For all you autox guys out there....

I want/need some opinions/comments etc.

I'm thinking about getting into autox-ing and i need some advice. My suspension set-up will be as follows-skunk2's set at 1.5f/2r, front and rear upper strut bars, tokico illuminas, and sway bar kit. is this a good/decent set-up? Do any changes need to be made? Also, what class is good to run in? How much is it, etc. I plan on checking out the SCCA website as soon as i get a chance, but i just wanted personal feedback. Thanks guys.

Dave

dave... you should ask merlin... he runs in auto x a lot...

i think that ur setup is great... but i prefer GCs over skunk as you can request any spring rate F/R


96RS ~ full 99GS Special Edit. body conversion, aem cai, greddy header, greddy sp exhaust, afx pulley, B&M sS, magecores & NGKs, S-AFC, A/F and Volt guages, Sparco Torino Seat, illuminas, prokits, ingalls camber, gunmetal GS rims, ST Sways, STBs, lower rear tie bar, Sony Xplode head, Xplode 10 disk, Boston Components, 2 Kenwood amps, 12" MTX sub, a shit load more.


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Bueller?............

>My suspension set-up will be as follows-skunk2's set at 1.5f/2r, >front and rear upper strut bars, tokico illuminas, and sway bar kit. >is this a good/decent set-up? Do any changes need to be made? Also, >what class is good to run in? How much is it, etc. I plan on checking >out the SCCA website as soon as i get a chance, but i just wanted >personal feedback. Thanks guys.

Sound good to me. You really don't need to buy all those suspension goodies, autox is more for learning how to drive you car the way it is, but hehe if suspension will make you faster around the corners why not. I'm autoxing with skunk2s and KYB AGXs great setup. THe skunk2s are very stiff spring rate so the cars rolls very little. You've got tokiko illuminas (those are adjustable right?) that should be better than what I've got. A sway bar kit would be great as well especially if you got an RS, cuz you got no rear bar.

Ok we have FF cars which means that we have loads of understeer. To properly tune our suspension to carve up the corners we need to tune the suspension to give the most over steer. Understeer is our biggest enemy because it's not as controllable as oversteer. So to effectively combat understeer you can increase the thickness of the sway bar in the rear and lower the thickness of the bar in the front. What this does is give more grip to the front tires and decreases the grip of the rear tires. I've heard that some FF autoxers even take out the front bar. You can also adjust your damper to gain oversteer as well, what I do is adjust the lowest damper in the front and stiffest in the rear. This way the load shifts to the front very easy making the rear of the car lighter thus creating more oversteer. There is a great faq on suspension tuning at www.vfaq.com it's called the 2G turn harder page. There's even a page on weight transfer called weight transfer 101.

Overall you setup is good. Tune it properly and your car will be an autoxing machine. Remember though the car is only half of what you need to be a fast racer. A car can't be faster if the driver isn't fast. I've found that driving smoothly as opposed to jerking the wheel and gunning it all the time is actually faster. Power doesn't matter much in autox it's all about skill, but power can help you pull out of corners.

The price here in the SF region is 25 for the membership and 25 dollars each autox. Basically you go to the autox on the date specified, sign up, pay your 25 dollars, and sign up for work. Then You'll be grouped into a class (I'm ESP, OSP, etc... because I have a lot of modifications, they'll help you out finding out what class you should be in), go for NOVICE class the first season you autox. Then you have your car teched, race, and work.

here's a movie of what a typical (erm actually its just me messing around with the ebrake lever) autocross run looks like.
http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid27/pcb9135bc72e1545bdc1d34730b17a14c/fe1a7552.mpg

Good luck! ^_^ Remember tires are important too, people always forget that tires are what connects your car to the ground and if you have crappy tires and good suspension it doesn't mix.