STF posts

[xnamerxx]

HR has been no help in trying to figure out what the spring rates were judging by how much the springs sag when weight is applied to them I'm going to guess they were in the 200-290 lb range. In either case they were progressive rate spings so it would be difficult to know for sure.
I didn't really expect everything to fit so well aside from tying the spring in place so it doesn't fall out of the perch at full droop it fit with almost no modification needed. The real test will be Sunday but I don't expect much to come of this aside from either being slightly slower/faster.

The car definitely developed some interesting behavior on the street almost feels like a VW awd car so the linear front springs can't come in soon enough.

But one thing I did notice is that the car isn't really all that more uncomfortable hell with decent shocks I think 400-450 might not be that bad on the street.

[justjesus]

Yeah, HR isn't good about giving out info. I've tried.

You ever think about going to Adams in Riverside for testing? I like it cuz it's a good place to get your kicks, and good place for testing. Just sucks that it's a bit far.

400-450 should be fine on the street. I'm using that rate on my crx with the Tokico's set on full stiff.

[xnamerxx]

I've been to adams before in my Mustang but haven't gone with the Yaris. I normally can't make it due to my work schedule and not being able to get there until at least 8 when everythings almost over.

Yeah I actually called them up but wasn't able to get anywhere and the TUV report wasn't helpfull either. So I attempted to check the old fashioned way by applying weight to the car and measuring the droop but seeing as the springs are progressive its not really all that accurate. I'm just happy the springs fit with little to no adjustment.
I'll try to get some pictures of my kludging of the spring to make it work but almost a week of driving and lifting of the rear wheels hasn't caused anything the break yet.
I think I could handle 400 lb/in but I would need some decent adjustable shock as it sits right now I don't think I would like anything stiffer than 375".

The motion ratios on the Yaris and CRX are differant so its hard to compare spring rates. Hell I had 1200lb/in springs on my mustang and that ride wasn't all that bad but moving the spring on the strut and lowering it to 400lb/in made the car stiffer so its really an apples/oranges comparison.

[xnamerxx]

So bumping the rear spring rate turned out to work way better than I expected at El Toro the car could take almost any line I wanted and the turn arounds where I normally have tons of issues just worked for me I could stay tight and just pedal-it a bit to get the car where I wanted it to be. If my tires didn't keep overheating and had a bit more grip I would have been on the heels of some of the faster ST Civics.
This car flat out works right now although I would like a touch more spring in the front it doesn't seem to be a big issue. Its so much fun to hang the ass out doing 40 mph in a FWD car.

[justjesus]

I didn't see you run, but you were right on MY heels, for sure!!!
Less than two seconds behind me.
You should pick up those wheels, man!! (from Peter Looney) And get two more, to complete the set. slap on some Toyos..... and have some fun chasing the STC guys!

[xnamerxx]

I'm stuck in a tough spot right now, I'm trying to figure out a way to get the car to nationals while not killing my entire budget, so I haven't quite figured out how I was going to do that.

Pete's wheels are on the top of my list but I might end up going cheap and buying some Kumho XS's or Falkens just so I have something decent on my rims. I would keep my Conti's on but the outside edge are toast from not running enough camber earlier in the year.

I paxed higher than I normally do hell I was less than 2 seconds off Jonathan Lugod on pax and I'm running worn out rain tires so something with the car is definitely working.

[justjesus]

NO WAY?!?!?! Props to you for even thinking of Nats!!!

In testing by Grassroots, the XS was a decent tire in autoX. I believe it was the 205/50-15 size that was tested. It's a good way to go given the price.

And Jon is a great driver! Nicely done.

[Jason@SportsCar]

Originally Posted by xnamerxx

I'm stuck in a tough spot right now, I'm trying to figure out a way to get the car to nationals while not killing my entire budget, so I haven't quite figured out how I was going to do that.

Pete's wheels are on the top of my list but I might end up going cheap and buying some Kumho XS's or Falkens just so I have something decent on my rims. I would keep my Conti's on but the outside edge are toast from not running enough camber earlier in the year.

Don't do it. Compromising in the short term wont help you, neither of those tires can get it done.

You would be better off saving your money for the good stuff and flipping the tires you have - this assumes the rest of the tire is still ok, and you have only burned up the outside edge.

[xnamerxx]

Originally Posted by justjesus

NO WAY?!?!?! Props to you for even thinking of Nats!!!

Well I still have to figure out my tire problem but I've got the time off work just in case.

[ilikerice]

I agree with Jason on the tires.. dont go cheap on tires.. get the good stuff, esp if you are going for nationals.

