Mods for autocross
 

It's cool we have a car that can do drag racing and autocross. For now, I do plan on doing both but I wanna try autoross first. I have a '93 touring. It's bone stock w/ the exception of koni adjustables and a act clutch. I dont want to race stock, even though my friends say its better to go stock first so I can learn the car. (I know the car). But before I do race, theres things I wanna do like new radiator, dp, ast, etc... for reliability. Should I work on suspension and brakes as well?

For autocross, your car has plenty of power already. You are going to be in a very tight course where a lot of power can get you introuble quick. If autocross was my main goal I would mod the hell out of the suspension and then start working on power mods.

You might want to run 1 or 2 events and see what you think the car needs. I seriously doubt you will think it needs more power.

Mike

You should stick with stock for your first few events.

Most important is to have a good set of tires.
You also want to get an alignment.

Brakes and suspension on a stock 93 is very good for auto-x.

J

autocross is almost too slow for the FD.. but more power never REALLY hurts unless you can't control it.

Just get out there and enjoy it first, see if you like it. Me personally, I would rather do Club Racing, or even Solo I on a real race track.

As for mods, suspension, suspension, suspension. If you don't want to chew up your street tires, do not use them on the autocross courses very often (or at all if you can help it).. get a spare set of wheels and drop on some hoosiers (great tires, just don't lock up the brakes or you'll flatspot 'em or even pop 'em if you flatspot TOO much).

STOCK first.....

For your first event, do it on your stock tires. Play with the tire pressure. You will learn alot that way. Power is nothing on autox'g, it is all about control and how fast you can react.

From what you will learn from the first event will carry you on to the next.

Show up to the next event w/ a good set of tires. Since you live in So. Cal, you might want to try the BFG DOT race tires. Trust me....you will enjoy them. I have tried all of them and they seem to be the most complaint in the weather conditions.

Good luck....practice your reactions....learn to steer with your rear wheels to.

Cool. So basically just work on the suspension. Should I do any mods to my brakes? My FD is daily driven, so go fast mods are definitly not on the top of my list at the moment. Like I said, my main concern for my car above all is eliminating as much heat as possible.

So I guess I'll be entering the stock class. Would I still be placed in the stock class, w/ a aftermarket radiator and dp? Btw, I'd like to get the fluidyine rad. and M2 dp.

Also, my konis' are on w/ stock springs. The M2 coilovers sound nice. Is that a good combo?

And my tires that I have right now are Kumho Supra Ecsta's 225/50ZR16 tires. Good...bad...:confused:

Thanks again. Laters.

Stock stock stock..

Mod to the limit of stock :)

That means: Catback, GOOD shocks, a front swaybar, and tires. Nada else.

PaulC

I would stay stock but i highly recommend a sway bar mount support bracket as the mounts are prone to bending and breakng. Racing beast sells a strong one.
Flush your brake fluid, tranny fluid, rear end fluid, get a set of performance street pads, Start with reliability, then suspension, then power. I run 650 fr/ 450 rr springs

You can also do aftermarket shocks. With the clutch I think you should already be running ASP.

I wouldn't worry about class restrictions. Chances are that you won't be that good to start off with anyways. If you've got the Koni's already, then you're pretty much done adding stuff. You could go get an adjustable front sway bar; but, I doubt you'd gain any benefit at this point. Nobody's going to dispute your class unless you start beating the pants of everyone else in your class. I doubt your clutch will contribute that much ... auto-x will be strictly all about driver (you've pretty much got the best car for it).

Lose the Kumho Ecsta Supra's .... they might be good for regular street driving, but they suck for auto-x. But, I wouldn't spring for race tires though. They wear out pretty fast ... Hoosiers especially. You'll be lucky to get 6-8 months out of them. Get some good UHP or MHP tires ... BFG KD's, Bridgestone S03's, Goodyear F1 Supercar's, BFG KDW's, Yoko AVS Intermediates, Firestone Firehawks. These are all very good tires. :)

And I would actually advocate you to run in novice class for at least the first few months. It will give you chance to watch the fast guys run (and even ride with). Watching a fast guy put down a time 6 seconds faster than you in a fat-bodied Camaro will teach you a thing-or-two about positioning and speed through transitions. :eek:

Yeah, I've actually seen vettes pull some crazy turns and basically dominated through the day.

I actually think it is best if I start out in the novice class. I'm not in it for competition, just want to become a better driver.

So w/ just konis and stock springs, would it be ok to lower the car? Its slighty lower w/ the adjustables but not to much.

And for tires I'm kind of leaning towards the BFG KDW's.

Check out my previous post about the rules. But to answer your question, no ... you can't lower the car. Shocks (on the stock mounting perches only), front sway bar, catback, and tires. That's it. And for novice class, most clubs won't let you run novice with race tires.

And don't be discouraged about your first season. Everybody sucks their first season. Luckily for you, you have the best car to start and finish with. The car alone should put you in the top 5 for novice, if you're a half decent driver. (Of course your pax factor sucks ... oh well). Seat time is the most important thing ... the more seat time, the better you'll be. :)

Thanks for the advice redrotorR1 and to everyone else too. I'm just puting all the advice together and weighing whats best.

The next event wont be for awhile, so I should have my car up to specs by then. What I'm really hoping I put in my car before then, is the reliabilty mods along w/ front strut bar and better tires. I just hope I dont mess up my car when i WILL run over cones.

And I should do a search on this, but I figured since I'm replying why not ask anyways. I'm pretty set on getting the M2 downpipe, mainly because you dont have to take the turbo manifold studs off for this pipe. What do you think of the M2 dp, and if anyone has it, how was the installation???

Please keep on posting if you think anything else would be helpful. Laters.

You're definitely on the right track with the Fluidyne rad. I blew up my stock radiator at an Autox last summer. The hard stop and go driving does a good job of heating things up and with all the stopping and waiting you don't have the airflow to help cool things down. Good luck.

Best advice is just get out there and do it. Stop panicing over the car and the classes, they will fit you in a class and it will not make any difference what the competition is. Your brakes will feel like marshmellows, you will wonder what happened to your springs and the car will feel like it has an extra 100hp. The cones will look like they are 3' apart and you will swear you hit every one. Don't worry! Have fun and don't kill the car.

p.s. If it were my first autocross again I'd go rent a GT mustang or steal my moms car .... or.. my girlfriends automatic neon!! :D Anything will work!