Most liked posts in thread: Off-Season Plans/Ideas

SMF is a street tire class?

Vorshlag camber plates are tough as nails. Consider those, too. Would an X-brace be legal for that class? Poly bushings (lower control arms, trans mount, lower engine mount, and especially the TSW upper engine mount) are a good return on investment, too.

 

What are your Camber and Toe settings front and rear?

 

I like the regular powerflex (PF) bushings. They offer a motorsport version for the front lower control arms, but it's not necessary. The rear bushings aren't nearly as important as the front; smaller range of motion and smaller forces/loads. BSH offers a lower engine mount that replaces the stock; PF offers poly inserts that fill in the holes of the larger rubber bushing, so they're a little more compliant. The NVH is pretty significant when you first install any new poly bushings, but give it a couple weeks and everything will break in nicely. Polyurethane lasts longer than rubber and is more resistant to leaking fluids, in addition to being stiffer.

Have you thought about a more aggressive brake pad, like Hawk HP+ or Carbotech AX-6?

Camber plates make a huge difference and reduce tire wear, but if you're headed towards coilovers, it'll save you a lot of hassle if you research which camber plate / coilover combos are compatible beforehand. I disassembled my Vorshlags after 3 years, 65,000 miles, and 26 track days, and they look and feel as good as new. And they fit perfectly with my new coilovers.

 

I've had rather decent tire wear daily driving and autoxing with about 1/32" toe out front / 0 toe rear
and
-2.25 camber front and rear (still running stock rear control arms, adjusted as far + as they will go). I used to run more toe out up front, but it did eat thru tires much quicker. I find that toe has a larger impact on tire wear than camber.

As far as fighting both oversteer and understeer at anytime: for a short time I ran some Koni (??I think) springs that were progressive rate AND way to low in the rear. The car would make wild swings from understeer to snap oversteer mid corner. Once I changed them out for a linear rate spring at a more reasonable ride height the car became MUCH nicer to drive at the limit.

Jason

 

:eek6: Yeah I can see how that would make things unpredictable. If you are looking for bang for your buck get a good performance alignment. ESPECIALLY in AutoX with R-comps.

I agree with jasonsmf on the settings plus one thing: Get 1/32nd of toe-in in the rear. With a hint of toe out in the front and toe-in in the rear the car will have very responsive turn-in.

A caution: Depending on your swaybar's stiffness you might find the car tends to snap oversteer with that setting of toe-in in the rear. If it was me, I dial the stiffness out of the swaybar (either adjusting it if adjustable or swapping for a less stiff bar) in favor of the toe as that will help "rotation" without hurting grip.

Whatever you chose to do good luck next season and post your results.

 

I'm running the TSW springs. I had lots of trouble with the shape of the front springs limiting my camber adjustment (more so than stock springs). I wasn't able to get any help from the TSW guys back then, so I resorted to some creative grinding of the springs to install them upside down. This allows me to reach about -2.25 degrees but no more. This has worked for me so far but I know it's far from a perfect solution. I hear the newer design springs are better, but I haven't yet tried a set on my own car.

*STANDARD DISCLAIMER: This is a bad idea, I don't recommend that anyone modifies their springs and installs them upside down. You didn't hear this from me :wink:

Jason

 

My race setup is 15x9 6UL's up front (+36 offset, plus a 5/8" spacer) wrapped with 275/35/15 Hoosier A6's.
15x8 6UL's on the rear (+36 offset, plus a 1/4" spacer) wrapped in 205/50/15 Hoosier A6's.

I also have a set of 15x7 6UL's with 205/50/15 Dunlop StarSpecs that I use for my summer street setup or for when I don't feel like changing over to the race tires.

Hope that helps.

Jason

 

I'd certainly agree with that, I feel that 15's are the way to go for competition use unless you must run huge brakes that prohibit them. There seem to be many options in 15" race tires too. If you are trying to find a good deal on a used set of 15's, don't forget to check out the for sale forums for the Hondas and Miatas, 15" 4x100 wheels are also very common with those cars.

Jason