Looking for a few answers on Auto-X set-ups
Thread Starter
Registered User
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 76
Looking for a few answers on Auto-X set-ups
Hello fellow Subby drivers. I am obviously addicted to cars, hope my fiancé knows what she’s getting into, since I am purchasing parts for a car that I have yet to buy. I will be a proud owner of a WRX sedan within the next month, and want to be able to set it up a little, as soon as I get it. I have already searched and read most threads on suspension, but my questions are pretty specific and relate to absolute performance in Auto-X. In other words, I not looking for a lowered car with a plush ride; I want this car to rock! I plan on running this car in SCCA Auto-X in the STX class, and would like to hear from the rest of you on what set-ups you have tried and what works the best.
Springs
I want to add a set of springs for now and will purchase coilovers once the stock struts are burned up. Are there any specific spring rates that seem to balance the car perfectly? I’ve read that #300/275 rates work well, but are there springs out there with these rates? I’m leaning towards a set of Tein S-Techs, but am not sure if they will be stiff enough.
Sway bars
Is 21mm up front and 22mm in back good, too much, or not enough? I’m leaning towards the Cusco bars.
Tires
The tires that I have found with the lowest tread wear rating are the Falken AZENIS RS at 200 and Kumho Ecsta MX at 220. I like personally like Kumho’s but am will to try Falken’s if they perform well.
Exhaust
There are a lot of choices out there! Apex, Greedy, HKS, JIC, Tanabe, etc….. What are the favorite performers.
I think that will cover my first couple of months of tuning this vehicle. I appreciate any and all feed back on this.
Drive It Like You Stole It!!!!!!!
Springs
I want to add a set of springs for now and will purchase coilovers once the stock struts are burned up. Are there any specific spring rates that seem to balance the car perfectly? I’ve read that #300/275 rates work well, but are there springs out there with these rates? I’m leaning towards a set of Tein S-Techs, but am not sure if they will be stiff enough.
Sway bars
Is 21mm up front and 22mm in back good, too much, or not enough? I’m leaning towards the Cusco bars.
Tires
The tires that I have found with the lowest tread wear rating are the Falken AZENIS RS at 200 and Kumho Ecsta MX at 220. I like personally like Kumho’s but am will to try Falken’s if they perform well.
Exhaust
There are a lot of choices out there! Apex, Greedy, HKS, JIC, Tanabe, etc….. What are the favorite performers.
I think that will cover my first couple of months of tuning this vehicle. I appreciate any and all feed back on this.
Drive It Like You Stole It!!!!!!!
Registered User
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 66
From: Silverlake, C.A. (a.k.a. lil'redwagon)
Car Info: 02 Subaru WRX Sedan
hey,
good to see you know what you want - none of that sissy, plush ride CRAP!
with that said, i'd say that the 300lb range for spring rates is about the max for the stock struts. you won't find any aftermarke springs that are that stiff, although i've heard the prodrive springs are in the high 200 range. my suggestion is to go with ground controls. you can custom order the spring rate and spring length from them, and you can always use the springs later when aftermarket shocks become availabe. i used to have this setup (300lb. GC springs on stock struts)and it took me to victory once, and three 2nd place finishes. i was always among the fastest subies at the auto-x.
for auto-x, i would recommend equal spring rates front-to-rear, or higher in the rear since this car pushes like a dump truck naturally. the tein s-techs are not set up this way, nor are they stiff enough for what you want to do.
as far as the sway bars, stick with the stock front bar, and get the stiffest rear bar you can find. most people use the whiteline or cusco adjustable rear bar (20-24mm). i have the whiteline bar set at 24mm (the stiffest setting).
as far as the tires, go with what's been proven to work - FALKEN AZENIS SPORTS - the 200 treadware rating. they won at teh nationals in the stx class and they seem to be the tire of choice for the street tire classes. they definitely work well for me
for exhausts, your objective is to bypass the cats. i would suggest changing the uppipe first, so you have unrestricted flow going into your turbo. this helps the turbo spool up quicker - a must on an auto-x course.
my setup is:
jic coilovers
easy street 3"turbo-back exhaust
PDE uppipe
whiteline rear swaybar set at 24mm
drop-in Green filter, like a k&n
17" rota subzero's
falken azenis tires
and, of course, a perfect motorsports alignment/corner weighting from darin at west end alignment.
and i am usually one of the faster subarus at the races.
hope ths helps.
