How does MSP fare in its stock auto-x class?

[beavis]

in the autox's i have been in the wrx's usually take the back.. (accept this year. everyone went to driving schoo. except me

 

[Atreyu]

The only AutoX I have seen WRX DOMINATE(to use the term VERY VERY loosely) are courses setup for speed. Long entry corridors, rolling curves followed by a straight away ETC. These are the same courses I saw Mustang turn in similar times as prepped Z06 zettes to give you an idea of how little handling had to do with the courses.

ITR, BMW 330, Mazdaspeed Proteges and a suprising amount of 1st gen Pros continue to impress me on any course.

 

[daperspeed]

Good discussion. Is the MSP competitive with tricycles and Big Wheels?? Just kidding..

 

[flat_black]

=) The MSP will beat any Big Wheels with the hard plastic tires; But if they're running Azenis RT-215 Pure Sports, that'd make it close. I think it would be a driver's race. Hehee, naw, just messin' around.

 

[Vanimaniac]

There's an event tomorrow out here in Denver and I'll keep an eye out to see how well the two MSP's fare against the multitude of WRX's in DS. I'll be going up against a couple WRX's in STX but unfortunateley no MSP's.

We've got 273 registered drivers for tomorrow so it'll be a long day!

Van

 

[OutDriveU]

Our STX wrx doesnt really push as does the other top STX wrx's we go up against. I have too much oversteer some times going into turns. But thats all over now cause its sold for a STi today. So I guess we will be running ESP now

 

[dmitrik4]

Quick reminder.... the WRX came from the dealer with a FREE SCCA membership.... That is another reason why the car took off so much in autox...

I've yet to drive a WRX I liked. I got a chance to drive a fairly well sorted one in STX last year, and I was significantly quicker in an equally prepared Nissan NX2000. The WRX definitely FEELS as heavy as it is...

yeah, and the dealers used that membership as an excuse to void the warranties. what a scam.

i've driven both a stock WRX and a WRX on Tein RAs and Azenis (and more), and it's a world of difference. the RA-equipped WRX did not push at ALL, and rotated very nicely. a well set-up car whose owner took the time to set it up correctly. i smacked a wrongly-classed STi (in STX--?). and got smacked by a 2.5RS...

AWD is nice, though. someday i'll have the Evo MR i want!

the weight definitely took some getting used to, especially coming out of my ES w/ V700s. turn-in was not quite what i was used to. the stock MSP that was there was turning some very nice times on street tires, good enough to compete strongly in STX, let alone DS.

 

[Vanimaniac]

Well Sat. all 5 of the DS WRX's finished mid to bottom of the pile, while the two MSP's finished in the trophies (with Novice drivers mind you). I was impressed. And in STX I had my rear end handed to me by two WRX's on Azenis.

Van

 

[beavis]

on sunday i got second to a wrx. he beat me by .5 seconds. and he has azenis tires and a autox alignment. i think i did well seeing how i am still on the potenzas that came on the msp!!!

 

[cindy]

The only thing my MSP has fallen to is another MSP. WRX's are heavy and don't handle very well stock. I have yet to get an Integra Type R to race, but there is one registered for this weekend's event, so I'll see how that goes.

 

[DistantTea]

Yep, I never felt threatened by a DS WRX... A DS 330ci, IS300, Type R... those are pains of a different nature though.

Oh and the WRXs I race against in STX have very few suspension faults and have up to 280whp... yep wheel horse power. Rules bending bastards. Thats why I feel pretty good when I school one propper (I am so 1992). Since we're the perpetual underdogs thanks to money its going to take all year to get up to speed with them and the Uber Type Rs.

But in DS last Sunday John Souder ran his Mazdaspeed faster than Todd Meade could run his STX Type R... beating the pax curve and really showing the potential of the MSP in the right hands. Right now on your average National course John runs about three tenths behind Jack Burns in his max prepped DS 330ci... I think thats a seriously good guage of potential.

 

[Imp]

Yep, I never felt threatened by a DS WRX... A DS 330ci, IS300, Type R... those are pains of a different nature though.

Oh and the WRXs I race against in STX have very few suspension faults and have up to 280whp... yep wheel horse power. Rules bending bastards.

Rule BREAKING bastards. There's no such thing as a 280WHP WRX in STX trim uless they've upped the boost. 280 at the flywheel is also a stretch in STX legal trim. We deltadashed about 8-10 STX WRXs at nationals, and we're all running around 200-205 WHP. 280? Whoever says that, I'd say show me the dyno slips becuase they must have spent a fortune in fuel and timing adjustments to find that one perfect map, or they're full of it and are bragging.

