Mazda 3 hatchback autocross preparation; swaybars/exhaust/tires

[rccardude04]

First off: I'm a n00b here, so bear with me.

Planning to autox a bit next summer with my '04 Mazda3 Hatch and am pretty sure the car won't be too bad as-is (until I learn how to drive and it actually matters what the car handles like) but am considering a front swaybar and cat-back as appear to be allowed under stock class SCCA rules.

I do understand how swaybars actually work and am aware that it will reduce the overall steering of the car and feel a little more understeery (if that's a word LOL). But I really think I would rather have the car flatter with a little bit of steering sacrifice just for the feel. I hate body roll and, even though I've never been on a track, I'm sure it'll piss me off.

The real question I guess I have is, what bar out there will give enough resistance to body roll to keep the inside rear tire on the ground during hard cornering but not completely ruin the car's cornering performance? I saw the H&R swaybar that CorkSport carries and am considering that one because it's adjustable and the price seems pretty fair. I just want to make sure it's not the wrong thing, or there's not something better out there.

Also, for a catback, the SCCA rules say that you must retain everything in front of the last catalytic converter. I haven't been under the car to look for it yet, but it seems like all the catbacks I find replace the last cat on the Mazda3. Am I stuck with the stock exhaust in this case?

Random addition: The car has some Falken 912's on it as I purchased it. Will these tires do me well enough for learning whether or not I want to keep going? Or should I buy a new set of 4 tires. 2 of the Falkens are rough (fronts were never rotated) so I was going to buy just a pair, but if they're going to be absolute garbage, I'll get other tires. I live in a lame place (Wichita Ks) so I need all-seasons, or another set of summer/track tires. And I'm LOW budget at the moment.

I got a little long winded but wanted to make sure I was clear.

Thanks!

-Eric

 

[fam]

Have you ran autocross (solo) events yet?

Everyone in HS will be running stickies, they (the prepared HS 3's) will probably be beating you by 5-10 seconds per 60 second course with a true stock setup...but heres the kicker...thats perfectly fine...You want to learn from them, youll want to learn to drive and have them ride with you and get your kinks worked out before investing in the biggest performance add on (the tires) in H Stock. You can hide a lot of bad habits that race tires can cover up so drive with a stock setup your 1st event, take pointers from the 3's that are there. I race with a national champion named Jack Burns every event (he won it in a 3, which the 3 races under a different racer and he has a mini now, he's old as dirt but he is nice, helpful, and he is the man he knows his poo. If I had money to blow, he could have my car at the top without even having to think. There will be people there like him. Autocross folks are really nice and helpful. Folks in different classes like riding with you and vice versa.
I just finished my 1st year with a true stock setup. I went from being about 10 seconds behind to about 4-5, which really is as close as I will get without upgradings bars\struts\stickies\exhaust. A LOT of fun.

 

[fam]

pm me your email and I can shoot you info for where you should be looking (another mazda 3 forum with a whole section on autocrossing) and guys that rock locally with stock 3's and their setups.

 

[rccardude04]

Have you ran autocross (solo) events yet?

Everyone in HS will be running stickies, they (the prepared HS 3's) will probably be beating you by 5-10 seconds per 60 second course with a true stock setup...but heres the kicker...thats perfectly fine...You want to learn from them, youll want to learn to drive and have them ride with you and get your kinks worked out before investing in the biggest performance add on (the tires) in H Stock. You can hide a lot of bad habits that race tires can cover up so drive with a stock setup your 1st event, take pointers from the 3's that are there. I race with a national champion named Jack Burns every event (he won it in a 3, which the 3 races under a different racer and he has a mini now, he's old as dirt but he is nice, helpful, and he is the man he knows his poo. If I had money to blow, he could have my car at the top without even having to think. There will be people there like him. Autocross folks are really nice and helpful. Folks in different classes like riding with you and vice versa.
I just finished my 1st year with a true stock setup. I went from being about 10 seconds behind to about 4-5, which really is as close as I will get without upgradings bars\struts\stickies\exhaust. A LOT of fun.