james
good to see you know what you want - none of that sissy, plush ride CRAP!
with that said, i'd say that the 300lb range for spring rates is about the max for the stock struts. you won't find any aftermarke springs that are that stiff, although i've heard the prodrive springs are in the high 200 range. my suggestion is to go with ground controls. you can custom order the spring rate and spring length from them, and you can always use the springs later when aftermarket shocks become availabe. i used to have this setup (300lb. GC springs on stock struts)and it took me to victory once, and three 2nd place finishes. i was always among the fastest subies at the auto-x.
for auto-x, i would recommend equal spring rates front-to-rear, or higher in the rear since this car pushes like a dump truck naturally. the tein s-techs are not set up this way, nor are they stiff enough for what you want to do.
as far as the sway bars, stick with the stock front bar, and get the stiffest rear bar you can find. most people use the whiteline or cusco adjustable rear bar (20-24mm). i have the whiteline bar set at 24mm (the stiffest setting).
as far as the tires, go with what's been proven to work - FALKEN AZENIS SPORTS - the 200 treadware rating. they won at teh nationals in the stx class and they seem to be the tire of choice for the street tire classes. they definitely work well for me
for exhausts, your objective is to bypass the cats. i would suggest changing the uppipe first, so you have unrestricted flow going into your turbo. this helps the turbo spool up quicker - a must on an auto-x course.
my setup is:
jic coilovers
easy street 3"turbo-back exhaust
PDE uppipe
whiteline rear swaybar set at 24mm
drop-in Green filter, like a k&n
17" rota subzero's
falken azenis tires
and, of course, a perfect motorsports alignment/corner weighting from darin at west end alignment.
and i am usually one of the faster subarus at the races.
hope ths helps.
james
Thread Starter
Registered User
Joined: Dec 2002
Posts: 76
Thanks for all of the info and especially your reply. I was starting to think that no one would respond, for fear of giving out their "secret" set-up. Have you done your own installation of the springs and bars? If so, did you run into any problems anywhere? I have read that the rear suspension is dificult to get loose and drop enough for clearance of the strut assembly. Thanks again for your response, and good luck this year!
ERIC
ERIC
Registered User
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 66
From: Silverlake, C.A. (a.k.a. lil'redwagon)
Car Info: 02 Subaru WRX Sedan
hey eric,
it's not too tricky. i would suggest disconnecting the rear swaybar before removing the rear struts. [actually this would be a good time to replace the stocker.] that way you can drop them low enough to easily get them off. otherwise, everything was pretty easy to do. just allow yourself a lot of time to do it. you don't want to get caught with suspension parts all over your front lawn and the sun going down!
oh, and i have coilovers, so i didn't have to remove the spring from the shock to install them. i just had to undo the 3 nuts on the top, and the 2 on the bottom of each strut. if you're just replacing springs, you'll need a spring compressor (which you can rent from autozone) but it's still pretty straight forward.
good luck,
james
it's not too tricky. i would suggest disconnecting the rear swaybar before removing the rear struts. [actually this would be a good time to replace the stocker.] that way you can drop them low enough to easily get them off. otherwise, everything was pretty easy to do. just allow yourself a lot of time to do it. you don't want to get caught with suspension parts all over your front lawn and the sun going down!
oh, and i have coilovers, so i didn't have to remove the spring from the shock to install them. i just had to undo the 3 nuts on the top, and the 2 on the bottom of each strut. if you're just replacing springs, you'll need a spring compressor (which you can rent from autozone) but it's still pretty straight forward.
good luck,
james
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Car Info: a few WRX's and a Z ;)
Originally posted by radioflyer
hey,
my setup is:
jic coilovers
easy street 3"turbo-back exhaust
PDE uppipe
whiteline rear swaybar set at 24mm
drop-in Green filter, like a k&n
17" rota subzero's
falken azenis tires
and, of course, a perfect motorsports alignment/corner weighting from darin at west end alignment.
and i am usually one of the faster subarus at the races.
hope ths helps.
james
hey,
my setup is:
jic coilovers
easy street 3"turbo-back exhaust
PDE uppipe
whiteline rear swaybar set at 24mm
drop-in Green filter, like a k&n
17" rota subzero's
falken azenis tires
and, of course, a perfect motorsports alignment/corner weighting from darin at west end alignment.
and i am usually one of the faster subarus at the races.
hope ths helps.
james
Registered User
Joined: Nov 2002
Posts: 66
From: Silverlake, C.A. (a.k.a. lil'redwagon)
Car Info: 02 Subaru WRX Sedan
suby dude...
my fendre heights are:
24.75" on the fronts
24.25" on the rears
these are measurements form the ground to the paint in the fenders. i removed the little rubber strip on the inside of the rear fenders.
