STX Rules and Setup Questions

[strat61caster]

Originally Posted by Tbor

What are some other things I can do?
RS3's? Pulleys? Drive shaft? would it make sense to get new shocks or save up for coils?

Tires (17x9 wheels, most run 245 RE71R's which aren't good 'all around' tires and become a dedicated second set to your DD)
Alignment (more camber roughly -3F/-2R, appropriate toe)
Coils (stiffer springs required to control the car with the new amount of grip from the sticky tires)

That could cost you $2k or it could cost you $8k depending on how nuts you go, then there's little stuff like sways and weight reduction, biggest advantage is in the three above along with a header and tune, if you have all 4 things dialed in you are 95% of the way there to a nationally competitive car.

What makes sense? Keep having fun and do tons of research before you buy, I'd bet you could shave up 5s off with driver improvement without significantly changing the car. Alignment can be hugely beneficial so I'd pursue that first with an emphasis on buying the right stuff so you don't have to sell and buy again.

[smg1138]

For those running the Strano bar, are you using the stock or adjustable endlinks?

[e1_griego]

Originally Posted by smg1138

For those running the Strano bar, are you using the stock or adjustable endlinks?

I'm running whiteline endlinks, but a bit shorter than the normal BRZ ones.

Whiteline KLC180-195.

[Tbor]

Originally Posted by DocWalt

-Proper summer tires will gain a LOT of time when you learn to drive with the new grip. I'd say to not waste time on the RS3s, but realistically there's a lot to learn going from all seasons to full on FAST tires like the RE-71Rs.

-Upgraded driveshaft isn't allowed in STX, I don't remember if pulleys are allowed.

-I'd save for coilovers, but your current suspension will still let you have a lot of fun.

-You're not likely massively down on power, so don't worry about chasing that for now.

I can't watch the video here, but it's likely tires and driver mod that will gain you the most time.

Supposedly SJR has some good drivers, but I've yet to make it down there myself to really see how they compare to the guys I'm used to. I plan to at least once this year Do you plan on making any Philly region or BMC events this summer?

Awesome, thanks for the input. Tires are the first thing I'm looking into. I know i need more seat time, so ill hold off on going crazy just yet.

I'm hoping to attend one or two Philly events if i can fit them in. SNJ they are super lax about most things, which i like.

Originally Posted by strat61caster

Tires (17x9 wheels, most run 245 RE71R's which aren't good 'all around' tires and become a dedicated second set to your DD)
Alignment (more camber roughly -3F/-2R, appropriate toe)
Coils (stiffer springs required to control the car with the new amount of grip from the sticky tires)

That could cost you $2k or it could cost you $8k depending on how nuts you go, then there's little stuff like sways and weight reduction, biggest advantage is in the three above along with a header and tune, if you have all 4 things dialed in you are 95% of the way there to a nationally competitive car.

What makes sense? Keep having fun and do tons of research before you buy, I'd bet you could shave up 5s off with driver improvement without significantly changing the car. Alignment can be hugely beneficial so I'd pursue that first with an emphasis on buying the right stuff so you don't have to sell and buy again.

Definitely makes sense. I really enjoyed myself yesterday, i just ran novice before so this is different ball game.

So on my list of first things is Tires and alignment. After that I'm going to save for some coils.

About the tires... Is there any of them that you can recommend for both DD summer tires and Autocross? I dont mind if they are for summer only(i still have my stock wheels i can throw blizacks on), but i dont have a garage so switching them out every month is a pain.

[jbailey8748]

Bet there's 5seconds to gain in just the tires. Also driveshaft is illegal in STX. And if your not already on coilovers you need to be. 9" wide wheels with 255wide tires would be real helpful. Good that you already have a tune and header.
You should find the rule book and go over it so you don't do anything to put you in the wrong class.

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[Kostamojen]

Originally Posted by smg1138

For those running the Strano bar, are you using the stock or adjustable endlinks?

I ran the stock endlinks until I got the coilovers which have a different mounting point and require adjustables.

[jbailey8748]

Originally Posted by Tbor

Awesome, thanks for the input. Tires are the first thing I'm looking into. I know i need more seat time, so ill hold off on going crazy just yet.

I'm hoping to attend one or two Philly events if i can fit them in. SNJ they are super lax about most things, which i like.



Definitely makes sense. I really enjoyed myself yesterday, i just ran novice before so this is different ball game.

So on my list of first things is Tires and alignment. After that I'm going to save for some coils.

