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good autocross suspension setup

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zrk666

15+ Year Contributor
144
0
May 13, 2004
louisville, Kentucky
i am looking to going into the area of autocross instead of drag with my AWD GSX.

need some advice on wether to get a full coilover setup

or to get adjustible shocks with the ground control coilover system?

what brand would you recomend.

i am also looking for the enkei es-tarmac wheels in 17 and where can i get them and will they fit the 5 lug on a 1g?
 
Ive never heard of ES-tarmac wheels by enkei, and they arent on their website. Rota has a tarmac series and you can find it at www.machiii.net i think, maybe its .com.

The cheapest decent setup for auto-x would be either DSS coilovers or Ground Control and Koni shocks. A bunch of the 1g DSM auto-xers use the DSS set up.

If you have a larger budget the Tein Flex's or RA's look nice. The ultimate would be JIC's set up by RRE for about $1900

-Dallas J
 
zrk666 said:
i am looking to going into the area of autocross instead of drag with my AWD GSX.

need some advice on wether to get a full coilover setup

or to get adjustible shocks with the ground control coilover system?

what brand would you recomend.

i am also looking for the enkei es-tarmac wheels in 17 and where can i get them and will they fit the 5 lug on a 1g?

Worry more about your tires. You can have the best shocks, springs and rims in the world, but if you've got crappy tires come race day, then you're car will be performing horribly.
I personally would spend more on the tires than on the wheels, and shock assembly if I were starting out doing full on autocross.
For race day I would try to get more negative camber all around. This means a camber bolt kit.
Next I would buy 4 Hoosier autocross race tires, sized 225/50/16. (Or maybe a bigger width and shorter sidewall.)
The aspect ratio of your tires is important to, because with a taller overall wheel, you’ll have slower acceleration, and slower turning. With smaller (or shorter) overall wheels, you’ll have lighter unsprung weight, faster acceleration and faster turning.

Don't forget that body roll will delay turning response. Also, a stiffer rear roll bar can help rotate the car with oversteer, as well as lessen body roll.
Come race day, learn to cope with the inherent understeer of your 1G AWD.
The 1G AWD rear wheels have automatic toe in on load transfer to the outside wheels. This further adds to understeer.
For now, think of it this way: stiffen the rear end, soften the front end.

In autocross, you want a higher tire capacity for steady state turning, and a tuned suspension system with quick turning response, and an easily rotating car. (Although I’m not suggesting rear-end drifting oversteer—quite the opposite.)

Also, pull out as much sprung weight as possible. More weight makes changing direction slower. (Remove your sunroof glass hatch for the run.) Also, you want to get as much of the cars’ weight as close to ground as possible. Even rolling down your windows, so the windows’ weight sits lower, is better for a lower center of gravity. (Also, with the windows down, you can hear the tires better, so you can listen for their change in slip angles.)

If you're tight on a budget, focus first on tires. And then buy wheels to mount those tires on. Next move on to shocks and springs, and then roll bars, and then camber kits, and then sprung car mass. All of these factors come into play when you're cornering your car hard during autocrossing.

Also, if your power steering is still installed, make sure your belt is tight, and power steering fluid is topped off. This will assist you in making minute changes to steering angle. (Use the belt deflection method to check belt tightness.)
And yes, a tighter belt on a crankshaft pulley will result in more parasitic engine power loss—but in autocross, turning and control matters more.

Good luck. (And feel free to P.M. me if you have any questions.)
 
Dallas J said:
Ive never heard of ES-tarmac wheels by enkei, and they arent on their website. Rota has a tarmac series and you can find it at www.machiii.net i think, maybe its .com.

The cheapest decent setup for auto-x would be either DSS coilovers or Ground Control and Koni shocks. A bunch of the 1g DSM auto-xers use the DSS set up.

If you have a larger budget the Tein Flex's or RA's look nice. The ultimate would be JIC's set up by RRE for about $1900

-Dallas J


dallas you have to go to the europe section on the enkei website.
 
Ok, I see them. Nice wheels. The 17s will fit in 8" with 35mm offset, but might stick out a bit. The 7.5" will fit good though with the 43mm offset.

