STX Build Thread

Autox

Wow! Are you guys still going to events? The season is over for me unless I want to do a little ICE RACING. I would love to run year round. I'm kind of worried about loosing my edge over the winter.

On another note... is there a downside to running a shorter spring? Doesn't that limit the amount of suspension travel? And at what length will the spring and spring perch clear the tire?

Sorry about all the questions. I ask so many because I have a limited amount of money to spend on this project. I don't want to measure once and have to cut twice (Britt, your saving my ass for doing this first, thanks). I can't afford mistakes. I'm even looking for used parts. I did find a used set of AWR Coilovers that I'm going to buy. I just hope that AWR didn't make any major upgrades from the first set sold for the MSP.
 
Macs MSP said:
On another note... is there a downside to running a shorter spring? Doesn't that limit the amount of suspension travel? And at what length will the spring and spring perch clear the tire?
Click to expand...

The downside to running a car really low, will limit suspension travel however my front struts are .5 shorter than stock for compressed lengthand the rears are ~2.75" shorter than stock for compressed length. We were going to use an 8" spring but because the rates were so high we could not get the car low enough. So we had to change to a 6" spring at a similar rate. If we had a softer spring, it might have worked for the front.
 
I'm running an 8 inch spring in the rear on my setup and I think it works perfectly. The AWR coilovers originally came with 10", but it put the spring perch too close to the tire. I'm running 16X8 +50 offset...225/45-16 tire and now there is plenty of room for adjustment before any interference issues with the tire.
 
xelderx said:
I'm running an 8 inch spring in the rear on my setup and I think it works perfectly. The AWR coilovers originally came with 10", but it put the spring perch too close to the tire. I'm running 16X8 +50 offset...225/45-16 tire and now there is plenty of room for adjustment before any interference issues with the tire.
Click to expand...

what rates are you running? Are you using thbe bilstein inserts as well?
 
Derelin is a stong poly, but like you mentioned britt it tends to crack after awhile...I actually got into using derelin on one of my race bikes for frame sliders and such....the one thing I like about it though is it does offer some of the most rigid solutions out there without adding a ton of weight in the process...as far as bushings not taking any dampening there are actually a few places where you'd want something a little soft to absorb some of the jagged blows...namely around the coil spring area...reason being is even the best shocks dont have instantaneous absorbtions capabilities, so a softer bushing( still much harder than oe rubber) takes the "1st wave" of the force allowing the shock and spring time to react...what myself and the majority of my racing friend have done is use a very stiff bushing for sway barks, connection arms, etc(we actually use something else but the name escapes me at the moment), and then use a slightly softer energy suspension-ish bushing on the shocks and a-arm connections to give us a more solid tire patch on bumpy surfaces...
 
Jeff@Tri-Point said:
How about sway bars? Are these the race inserts your using? How are you on adjustment?
Click to expand...

Yea...race inserts IIRC. stock front sway, 21.5mm rear sway. adj endlinks on both. I've got the backs about 1/2-1 turn off full stiff. Fronts are about dead middle. I had the fronts close to full soft for The Nationals in Topeka due to the extremely slippery surface. Turned them up afterwards. I need a little more seat time with them before I get them dialed in for different surfaces.
 
Well, I don't have any bushings at the shock mounting points, so no deflection there.

Update on parts install:

Nology wires are POS, they put the wrong ends on #1 and #4 cylinders. I love products that have no install instructions or anything to go by to see where s*** bolts up...

Seats are out for the winter, forgot how high you sit in the factory seats...will have the Sparcos mounted up to the Wedge brackets for a quick swap come springtime.

Strut housings are out and going to the welder to get the sway bar tabs rewelded all the way around instead of just the four spot welds Tony does. Switching to the 8" springs while they are out so I can fit the 245/35/16s.

