auto x setups

[Travis R]

Frankly, I was surprised they made any 14" tires.

[C.R. Krieger]

alright let me pose another question now that the first issue of brakes is somewhat cleared up...where can i find better tires that will fit 14" bottle caps, it doesn't look like there are any on tirerack, or maybe I'm mistaken, what are the names of the tires you guys use.

Call them and ask them about some R compounds. They are not always easy to find, even on the website, but a sales rep will know where they are.

You don't have to go with 70 series, either. The worst thing that will happen with lower profile 14s is, your speedo and odo will be off. But your acceleration and handling will be better.

[Jeremy]

alright let me pose another question now that the first issue of brakes is somewhat cleared up...where can i find better tires that will fit 14" bottle caps, it doesn't look like there are any on tirerack, or maybe I'm mistaken, what are the names of the tires you guys use.

Call them and ask them about some R compounds. They are not always easy to find, even on the website, but a sales rep will know where they are.

You don't have to go with 70 series, either. The worst thing that will happen with lower profile 14s is, your speedo and odo will be off. But your acceleration and handling will be better.

Unless I'm mistaken, I don't think these will be autoX only tires.

If I AM mistaken, then ya, the aspect ration "problem" doesn't exist and may even help by lowering your center of gravity, as CR implied.

Jeremy

[GregB]

The K.I.S.S. principal applies here, especially if you want to stay in a stock class! IMHO, Tires first, everything else comes later!

There's a lot of good advise in this thread but eurowannabe makes a good point here. As a novice, forget about brake modifications or anything else that you won't need at this point. Learn to drive what you have first and come back next time with a good set of really sticky tires.

Don't overdrive the car, most people do on their first event until you learn to "slow down and go faster"

On your first event pay close attention to what the fast guys are doing from somewhere on the course. You will likely be asked to work the course which is a good time for you to get a closer look at how this is done.

[heym]

alright guys thanks for everything..ill just take it in stride and not rush to do any mods except for some tires for now, and yes these will be track only tires, I have a cheap pair of Kuhmo's on the car now. Ill look into those falken's

[heym]

alright so i found out my bottlecaps are actually 15inch so where are you guys buying your tires..i must not be putting in the right parameters on tirerack.com or something..anyone?

[Jeremy]

What size are you searching for? 225/55 or 50 and 205/60 are probably your better bets.

Jeremy

[heym]

205/60 but still nothin except some Yokohoma's that are priced at 196 bucks

[heym]

alright would 205/50 work?

[Jeremy]

You need to broaden your search beyond just R compounds in that size to get more choices. Or change the way you shop, I did a bit of digging and found:

Hoosier R6 slicks are available in 205/50 215/60, and 225/50 size for 15 inch.

BFG g-force R1 comes in 205/50 and 225/50

Michelin Sport Cup comes in 205/50 and 225/50

R compounds generally aren't cheap.

Jeremy

[Jeremy]

alright would 205/50 work?

For track only? Absolutely. I wouldn't recommend that size for a street tire though, it'd be kinda short.

Jeremy

[heym]

thanks jeremy much appreciated

[LA]

... just get better pads and a big front swaybar. You can still run in F-stock, just don't change the rear sway bar.

eurowannabe - elaborate on your experience with the rear swaybar please.

Thanks,
LA

[Shawn D.]

heym,

Now that I see your wheel size, and know you're using it for street and autocross, I'd suggest a 215/60-15. That's what I had on my 535i when I had 15x7 bottlecaps and it's also what my 528e has on it now. I'm running Sumitomo HTR-200s and am very pleased with the performance. They're a summer tire, so if you need snow performance, they won't be too good.

-Shawn

[Jeremy]

Now that I see your wheel size, and know you're using it for street and autocross . . .

yes these will be track only tires

I'm confused. Are these track only or street tires? He's looking at R comps so I was really figuring track only based on his compound selection and comment before that. Where did you get street and track from, Shawn?

