[IS_Dude]

I bought another IS after being away from my original 01 for a while.

To my point I bought a 02 5spd and I was planning to autocross it. I've been out of the scene for a while now and could use some help focusing on what to do with my car and what opinions you guys have. If you could look at my current(as bought setup) and then make recomendations from there it would be great. It would be easier to go back to stock class i guess but there will be mpre competition in stx im guessing. Thats the main reason for me focusing on stx. What's the wheel size limits in STX? I have some 18x8s laying around if that helps.

Current
eibach springs, TRD sways front and rear, trd drop in, hks exhaust

Desired STX
trd sways, exhaust, intake?, konis?, wheels and kumho mxs?, ??????


Sorry for the rambling guys, just trying to have a plan for this season and have a few weeks to prep for it.

 

[2TGEU]

^^^ couldnt stay away could ya huh. BlacksportD runs STX he ran on those ltuned 18s, hopefully he chimes in. good to have you back Jeff

 

[IS_Dude]

Thanks for the welcome back. It's been a while for sure since I autocrossed. It's really been since '03 that I was autocrossing. I always intended on having another IS, just didn't know when that would happen. I love the car and it was nice to get in one and drive it again.

I'm half contemplating just doing DS even though there's pretty much NO ONE else in that class around here. I'm doing fast math on what I'll need to be competitive in both and even if I buy used wheels and new tires for DS it will be about 2200. I'd get Koni's, cheep wheels, Kumho R Compounds and then I'd have to replace the rear sway and find original springs for the thing.

To do STX without buying coilovers or even Koni's I can do it for about 1300 so it's actually cheeper for STX even buying brand new tires and wheels since I have the stuff. In STX I could definately get away without buying an intake or headers. I could wait a season to do coilovers. Basically I just need to buy a set of 17x7.5 's and some Kumho MX 225's and I'm done. I'd get the wedsport's for cheep and call it a day.

There's a guy who race STX in Jacksonville last year so that's close to me so he and I could compete for the hell of it if I went down there or vice versa.

 

[2TGEU]

To start off STX would definitely be cheaper than DSP. The price alone of MXs compared to V700s is quite substantial. Then again I recall you being one of the local autoX champs, so as soon as you get warmed up it will just be a matter of time before you push the limits even more on the IS.

 

[IS_Dude]

I did do fairly well when I ran, but that was a while ago so I will have to relearn some of those skills. won the local for the year overall and won the big regional race in class and paxed at the top.

I'm thinking STX is the way to go and I'll just stick in that class. I have no plans of taking the car beyond the mods of that class as then it wouldn't be as comfy and quiet as it is. At most I'll likely do Koni's with the eibachs or some other stiffer spring. Maybe a intake if I think it is costing me something in time. As you are well aware it's all driver so if I can come back to form I should be ok. If I want crazy and modified to the moon I can hop in the supra and scare myself.

 

[BlackSportD]

I used to run STX, but I'm not sure if I was really in spec becuase since I wasn't competing (didn't have a points card), the refs didn't give a sh*t what I had.

IMO if you want to keep your lex comfy and streetable (decent tire life and smoothness) the eibachs are great, and the Kuhmo MXs f'ing grip when hot, and last a long time street driving, so your totally dead on with you goals IMO.

I beleive the koni yellows have fixed compression and are rebound adjustable, I think this makes for a smoother ride, plus the added drop they give the pro-kits I've seen in pics just looks great. Also if you go coilovers, the smoothest ones I've been in are the JIC FLTa2s, which is just amazing looking at the spring rates, they did just an amazing job with the valving.

IMO all an intake does is make noise. Maybe the SRT actually puts down some power, but I don't think it did much for me autox'ing, not enough to make all the noise worth it, seeing your wanting to keep the car civil. I took my SRT off recently and I don't really miss it. Car is plenty perky, and I like the low end grunt and being able to hear the HKS exhaust again.

Missed the IS cockpit eh? Thats one of my favorite aspects at least (and of course RWD haha).

 

[TheDecon]

Sounds like a nice setup bro. GL this year.

 

[TeCKis300]

Keys to STX IMO in priority

1) 17x8 (lightest weight u can get) wheel +44-48 offset. 245/40/17 w/ sticky tires. MX's would be just fine.
2) Pull all unnessary weight out - floor mats, spare
3) Suspension
4) EMU - having the extended rev limit is huge for those awkward between gear corners
5) headers
6) exhaust
7) underdrive pulleys

Additional tips.
1) Slide sunroof back. This lowers the heavy glass by an inch and moves some ballast rearward.
2) Recline passenger seat all the way - same principle
3) Lower all windows - same principle
4) Don't bother with intakes... Stock is best as it's cold/ram air.
5) Camber.

 

[BlackSportD]

1) Slide sunroof back. This lowers the heavy glass by an inch and moves some ballast rearward.

