jasyatz build thread

[jasyatz]

Today was the last local event before the Pro. Weather was steady sun, 50/60's temps and a light breeze. Another top 10 in run group PAX, ended up 33rd in event PAX out of 170plus. Really great event, used a few sections of the lot we've not been on in a while and car was very good. Rotation even without either sway bar was managable and 60' times were in the Mid to High 2 second range. Acceptable for a 1 wheel drive car on street tires. Tested out a few different tire pressures and gave the front shocks a little more love and turn in is very precise now.

The car is all set for the showdown in the "wrong car" with Andres and others in 2 weeks. Got to meet Scott, a recent 2 transplant from the west coast and we had a nice chat about setups. We can a really nice run for run decent dual while I figured out the setup and got out of my own head. His car is a bit underprepared and whencw I found my stride, the car just took over. Hopefully he'll get into the Pro (wait listed currently). If so, I've offered him a seat in my car if he'd like. He's super smooth and had some really good runs today. I can only imagine what he could do with a car that's closer to a "legal" build. There's still more work to do with weight savings, but that's for June..

I've also acquired the complet STF back to stock build of a good friend who has left the sport due to time constraints. I have to clean up a lot of his items since they've been sitting either in his shop, or on the car for the last year now. I'll be going though the stuff and posting up a FS thread with the items, but a little teaser list:

Dog bone mount (With 3 Duro bushings included)
B-Spec suspension kit (coilovers and rear Mazdaspeed sway bar/Tri Point bar)
6 2.25" springs various rates and lengths
Pair of fixed back STF legal seats with covers and Planted Mounts
Schroth 4 Point ASM Harness
OBD meter and display
Injen CAI
Half side exit exhaust with high flow in line muffler

I'll add pictures and prices over the next couple weeks. I'm instructing at the Imagine Lifestyles event next weekend and the following weekend is the Pro. I'll get to the FS stuff then.

All for now..

 

[jasyatz]

I just posted what's left of the STF BSpec build in the Market place section. Most of the stuff sold instantly on the M2O Facebook page, but for those of you not over there, here's what's left:

****SEATS ARE SOLD*** Brackets still available. Seats and Planted Motorsports brackets $300 plus shipping (max $50 I'll pay the difference)

AWR mount with 3 sets of bushings $65 shipped. Mount has since been cleaned up and white stuff removed. Just hazing from lithium grease to help with installation.

*****SOLD***** BSpec Mazdaspeed/Ford Racing strut kit with custom spring rates optimized for street ride and Autox course assault. Current rates are F350/R475. Rides fantastic, and lowers the car very nicely. Front struts have been cleaned up of silver paint (was checking for strut bolt movement to diagnose a clunk; was sway bar bushing) Rear springs are no longer ERS units, these are too long and didn't lower car enough. Current units are Summit rear springs 7" long. As pictured, are the black ones. $400 shipped.

Here's how the car sat after installation

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[eyeballs]

I am blown away about the consult and custom setup from BC! I just always looked at them as a generic low-mid level product. Sounds like you're getting some serious speed out of the car.

 

[jasyatz]

Yes and no.. They transformed the car so much that nothing that worked last year is working now. Big front camber results in crazy wheel spin, less is better. Big Bar on front promotes great turn in, but too much inside wheel lift. put the rear bar back on and seems to help drive the nose down a bit. Next event is in 2 weeks so some other changes are being made as we speak.

 

[jasyatz]

Update on parts for sale; Seats and BSpec kit have sold. AWR mount and Planted Brackets are still available.

$150 shipped for THE PAIR of Planted Motorsports brackets. That's 50% off retail and includes free shipping.

$50 shipped for the AWR mount with 3 sets of (now) correctly identified bushings. Have 60/70/88 durometer bushings. Has the 60s in it now and is slightly more harsh than stock. You can feel it's more still than stock, but it's not obnoxious like the 88s. It's way less than retail on this. I think He laid out almost $200 when bought all this new.

 

[Yavuz]

Jasyatz - I'll take those planted seat mounts. I'm still on the fence about the mount as the car is a DD first and an autocrosser second. I'll PM you in a second.

 

[jasyatz]

Responded to your pm...And Devens is still a possibility but the weather has to be perfect for me to sneak it in.

 

[jasyatz]

Seat brackets SOLD! heading up to MA! Thanks Yavuz! Did you want the mount?

 

[Yavuz]

Jeff, Thanks for shipping those brackets out so quickly! I'm going to pass on the motor mount for now. Decided against the extra vibrations since the car gets so much street use.

 

[jasyatz]

Wow! It's been 2 years since an aggressive setup post so I'll update on ALL the changes; and it was everything.