24.75" on the fronts
24.25" on the rears
these are measurements form the ground to the paint in the fenders. i removed the little rubber strip on the inside of the rear fenders.
Guest
Posts: n/a
.. my comments
>Springs
Dont know about the Tein specs and no comments about that. I'm using the KYB AGX with Ground Control/Eibach Coil Over and that's a good start on 93-01 Impreza. Don't know if KYB release a kit for the WRX.
>Sway bars
You can start with the 20-22mm adjustable rear, and add Whiteline links to it. You can add the front links too.
>Tires
>The tires that I have found with the lowest tread wear rating are the Falken >AZENIS RS at 200 and Kumho Ecsta MX at 220. I like personally like Kumho’s >but am will to try Falken’s if they perform well.
Azenis is a performance Tire.. He grip more than any one and he's cheaper price. But it still a Street Tire. So the only thing you will get is "some bonus points because it's not a R-Compound Tire". Kumho are great, I never experimented them. But I would suggest you Toyo RA-1 or Yokohama 032R. You can put them and remove them each events and you will be able to do about 2-3 seasons with that kind of R-Compound Tires.
>Exhaust
There are a lot of choices out there! Apex, Greedy, HKS, JIC, Tanabe, etc….. What are the favorite performers.
Better have to get a Air Intake if you want to add a Performance Exhaust. I do not really know if its a gain or a loss of Power. Hard to find it on my car. Some people told me that I'm loosing power on my no-turbo car.
>I think that will cover my first couple of months of tuning this vehicle. I >appreciate any and all feed back on this.
If you are able to do it, try some modifications and add some parts one or two months later.. so you will see the differences between each things you will add...
You can start with R-Compound Tires, Sway bars, links, suspension, coil over, strut, exhaust, intake, Anti-Lift kit, bushings. After that... lightweight wheels, Camber plate...
Also, many people are trying to race AutoX with big wheels... They are wrong. You have 16" wheels on your car.. try to find 16" lightweight wheels and you will get better runs. Larger tires (215-225) = more contact with the road, better grip, less handling. (205) = Better agressive handling.
jim
DSS '98 Green Impreza Wagon
Dont know about the Tein specs and no comments about that. I'm using the KYB AGX with Ground Control/Eibach Coil Over and that's a good start on 93-01 Impreza. Don't know if KYB release a kit for the WRX.
>Sway bars
You can start with the 20-22mm adjustable rear, and add Whiteline links to it. You can add the front links too.
>Tires
>The tires that I have found with the lowest tread wear rating are the Falken >AZENIS RS at 200 and Kumho Ecsta MX at 220. I like personally like Kumho’s >but am will to try Falken’s if they perform well.
Azenis is a performance Tire.. He grip more than any one and he's cheaper price. But it still a Street Tire. So the only thing you will get is "some bonus points because it's not a R-Compound Tire". Kumho are great, I never experimented them. But I would suggest you Toyo RA-1 or Yokohama 032R. You can put them and remove them each events and you will be able to do about 2-3 seasons with that kind of R-Compound Tires.
>Exhaust
There are a lot of choices out there! Apex, Greedy, HKS, JIC, Tanabe, etc….. What are the favorite performers.
Better have to get a Air Intake if you want to add a Performance Exhaust. I do not really know if its a gain or a loss of Power. Hard to find it on my car. Some people told me that I'm loosing power on my no-turbo car.
>I think that will cover my first couple of months of tuning this vehicle. I >appreciate any and all feed back on this.
If you are able to do it, try some modifications and add some parts one or two months later.. so you will see the differences between each things you will add...
You can start with R-Compound Tires, Sway bars, links, suspension, coil over, strut, exhaust, intake, Anti-Lift kit, bushings. After that... lightweight wheels, Camber plate...
Also, many people are trying to race AutoX with big wheels... They are wrong. You have 16" wheels on your car.. try to find 16" lightweight wheels and you will get better runs. Larger tires (215-225) = more contact with the road, better grip, less handling. (205) = Better agressive handling.
jim
DSS '98 Green Impreza Wagon
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