TWM SS will go in while the strut tubes are at the welder since the car is up on stands anyways. Still have the pulleys to install, maybe while the car is up since it's easier to get the alternator out from the bottom. It looks like I will have to run a shorter belt since I am almost out of adjustment.

Britt
 
yea not a fan of nology wires...I actually like magnacore...you can buy them factory direct, and the engineers there have always answered any technical question I've had about the products...koni yellows are nice, I've run those for awhile now...actually just going to dump the 1k and get a threaded real coilover setup from megans racing...pillowball mounts and 32 levels of adjustability....drooooooooool...
 
megans is actually one of the best...well dsm wise...for the $1k price range...obviously the jic system which starts at $1500 is a little better, but so is a ferrari when compared to a msp...I've raced on pretty much everything and the megans setup def has more than 2 positions...

britt - a true coilover is different from a ground control and such...its technically called a threaded shock coilover system...basically its a complete unit including spring, adjustment mechanism, and shock completely matched...in addition they also include the adjustable pillowball mount camber plate for the fronts. these allow you to adjust preload, height, spring rate, and camber giving you complete control of the suspension geometry...

Are these worth it for the weekend racer? not really... They don't really make a difference till you get up in TT roadracing events where speeds are over 100mph...
 
Somehow I get the idea that you're preaching to the choir on this one (hah)
 
DSMConvert said:
megans is actually one of the best...well dsm wise...for the $1k price range...obviously the jic system which starts at $1500 is a little better, but so is a ferrari when compared to a msp...I've raced on pretty much everything and the megans setup def has more than 2 positions...

britt - a true coilover is different from a ground control and such...its technically called a threaded shock coilover system...basically its a complete unit including spring, adjustment mechanism, and shock completely matched...in addition they also include the adjustable pillowball mount camber plate for the fronts. these allow you to adjust preload, height, spring rate, and camber giving you complete control of the suspension geometry...

Are these worth it for the weekend racer? not really... They don't really make a difference till you get up in TT roadracing events where speeds are over 100mph...
Click to expand...
hehe, in my opinnion even if you get a sweet jic jdm drift kit or the tien flex flex drift kit I think its still a bunch of garbage IMO.

what you want to do is dyno your megan racing shocks and see if they even make a difference full soft to full stiff. We've helped customer dyno tien shock absorbers and found that after adjustments the shocks either did nothing or a little bit. They are usually over valved for the springs so you get a very harsh and bumpy ride which in most cases, people think they are going faster just because it feels so stiff.

A proper shock/strut and spring package is going to matter regardless of speed.

EDIT: Now that I think about it some more, my shocks on rebound have infinite amount of adjustment and 11 way compression adjustment. (shocked) Can't beat that.
 
Last edited:
Jeff@Tri-Point said:
hehe, in my opinnion even if you get a sweet jic jdm drift kit or the tien flex flex drift kit I think its still a bunch of garbage IMO.

what you want to do is dyno your megan racing shocks and see if they even make a difference full soft to full stiff. We've helped customer dyno tien shock absorbers and found that after adjustments the shocks either did nothing or a little bit. They are usually over valved for the springs so you get a very harsh and bumpy ride which in most cases, people think they are going faster just because it feels so stiff.

A proper shock/strut and spring package is going to matter regardless of speed.

EDIT: Now that I think about it some more, my shocks on rebound have infinite amount of adjustment and 11 way compression adjustment. (shocked) Can't beat that.
Click to expand...

Amen, brotha. I agree with every word you said there.

I have the JIC FLT-A1s, which for the price I paid and my skill level, do quite well. However, I've driven Justin's (xelderx) P5 with the AWR custom coilovers and it is a world of difference. I'd love to have a set. And like Jeff mentioned, they feel less bumpy and harsh despite having a spring rate probably in the range of 2x stiffer. I'd like to try a set out for a while and see how it compares to my current JICs in the daily driving comfort level...

Anyways, back to the topic at hand. I look forward to see how you like the Quaife LSD when you get it, Britt!
 
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