SCCA Solo D Street discussion

[cmiovino]

Recap of our first event. Been having very odd weather. It was below freezing and snowing Tuesday, then 85 on Saturday for the event.

Moved to the RT660's from the A052's. I like them for their responsiveness so far. They were very easy to get used to and comparable to the RE's. Yoks felt like they took a quarter of the season to figure out last year.

Only other change was adding a Perrin 19mm swaybar set to stiff (73% increase) and endlinks. I couldn't feel much of a difference to be honest. If anything, it helped with slaloms and changing direction well. Could be a combination with the 660's too. The car used to oversteer more and that's gone, but it makes for a more easily drivable car to hint at understeer when pushing IMO. I need to relearn how quickly I can get on throttle with the new setup - feels like it might be earlier with the new swaybar. I'm glad I didn't go with the 22mm Perrin bar as I think that would have been overkill.

I ended up 44 out of 117 in PAX. Not my best. I always have to shake rust off at the beginning of the year it seems. I compared it to last year and that's generally where I was at the end of the season.

Co-drive kept saying there was a 40.X in the car, but... eh. He's been autocrossing 20+ years and we were right there neck and neck. A gen 2 in DS had a 41.638 and he's a decent driver. We had an an STR gen 2 run a 39.3.... and that was with no engine/exhaust modifications.

Video of just me:

Co-driver mashup:

[Locust]

Okay these second gens are really fun in DS.

[justinco]

Forgot there was a DS thread ... cross posted from autox forum

First autocross in the GR86 was super fun!

Placed 2nd in class (DS) and 18th overall on PAX, out of ~140 drivers. Car is bone stock, just had the 1st service done a day before the autox.

Raw autocross video:

[foshjowler]

Photos from the Charlotte Pro this weekend.

[otter]

Any in-the-know folks have an update from Koni on rears?

[kraftyone]

Hi everyone I am new to Subaru's and new to autocross. I have done one event in my 1986 BMW 325es and decided it was way out of its class. Unfortunately all of the mods I had done before deciding to use it in autocross put it in STX. I was 9 seconds behind the leader in STX at our local clubs first event. So I went out and got a 2020 BRZ limited PP for our next event. I have a set of wheels with Azenis RT 615k coming as well as a set of EBC yellow, which I really liked on My BMW's. I plan on trying to get into several SCCA events around the Maryland area. I know there are several held at FedEx field, and Ripken Stadium. Any suggestions for other modifications that fit with the DS rules for a beginner?

Sent from my SM-G986U using Tapatalk

[foshjowler]

Originally Posted by kraftyone

Hi everyone I am new to Subaru's and new to autocross. I have done one event in my 1986 BMW 325es and decided it was way out of its class. Unfortunately all of the mods I had done before deciding to use it in autocross put it in STX. I was 9 seconds behind the leader in STX at our local clubs first event. So I went out and got a 2020 BRZ limited PP for our next event. I have a set of wheels with Azenis RT 615k coming as well as a set of EBC yellow, which I really liked on My BMW's. I plan on trying to get into several SCCA events around the Maryland area. I know there are several held at FedEx field, and Ripken Stadium. Any suggestions for other modifications that fit with the DS rules for a beginner?

Sent from my SM-G986U using Tapatalk

Do many events. You're not going to solve a 9 second gap by throwing money at it. Experience will get you there. The guys at the top have likely been doing this for years, even decades. I'm on year 5 and still improving.

[foshjowler]

Tried out the new GoPro, clearly I need to spot meter it to keep the pavement from blowing out. A lot of the fast guys were off doing something else this weekend, but I was still amongst the pro class guys that were there.

[kraftyone]

Yeah I definitely want as much seat time as I can get in this year. The tires where a must since the Primacy that are on it are lacking.

Sent from my SM-G986U using Tapatalk

[Desertnate]

Originally Posted by foshjowler

Do many events. You're not going to solve a 9 second gap by throwing money at it. Experience will get you there. The guys at the top have likely been doing this for years, even decades. I'm on year 5 and still improving.

This is the best advice. I've watched skilled drivers in a stock car crush lesser drivers in a highly modified vehicle. I've even experienced someone get in my own car and put down a run significantly faster than I could do!

I received similar advice when I started and attended the novice school a couple seasons ago. All of the veterans there encourage leaving the car stock as long as possible, with the exception of wheels/tires. Even then they don't recommend going with the grippiest tire on the market.

I'm only on my fourth-ish season, but my biggest mistake was cycling through a couple different cars. Not only do I not have many seasons, but I've not had more than a season or so in the same car. Hopefully this BRZ will be the turning point for me. Time to start piling on the events in the same car and start seeing some concrete improvements.

[steverife]

Slightly differing opinion.

There really isn't anything you can do to the car in DS that is going to make it so screwy that is is going to be detrimental to your learning. If you want to add camber or get a front bar or start learning shocks, go for it.

Also those RT615k's are really hard to drive, IMO.

[kraftyone]

I am looking forward to getting seat time in the BRZ. It is definitely a fun car to drive.

Sent from my SM-G986U using Tapatalk

[Desertnate]

Originally Posted by steverife

Also those RT615k's are really hard to drive, IMO.

In what way?

When I slap the all seasons on the OEM wheels this winter, I was planning on getting a set of the 615's on a set of wheels for autocross and occasional fun backroad drives.

Autocross events from me are about an hour away. Any serious backroad adventures or even a one-off HPDE would be 2~4+ hours away. I didn't think trying to put that type of mileage on a set of something softer like RT660's was a good idea and the RT615's might be a better "teaching tire" before going with something more sticky. Not a good plan?

[kraftyone]

Originally Posted by Desertnate

In what way?



When I slap the all seasons on the OEM wheels this winter, I was planning on getting a set of the 615's on a set of wheels for autocross and occasional fun backroad drives.



Autocross events from me are about an hour away. Any serious backroad adventures or even a one-off HPDE would be 2~4+ hours away. I didn't think trying to put that type of mileage on a set of something softer like RT660's was a good idea and the RT615's might be a better "teaching tire" before going with something more sticky. Not a good plan?

That was my exact logic for getting them. It was on recommendation from someone who has over 20 yrs of AX experience in my car club.

Sent from my SM-G986U using Tapatalk