I have never done any kind of performance driving other than what I pretend to do on the street. lol

I don't really have any interest in winning anything at this point. I figure for a year I'll just go out to essentially drive a go-kart and hang out around cool people and awesome cars as well as learn about car control and improve my driving abilities. If I'm good at it, it may turn into a pretty serious deal, but not likely with this car. I don't want the Mazda3 to become a race car. I have a 240sx that's currently not in running condition and a little rough around the edges as a semi-restoration/race car project that'll be a great beater. My 3 is the perfect balance between daily driver ability, r/c airplane, heli and car hauling ability, and good performance IMHO. It's actually better than I expected in terms of handling and overall performance so I figure I'll get started on this whole autocross thing a little sooner than expected.

I guess I'll go ahead and buy another pair of Falkens, try to get them all four worn to the same level, and leave it the hell alone otherwise LOL. Thanks for the advice.

Also, I noticed that the Mazda6 is actually a GS car where the 3 is an HS car... Is the Mazda6, even though it's a bigger, heavier car, actually quicker around the cones? I'm not sure I understand the classes to be honest. It seems like my 3 handles 900% better than my girlfriend's Neon, and I'm pretty sure it's actually better than my buddy's WRX Wagon in the twisties, but I'm in the same class as the Neon and a significant amount lower than the WRX. Or a turbo AWD Eclipse is a DS car, while I've always avoided DSM cars in general because they're classically garbage around the cones. Maybe I'm in denial that my car corners better than it really does, but the classifications seem a little off to me in a lot of places.

-Eric

 

[fam]

There was a novice in a 6 with stickies and the 2.3 motor slaughtering my times...so Im confused as well. There are GS neons (the very old 1st gen ones) that can FLY through the course (its more about keeping the speed you have through a corner than 0-60 times...plus its smaller so there's more room to come in at different angles. My local autocross page is here
http://www.nworscca.com/index.php
Check it out, look at the photos, look at the results and you can see where some cars like to fall as far as classes\lap times.

Yes, hanging out with cool people and awesome cars is totally worth it.

1st couple of events I was driving the car way too hard, coming in so fast I was slamming my brakes coming into corners and losing all my speed. I video'd it, posted on the forums, got advice and took it much slower on my last event. I got a lot faster lap times going slower and my lines are pretty good, but now I need to inch it up a little more on aggression as I did conservative (still beat a vtec honda coupe) and a few others, but as far as my position in HS, its not going to go up until I invest $$$...however in some ways its like golf, where its a game against yourself and is still fun.

I have some vids on youtube, search for user familyvalues2020 then maybe chrysler run 4 autocross, that was my best run (but I wasnt driving it too hard). Id give you the url but I cant get on youtube at work.

 

[fam]

Heres the slow run in my 3. Basically going slow to go fast. just trying to be smooth on the steering which was achieved but needed to push it a little harder going into corners. If you havent autocrossed its so much fun. I bought a set of 06 mazda3 wheels for 80 bucks...now just need to get some stickies.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juKraiA9imc

 

[rccardude04]

My girlfriend/fiancee drives an '05 Neon SXT that is apparently a DS car. I've driven that thing and it kinda handles like my truck. Loads of body roll and slow steering response. But it's supposedly considerably quicker around the cones than my 3 that feels a lot better around the twisties.

It doesn't make much sense. LOL

Thanks for the video. Now I really can't wait to try this out.

-Eric

 

[fam]

If you have leather its gonna suck (I do argh!). Basically the car can corner a lot harder than the seats will hold you. I was being thrown around so bad I was having to hold myself on the e-brake, and It will slide forward off the base under certain corners lol (luckily it slides right back on).

The fix for H stock is the harness that mounts to the back seat anchors\belts.

 

[rccardude04]

LOL That sounds fun.

I don't have leather. I never have really liked leather seats anyway. Found one with the red/black cloth.

We have our last event of the year coming up. I may go out to watch and learn, maybe get a ride with someone if I get lucky.

-Eric