About the tires... Is there any of them that you can recommend for both DD summer tires and Autocross? I dont mind if they are for summer only(i still have my stock wheels i can throw blizacks on), but i dont have a garage so switching them out every month is a pain.

Right now rival s and re71 are the go to autox tire and they both perform extremely well on the street.

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[strat61caster]

Originally Posted by Tbor

About the tires... Is there any of them that you can recommend for both DD summer tires and Autocross? I dont mind if they are for summer only(i still have my stock wheels i can throw blizacks on), but i dont have a garage so switching them out every month is a pain.

Your earlier assumption was right, RS3's and ZIISS are the '2nd tier' tires right now, probably 1s-2s slower than RE71R's on the same car, unless you're drifting and tracking all the time or autox-ing 2+ times per month you should be able to get ~10k+ street miles out of them but they'll lose speed and grip probably near the end of the first season you run. They'll be good track tires too if that's in the cards whereas the RE71R and BFGRS I hear overheat during the longer sessions that come with track days. The fast tires simply wear out too quickly on street use, they'll be absolutely toast by the end of the year if you drive on them every day.

While some may say 'don't bother using other tires, they're too slow' imo you've got a lot to learn, no reason to burn up >$650 of sticky tires figuring stuff out and you may be done with autox by the end of the year (it's hard work to set up a car to do well, lots of trial and error even if you spend big bucks and it just doesn't hold some people's interest), at least with the RS3/ZII you'll get some useful DD life out of them as well and a more progressive introduction to the level of grip rather than just tossing on the stickiest tire and going from a car that pulls ~0.9g to a car that's capable of >1.3g overnight.

Watching the video, autox on those tires once or twice more, and get someone who is fast that you trust to drive the car at least once with those tires on an autox course, it blew my mind when I did that and I'd guess it would be just as revolutionary for you as well.

[renfield90]

Originally Posted by DocWalt

So, wtf is going on with my car? The ECU is just cutting throttle when I hit the limiter sometimes, like at 0:36. I was foot flat to the floor and it was just coasting along. It did it again immediately before the finish, as well as other short sequences during the run.

My understanding is the ECU uses ignition timing to achieve a soft limiter. Basically you dumb down ignition to the point that the motor makes roughly equilibrium power, but not enough power to actually accelerate.

If you're knocking though, the ECU will pull timing, and could cause you to back away from the limit. This is especially true since things like IAM seem sticky to me (I've seen it go down, but never back up to 1). So if you knock enough to drop IAM it'll hurt you even if you're in a part of the RPM range that isn't seeing knock.

If it happens again, strongly recommend you log all the knock parameters.

[DocWalt]

Originally Posted by renfield90

My understanding is the ECU uses ignition timing to achieve a soft limiter. Basically you dumb down ignition to the point that the motor makes roughly equilibrium power, but not enough power to actually accelerate.

If you're knocking though, the ECU will pull timing, and could cause you to back away from the limit. This is especially true since things like IAM seem sticky to me (I've seen it go down, but never back up to 1). So if you knock enough to drop IAM it'll hurt you even if you're in a part of the RPM range that isn't seeing knock.

If it happens again, strongly recommend you log all the knock parameters.

That all makes sense. I've never had the IAM drop on this tune, but granted I don't make it a habit to sit on the limiter on track or on the street, and I only just started seriously autocrossing it. I'll keep an eye on it.

That still doesn't explain the throttle closing. I'm thinking I should log the fuel pressure... or see if it goes away running more fuel in the tank.

[smg1138]

Originally Posted by Kostamojen

I ran the stock endlinks until I got the coilovers which have a different mounting point and require adjustables.

What coilovers are you using? Right now I'm using the stock bar and endlinks on my Tarmac 2's with no issues. I think the KW strut works better with stock endlinks than some other designs, but not totally sure.

[smg1138]

Originally Posted by e1_griego

I'm running whiteline endlinks, but a bit shorter than the normal BRZ ones.

Whiteline KLC180-195.

Do you get any clunking from them? I had some last year but could never get rid of the clunking, so went back to the stock setup over the winter.

[e1_griego]

Originally Posted by smg1138

Do you get any clunking from them? I had some last year but could never get rid of the clunking, so went back to the stock setup over the winter.

Nope, not one bit.

I ordered the shorter ones because the stock ones seemed a bit too long.

[smg1138]

Originally Posted by e1_griego

Nope, not one bit.

I ordered the shorter ones because the stock ones seemed a bit too long.

Are those shorter than the endlinks that come with the 20mm adjustable front bar? I remember the ones that were included seeming like they were too long even without adjusting them. Maybe that's the culprit.