New FR-S Owner - AutoX Question

[ButteR]

Hi,

I just purchased a brand new 2015 M/T FR-S. My previous car was a fully bolted custom tuned "modded for autoX" 2013 Genesis Coupe 2.0T M/T. I loved the geneis, but i sold it to change things up.

I've read the entire owners manual, and I've read TONS on these forums and already have an idea of what I want to do with the car in the long run, but for the first 30,000 miles I'm going to be daily driving and autocrossing the car 100% stock (with the exception of wheels/tires that I'll be swapping out for autoX days.. )

Post 30,000 miles I'll be installing the KW 3 variant coilovers, and all sorts of of other suspension work, but for now, I'm just looking for the most cost effective way to get my camber front camber to the -2 to -3 range and my rear to the -1 to -1.5 range.

I've done tons of reading and there are just soooo many aftermarket options for this car, so I'd appreciate it if someone can give me some advice on what to buy and install before I go get an autoX oriented alignment.

I figured it'd be fairly straight forward - install some OEM camber bolts, get an alignment done and then I'm good to go. After all the reading I've done though, it looks like I may need to get camber plates up front and lower control arms in the rear to achieve what I want.

I'd like to just spend $200 max, preferably less, install myself, then go get a quality autox aggressive alignment.

Also,, question about my tire wheel set up that I have now - I've got 17x8 +40 offset wheels with 245/40/17 star specs that I plan to use for autoX. I would have purchased wheels and tires sized closer to OEM specs, but I already own these and using the online wheel/tire fitment tools, seems like i shouldn't have any fitment isssues.

Feed back on my wheel/tire set up would be awesome as well..
I love the car. At 350 miles so far, sticking with the "stay under 4k RPM for first 1,000 miles engine break in outlined in the owners manual. After I hit the 1k mile mark I'll be replacing the engine, gear and tranny oils, have my alignment set up and start autoXing the hell out of the car

Thanks in advance for some tips to get me started!

[the new guy]

Your 17x8 wheels put you into a SCCA STX classing which opens up a world of modding.

You are correct that you could not achieve your camber goals without what's stated. If you truly want to keep the car stock i would recommend going back to a 17x7 rim, getting some 225 sticky tires like RS3, PSS or StarSpecs to stay in the CS stock class.

There's threads in this forum section that detail the class rules more


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[was385]

The simple answer is that you're not going to be getting into those alignment specs with that budget. I think the rear will be around that range stock but for the front, I'd just go OEM crash bolts (cheap from a Subaru dealer) and call it a day until you're ready to throw some money at it for quality camber plates. Even maxing out the OEM crash bolts makes a significant difference.

[Racecomp Engineering]

As mentioned, a set of camber bolts up front will get you some much needed negative camber and then just leaving the rear as is will get you close to where you want to be. spend the 200 bucks on bolts + alignment + entry fees.

I would recommend our RCE Tarmac 2s over KW V3 for autox. Our T2s are custom valved and custom sprung KW Clubsports with a lifetime warranty. We worked with KW extensively for a slightly more track oriented set-up (that still rides well). The V3s are great, but a little on the soft side. Just another option to look into when you get to that point.

Wheel/tire combo sounds good but will move you into STX. Which is fine if you're out to have fun and you can still do well locally.

- Andy

[ButteR]

Cool thanks for the feed back. Good to hear that my tires n wheels will fit, figured they would. I've never cared about which SCCA class I'm in, all about fun for me :p. I just sign up for time only every time so I can choose my run group and work group.

Cool, I'll go with the OEM camber bolts, get an alignment and I'll be good to go for a bit.

Thanks for the suggestion about those coils too, ill look into them. On my genesis I ran stiffer spring rates in the front than the rear, 12K/9K respectively. I liked it a lot.

[cjd]

I didn't see bolt pattern on those wheels, and hate making assumptions. Are they 5x100? Is unclear if they're already on the car or were in your garage from a different car or...

I know the TEIN SRC has a 10/12k spring recommendation, and that's considered high by many on this platform without note power... A lot seem to run square for AutoX. I think you're being smarter than I am, running the car stock before diving in.

[whataboutbob]

Come join us this weekend:

https://www.facebook.com/sandiegoautocross

http://sdrscca.com/

[raul]

As far as alignment range goes, there's nothing you can do for $200 or less to get to the range you requested. I would suggest actual camber bolts instead of crash bolts since you'll be running in STX due to your wheel size. They offer a better range of adjustment, and you really need as much as you can get in the front. Aside from that, here's a quick and dirty upgrade path for you, @ButteR

Barebones STX build:

- Coilovers w/ camber plates (capable of reaching up to -3.5 in the front)
- LCAs (if you get too much natural camber from lowering)
- Header with good low/mid grunt
- Tune to optimize header gains
- 17x9 lightweight wheels
- 245/40-17 200uqtg tires (Rival, Z2, RS3, R1R)
- Upgraded front swaybar (For better turn-in. Several bars will work: Stranoparts, Whiteline, SuperPro, etc.)

