kit by itself (Sparco base/slider/side mounts). All together those parts weighed in at 19.2lbs.

[DocWalt]

I figured I'd post here with the the update. The throttle closing is apparently "normal" in lower gears, it seems like the soft limiter in OFT tunes isn't enough to fully control revs so the ECU starts closing the throttle instead of just turning off fuel or retarding ignition timing. Doesn't seem to be an issue in 3rd gear, and doesn't happen all the time in 2nd. 1st gear it starts closing the throttle within ~0.25 seconds because the revs start climbing a little beyond what it thinks is acceptable. I guess I'll make the soft limiter a little harder to prevent it from closing the throttle.

On another note, car setup wise. I picked up a Whiteline 20mm front bar. It became apparent that I need less oversteer as I've been pushing the car much harder as my comfort level has gone up. Install should happen this weekend, then I should be doing a couple of events in the next couple of weeks so I can see how it behaves. I'm expecting it to be even better in slaloms and I'll be able to use the throttle more aggressively mid-corner.

edit: I want to clarify, this isn't an OFT issue, just that the OTS tune has a limiter that's a little bit too soft for the abuse of autocross. It's easy to change it and reflash.

[cjd]

Originally Posted by DocWalt

I figured I'd post here with the the update. The throttle closing is apparently "normal" in lower gears, it seems like the soft limiter in OFT tunes isn't enough to fully control revs so the ECU starts closing the throttle instead of just turning off fuel or retarding ignition timing. Doesn't seem to be an issue in 3rd gear, and doesn't happen all the time in 2nd. 1st gear it starts closing the throttle within ~0.25 seconds because the revs start climbing a little beyond what it thinks is acceptable. I guess I'll make the soft limiter a little harder to prevent it from closing the throttle.

On another note, car setup wise. I picked up a Whiteline 20mm front bar. It became apparent that I need less oversteer as I've been pushing the car much harder as my comfort level has gone up. Install should happen this weekend, then I should be doing a couple of events in the next couple of weeks so I can see how it behaves. I'm expecting it to be even better in slaloms and I'll be able to use the throttle more aggressively mid-corner.

I'm curious about this. I wonder if I need understeer now, but will later need to dial it out again; matching the car to current capability seems smart when I think about it that way, and for some reason I hadn't before.