i have a few questions about some products that i want to get for autocross.
i want to know what struts you can throw sportlines on. i want some thing easy to adjust and install. oh maybe coil overs
i was looking at getting 17" rims that are light and would fit 225/45R17. there are the same diameter as my 195/65R15.and a good set of tires.
i was going with the power slot hawk brake pad combo thru gravana tuning, but if you know a better set up let me know.
oh i am currently in the STS class but with the turbo going in soon i don't know what crazy class i am going to be in
RAKSJ04 wrote:i want to know what struts you can throw sportlines on. i want some thing easy to adjust and install. oh maybe coil overs
Koni Yellows will accept sportlines AGX's are warantied for the drop the Sportlines provide in the rear. Gravana sells a koni and spring combo, that would be perfect for you. Otherwise RKSport and Groundcontrol both sell coilovers. I'd reccomend the Ground Controls with Koni Yellow as many people are often selling spring sets for them, so you can get additional spring rates and figure out which one you like the most.
On the other hand with springs you just bolt up and go!
RAKSJ04 wrote:i was looking at getting 17" rims that are light and would fit 225/45R17. there are the same diameter as my 195/65R15.and a good set of tires.
This is what I'll be running next year 17" rims (falken habani's) with Falken RT-615's because I don't want to have to switch out tires at the autox. Habani's arn't the lightest (aprox 17lbs) but for the price there very good. Another excellent choice would be Kosei K1 TS's but they currently don't have a model that will fit our cars. If you have the money for them, and can find them to. SSR comp wheels will be the lightest strongest you can find.
Just because a wheel is really light doesn't mean it's strong (thats why you don't seen autoxers running around on inexpensive light drag racing wheels.
edgeracing.com is one of the few sights that posts wheel weights, along with their prices, which are also very good.
RAKSJ04 wrote:i was going with the power slot hawk brake pad combo thru gravana tuning, but if you know a better set up let me know.
I have the kit and it works excellent!
RAKSJ04 wrote:oh i am currently in the STS class but with the turbo going in soon i don't know what crazy class i am going to be in
I see all that's putting you there is your intake
Other Reccomendations:
-Rear Addco sway bar
-Front and Rear strut tower Braces
-Stainless Steel Brake Lines.
-The drop itself fill give you a little bit of camber, you can increase this with some camber bolts.
-4-point Harness (you'll feel the car a lot better)
If your going to go straight out coilover, after the cost of Koni Yellos and ground controls (around $800.00) if your serious about autox you may want to just save up $400.00 more and purchase some Tein Super Streets.
Also next time you order from Gravana ask for some decals. I know as much money as I've dropped in his store and for my brother, with the great prices he gives you, you might as well give him a little advertising
.
-Chris
RAKSJ04 wrote:i was looking at getting 17" rims that are light and would fit 225/45R17. there are the same diameter as my 195/65R15.and a good set of tires.
I think that is a bad idea. 205/50/15's would have 2" smaller diameter. Better gearing and less weight.
i was going to run 17"s because i was going to get the big brake kit someday. and wider is better.
and i was going to put eibach anti-sway bars.
A turbo will put you in the SM class. I just asked about this not long ago since my Hahn kit is coming. I plan to have it installed before the season starts here. You will most likely have you butt handed to you as I will....but it's all for fun.
"If you aren't shifting, then you certainly aren't driving!"
The small amount of extra width from a 225/45 over a 205/50 isn't worth the difference in gearing and weight in my opinion.
The big brake kit is also a waste. Spend 200-250 upgrading your factory brakes with quality rotors,pads,stainless lines, etc and you will yield very similar results.
The eibach sway bar kit isn't a good idea for autocross either. It won't completely eliminate understeer. If you already have the FE2 suspension, just add a rear sway bar.
Going turbo would be a bad idea if you want to be competitive. Cavaliers do not belong in SM.
I know I sound pretty negative, but I'm honestly just trying to help you out. It sounds like you are new to autocrossing, in which case, you should run 5-10 events with the car stock because all those modifications will cover up your driving mistakes.