Those are the bread and butter mods, along with a good alignment.

Then there are the marginal/subjective gain mods:

- Whiteline Rear subframe inserts (better seat of the pants feel for what the rear is doing)
- Lightweight seats (no lower than 25lb)
- Lightweight battery
- Front/Overpipe
- Lightweight catback exhaust
- Intake
- LSD
- Shifter and transmission bushings
- Short shifter

Plus whatever else I'm forgetting that's legal.

Don't cheap out on coilovers and header. Those are your biggest items. You'll have room to play with on the rest.

[TrqlessWonder]

Originally Posted by cjd

I didn't see bolt pattern on those wheels, and hate making assumptions. Are they 5x100? Is unclear if they're already on the car or were in your garage from a different car or...

I know the TEIN SRC has a 10/12k spring recommendation, and that's considered high by many on this platform without note power... A lot seem to run square for AutoX. I think you're being smarter than I am, running the car stock before diving in.

Also, if you want to continue to use hub rings, you'll likely find that you need different ones. Found that out when modifying my old wheels for the FR-S.

[ButteR]

Originally Posted by raul

As far as alignment range goes, there's nothing you can do for $200 or less to get to the range you requested. I would suggest actual camber bolts instead of crash bolts since you'll be running in STX due to your wheel size. They offer a better range of adjustment, and you really need as much as you can get in the front. Aside from that, here's a quick and dirty upgrade path for you, @ButteR

Barebones STX build:

- Coilovers w/ camber plates (capable of reaching up to -3.5 in the front)
- LCAs (if you get too much natural camber from lowering)
- Header with good low/mid grunt
- Tune to optimize header gains
- 17x9 lightweight wheels
- 245/40-17 200uqtg tires (Rival, Z2, RS3, R1R)
- Upgraded front swaybar (For better turn-in. Several bars will work: Stranoparts, Whiteline, SuperPro, etc.)

Those are the bread and butter mods, along with a good alignment.

Then there are the marginal/subjective gain mods:

- Whiteline Rear subframe inserts (better seat of the pants feel for what the rear is doing)
- Lightweight seats (no lower than 25lb)
- Lightweight battery
- Front/Overpipe
- Lightweight catback exhaust
- Intake
- LSD
- Shifter and transmission bushings
- Short shifter

Plus whatever else I'm forgetting that's legal.

Don't cheap out on coilovers and header. Those are your biggest items. You'll have room to play with on the rest.

Thanks for the quick list. I've cheaped out on coilovers before, and i agree 100%, either do it right and spend the extra $ or don't do it at all.

The 245/40/17 tires on 17x8 wheels will put me into STX. The only other "mod" i will have is camber bolts + a good alignment (getting the most neg camber I can up front).... Yeah, running in STX with a stock car with big tires lol - maybe they'll work with me and put into a less modified class.

Taking a clip from your quote above "- 17x9 lightweight wheels". Any reason you run 17x9 wheels for 245/40/17? I have my 240/40/17 star spec IIs on 17x8 wheels..(this was recommended to me as the best wheel width for these tires by a tirerack rep)

[cactus]

The side wall will be more square on a 9in wheel vs 8in wheel. This should give you better feel because the tread wont move around as much in relation to the rim.

Crash bolts will get you to ~-1*.

I suggest you stay as CS, get some 17x7s and use the ZIISS on them. Use your stock wheels even and use the 17x8 with some street tires. You can the get a stiffer front bar later on for not much money. Save up for some good coilovers and 17x9s, then move to STX.

[ButteR]

I see, that makes sense. I'm not sure what you meant when you said "use your stock wheels even and use the 17x8 with some street tires."

I'm assuming you mean use the 17x8 for daily driving and the stock wheels/autoX tires for the autocross days. You can go up to 225/35/17 on the stock wheels and stay in cs yah?

I like that idea, I'll be selling my tires (and wheels even) then so the rubber don't sit n get old. They have 4 autocross events on them and about 500 miles of daily driving to break them in. Tires are mounted on wheels, cleaned and dry, stored appropriately - in air tight bags etc. in my apartment.

I suppose there is a "for sale" thread here but if this forum is like most, I won't have access to posting there until I've been a member for x amount of time and or posted x amounts of time.

Thanks for the tips.. lot of good information here, lotsa reading to do :p

[raul]

He means that if you want to be classed in C Street, you can get some lightweight 17x7s (or use the stocks) and put the Z2SS on them, and use your 17x8s for the street. But yes, a 245/40/17 mounted on a 9 will give better feel than mounted on an 8.

[TrqlessWonder]

Originally Posted by ButteR

You can go up to 225/35/17 on the stock wheels and stay in cs yah?

I'm going to hope the /35 is a typo and you meant 45. In any event, you can run whatever size tire you can get to hang onto the wheel, that doesn't rub. The stock size wheels (with some small allowances for offset and +/- 1" diameter) are the rule, the tires, with the exception of Treadwear Rating, are pretty much completely open.

There's folks around here that run anywhere from 215's to 245's on CS legal cars.