SCCA DST Setup Thread(2025)

[RongTurnRacing]

Originally Posted by DocWalt

Double the price of Cusco for no reason, IMO.

More expensive? Sure. Looks like about $100. Definitely not double.

Cusco parts are made in Japan so that's better than China. Racer X parts are made in the US and that's generally good.

I've been very happy with all the Racer X parts I've purchased so I guess it just depends on where you want to spend your money.

[autoracer86]

Originally Posted by DocWalt

Double the price of Cusco for no reason, IMO.

Not sure why I never looked at getting the cusco ones. Had a think about the racer x ones but didn't love the price and did worry a bit about strength compared to a OEM upper

Thanks

[DocWalt]

Originally Posted by RT-BRZ

More expensive? Sure. Looks like about $100. Definitely not double.

Cusco parts are made in Japan so that's better than China. Racer X parts are made in the US and that's generally good.

I've been very happy with all the Racer X parts I've purchased so I guess it just depends on where you want to spend your money.

https://www.blackhawkjapan.com/products/cusco-965-474-l

Huh?

[RongTurnRacing]

Originally Posted by DocWalt

https://www.blackhawkjapan.com/products/cusco-965-474-l

Huh?

Hmmm....yeah, that's half of what I can find for the Cusco ones on a general internet search. Even with $63 in shipping, that's pretty good.

If you Google search all the normal US companies then you'll see about double that price. That is indeed a killer price. So killer that I'm tempted to get them even though I have SPL lowers.

[DocWalt]

Originally Posted by RT-BRZ

Hmmm....yeah, that's half of what I can find for the Cusco ones on a general internet search. Even with $63 in shipping, that's pretty good.

If you Google search all the normal US companies then you'll see about double that price. That is indeed a killer price. So killer that I'm tempted to get them even though I have SPL lowers.

Yeah all of the US sellers are *stupid* overpriced. I assumed that's the price you were referring to. Same thing I ran into.

Tariffs right now are a bit of a bump in cost, but still not nearly as bad as RacerX (and yeah having stateside support does add value, but not that much IMO)

[RongTurnRacing]

Originally Posted by DocWalt

Yeah all of the US sellers are *stupid* overpriced. I assumed that's the price you were referring to. Same thing I ran into.

Tariffs right now are a bit of a bump in cost, but still not nearly as bad as RacerX (and yeah having stateside support does add value, but not that much IMO)

Right, that makes sense. I am also a general fan of buying American but at double+ the cost. Of course, that's accounting for same/similar quality. Chinese parts don't fit the bill unfortunately.

[spcmafia]

What I can say is that if you order from Blackhawk, you end up paying their shipping fees, plus tax, then you have to pay UPS a tariff fee, which unfortunately is not the shipping cost that you already paid BH. Typically, at least from the last item I ordered, the shipping fee and tariff fee come to about the same price.

[RongTurnRacing]

Originally Posted by spcmafia

What I can say is that if you order from Blackhawk, you end up paying their shipping fees, plus tax, then you have to pay UPS a tariff fee, which unfortunately is not the shipping cost that you already paid BH. Typically, at least from the last item I ordered, the shipping fee and tariff fee come to about the same price.

Good call out. I've been hit from those fees after the fact from some SIM racing gear. So, figure right around $200 on top of that cost from BH. That puts them at ~$530 so it's still cheaper than most US companies and a couple hundred cheaper than RX but not quite half.

[DocWalt]

Yeah current tariffs are annoying to deal with and increase the cost of everything.

[spcmafia]

Pending a few minor updates, my car is now DST worthy. Thank you everyone for the information.

[cmiovino]

So is it new 2026 thread time, or are we sticking with this one - who wants to make the call?

Had our first event over the weekend. It was below freezing when I pulled up in the morning.

[spcmafia]

Originally Posted by cmiovino

So is it new 2026 thread time, or are we sticking with this one - who wants to make the call?

Had our first event over the weekend. It was below freezing when I pulled up in the morning.

I guess this one is fine.

Pretty early start. This weekend was pretty cold in NE in the 36s. Cant imagine driving on the Yoks with those temps.

[cmiovino]

Originally Posted by spcmafia

Cant imagine driving on the Yoks with those temps.

I ran the new RE-71RZ. They weren't scrubbed in, so I can't give a full review yet. Tire Rack was saying they're terrible on the street in terms of ride comfort, even compared to the RS and I didn't have that experience at all. In fact, they felt better than my worn out RS's from last year.

From my results last year, just my opinion, but the RE-71RS were better than the Yoks for me. Better feedback, stability, confidence. I also think if you're on asphalt vs concrete the Stones are the clear winner.

Hoping the durability of the RZ's are up there. Without Pitt Race anymore (RIP), I'll be driving longer to events with -4 degrees of camber.

[spcmafia]

Originally Posted by cmiovino

I ran the new RE-71RZ. They weren't scrubbed in, so I can't give a full review yet. Tire Rack was saying they're terrible on the street in terms of ride comfort, even compared to the RS and I didn't have that experience at all. In fact, they felt better than my worn out RS's from last year.

From my results last year, just my opinion, but the RE-71RS were better than the Yoks for me. Better feedback, stability, confidence. I also think if you're on asphalt vs concrete the Stones are the clear winner.

Hoping the durability of the RZ's are up there. Without Pitt Race anymore (RIP), I'll be driving longer to events with -4 degrees of camber.

I have heard nothing but good things on the new REs, might be a next year tire for me as the Yoks are only a year old and I barely did more than 4 events last year.

Driving most of the spring and summer on -4 camber is freaking awful. Since I switch tires in between events, my all-seasons are super twitchy with anything over -3.