Never thought of this, Genius!!

4) Don't bother with intakes... Stock is best as it's cold/ram air.

So true.

5) Camber.

My alighnment from Darin had a lot of toe also

4) EMU - having the extended rev limit is huge for those awkward between gear corners

So F'ING TRUE. When it was a Corvette club hosting the event, there always seemed to be a strait where one is tempted to go into third, but would have to downshift immediately afterwards. A raised redline would have been the tops. Going through a corner and then out of it not in your powerband teh sucked.

Also, do the ECT switch mod, to be able to cool your radiator in-between runs

 

[black86]

nice tips. ill have to roll around w/ the windows down and sunroof open (for once) and see how that feels.

yo baker, i hate those corvette club courses... i was tempted once to go into third... that was my slowest run

that ECT mod sounds like a token good idea i usually have the heater on w/ the A/C button on, to have both fans on... at least thats what the instructor told me

 

[BlackSportD]

^^ Yeah I usually have the heater blasting also, and hence the windows down (except I tape the paper numbers on the rear windows so they can only be cracked down about 4+ inches, it'll help if I put them on the door I guess lol).

If you want to do the ECT mod, I'm pretty much a bum for a while.

B.

 

[JayMarino]

Keys to STX IMO in priority

1) 17x8 (lightest weight u can get) wheel +44-48 offset. 245/40/17 w/ sticky tires. MX's would be just fine.
2) Pull all unnessary weight out - floor mats, spare
3) Suspension
4) EMU - having the extended rev limit is huge for those awkward between gear corners
5) headers
6) exhaust
7) underdrive pulleys

Additional tips.
1) Slide sunroof back. This lowers the heavy glass by an inch and moves some ballast rearward.
2) Recline passenger seat all the way - same principle
3) Lower all windows - same principle
4) Don't bother with intakes... Stock is best as it's cold/ram air.
5) Camber.

Great post. +rep.

 

[Inspar8r]

Keys to STX IMO in priority

1) 17x8 (lightest weight u can get) wheel +44-48 offset. 245/40/17 w/ sticky tires. MX's would be just fine.
2) Pull all unnessary weight out - floor mats, spare
3) Suspension
4) EMU - having the extended rev limit is huge for those awkward between gear corners
5) headers
6) exhaust
7) underdrive pulleys

Additional tips.
1) Slide sunroof back. This lowers the heavy glass by an inch and moves some ballast rearward.
2) Recline passenger seat all the way - same principle
3) Lower all windows - same principle
4) Don't bother with intakes... Stock is best as it's cold/ram air.
5) Camber.

Teck, you have to pull out the spare and floormats anyway (otherwise, tech won't pass you.

The EMU prolly isn't going to help much. Once you're in second gear, you won't need to shift to 3rd. 2nd gear is good for 60mph, very rarely are you going to need third gear long enough to warrant the shift. Not to mention, power drops off at 6k rpms anyway. SOMETIMES, it may be helpful to shift down to 1, but as anyone who has a manual knows, that's VERY HARD in the IS for some reason. The rest of your recommendations are great!!

I would go with the Falken Azenis rt-615s, they are the tires ran by just about every national champ in a street tire class. I hear the MX's are very good though.

I'm running 17x8s 17lbs with the azenis this year. Plus I added a BBK this year, which should help keep the brakes cooler, and, it will take me 5 min total to swap out a street pad for a track pad, which makes like much easier for me.

 

[TeCKis300]

Guess we have a few regional and site differences.

Tech here has never made me pull my spare and mats when I am running non-competitively.

Our site (qualcomm stadium) is much larger than some of the other autox's I have been to and we even have slight elevation changes. There has been at least one layout where I had to solidly go into 3rd (no joke, even with a 7200rpm redline). I find our cars have the torque to get out of low speed corner moreso than most other cars. And you're right, the stock high rpm power band really falls off and it's these very high speed sections and corners where we need help.

And that's where the EMU come in. Our car's leave a lot of room for timing and A/F optimization up top. That, when paired with breathing mods (header, exhaust) really opens up the top end. That is why kponti, fstrnldr, and others are able to post significantly faster 1/4 ETs with even just the EMU...all high rpm power down the strip. The breathing mods open up high rpm power, the EMU optimizes and extends the useful range, and create a higher rpm limiter to give you the flexibility to use it when u're in between gears. It may not make ideal power at 6800+, but it won't lose time vs an up/down shift or just bumping against the limiter.

If you aggressively heal toe/rev match, you can get it to go into first. But I find this unsettles the car and is slower with the shift to second.

I like the RT-615s myself and is what I have on my 17x8 Supperleggera track wheels. It's just that they don't come in 245/40/17...the MXs do.

 

[Inspar8r]

Guess we have a few regional and site differences.

Tech here has never made me pull my spare and mats when I am running non-competitively.

