STX setup sharing thread (2023)

[jcaserta]

Originally Posted by steverife

Related, I plan to pick up MCS 2WR's over the weekend.

I plan to turn all the knobs, but what is a good starting point for settings?

I run rebound in the middle all around (like 9 or 10 from soft) and compression in the first few clicks (2-5 from soft depending on site and how crazy i'm feeling)

[jcaserta]

Originally Posted by Jmudge

Sure thing!

Ride heights from the floor to the center of the fender well.
Front: 24"
Rear: 25 5/8"

Alignment
Front Camber: -4.6*
Front Toe: 0.10* out
Rear Camber: -2.5*
Rear Toe: 0.10 Toe in (equates to about 1/16" total in)

Regarding my ride height, I'm pretty confident there is too much rake/the front is too low. Believe I'm giving up too much front compression upon lifting and braking, as I think I'm hitting the bumpstops and it just pushes or brakes like shit.

Wow! Yeah sounds like the front is way too low. I'm at a little over 25" both front and rear measuring that way. I could go lower for sure but definitely not a whole inch lower. I'm also pretty sure the only way that works is if you're hitting bumpstops a lot, like you said. Interesting.

[cmiovino]

I'm putting together a starter STX kit, coming from 3 years of DS in my 2017 PP. It's been fun, but I really think this is probably the best route.

Someone local-ish is switching out his KW v1, Greddy tophat, 450/475lbs Greddy spring setup for something double adjustable. I'm going to have to confirm if the KW v1's are actually adjustable for dampening as everything I'm seeing online say the v1's are only height adjustable. Something tells me he wouldn't get these for autox with only preset dampening. I'm thinking they're probably the "GReddy Performance Coilovers by KW Suspension" that are now discontinued, but have 16 way dampening and he probably uprated the springs for autox.

The whole package is $600. Only has autox time on it as he trailers the car most places. I doubt there's 10k miles on it. I've been holding out for literally 2 years years wanting to get RCE tarmac 2's, but then every time I look at the price tag, it's "One more year of DS won't hurt."

I'm going to look for used rear lower control arms (Whiteline if noting good used comes up) and of course 17x9 wheels with 245/40 A052's. I've had two seasons on the Yoks and prefer them... and probably more with the added camber this is going to get me.

Coilovers with tophats, rear lower control arms, wheels/tires. Car already has a Borla catback, Perrin 19mm front swaybar, and the other odds and ends not worth mentioning.

Anything else I'm missing to get into STX compeditive-ishly? I'm roughly in the top 25% of PAX locally with a DS first gen twin. Hoping to be a bit better than that going to STX with 245's on 9" vs the 225 on 7.5" I've had... on 21lbs stock wheels. I plan on doing a UEL header and full EcuTek tune down the line once the suspension is sorted. Car already has Brembos with DS2500's.

[steverife]

Originally Posted by cmiovino

I'm putting together a starter STX kit, coming from 3 years of DS in my 2017 PP. It's been fun, but I really think this is probably the best route.

Someone local-ish is switching out his KW v1, Greddy tophat, 450/475lbs Greddy spring setup for something double adjustable. I'm going to have to confirm if the KW v1's are actually adjustable for dampening as everything I'm seeing online say the v1's are only height adjustable. Something tells me he wouldn't get these for autox with only preset dampening. I'm thinking they're probably the "GReddy Performance Coilovers by KW Suspension" that are now discontinued, but have 16 way dampening and he probably uprated the springs for autox.

The whole package is $600. Only has autox time on it as he trailers the car most places. I doubt there's 10k miles on it. I've been holding out for literally 2 years years wanting to get RCE tarmac 2's, but then every time I look at the price tag, it's "One more year of DS won't hurt."

I'm going to look for used rear lower control arms (Whiteline if noting good used comes up) and of course 17x9 wheels with 245/40 A052's. I've had two seasons on the Yoks and prefer them... and probably more with the added camber this is going to get me.

Coilovers with tophats, rear lower control arms, wheels/tires. Car already has a Borla catback, Perrin 19mm front swaybar, and the other odds and ends not worth mentioning.

Anything else I'm missing to get into STX compeditive-ishly? I'm roughly in the top 25% of PAX locally with a DS first gen twin. Hoping to be a bit better than that going to STX with 245's on 9" vs the 225 on 7.5" I've had... on 21lbs stock wheels. I plan on doing a UEL header and full EcuTek tune down the line once the suspension is sorted. Car already has Brembos with DS2500's.

My opinion....

- You don't need power to pax relatively well locally, but the header/tune/changed limiter is the most fun part of STX.

- You don't even need the rear control arms unless your alignment is wonky.

- That is more front rate and less front bar than just about everyone in the class is running. Of course, those 2 things do offset each other, though at the expense of compliance over bumpy surfaces.