IamRascal wrote:Koni Yellows will accept sportlines AGX's are warantied for the drop the Sportlines provide in the rear.
I meant to say AGX's are NOT warrantied for the sportlines in the rear, because they provide a drop of more than 1.5 inches.
ZACH?: how about 16" rims with wider tires, could get you the best of both worlds wouldn't you say?
-Chris
Well, you can find some race tires that are 225/50/15. Those would be preferred. They are about an 1" shorter than the 17's and are just as wide. Kumho V710's are a good choice there. Hoosier also has some A3S05 225/45/15's that would work beautifully as well(2" shorter than the 17's).
If your running a class that requires street tires, look at Kumho's MX 225/50/16.
I just feel our cars are too underpowered to be running 17" wheels. If you look around the classes, you will notice that the only successful people running 17" wheels have over 250hp.
*sigh* I miss autocross
Lightweight honDuhs can kiss my fat Crapalier a$$
A new autoX ride for '08.....
i just checked with the SCCA and if all you have is an intake you can run FSP and not STS
i have sturt bars and exh... lower motor mount. and i know i am going to get an ear full for this one chopped springs. and i look at the tein SS coil overs they look awsome, mainly with the in car adjusters. but for a little more i could get the gravana coilovers. and i am having a hard time with the turbo thing. i did buy it about 3 months ago and i was going to install it, but i have to choose, autocross or drag strip.
Zach: You're right, Cavaliers DO NOT BELONG in SM.
Being there myself (GM Charger), it's a blast but in no way will you be able to keep up with very many other cars. Mostly it's our suspension that holds us back, for example:
In our region, we have the occasional "Fun" event (no points) so they'll reuse a course from earlier in the year. Most of the time I run my Cavy (only car I had most of the season) but at our last fun event, I had my Fiero.
My Fiero is about 60 HP down from the cav, and was on less sticky tires (Cav was running Falken Azenis Sport st215's at 205/55/16, Fiero on Falken Ziex 512s at 225/50/15)
Raw times compared to the last time the course was used, my Fiero was less than 1 second slower, and with the street tire handicap (-1 second off raw time before class modifier) makes it faster on raw time, and since the Fiero is in CSP, it's modifier is friendlier.
If you look at my registry, my Cav had all the mods listed for its run on that course, and the Fiero really only has Poly suspension bushings as mods.
If you want to even DREAM of being competitive at Solo2, don't go to SM with the cav, and focus on your suspension, you'll get the best benefit there. If you don't care about being competitive and just want to have fun, go for turbo!
(Bonus tidbit, even on the ziex512's, the cav can still pull .88 lateral G's constant and spike to over 1. I didn't have the D-Pic with the st215s to compare with though, but my "butt" gforce meter tells me that they were better)
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Sleeper style, they don't see it coming that way.
LiquidFireCavy (mdk) wrote:i just checked with the SCCA and if all you have is an intake you can run FSP and not STS
But why would you want to run in a class even higher than STS?
-Chris
While FSP is classed "higher", the cars typically have less hp.
The zeix 512's are excellent tires. I used them for daily driving.
Zach wrote:While FSP is classed "higher", the cars typically have less hp.
The zeix 512's are excellent tires. I used them for daily driving.
The Ziex 512's are my street tires as well, but my experiences auto-xing with them could only be described as "frustrating". Even with 50 psi in them, they still rolled on the sidewall far too easily, though the straight line traction is decent (wet and dry) for a pseudo all-season tire. Of course, going to Kumho V710's after made it seem like I was driving a different car
MRMEANR Racing wrote:You dont need to do anything to the car but learn how to drive it. 2 yrs ago i placed 8th in Ohio in SM on stock suspension, street tires, and a nearly stock engine.
I was beatin by cars like M3's, Corvettes, and multiple 400+bhp Galant VR4's on 12in wide slicks. To me, 8th was pretty f'n fantastic.
Heres pics of the day....
What had you done to the car that put you in SM?