On the 2nd page I saw something about Nats, I was specifically mentioned, so I'll respond to it. It would have been really great to see Todd bring out his ITR to nats and it's a shame about the trailer. However, and I don't mean this as a slight/slam against Todd, but at the Toledo Tour last year... he was 4 seconds behind. I don't know if the ITR would have given the best run in the dry, but I feared the Fitzpatrick M3. I don't buy the 'he won because it was wet' when Courtneys Cooper S was .5 off... if the Cooper was closest to my time... how come the rest of the WRXs weren't if they're soo good in the wet?

It all comes down to this... Auto-x is more driver in many cases where cars are classed together in the same class with like mods.

Scapamouche let me borrow his car for a couple runs. I liked the car... a-lot! It's lightweight, nimble and has great accelleration. I hope someone will be giving a wakeup call at Nationals with one in STX. Stock? You guys will WALK away from WRXs... I know I would in one. STX... that's a little tougher.

But hey, this is my last year in STX anyways...

--kC
(202 to the wheels)

 

[scapamouche]

For everyone who doesn't know, Imp is Keith Casey, the 2003 STX National champ, and 5th (?) overall at MRIU last year, and won the NY round this year...

Keith kindly DOESN'T say that he ran faster that day on STREET tires than I did on my Rs... admittedly it was very wet, and I had no business being on the Rs, but still!!!

 

[dmitrik4]

haha...i just realized the "280 WHP" thing. might be questionable, but 280 crank HP is probably not too far off for an AWD car putting 205-210 to the wheels. actually might be a little low-- 280 crank, 210 wheel is a 25% drivetrain loss. i have a friend in philly region who i KNOW is honest and is putting 205 to the wheels. *shrug*

i too would love to see someone campaign a fully-prepped MSP in STX. *sigh* maybe i'll have to do it.

 

[DistantTea]

KC! Good to see you on here.

Yeah I need to talk to that regional guy with the 280whp STX WRX... either he dyno'd his car funny, lying or has something illegal going on with his engine management. Its a rocket and it spits black smoke when he shifts.

200-205 whp? Is that on an AWD dyno? That number seems a bit low. I'd like to see the crank numbers for a well prepped STX WRX. Whp is entirely dependant on how you dyno an AWD car. Thats kind of like how Todd Meade keeps saying his car only has 185whp... no freaking way.

***edit, thinking about this and the drivetrain loss on the WRX I can believe 200 to 210whp and 280hp to the crank, not to the wheels***

Its going to take me a whole year to get my STX MSP together. Right now I'm maybe 20% along. It might take the entire season before the vanilla mods are done and then maybe part of next year to get the car's weight down and finish off a few things...

and of course its going to take me another year of driving to know what to do with the car. Its not like I've been autocrossing for more than a year and a half. But when its done I might hand the car over to a good driver for a couple tours to see how it does against the pros because my driving certainly won't be a determining factor.

 

[AutoBox]

well if it matters...the wrx's in my ds class were all on r-compound tires and i was only a sec off the slowest one....and i was on stock bridgestones with 10k miles on them....and it was my first time out .....i cant wait to get my harness and extra set of rims...i plan to put azenis or some r-compound rubber on the stock rims and my sec set are gonna be 7.5" wide so im ready for stx next year.....cant wait

 

[03blackspeed]

Yep, I never felt threatened by a DS WRX... A DS 330ci, IS300, Type R... those are pains of a different nature though.

Oh and the WRXs I race against in STX have very few suspension faults and have up to 280whp... yep wheel horse power. Rules bending bastards. Thats why I feel pretty good when I school one propper (I am so 1992). Since we're the perpetual underdogs thanks to money its going to take all year to get up to speed with them and the Uber Type Rs.

But in DS last Sunday John Souder ran his Mazdaspeed faster than Todd Meade could run his STX Type R... beating the pax curve and really showing the potential of the MSP in the right hands. Right now on your average National course John runs about three tenths behind Jack Burns in his max prepped DS 330ci... I think thats a seriously good guage of potential.

I get my chance at Mr Burns this Sunday in Lexington. Had a good win last week at Fort Knox, 1st in class 1st in Pax right in front of another Speed. Burns has always been fast in anything he drives. Being able to fit super fat Hoosiers seens to help a little also. The tires you sold me are still kicking Tom, but I think this Sunday will be their last stand. They have served me well.