Several events and I am hooked! I have a few questions that I'm hoping someone could help with.
I bought 17" wheels and Bridgestone Potenza SO3 tires for my 03 WRX...love them but with the wheel upgrade I have to run STX class. Other than the wheels the car is stock.....Anyone know of any engine management upgrades that don;t alter boost levels and that I can run in STX class? I am competing with some powerful cars in STX!

Also, Where to start with suspension mods for the occasional autocross in a car that is my daily transportation....If you had $1000, what would you do first....

 

Rear swaybar - dials out understeer and is very cheap, and I'd get endlinks with it too. Generally it seems to be considered the definitive first suspension upgrade (after wheels) Then you'll start getting varying opinions such as some nice spring/strut combo (like prodrives with AGX's but theres tons) or you could upgrade links or bushings, or many other things.

As far as power goes I think you've got a bunch of options (mostly in varying degrees of amount and cost) I don't even have a wrx, so I'll refrain from recommending anything, but I'd check out http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=174189 since its a pretty nice, simple guide on what changes you can do for varying classes. At the bottom theres also a link to http://www.subrew.com/stx_subie.html which is an awesome sight, and has lots of ideas and a great explanation of what you can do.

I've only gone to two, and I'm also hooked, they're great fun!!!

Hope that helped some and Good Luck

 

Work on driver 1st and formost. Mods immediately, beleive it or not, might make you slower, or hide some bad habits.

http://www.autocross.com/evolution When they come to your area, take phase one. Or, some regions do hold schools too. Ask someone from your region when they hold them.

After you have done the above, and know how to drive the course and the car, then your considerations of power vs suspension should come. IMHO, do everything you can to suspension before you even consider adding power. power without control is not good. You need to be able to put that power to use with a good suspension.

For $1000, I would look at something like STi stuts with prodrive springs, or something like that. For another $600 ish dollars... look at the Tein Flex suspension. Best bang for the buck adjustable suspension out there right now (IMHO again).

Most of all... improve the driver. THen after that's done... do it again... improve the driver some more. Fast drivers in underprepped cars will always beat moderate drivers in well prepped cars.

Here's what I did to my car: http://www.rallydecals.com/kccar

Most of all.... have fun!!!

--kC

 

As said above get a rear swaybar. I got one and i love it. I also have tein h tech springs and 17" tires. This is how the car should have handled from the factory. Also if you want more power i think that Cobb has stx maps for the accessport. Some have said to take driving courses, they are good but you have made a good step by even doing auto x. it gives you a chance to hone your skills in a controlled environment.