New STF SCCA Class Thread

[Font Motorsports]

Gotta go see you two racing one day soon. Good luck! ( Andy Hollis and Andres3165 )

 

[Andy Hollis]

Quick update: car is coming together quickly now. Slotted the struts some more and am at around -2.8 for front camber now. Wasn't sure if the slots would hold or slip under autocross loads, but they did hold. I may still tack weld the nut anyway, just to be safe. Camber bolts are probably a better solution, but this was quick and cheap.

Drove up to Mineral Wells yesterday for a local event to check out the car on the surface that the Pro will be held on next weekend. Swapped the seat in (four bolts) once I got there. Also did the toe while I changed tires. I have it set at zero for street driving and spin each tie-rod one half turn at the event (about 1/4" total). I have tape marking those two positions to make it easier.

Car was good. Still a slug on accel, but handled reasonably well. Times were respectable. Would still benefit from better shocks, though. A few more things to do before the Pro...

 

[Racebrewer]

Hi Andy,

Wag question: Would just a "hair" of toe-out be better for the street as the front wheels would want to toe-in under power?

Thanks,
John

 

[Andy Hollis]

Hi Andy,

Wag question: Would just a "hair" of toe-out be better for the street as the front wheels would want to toe-in under power?

Thanks,
John

I'm not big on toe-out for the street. Even running zero will tramline on rutted pavement which gets tiring/annoying. Zero to slightly in is my preference for FWD.

Plus, I'll be fixing any bushing flex soon enough.

 

[Andy Hollis]

And the results are in...

A 1-2 finish for the Zoom-Zoom crowd in STF at the Texas Pro Solo in Mineral Wells.

http://sololive.scca.com/STF.html

That was a week's worth of work on the car. K-Sports (slotted for camber), SSR/Toyo combo and a diet (seats, muffler removal, small battery).

Off to work on the track car for awhile...

 

[Erv]

your wife is right on your tail Andy, how was your raw time comparitively? how did you slot the Ksports for camber?

 

[Andy Hollis]

your wife is right on your tail Andy, how was your raw time comparitively? how did you slot the Ksports for camber?

Ann is very good, when she wants to be. She hasn't run for two years due to surgery. The Sunbelt Tour was her comeback. She was about a second behind me on each sides. She never even runs local stuff. Great instructor, too.

KSport slotting is simple...die grinder on the upper hole towards the strut body until the upright will rotate to touch the body. Clamp it down tight. That's just shy of 3 degrees negative and you need every bit of it.

Working with the Vorshlag guys on camber plates, to make it easier.

 

[Racebrewer]

Hi Andy,

What camber setting are you shooting for? The SPC camber bolts will give another 1.75 degrees.

Any camber recommendations for the street?

Thanks,
John

 

[Andy Hollis]

Hi Andy,

What camber setting are you shooting for? The SPC camber bolts will give another 1.75 degrees.

Any camber recommendations for the street?

Thanks,
John

I need to fix the body roll before worrying about optimal camber.

Camber bolts do the same thing as slotting the holes. There is a physical limit to how far you can tilt the knuckle mount within the strut's clamp.

 

[Greensleeper]

Working with the Vorshlag guys on camber plates, to make it easier.

Please keep me updated on the camber plates. I really need those with my Ksport!

 

[Andres3165]

Quick update: car is coming together quickly now. Slotted the struts some more and am at around -2.8 for front camber now. Wasn't sure if the slots would hold or slip under autocross loads, but they did hold. I may still tack weld the nut anyway, just to be safe. Camber bolts are probably a better solution, but this was quick and cheap.

Drove up to Mineral Wells yesterday for a local event to check out the car on the surface that the Pro will be held on next weekend. Swapped the seat in (four bolts) once I got there. Also did the toe while I changed tires. I have it set at zero for street driving and spin each tie-rod one half turn at the event (about 1/4" total). I have tape marking those two positions to make it easier.

Car was good. Still a slug on accel, but handled reasonably well. Times were respectable. Would still benefit from better shocks, though. A few more things to do before the Pro...

Congrats! You did very well at the Pro. Did you figure out the seat sensor issue? Got the headers Dyno'ed, numbers were lower than expected, Humidity was really high that day. Lost some on the low end, gain some on the top almost 3 HP, but again I think the humidity probably had something to do with it. Today I got the whole header back done, 2.25 with high flow cat, resonator and muffler; immediate improvement ! Can't wait until the computer adapts. Now starting to save money for real suspension, probably won't have it before Blytheville.