Suspension package is now Custom Valved and sprung BC Racing coilovers running 700# front springs and 550-600 rear springs.
A special thanks for Font Motorsports for the super quick turnaround on getting me the front inserts in time for a test day (that actually got rained out but the parts were there!)
Ride height is still around the 23.75" front and 24" rear although I've been playing around with the rake trying to balance the car a bit better. The big RB front bar experiment was a terrific failure. Everything was terrible except turn in. Otherwise grip was down, feel was horrible and wheelspin was uncontrollable. Off it went and is awaiting a home in a FiST (or if one finds its way to my home if things in STF don't change;see last paragraph below)

Wheels are the same TRM that I fell in love with 30 months ago, but are now in their 5th set of different tires. The Bridgestone RE71s are magic on this car. Grip is up, both acceleration, braking and constant corner G.

Sway bars have varied but we're trying a no bar setup to see if increased rear droop amounts to increased lateral confidence in slaloms along with increased rotation in the high dig tighter corners. The goal is to maximize corner exit speeds out minimizing corner entry push. Letting the front and rear ends work independently side to side providing max grip and suspension travel. We'll see how it goes. I have the GM rear sway bar option and the RB rear bar option if needed. If the RB is too stiff and the GM is too soft, a quick call to Zach or Jeff @ DDM will get be their rear bar which slots nicely in the middle. I had one, liked it, but a local guy needed one so it became his.

Tri point rear bar was deemed STF NON COMPLIANT, so that's up for sale along with the experimental "is it legal now?" Rubber bushed rod ends. Freshly painted but could use a full strip to make it real pretty; Looking for $150 plus shipping and its yours.

Alignment setup has changed a little. Indexed the upper mounts on the BCs to gain some caster but haven't had it on the rack yet (even though I own one now) to measure it. Front camber has been reduced to 2* since you don't need the extra camber with the increased spring rates. Started with 500s up front with the front bar and the car was amazing. So much in fact I was very reluctant to try anything else but as the saying goes " Insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting the same result". I kept getting the same results, winning locally, but still way back in PAX. Offered the car yo to a few drivers and pushed it as hard as it would go, usually netting a less than .5 second dog fight between us. Proved 2 things; the car is easy to drive quickly, and it's maxed at its current setup. So...

A few calls and some internet intervention by Tony (fatlander937) and Andres and we collectively came up with this crazy increase front spring and see what happens idea. So far so good, car rides decent enough on the street but only time will tell on course. The idea was to increase the front spring rate until the car gets numb or won't turn in anymore, then back it off 100lbs. The front shocks are related to handle 850 so that's where my ceiling is.

As for the rear, started off 2015 with 550s and the RB rear bar. It was very good but rear droop in corners was non existent. Pulling in and out of a driveway resulted in wheelspin and lost forward grip. On course the rotation was great and very confidence inspiring but wasn't twitchy. It felt very "safe" and that's when I knew that it wasn't working exactly the way I needed it to. A FWD car needs to feel right on the edge to work well and this is close but not exact. Rear springs are simple to swap and I plan on bringin the 600s and both rear bars to the next event for further cold weather testing.

All my old struts have sold along with Rich's (extremes) STF build, it was unfortunate to see him step away from the sport, but he did it for all the right reasons with a young son and wife at home. I hope to see him out here again someday.

I still have some springs leftover from testing (6 sets actually mostly ranging in the 500-800 range) so nothing for the casual autocrosser and "I like my daily to ride nice" crowd, but those will go up for sale soon.

As for engine and related power mods. Did some running this year and some adjustment on some things. Open side exit exhaust was a crazy idea, but it was moved on to a happy owner (thanks Josh). Tuning and netted some big improvements. 0-60 times are now in the low 8s and quarter mile time is in the lower 16's. Reverse calculating based in measured weight nets in the area of 115-120 at the wheels. I've been using both tuners (Dynotronics and OV) and can say they both have similar ideas as to how to extract 1000% out of this little package. Both are easy to work with and are very helpful when small issues arise. You can't go wrong with either. Joe has my last tune on file, email him if you want to try it out. But I think he's been playing with it over the last few months and there's more to be had. Matt at OV has a tune of his own he's working on and so far seems to be coming along very well. Even though the 2 guys are adversaries, the gains to this model are very real and they both are striving hard to get safe reliable HP. There is some bad press out there on both of them, but I've experienced nothing but professionalism and excellent communication from both. I guess it is what you make of it. The tuning process is not quick, but whence you understand it, it's very rewarding. It took me over a month to get it the way I liked it, be patient. Overall though. Pic your guy, work with him, be patient and you'll be happy. Joe has a special going on now, it's worth it. And do yourself a favor and just buy the damn cable. Renting it is a pain in the ass, and you'll want an update anyway as the tune files continue to develop.

My biggest disappointment this season was our (STF competitor collective) failure to convince the SEB that the RSX type S and Civic Si are too fast to be classed in STF with the BSpec cars and lower HP commuter cars. It's an uphill fight to get the 2 back at the pointy end of the STF results, but Andres and I have committed to helping each other further the development of this chassis and share it with all of you. I figure the more entrants we have in STF in these lower HP cars, the more likely the SEB is to recognize this IS where the core of this class lies and these types of cars are here to stay. If this class is to succeed, it needs to be open to these cars and not to 15 year old Hondas like every other ST class is right now. Not bashing Hondas, I like the Fit (literally) in STF but 200hp with 2500 lbs of weight is impossible to keep up with even getting 120hp out of our little 2200lb Mazda2.