Jeremy

[Shawn D.]

yes these will be track only tires

Now that I see your wheel size, and know you're using it for street and autocross . . .

I'm confused... Where did you get street and track from, Shawn?

No, I'm confused. Apparently, I pulled it out of my ass.

[eurowannabe]

... just get better pads and a big front swaybar. You can still run in F-stock, just don't change the rear sway bar.

eurowannabe - elaborate on your experience with the rear swaybar please.

Thanks,
LA

The only reason I brought up the rear sway bar was so heym could stay in F-stock class. He can change the front but if he adds the bigger rear sway bar he'll move to STX.

There isn't anything wrong with a bigger rear sway bar. I run E28 M5 sway bars F/R and the attachment points on the front strut housings have been reinforced to handle the extra stress. The rears were beefed up as well. I love'em!!

Now, his local SCCA may do there classing a little differently. Here is the list of mods for each class that we run here in PHX:

http://www.azsolo.com/classes/car%20cla ... ksheet.pdf

This should be a good GUIDE, but check with your local club for their classing rules.

When I got back into auto-xing last November I already had most of the mods that put me into STX, I saw no reason to go backwards so I added items that would shave the most time and that came to tires and adjustable camber plates. I haven't raced with the camber plates yet (1st race next Sunday), but I estimate that these recent upgrades will shave about 4-6 seconds off my November times. By far the best "mod dollars" spent for shaving time!

[LA]

... just get better pads and a big front swaybar. You can still run in F-stock, just don't change the rear sway bar.

eurowannabe - elaborate on your experience with the rear swaybar please.

Thanks,
LA

The only reason I brought up the rear sway bar was so heym could stay in F-stock class. He can change the front but if he adds the bigger rear sway bar he'll move to STX.

There isn't anything wrong with a bigger rear sway bar. I run E28 M5 sway bars F/R and the attachment points on the front strut housings have been reinforced to handle the extra stress. The rears were beefed up as well. I love'em!!

Now, his local SCCA may do there classing a little differently. Here is the list of mods for each class that we run here in PHX:

http://www.azsolo.com/classes/car%20cla ... ksheet.pdf

This should be a good GUIDE, but check with your local club for their classing rules.

When I got back into auto-xing last November I already had most of the mods that put me into STX, I saw no reason to go backwards so I added items that would shave the most time and that came to tires and adjustable camber plates. I haven't raced with the camber plates yet (1st race next Sunday), but I estimate that these recent upgrades will shave about 4-6 seconds off my November times. By far the best "mod dollars" spent for shaving time!

Thanks! I thought you may have found the perfect combo and it included the stock rear sway bar...I also have the M5 sway bar on the rear & like it but I'm always interested in the experience of others.

Thanks again,
LA

[winfred]

i can say yes to a good portion of the stock no's with the frankenshark, but the best was two autocrosses ago where i was running against kyle in his tcd turbo'd 5 in FS i am usually running alone in my class so i looked at it as a challenge and despite a good 100 hp down i got to with in 2 seconds of him, i guess i need to figure out what the hell i am supposed to run in one of these days and actually have someone show up in that class, not like i care ill run against a dump truck or a ferrari as long as i am having fun

[
http://www.azsolo.com/classes/car%20cla ... ksheet.pdf

[heym]

sorry for the confusion guys...yes these will be track only tires, and thanks for the rear sway bar tip, I will be doing an M5 front sway with some new OEM control arms soon, and also some Hawke pads

[eurowannabe]

sorry for the confusion guys...yes these will be track only tires, and thanks for the rear sway bar tip, I will be doing an M5 front sway with some new OEM control arms soon, and also some Hawke pads

....you learn fast!!


The next best investment is taking a local auto-x school if this is the first time you've ever done this.

I wished they had schools when I started doing this 25+ years ago. My local club does one a year and I missed it so I'll try to make the next one.....in November! :-( Even after doing this for 7 years I know I can learn from the hardcore auto-xers!

[heym]

an autocross class will be coming soon