Andres

 

[Erv]

Nice andres

 

[Andy Hollis]

Congrats! You did very well at the Pro. Did you figure out the seat sensor issue? Got the headers Dyno'ed, numbers were lower than expected, Humidity was really high that day. Lost some on the low end, gain some on the top almost 3 HP, but again I think the humidity probably had something to do with it. Today I got the whole header back done, 2.25 with high flow cat, resonator and muffler; immediate improvement ! Can't wait until the computer adapts. Now starting to save money for real suspension, probably won't have it before Blytheville.

Andres

No joy yet on the seat sensors. It is pretty complicated, as the seat has a position sensor that tells the air bag how far to shoot the bag. That way, it works equally well for someone sitting way back versus someone right up on the wheel. I'll dig into it later. And there's the seat pressure sensor for weight.

I've discovered some other launching weirdness for when your foot is on the gas and brake at the same time (useful for Pro Solo launches on a hill). Sometimes, the throttle just kicks off and the car won't go anywhere.

SAE compensation on your dynojet results should take out most of the effects of temp, pressure and humidity. I suspect that the real issue was not having a decent catback at the time.

 

[Clemsonmz3]

You guys need to come to this: Evolution Super Shootout Atlanta

It's an awesome format, with a good chunk of money on the line. I don't want to run against myself.

 

[Joker2]

I did an event in STF and finished 6th in ST and 8th overall in pax. Happy. I only have wheels and tires for now. I may spring for the Spec-B package this summer if funds allow. The course was long and fast but well designed: lots of lines to be played with. Total about 50 cars in the rain, but lots of grip. I messed up by forgetting to turn off the ATC and that cost me over 1 second on my fast runs. When the car yaws, the ATC plays with ABS and kills throttle until the car settles down.

In my club, all ST cars run in same class with their own PAX. 4 out of the 8 elements were slaloms and the M2 is very good in those as it slitheres along unlike the wider cars. I bet that if I had my Miata I would have done a bit better in STS than STF.

 

[Max Archer]

Speaking of the Spec-B package, I was out at Dublin Mazda at a big meet and talked to the owner while I was there. He mentioned that their guys can order the B-Spec components individually, so if you're interested you can get just the suspension and not whatever stuff you don't need.

I'm going to be AutoXing and tracking my 2, but don't expect to be competitive. I'm going to put whatever stuff I want on the car, and it won't be too aggressive since it's a daily driver. I'd love to go all out with coilovers and contest STF, but I want a car that I can forget is modded 90% of the time. I'll be doing the usual chassis bracing (sway/torsion stiffener, strut bars, etc), and getting some Star Specs on decent wheels, but I'm only going to be running on Racing Beat springs since I don't want a big drop or a bumpy ride.

By the way, are any of you guys running in California? I shoot and write about cars and motorsports for a national automotive blog and my 2 is being covered as a project. It'd be cool to do a feature on somebody who's running the same car at a competitive level.

 

[Andy Hollis]

Added some pics of my seat install. Click link in sig.

Also put up dyno charts for the K Sport shocks.

Stiffer springs now on the car (550/500). AST 4100 DDP on the rear, K Sport still on the front.

 

[Andres3165]

Added some pics of my seat install. Click link in sig.

Also put up dyno charts for the K Sport shocks.

Stiffer springs now on the car (550/500). AST 4100 DDP on the rear, K Sport still on the front.

Nice addition, where did yo get the rear springs from? What are you doing for tuning?

Andres

 

[Andy Hollis]

Rear springs are 6" x 2.5" Eibach's (Hypercoils have similar).

I used a pair of AST 2.5"-to-60mm plastic perch adapters to turn them into 60mm ID springs. Then, I took apart the K Sport ride height adjusters and just used the bottom, and put some gaffer's tape over the threads to protect them.

With the rear of the car on jackstands at the pinch welds jacking points, I put a floor jack under the beam jacking point and slowly raised it until the tops of the springs could be placed into the upper holders. Then, continued jacking until the spring fully seated and the jackstands were loose. Removed stands and dropped the car down.

While I've lost the ability to easily fine tune the rear ride height (I can always shim it), this gives a 5.25" ride height to the rear jacking points on the OE tires. Which matches nicely with the similar dimension I run at the front. Eventually, I'll put a drop limiter inside the shock so the springs won't come loose when I raise the rear of the car.

No tuning solution yet. Working on a fancy header. Won't have it for Lincoln. Maybe for Blytheville.

 

[Andres3165]

Very interesting, do you have pictures of the rear set up on Facebook? you are a genius.
About the headers, are you going to try 4-2-1? I recommend PPE Engineering, they already know about my project, and offered to make one for us. BTW drove today again no CE light!

Andres