The only way I would know of getting those would be to import them though. Over night from Japan if you have to ;)

-Dallas J
 
Unless you are planning to install big brakes (which would be silly for autocrossing), you really want 16" wheels. In particular, I'd strongly suggest 245/45/16s on 16x8.5s with an offset around +37mm (assuming Kumhos). You don't want 17s because of the rotational inertia and you don't want 225s because you drive a pig.

- Jtoby
 
thanks alot for the advice and the tech help.

still need to know where i can get the wheels off line or a number to call.

i tried an internet search but didnt come up with much just a place in australia that had 15's and place in newzeland.
 
zrk666 said:
thanks alot for the advice and the tech help.

still need to know where i can get the wheels off line or a number to call.

i tried an internet search but didnt come up with much just a place in australia that had 15's and place in newzeland.

Are you going for J.D.M. Bling, or fast autocross lap times?
IMHO, go to a junk yard, or look in your local automotive classified adds, and find some used wheels from a Camero Z28, Mustang, or Corvette (maybe) for sale. If I'm not mistaken, these are all 5 lug x 4.5". Try to find 16" wheels which can accomodate a 245mm width tire. (Try to get the rim width no less than 90% of the tire width.)

The stock 16" DSM swirlie wheels with Hoosier race tires, will be MUCH faster than 17" Volk TE-37 wheels with Futura Wallmart Specials.
 
i would like to have wheels that are new because i am tired of looking at the shoguns. i am trying to find a wheel that is sporty but agressive that serves its purpose. and to have a J.D.M. wheel would be nice. i do have the stock GSX wheels in my garage.
 
UCSLugRacerX said:
Are you going for J.D.M. Bling, or fast autocross lap times?
IMHO, go to a junk yard, or look in your local automotive classified adds, and find some used wheels from a Camero Z28, Mustang, or Corvette (maybe) for sale. If I'm not mistaken, these are all 5 lug x 4.5". Try to find 16" wheels which can accomodate a 245mm width tire. (Try to get the rim width no less than 90% of the tire width.)

The stock 16" DSM swirlie wheels with Hoosier race tires, will be MUCH faster than 17" Volk TE-37 wheels with Futura Wallmart Specials.

stick with ford, the 93-99 probe gt wheels are 16" by 7.5" i believe and reasonably light for their price. any ford car wheel should at least fit the bolt pattern, backspacing may be another issue, but the probe wheels are proven to fit.
 
ok i see there has been many tire and rim specifications listed.

whats the best setup like rim size and offset

waht size tires should be on the rims?
 
Hey, when did real rally rims become "bling"? I'd take them over chromed boat anchors off a Mustang anyday. :) Adam at Z-1 Auto can get you Enkei ES Tarmacs. Enkei's RPF1 is my choice for autocross/track -- relatively inexpensive for a forged rim. For a 1g, I'd get a real set of brakes before worrying about rims, tires, and coilovers.
 
You don't want 17s because of the rotational inertia and you don't want 225s because you drive a pig.

I don't think this is necessarily always the case. I tried to compare my 17" setup now, to it's 16" counterpart. I can't do it though because the 16" version of my wheels (Enkei RPF1s) don't come in 8.5" wide, and the 16" version of my tires (Kumho Ecsta MXs) don't come in a 245 width.

But suppose I went with the 17X7.5" RPF1s (15.2 lbs) and with the 225/45/17 Ecsta MXs (22 lbs). I would have a grand total of 37.2 lbs with the tire being 59% of the weight.

The 16" equivalent would be 16X7" RPF1s (13.7 lbs) - (16X7.5" not available) with the 225/50/16 Ecsta MXs (25 lbs), which are the same exact overall diameter as the 225/45/17 tires. I would have a total of 38.7 lbs with the tire being 65% of the total weight. The tire has a longer moment arm (although slightly less on a 16" wheel) than the wheel, having a greater affect on the rotational inertia.

With my particular wheel/tire combo, I would rather go with 17s based on higher widths available alone.
 
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