CACC BC Region - DSP
http:www.victoriamotorsports.ca
Header, CAI, wider than stock tire (215), and removed a few pieces of the interior.
If you would have left your interior bits in, you could have run STS
CACC BC Region - DSP
http:www.victoriamotorsports.ca
yes i know, but the idea was for me to try to beat people with good driving... STS was slow, so i just chucked away a couple plastic pieces and went to SM.
I really wanted to handicap myself more than anything. I wanted to WORK for points. I could have won STS almost every week but it wouldnt have been fun kicking everyones ass every single event. I was more into improving my skills than winning trophies.
Maybe ill feel differently next time around
The Ziex 512's seem to do OK for me, but they are 225/50/15's, not much sidewall to roll. I have run them on the Cavalier also (after I corded my st215s...I miss those) and they seem to do alright.
Dangit! Now I really want the season to start...
Just a little longer....my region has a fun event in February, snow or not.
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Sleeper style, they don't see it coming that way.
MRMEANR Racing wrote:yes i know, but the idea was for me to try to beat people with good driving... STS was slow, so i just chucked away a couple plastic pieces and went to SM.
I really wanted to handicap myself more than anything. I wanted to WORK for points. I could have won STS almost every week but it wouldnt have been fun kicking everyones ass every single event. I was more into improving my skills than winning trophies.
Maybe ill feel differently next time around
In my experience, regionally SM is the slow class, STS is the competitive class. I wouldn't call STS slow till you can prove that you can get 1st place in it consistently.
Just because there in SM doesn't mean their good drivers,it usually means they have deep pockets, are mod crazy, or like building their car to the limit of human comprehension because it's "cool".
STS by far is one of the top competitive classes in Autocross. If you want a challenge duke it out in STS. The J-body isn't the most competitve car for that class, but regionally you can do pretty decent.
If you ever stop by northamericanmotoring.com there currently in movement to try and dethrone the frankencivics from the STS class. Those things are just sickening.
The truly good drivers in my opinion tho are the ones winning nationals in the stock classes.
-Chris
MRMEANR Racing wrote:You dont need to do anything to the car but learn how to drive it. 2 yrs ago i placed 8th in Ohio in SM on stock suspension, street tires, and a nearly stock engine.
I was beatin by cars like M3's, Corvettes, and multiple 400+bhp Galant VR4's on 12in wide slicks. To me, 8th was pretty f'n fantastic
400 HP VR4... I think I just creamed myself... Don't feel bad, man. All of my freinds drive Galant VR4s, and they give me sh*t all the time because I'd rather wrench on my slow-azz Cavalier when I could replace the water pump on my Laser RS and actually keep up with them.
Opfer benotigt. Keine Erfahrung notwendig.
Victims needed. No experience necessary.
MRMEANR Racing wrote:yes i know, but the idea was for me to try to beat people with good driving... STS was slow, so i just chucked away a couple plastic pieces and went to SM.
I really wanted to handicap myself more than anything. I wanted to WORK for points. I could have won STS almost every week but it wouldnt have been fun kicking everyones ass every single event. I was more into improving my skills than winning trophies.
You definately shouldn't get that feeling for SCCA as a whole. Like rascal said, it is probably the most competitive class outside of the stock classes. Its like that here in the two regions I race at in Florida.
Well here is one to rack your brains on.....2001 Cavy sedan, No engine mods, No suspension mods, no braking mods. Changed tires from stock 14's to Nitto 4550 15's. So now what class......HS, SM????? Did have a short ram air intake that put me into STS but with no other mods it was pointless.
Freddy-O wrote:Well here is one to rack your brains on.....2001 Cavy sedan, No engine mods, No suspension mods, no braking mods. Changed tires from stock 14's to Nitto 4550 15's. So now what class......HS, SM????? Did have a short ram air intake that put me into STS but with no other mods it was pointless.
were the rims 6"wide? if wider than 6" that would also throw you into STS.
if the rims are only 6" and you put the stock airbox in you'd be back in HS
-Chris
