STX Rules and Setup Questions

[Silver Ignition]

Originally Posted by justinco

Yes, you can add them.

I just bought the STi front under-spoiler and this came up in my build thread. The rule seemed pretty obvious to me but not so much to others I guess. So, I asked and here are the notes from Doug to hopefully clear up some confusion:

Late to the party, I know we're talking about airbags right now but I'm wondering if the STi parts were legal on FR-S too?

[cjd]

Originally Posted by Silver Ignition

Late to the party, I know we're talking about airbags right now but I'm wondering if the STi parts were legal on FR-S too?

Nope.

[justinco]

Originally Posted by tigermack

I drive mine everywhere except to Pro's and Nationals.

Same with me. In fact, only reason I have a trailer is so my family and I can travel together to events, instead of taking 2 cars.

[finch1750]

On the topic of driving your car I daily my car and just got my first set of 200tw tires (RS-3s) with plans to run my first full autox season and am looking for help in making them last as long as possible.

I currently have -2.5 front and -2 rear camber with zero toe all around. I have camber plates, crash bolts and spc bolts in the front for adjustment. I was thinking of maybe pulling the crash bolts for my next alignment and then install them only for events to get to the -3 mark then swap back after. I am hoping to get the most use out of the tires since I wont have a second set of wheels until summer time when I can daily those instead of the RS-3. Any suggestions on my idea or what your guys have done that has worked?

[DocWalt]

Originally Posted by finch1750

On the topic of driving your car I daily my car and just got my first set of 200tw tires (RS-3s) with plans to run my first full autox season and am looking for help in making them last as long as possible.

I currently have -2.5 front and -2 rear camber with zero toe all around. I have camber plates, crash bolts and spc bolts in the front for adjustment. I was thinking of maybe pulling the crash bolts for my next alignment and then install them only for events to get to the -3 mark then swap back after. I am hoping to get the most use out of the tires since I wont have a second set of wheels until summer time when I can daily those instead of the RS-3. Any suggestions on my idea or what your guys have done that has worked?

That sounds like a huge pain in the ass for minimal gains in tire life, especially on "slow" tires compared to something like RE-71R or Rival S.

I ran similar alignment to your current specs and got some inner edge wear (~7k street miles) and outer edge wear (track/autocross abuse)... I'd bet you'd see a little bit more inner edge wear than I did on the street and less outer edge wear with the increased camber. That said, toe wears tires a lot more quickly than camber.

Flip the tires halfway through their life and you can extend the life a bit.

[Shneegle]

The RS3's are hard enough to deal with running daily and doing autox for a season before being bald even with those camber settings. You will heat cycle them out at around the same time as the season will be over or slightly before.

At least this was my experience in 2015 when I communted 60+ miles a day and did 10 autox events. By the end of the season the tires were nearly bald and I didn't flip the tires, but would recommend it.

[finch1750]

Originally Posted by Shneegle

The RS3's are hard enough to deal with running daily and doing autox for a season before being bald even with those camber settings. You will heat cycle them out at around the same time as the season will be over or slightly before.

At least this was my experience in 2015 when I communted 60+ miles a day and did 10 autox events. By the end of the season the tires were nearly bald and I didn't flip the tires, but would recommend it.

Good to know. My commute is about 50 a day, but I also have another car that I will split driving with. If I can get a season out of them I'll be happy. And I'll probably run about 10 events so should be good.

[tigermack]

That's too much work and you're not even running a lot of camber... especially with 0 toe all around. Don't even bother.

[renfield90]

Originally Posted by finch1750

On the topic of driving your car I daily my car and just got my first set of 200tw tires (RS-3s) with plans to run my first full autox season and am looking for help in making them last as long as possible.

I currently have -2.5 front and -2 rear camber with zero toe all around. I have camber plates, crash bolts and spc bolts in the front for adjustment. I was thinking of maybe pulling the crash bolts for my next alignment and then install them only for events to get to the -3 mark then swap back after. I am hoping to get the most use out of the tires since I wont have a second set of wheels until summer time when I can daily those instead of the RS-3. Any suggestions on my idea or what your guys have done that has worked?