The space below is reserved for 2016 plans and results. Will try to be better at updating next year.

 

[Zach@DDMWorks]

Jeff, nice to hear where you are. I am going to make some changes to my setup for next year and trying to see what I might do. I was debating on bumping the spring rates, but now I think I definitely will since I am less than you with more tire. I also wonder where I am for ride height compared to you. Onc thing for next year I am thinking on getting my fronts shortened so I can lower the car at least half an inch, especially with stiffer springs.

While I don't autocross with SCCA anymore really, I can see how that classing stinks with there being that much of a variance in power/weight. I forget in the ST class rules can you bump boost on a turbo car?

Zach

 

[Andres3165]

My biggest disappointment this season was our (STF competitor collective) failure to convince the SEB that the RSX type S and Civic Si are too fast to be classed in STF with the BSpec cars and lower HP commuter cars. It's an uphill fight to get the 2 back at the pointy end of the STF results, but Andres and I have committed to helping each other further the development of this chassis and share it with all of you. I figure the more entrants we have in STF in these lower HP cars, the more likely the SEB is to recognize this IS where the core of this class lies and these types of cars are here to stay. If this class is to succeed, it needs to be open to these cars and not to 15 year old Hondas like every other ST class is right now. Not bashing Hondas, I like the Fit (literally) in STF but 200hp with 2500 lbs of weight is impossible to keep up with even getting 120hp out of our little 2200lb Mazda2.

The space below is reserved for 2016 plans and results. Will try to be better at updating next year.

Yeap I think we should keep trying to get all the potential of our 2's, between the huge knowledge of Jeff and Tony and my stubbornness I am sure we will succeed, I never said is going to be easy...

Jeff, nice to hear where you are. I am going to make some changes to my setup for next year and trying to see what I might do. I was debating on bumping the spring rates, but now I think I definitely will since I am less than you with more tire. I also wonder where I am for ride height compared to you. Onc thing for next year I am thinking on getting my fronts shortened so I can lower the car at least half an inch, especially with stiffer springs.



Zach

I had the chance to run two Time attack events with higher spring rates like Jeff's, the car was amazingly planted , did everything I asked. Still work in process, winter time here does not help ...

Andres

 

[jasyatz]

Track events are an entirely different animal when it comes to spring rate choice. DE events are fine, but you start nipping curbs with higher front and rear springs you are looking at a potential Joey Chitwood ride.

Also forgot to thank Tony (flatlander937) for all his help and input. The build is still moving in the right direction and I'm hopeful the newest "think tank" model is going to work well. Now just need to get some heat in the tires again. Spring can't come soon enough., but at least the Rangers are playing well.

 

[jasyatz]

Well...the latest update to the build is that it has ended. It was a fantastic 3 years, tons of fun but life's priorities got in the way of having a fully prepped autox car. kids got bigger so the car had to as well. For those that aren't on the FB page, sorry you missed out on most of the parts, I still have the Mazdaspeed Rear "sway bar" and the Racing Beat "tree trunk" bar. The Mazdaspeed (or Tri point bar), is hands down the best rear bar you can buy for the car. You get all the roll control you need along with being able to adjust rear total toe (will adjust in or out but won't singularly correct one wheel). It will beat the hell out of a muffler, but if you straight pipe the car, it's fine. Also need to mention again, it's not legal for STF so the reasonable alternative is the Racing Beat bar. You get roll stiffness, but no toe control. But it's STF legal.

Either are $125 shipped to any address in the US48. Will ship elsewhere, but it's nutty expensive. you can email me at jyatsko5@hotmail.com. $25 off if you buy both bars.

Took the new car out to an event last weekend and it's downright terrible compared to the 2; won't turn in, has stock levels of roll but has stupid power and torque. It's comfy and fun to drive on the street and it fits the wife (who refused to even get into the 2 about 30 months ago), both kids (11 and 13) and all the gear needed for a camping weekend.
It's a 358 day car as opposed to the STF 2 which was a 12 day a year car. (Great on course, but a monster to be in most days on the street). I'll still be around lurking and when I have something to add to help, I will. It's a great little community, the "other forum" makes me want to beat my own head in with a hammer.

 

[c7scayman]

What car did you get as a replacement? Any plans to keep auto-crossing?

 

[jasyatz]

What car did you get as a replacement? Any plans to keep auto-crossing?

Leased a Kia Forte5 SX 6spd. Nice comfy street car. Does everything I need it to do 11 months out of the year. It's not great on course, but it's not terrible. Will be a solid regional HS car, but no Ultimate Prize winner.

And yes; The plan is to autox until the eyes or body fails. Hopefully neither for another 30 years or so.

 

[jasyatz]

Update. B Spec rear sway bar is sold. RB rear bar still available. somebody make an offer on it. I hate seeing it not installed on something. I wish it fit the new car.