[steverife]

Also just measured my ride heights. I'm at 24.88" up front and about 25.13" in the rear.

When I first put the car together I started at 24" up front (by accident, I set the heights on SSC wheels and tires) and it got worlds better when I raised it.

[ka-t_240]

I have thought my car is over sprung for a long while, but reading this thread confirms it. My car is dual duty road course/autox. On our 1 larger concrete venue the car feels great, but anything with tight turns it struggles.

I have RCE Tarmac 2, with 500lb springs the whole way around.
Then hotchkis front Swaybar and stock rear sway bar.


Maybe next year I should try actually turning some knobs vs just trying to drive better ahaha.

[RT-BRZ]

Originally Posted by ka-t_240

I have thought my car is over sprung for a long while, but reading this thread confirms it. My car is dual duty road course/autox. On our 1 larger concrete venue the car feels great, but anything with tight turns it struggles.

I have RCE Tarmac 2, with 500lb springs the whole way around.
Then hotchkis front Swaybar and stock rear sway bar.


Maybe next year I should try actually turning some knobs vs just trying to drive better ahaha.

If I did the math correctly, your 500lb./in. springs convert to ~9k springs. If that's the case then it's probable that you have too much spring in the front. The common setup on these cars is either 6k/7k or 6k/9k (more popular now) so it might be worth revisiting your front springs.

[foshjowler]

Finished of the season with a two day event this past weekend, 2 separate events for scoring, took home top PAX both days. Day one I spent most of my 4 runs dialing in the shock settings and tire pressures. Unfortunately the final run once I was finally happy with my settings was a dirty run, got one of the early cones according to a friend in timing. It was 1.8 seconds faster than my fastest clean that got top PAX. Day 2 I didn't make any real changes as the balance was where I wanted it to be.


For setup, I haven't had a chance to change the springs or rear bar/end links, and still running 450lb front and 600lb rear springs, and a rear bar I can't adjust from full stiff since the end links don't reach the soft setting. As a sort of band-aid I set the rear shocks to full soft, the fronts ended up at 14 our 30 clicks from full soft, and tire pressures were 30F/26R just to get a decent balance out of the car. Once I got a good balance to the car, it felt really good, and the times seemed to more or less be there.



Plan for the off season is 300/400 springs and to do something with the rear bar. Either get some end links so I can put the Eibach one to full soft or find someone local with a cheap stock rear bar that I can slap in there. We'll see how it feels then. If I end up ruining it, then at least I have a good baseline with the current setup to return to.



Day 1 (coned run)

Day 2

[cmiovino]

With wheel offsets on 17x9, are there any real advantages to using +35 vs +42? I plan on running a 245/40/17.

As far as I can tell, it's about split 50/50. I've seen some claim +35 might give some better clearance on the inner fenders maneuvering around grid.

I was thinking +42 because 200TW tends to kick up a lot of debris/pebbles and keeping that under the fender vs being throw up onto it would be better to preserve the fenders from rock chips.

[DocWalt]

+42 will definitely rub the inner fenders up front and tear up the fender liner where it covers the frame rail.

Otherwise, meh. Wider track is marginally better for grip but narrower is better cone clearance and the wheels/tires are the widest part of the car. You can always add spacers and push the wheels out if you feel like they're lacking.

[cmiovino]

Originally Posted by DocWalt

+42 will definitely rub the inner fenders up front and tear up the fender liner where it covers the frame rail.

This is interesting. Read through your journal thread and saw some others having slight rubbing issues with +35's on 245's. Weird. I see people on here and the other STX setup threads running +42 without spacers. Probably a 40/60 mix on +42/35. If yours and others are rubbing with +35, I don't know how they're getting away +42. Possibly different ride heights. Even then, if it's rubbing on the inner fender, that doesn't really help.

Maybe going with +35 isn't a bad idea then.

[strat61caster]

Tirerack specs +45 for these cars, I use 5mm spacers all the time (with extended studs) and it’s a tuning option I’ve been meaning to play with but haven’t had time to.

[foshjowler]

Originally Posted by cmiovino

This is interesting. Read through your journal thread and saw some others having slight rubbing issues with +35's on 245's. Weird. I see people on here and the other STX setup threads running +42 without spacers. Probably a 40/60 mix on +42/35. If yours and others are rubbing with +35, I don't know how they're getting away +42. Possibly different ride heights. Even then, if it's rubbing on the inner fender, that doesn't really help.

Maybe going with +35 isn't a bad idea then.

I had some rubbing on my 2022 when I had it in STR. Nothing crazy, didn't even hear it in the car, but there is some wear on the fender liner. Haven't noticed it on the 2014, but also haven't looked for it. I'm assuming these fender liners are disposable, so haven't really paid much attention to them.

[DocWalt]

That's pretty much the thing, it's not a big deal for it to rub a bit. On my first gen the +35s still rubbed the frame rail but "meh"