Best Street/AutoX setup
 

What's the best middle ground suspension setup. Springs, Shocks and Swaybars. For the FC? What kind of experiences have you guys had.

Something sporty but doesn't break your bones if you hit a pot hole. Oh non adjust on the shocks, I don't have the equipment for 'proper' shock tuning.


I like racing beat springs/sways but it seems that there setup is geared slightly toward understreer (conservative rear sway bar ?). I was hoping to keep a slight degree of over steer, don't get me wrong I don't want to spin but a slight amount of oversteer lets one steer with their foot. Then I was looking at whiteline and Suspension techniques. Whiteline seems to have the same bar sizes while ST has a thicker rear bar.

Racing beat Front /Rear Sway bars 28.57500 MM / 15.87500 MM

ST Suspensions (suspension techniques 27MM / 19MM

Whiteline 27mm / 16mm

Eibach 28mm/ 17mm

I guess I'll just use tokico shocks, racing beat seems to like them. But I'm still at a loss for the other stuff.

I drove on the Street and AutoX for a number of years on Racing Beat Springs and Koni and Tokiko Illumina struts. Very good comprimise between street and race. They are also very good for Open track days.

Using Stance coilovers now and my car could never be a DD with those. Way too stiff but make a great track suspension.

Thanks for the input :)
I'm thinking:
1)Racing beat Springs
2) Eibach sway bars
3) Tokico shocks/struts

ground control coilover sleeves with 350F/250R on a set of KYB AGX.
stock swaybars but with poly bushings on them for rigidity.
dont lower the car more than one inch that way it will feel great, be nimble and have a precision tossability that will be amazing for autox.
245's or 255's all around on enkei rpf1, 17x8 or 8.5 front and a 9, 9.5, 10 or 10.5 rear, oh hells yeah man.
:)

^ I agree except for the stagger. If it's NA or if it doesn't have lots of turbo power than I'd reccomend keeping the wheel and tire sizes the same front and back. You can probably fit a 245 in front, but it'll most likely require fender rolling and the exact right offset. I've been lusting after a set of 17x8.5 RPF1's wrapped in 235/40/17 Azenis, but I've got other plans for that money. Don't get stuck on the numbers, a 235 Azenis is wider than many 245's in other brands.

I DD my FC with 7kg/mm front and 5kg/mm rear springs on my Tein Flex coilovers and while it's stiff, it's well damped and quite livable. If you lower more than an inch or so you'll need to do something to correct the camber in the rear or it'll eat through tires.

Thanks for the advise guys, What are the stock sway bar diameters? I don't think I'll lower more than an inch. :)

It depends on the model. Check the 2nd gen FAQ and stickies.

I run Koni's or Bilsteins on stock turbo springs.......while they roll a bit, they handle pretty well, better than when I had the Tanabe GF210 on them. They say to remove your rear sway bar for maximum traction, I don't know how much validity there is to that but I'll try it.

Sounds like my (yet to be installed) setup, can't wait :scared:

However my plan was to go with 275 on the rears.

What tire do you use on your DD FC?

I did I didn't see them, I need to look harder :wallbash: Tried different ones got nothing lol.

The sway bar diameters are in the FSM's, I know that for sure.

I use Bridgestone RE-070's, they're the OE tire on the Subaru STI, they're a 225/45/17, they're quite sticky, good in the wet, withstand track abuse very well and last a long time all things considered (I've read reports of 30k miles out of a set!). You can often find some partly used, but still good sets on NASIOC for a bargain price. I really like them, about the only negative is that they're fairly heavy at 27lbs.

My bad, I thought you DD your FC :(

I am trying to decide which ones to go, MX or RT615 :scared:

Black91n/a has it right, no need to stagger if your car is not pushing 300hp. a simple 17x8 all around with 235 or 255 Rcomps would be demonic on an autox course with a n/a FC. hell you could even gain speed/acceleration thru the gearing advantage of running 16's or 15's and a shorter height tire... it would be like swapping out the 4.1 rear gear for a 4.5 or however the sizes work out in real life.

nice choice on the RE-070s as I have recently acquired an 04 STi I have to say those tires are amazing, and seeing how cheap you can get them used its a nice choice for a 17x8 to 17x8.5 wheel setup on an n/a FC, right on.

Who ever said I didn't? I've driven it through 2 hilly, snowy winters (on snow tires of course) and drive it to work every day on those tires when I'm not at school. I even drove through a snow storm with the Bridgestones once when I was on my way back from my parents house. I've driven on them for about 5 months with minimal wear, very good. I decided on them partly because a family friend who is a racer and driving instructor has an STi and likes them.

For the track a nice set of 225/45/15's on some 15x8's would be nice. I use 225/50/15's right now becuase they were on sale. They not only make the gearing better, but they lower the car's CG which is good. Going much wider has the risk of actually slowing you down on a road course unless you've got some more power than a stock NA. This has been shown several times with Miatas where 205's are faster in many cases than 225's on naturally aspirated ones. For autocross though, usually putting the most tire under the car as possible is best.

Of course you could go crazy with a set of 275/35/15 Hoosiers on some 15x10's.

Man I am confused :lol2:

So you street drive your FC on Bridgestone RE-070's?

BTW - I am on a turbo FC, so I *think* a wider tire on the rears will be *easier* for my limited high HP experience.

Yep, they're street tires after all that can last 10's of thousands of miles. They're very high performance street tires, but street tires nonetheless. I use even stickier tires on the track (Hankook Z211 R compound).

The type of tire has a lot more influence on grip than width. A high performance 225 will grip better than an all season 255 most likely.

As for the MX vs. RT615 thing, my dad's used both, the MX withstands heat better which is good for track days, it lasts a little longer, but it doesn't have quite as much grip as the 615's. For street driving only the MX's are good, but if you're autocrossing then the 615's will be a little faster.