I would think it is far easier to use the camber plates to change camber before/after events. You don't need to remove the wheel for that, just a jack to reduce the weight on the front and whatever hand tools you need for the plates. Changing bolts every event will require removing the wheel plus breaker bar, a second socket, torque wrench...

Or as others have suggested, flip tires halfway through their life and forget about it. You have zero toe and not a crazy amount of camber.

[finch1750]

Originally Posted by tigermack

That's too much work and you're not even running a lot of camber... especially with 0 toe all around. Don't even bother.

Yeah, I would like to run more is the thing. Think I could get away with something like -2.8/-2.3 front/rear and flip them still to last a season? I noticed I had outside wear just from the backroad run I did mild understeer (though its probably driver error causing it) so thats kinda why I was thinking of hitting -3ish for event and just up the rear for daily.

Originally Posted by renfield90

I would think it is far easier to use the camber plates to change camber before/after events. You don't need to remove the wheel for that, just a jack to reduce the weight on the front and whatever hand tools you need for the plates. Changing bolts every event will require removing the wheel plus breaker bar, a second socket, torque wrench...

Or as others have suggested, flip tires halfway through their life and forget about it. You have zero toe and not a crazy amount of camber.

I hear you. I figuredo the bolts since I know it'll add -.75 to -1 just maxing it out vs. having to eyeball it with the plates unless I get the setting mark on the plates for a rough adjustment. Though after reading all this I'll probably just up the camber a bit and flip the tires

[cjd]

Or just drive -3 camber, zero toe. The wear you get from the camber will probably be far eclipsed by the wear you get when you're pushing the car hard, especially if you don't have enough camber. Flip the tires anyway and it'll all work out. I got nearly two full seasons on a set of 255 RE71R and just hit the wear bars at ~run 260... probably 5-6000 miles on the road to/from events in addition before I started driving the PSS and swapping at the events. Hockey pucks? Yes... but still, ... Oh, and -3.3 front camber. But zero toe. And I didn't flip.

[finch1750]

Originally Posted by cjd

Or just drive -3 camber, zero toe. The wear you get from the camber will probably be far eclipsed by the wear you get when you're pushing the car hard, especially if you don't have enough camber. Flip the tires anyway and it'll all work out. I got nearly two full seasons on a set of 255 RE71R and just hit the wear bars at ~run 260... probably 5-6000 miles on the road to/from events in addition before I started driving the PSS and swapping at the events. Hockey pucks? Yes... but still, ... Oh, and -3.3 front camber. But zero toe. And I didn't flip.

Damn. I wouldnt expect that with over -3. Do you change tire pressure on the street compared to events?

[cjd]

Originally Posted by finch1750

Damn. I wouldnt expect that with over -3. Do you change tire pressure on the street compared to events?

Yes, but I was running 28/26 at events, usually 34 street. As long as you have zero toe, the amount of wear you'll see on the street is so small relative to an event where you're using the tire near its limit is just not worth fussing over. Get the alignment for racing and enjoy it. The tires will last longer overall, because you'll wear the outer edge less.

If you're really concerned about wear, get a set of commuter tires eventually. They'll be quieter, and you can go narrower which will mean less fuel... if you aren't fussed over the looks.

[renfield90]

Originally Posted by finch1750

I hear you. I figuredo the bolts since I know it'll add -.75 to -1 just maxing it out vs. having to eyeball it with the plates unless I get the setting mark on the plates for a rough adjustment. Though after reading all this I'll probably just up the camber a bit and flip the tires

Sounds good.

For anyone with plates who goes in for a custom alignment, it's worth having the tech work through a few different settings on the plates to see what values they generate. If your plates don't have markings, add some. That way you don't need to cough up more money if you decide you want 0.5 degrees more camber in a couple months.