Auto-X tips? I need help

[ryein7]

hello everyone I am running the SHO this year in the Scca autocross events. I have been getting owned pretty badly in STS the first 2 events. The only suspension mod i have is front eibach springs with new monroe struts and new strut mounts. I need to do the rear it is just that i broke one of the pinch bolts so the progess was slowed down. What else can i do to this car to make it perform well? I am going to get new LCA's and new bushings for the front strut rod before the next event. Along with new tie rod ends. My steering is VERY VERY loose. i can turn the wheel about 1/8 of a turn each way and the car doesnt move back and forth at all! i think that can severely affecy my cars performance on a technical course like autocrossing right? Has anyone ever thought of replacing the outer tie rod ends with something super solid and strong like a spherical rod end? i think that might tighten up steering even more! please give me some tips guys i really want to be competitive and i know all this "slowness" is not compeltely a driver problem.
thanks!

 

[K-Dawg]

Your biggest gains are going to come from good tires and lotsa practice. Unless your current ones are shot, I doubt that there is a lot to be gained by changing the tie rod ends.

 

[hawkeye18]

bushings, bushings, bushings. Replace every bushing you can get your eyes on with TPR. Replace your subframe bushings with Gen3 bushings. Get swaybars set up for tracking (22/26 seems to be popular, that's what I'm running... works quite well).

See if you can get wider wheels. If you're running stock wheels, they are a major limiting factor as they're only 6" wide. A good 7" or higher wheel will help you out a lot, as you can get 225/55 or even 225/50 series tires to fit quite well. Buy the best tires you can afford; they're the only true link between your car and the road.

Get good brakes and upgrade your rotors; this will allow you to stop later and faster (which keeps your speed up). If you're in an ATX, lock your tranny in first; most races don't get fast enough to shift into second anyway. Stock tranny will go up to about 53-54mph at redline. Get UDPs and a TwEECer or an LPM to raise the rev limiter to at least 7000 (doable only with UDPs) or more.

I have no idea what sort of suspension mods you can get away with, but strut tower braces help a *whole* **** of a lot. Subframe connectors will also stiffen the car up a bunch.

Hope this helps...

 

[GeneSHO]

You did not mention what else have added therefore, a few questions to help diagnose your suspension:

1) What are the condition of your subframe bushings and mileage on your SHO ?
2) You only replaced the front springs with Eibach's. What about the rear springs ?
3) When was the last time the front went thorugh an alignment ?

Replacing the bushings will be a mandatory start, but the most important in improving in auto-x is seat time.

 

[Shoaz]

What else can i do to this car to make it perform well?

Number one first and foremost is maintenance. If your steering is really that bad it needs to be fixed, likewise anything else that isn't up to *****. Autox or track use means a significant raising of the maintenance game.

And the number one speed mod, always and forever, with any car, is to tighten the nut behind the wheel. Get seat time in anything you can, go karts are great and cheap. I make regular trips to our local indoor kart tracks because they're fun, cheap, and challenging. And you get to beat on other people's equipment.

If you can afford a performance driving school or clinic or if your local organization has practice/school days, then go. Take as much driver training as you can get/stand and then take more. Books, computer simulators, anything. It all helps.

Then work on modifying the car afterwards.

 

[sho_bc]

bushings, bushings, bushings. Replace every bushing you can get your eyes on with TPR. Replace your subframe bushings with Gen3 bushings. Get swaybars set up for tracking (22/26 seems to be popular, that's what I'm running... works quite well).

See if you can get wider wheels. If you're running stock wheels, they are a major limiting factor as they're only 6" wide. A good 7" or higher wheel will help you out a lot, as you can get 225/55 or even 225/50 series tires to fit quite well. Buy the best tires you can afford; they're the only true link between your car and the road.

Get good brakes and upgrade your rotors; this will allow you to stop later and faster (which keeps your speed up). If you're in an ATX, lock your tranny in first; most races don't get fast enough to shift into second anyway. Stock tranny will go up to about 53-54mph at redline. Get UDPs and a TwEECer or an LPM to raise the rev limiter to at least 7000 (doable only with UDPs) or more.

I have no idea what sort of suspension mods you can get away with, but strut tower braces help a *whole* **** of a lot. Subframe connectors will also stiffen the car up a bunch.

Hope this helps...

In STS, widest wheel you can go is 7.5" i believe, and there are restrictions on tire widths as well. Can't upgrade the brakes until you get into SP or SM (even in SP, i think you might be limited to a '96 upgrade through update/backdating rules). No solid bushings allowed until SM, no subframe connectors until SP. In STS, you can do coilovers or koni/intrax/eibachs, but i'm not sure about camber plates (SHO Source's plates).

You can spend LOTS of money to set your car up to the max in any non-stock category. However, as has been said, get your car running properly first. That steering thing sounds bad, and I wouldn't even drive that on the street like that. Then, practice, practice, practice, and then practice some more. Then dump money into mods. I like to hit up go karts as well. Aside from auto-x events themselves, go karts are my only practice.

 

[shomesomesho]

My steering is VERY VERY loose. i can turn the wheel about 1/8 of a turn each way and the car doesnt move back and forth at all!

The pinch bolt at the distal end of the steering shaft probably needs to be tightened. Or else the inner or outer tie rod ends need to be replaced.

 

[AREA 91]

The pinch bolt at the distal end of the steering shaft probably needs to be tightened. Or else the inner or outer tie rod ends need to be replaced.

You also may have too much play in the steering shaft itself. A replacement may be necessary.

 

[NJSHO]

Your running ebiachs up front and what in the rear, stock? That car should push like a mother. Disconnect one endlink from your front sway bar should help balance it out a little. You should really fix everything else first though. Check your subframe bushing cups, look at the broken subframe club sticky, I replaced those and my steering finally tightened up.

 

[ryein7]

yeah there is just so much to do on this thing i dunno where to start. i plan on installing the eibachs with new struts in the rear this weekend along with new strut mounts. I am going to get rid of the rear sway bar and try that setup out next auto-X i bought new inner tie rod ends and i just need to get my custom outer tie rod ends, then do my tubular rear arms and get an alignment done...
THEN see what happens... yeah it pushes really hard into corners.... unless i really beat the shit out of it the rear wont get loose.

 

[K-Dawg]

I think disconnecting the rear sway bar is going to be a bad idea for autocross. If anything, you would want to disconnect the front to help the car rotate and to keep from spinning the tires. Disconnecting the rear sway bar is going to make the car understeer even worse.

I also think that you aren't going to gain anything with your custom outer tie rod ends.

 

[ryein7]

well there is only one way to find out about the tie rod ends. i am going to do some more reading to see really what i need to do to get the setup i want.

 

[ryein7]

ok well i got my car all ripped apart, i am working on the rear now, i am doing poly bushings for the strut rod, new struts and strut mounts with eibach springs, TPR sway bar bushing, TPR sway bar end link kit, i have done some reading and my 91 has the biggest stock sway bar setup, i think the rear one is good to have but for autoX i am going to disconnect the front sway bar the maybe let the car "articulate" more and i think i will really improve.
3rd event is this sunday hopefully i can get my brake bias plugs in too.