STX setup sharing thread (2022)

[RT-BRZ]

You should really check out Shaftworks USA.

They have a few options from affordable to less so.

Originally Posted by smeowkey

The Bilstein B14's and B16's are attractive. The B14's are extremely affordable.

I am not a man who likes to go cheap. I like good shit and I'm always willing to wait a bit longer to be able to buy excellent stuff.

Pricing wise this is the easy stuff for me to price out. All quotes (CAD) are from the same retailer who ships all large orders for free. Add 13% tax and away I go. Acquiring RCE Tarmac 2 or Ohlins SUS MP21 may require some red tape cutting. Thankfully I have a friend who often drives down to the states for business.

• RCE Tarmac III Clubsport $6,316.99
• TEIN Super Racing Coilovers $5,114.70
• Apexi N1 Evolution $3,831.97
• Eibach Multi-Pro-R2 $3,494.99
• KW V3 $3,489.99
• Cusco Street Zero-A - PB $3,023.99
• Bilstein B16 $2,625.44
• Bilstein B14 $1,785.08

• Ohlins SUS MP21S ~2500USD
• RCE Tarmac 2 Clubsport ~2500USD

Those top 4 price points are not appealing plus I have seldom found any decent feedback about their performance at autocross. I also question the integrity and driver quality of reviews. I'm strongly leaning towards Bilsteins, Ohlins, Tarmac 2's or the KW V3.

I'll be doing some more chatting with fellow competitors. I find the Ontario gang are fully open to discussing their setups. My one mate has a crazy camber setup without coilovers. I don't want to copy him but I must take note.

[autoracer86]

Anything rce would be a great buy. Same with ohlins. I just ordered coilovers from the US myself and I’m not looking forward to customs and vat lol but hey what can you do. All the coilovers I wanted were only sold in the states.

[strat61caster]

For autox; shaftworks, redshift, ProParts > everything else.

[Racecomp Engineering]

Originally Posted by smeowkey

The Bilstein B14's and B16's are attractive. The B14's are extremely affordable.

I am not a man who likes to go cheap. I like good shit and I'm always willing to wait a bit longer to be able to buy excellent stuff.

Pricing wise this is the easy stuff for me to price out. All quotes (CAD) are from the same retailer who ships all large orders for free. Add 13% tax and away I go. Acquiring RCE Tarmac 2 or Ohlins SUS MP21 may require some red tape cutting. Thankfully I have a friend who often drives down to the states for business.

• RCE Tarmac III Clubsport $6,316.99
• TEIN Super Racing Coilovers $5,114.70
• Apexi N1 Evolution $3,831.97
• Eibach Multi-Pro-R2 $3,494.99
• KW V3 $3,489.99
• Cusco Street Zero-A - PB $3,023.99
• Bilstein B16 $2,625.44
• Bilstein B14 $1,785.08

• Ohlins SUS MP21S ~2500USD
• RCE Tarmac 2 Clubsport ~2500USD

Those top 4 price points are not appealing plus I have seldom found any decent feedback about their performance at autocross. I also question the integrity and driver quality of reviews. I'm strongly leaning towards Bilsteins, Ohlins, Tarmac 2's or the KW V3.

I'll be doing some more chatting with fellow competitors. I find the Ontario gang are fully open to discussing their setups. My one mate has a crazy camber setup without coilovers. I don't want to copy him but I must take note.

No reason IMO to go with KW V3 over RCE T2 for performance driving...the V3s are very soft (4 kg/mm front + 5 kg/mm rear). The V3s are nice on the street though.

Our RCE T3s are discontinued for the time being.

We do have a couple of new options in our 1 way RCE SS2 and 3 way RCE SSR. Those and our 2 way RCE T2s are our performance coilovers that are still very streetable, winter daily-driveable, and overall very "easy" to work with. The SS2 and SSR come with front and rear top mounts that add bump travel. Lots of travel on all of our stuff.

The progressive springs on the Bilsteins aren't for everyone, though some do like them. Not ideal for autox at least. In the past we customized them with linear springs and custom valving but it's a bit of work.

We've also used the Ohlins on our car in the past. They're good stuff. Check the spring rates that they come with...they've changed a few times over the years and I think are 5 kg/mm front and rear which is on the soft side. The endlink mount is frustrating.

I've tried some of the other options mentioned, but these are the ones we have the most experience with.

- Andrew

[ka-t_240]

Originally Posted by strat61caster

For autox; shaftworks, redshift, ProParts > everything else.

What are the shaftworks and redshift based on / built off? Aren't the redshift basically BC racing stuff?

[DocWalt]

Originally Posted by ka-t_240

What are the shaftworks and redshift based on / built off? Aren't the redshift basically BC racing stuff?

They're based off cheap but well made bodies from overseas with fantastic valving and internals. Redshift used to be based on BC, but hasn't been in a while.

[autoracer86]

Originally Posted by ka-t_240

What are the shaftworks and redshift based on / built off? Aren't the redshift basically BC racing stuff?

Shaftworks are not based off anything. Never looked into redshift before

[strat61caster]

Originally Posted by ka-t_240

What are the shaftworks and redshift based on / built off? Aren't the redshift basically BC racing stuff?

Don’t know, don’t care, shitting on dampers made in Asia with threaded bodies is a 2000’s mentality. These guys know their shit and do good work. DG’s lessons still apply - get good dampers made and proven by reputable people with dyno sheets so you have at least an idea of what you paid a few thousand bucks for. His brand guidelines and valving strategies are 10+ years out of date.

Would I buy BC’s or Megan’s off the shelf and expect them to perform at the highest levels? No, but I’d say the same thing about KW/rce, Bilstein, Tein, JRZ, MCS, Koni, at more then quadruple the price and want them gone through by one of the three for autox. Can you do damn well on off the shelf kw/rce or mcs? Absolutely, many do, but for less money I can get a damper setup specifically for autox by someone with a decade+ experience who has won in this chassis? I’m happy with taking that route.

I tried the custom bilstein route, I couldn’t make it work for me, my advice is to copy people that have succeeded with your chassis in your discipline or be prepared to book a lot of test days.

[DocWalt]

I had MCS on my ND Miata. Turns out one of the rear shocks was valved like a front shock and Shaftworks caught it for the new owner.

Explains a lot of the weird inconsistent behavior I had over the years.