Our site (qualcomm stadium) is much larger than some of the other autox's I have been to and we even have slight elevation changes. There has been at least one layout where I had to solidly go into 3rd (no joke, even with a 7200rpm redline). I find our cars have the torque to get out of low speed corner moreso than most other cars. And you're right, the stock high rpm power band really falls off and it's these very high speed sections and corners where we need help.

And that's where the EMU come in. Our car's leave a lot of room for timing and A/F optimization up top. That, when paired with breathing mods (header, exhaust) really opens up the top end. That is why kponti, fstrnldr, and others are able to post significantly faster 1/4 ETs with even just the EMU...all high rpm power down the strip. The breathing mods open up high rpm power, the EMU optimizes and extends the useful range, and create a higher rpm limiter to give you the flexibility to use it when u're in between gears. It may not make ideal power at 6800+, but it won't lose time vs an up/down shift or just bumping against the limiter.

If you aggressively heal toe/rev match, you can get it to go into first. But I find this unsettles the car and is slower with the shift to second.

I like the RT-615s myself and is what I have on my 17x8 Supperleggera track wheels. It's just that they don't come in 245/40/17...the MXs do.

But you're boosted, so you might be able to get into 3rd gear. In STX, you can't have forced induction. That would bump you into SM. I'd be willing to bet that a STX prepped or even DSP for that matter IS300 would not be able to get into 3rd at that track. The last course I was on was VERY fast, and I thought for sure I would be able to get into 3rd, but I never even pinged the rev-limiter.

I rev-match/hell-toe all the time track, street, regardless. I've been working on the 2-1 rev match, we'll see this season if i can use it on the track.

 

[TeCKis300]

I haven't been back to autox since I've boosted the car. All my experience has been while NA. I have no idea how it would do boosted...although I'm scared it wouldn't be much faster as it's not as tractable, linear, and does not have as much out of boost.

I think I will try autox again sometime this year but I'm anxious to hit the road course first with the newfound power.

How much time is your typical course layouts?

 

[Inspar8r]

I haven't been back to autox since I've boosted the car. All my experience has been while NA. I have no idea how it would do boosted...although I'm scared it wouldn't be much faster as it's not as tractable, linear, and does not have as much out of boost.

I think I will try autox again sometime this year but I'm anxious to hit the road course first with the newfound power.

How much time is your typical course layouts?

The one I ran in ohio was in the upper 60s for my class. It was right before nationals, so many of the guys were prepping for heartland park. That course was BIG.

the Chicago region are in the mid 50s, same as SBR, though SBR was a bit lower

The ohio autox, my best was a 67, and Jeff (bgwilly) with slick and 3x the hp did a 64...

 

[LexISpooled]

I bought another IS after being away from my original 01 for a while.

To my point I bought a 02 5spd and I was planning to autocross it. I've been out of the scene for a while now and could use some help focusing on what to do with my car and what opinions you guys have. If you could look at my current(as bought setup) and then make recomendations from there it would be great. It would be easier to go back to stock class i guess but there will be mpre competition in stx im guessing. Thats the main reason for me focusing on stx. What's the wheel size limits in STX? I have some 18x8s laying around if that helps.

Current
eibach springs, TRD sways front and rear, trd drop in, hks exhaust

Desired STX
trd sways, exhaust, intake?, konis?, wheels and kumho mxs?, ??????


Sorry for the rambling guys, just trying to have a plan for this season and have a few weeks to prep for it.

welcome back buddy!

 

[IS_Dude]

Keys to STX IMO in priority

1) 17x8 (lightest weight u can get) wheel +44-48 offset. 245/40/17 w/ sticky tires. MX's would be just fine.
2) Pull all unnessary weight out - floor mats, spare
3) Suspension
4) EMU - having the extended rev limit is huge for those awkward between gear corners
5) headers
6) exhaust
7) underdrive pulleys

Additional tips.
1) Slide sunroof back. This lowers the heavy glass by an inch and moves some ballast rearward.
2) Recline passenger seat all the way - same principle
3) Lower all windows - same principle
4) Don't bother with intakes... Stock is best as it's cold/ram air.
5) Camber.

Thanks, those are some good tips. I have some old volk 18x8's laying around so I'm going to stick some new rubber on them. Should save me a few bucks and I shouldn't loose too much from running the 18's instead of 17's.

here's the 2008 rulebook for anyone looking for it.
http://www.scca.com/documents/Solo Rules/2008_Solo_Rules_2.pdf

 

[IS_Dude]

Ok so here's where my last second planning works so good.

KumhoMX 245/40/18 - Thursday (mount friday)
Helmet HJC AR-10 - Thursday (old one was out of date)
New Clutch - Thursday
Alignment - Saturday I hope
Install race pipe - Saturday (maybe if I'm bored)
Race - Sunday