Also, was wondering if Jason has heard/read about SCCA making the R1R's illegal next year. Someone was telling me about that over the weekend at autocross when I said I was gonna get some R1R's soon.

Now for my autocross update.
Aug 4th was my last event and it was at Roebling Road Raceway, we used 1/3 of the track, turns 1-4. It was really tight too, bounced off rev limiter in 2nd one time. Usually we can get into 3rd at the track events.

Excited, there was a mazda2 (was a novice, only had wider rims that put him in STF) and honda fit (rival) from jacksonville that came also. If you remember, i went to Jacksonville back in Feb and beat everyone in Pax there. So he came back to return the favor.. he beat me by 1 cone. I could not get a clean run to save my life. It was such a close run too. I ran a 79.9 +1cone and he ran a clean 80.2. That .3 sec in a 80+ second couse.. That is insane how close we were too.

Overall, the Fit beat everyone in Pax, S2000 CR came in second and I came in 3rd. I say not too bad with 1 cone added to my best time.

The results are in:
http://buccaneerregion.com/ce-7-12.html

[xnamerxx]

The r1r rule was removed so its a non issue, I really don't want to go cheap on the tires but its a tempting option.

To give you some perspective on that guy here are the Dixie National Tour results from the beginning of the year. So its a good bet some of those drivers are faster now. Todd Freeman will place 2nd at nationals and Andy Hollis will take it down.

T 1 91 Todd Freeman 2006 Mini Cooper White/ Hankook 59.372(2) 55.051 55.206 Total 107.574
Plymouth,MN Land O Lak 54.489 52.523 54.619(1)


T 2 77 Andres Rodriguez 2012 Mazda 2 Silver Toyo 55.930 55.225 55.301 Total 108.057
Plantation,FL Mike Car Shop and Costin Florida/ 52.832 53.398 54.735(1) (0.483)


3 32 Ervin Carder 2012 Mazda 2 Green Toyo 64.035(4) 56.358 56.012 Total 109.709
Alabaster,AL Alabama/ 58.183(2) 53.697 57.844(3) (1.652)


4 23 Chris Hill 2006 Mazda 3 Titanium Hankook 62.767(4) 58.107(2) 56.148 Total 109.815
Anderson,SC Mazdaspeed Motorsports Central Ca DNF 55.660 53.667 (0.106)


5 15 Adam Neylans 2010 Honda Fit White Hankook 58.810 56.869 56.210 Total 111.472
Keystone Heights,FL Buccaneer/ 56.365(1) 61.073 55.262 (1.657)


Doing a bunch of armchair quarterbacking and wishful thinking I think I could place top 4 but realistically I'm likely a bottom 3 contender.

[ilikerice]

Ok. Adam nylans is the guy i race against here in my region and i know i am faster than he is and i still have a few mods left open for me. But finding 3 seconds in 3 runs would be hard

[xnamerxx]

That was also from March so he may have gotten faster since then but its a way to armchair benchmark yourself.

I'll repeat something wise that was told to me, you won't really know how fast you are until you go to some of the out of town events where the fast drivers show up.
This is a big part of why I decided to go to nationals this year since I won't have the opportunity to go next year. Even though I know winning isn't an option unless something unfortunate happens to my competitors it will still be an experience to compete against people who are worlds away.

You might gain some time by switching the spring balance to the rear of the a car like 6k springs on the front and 6.5 or 7k springs on the rear depending on swaybar something like that can't say it will help you but it helped me.
I know my spring balance is rearward biased so the car has some funny behavior like any form of lift-off at high loads at speeds greater than 30 mph results in a oversteer condition so what ends up happening is that I'll be taking fast bends really tight using the gas pedal to point the car through the turn but it also gets the car unsettled on shallow corner exit its weird to experience the first time but once you get the hang of it, it almost feels natural.
YMMV but I picked up something like 3.5 seconds from just my rear springs alone but the car suits my driving style a bit better now so that's likely where all the time came from.
Coming from a Mustang where you can't really be precise and everything is throwing the car at turns just to make it get round it, the Yaris now feels familiar.

[ilikerice]

I will agree i will never know how good i am til i go against pro drivers. Also they spend their entire time making their cars autocross worthy. I havent been dedicating myself enough to autocross lately. Dragoncon coming up labor day so been working on costumes :pause for laughter to stop:.
I am very comfortable on my current setup. I almost never kick my rear out unless i really try. Understeer is nearly gone. I can usually get my yaris right where i want it. I may go with the smaller front sway bar. But i think thats all the suspension mods i will do. I need to get headers and custom midpipe w/ high flow cat

[justjesus]

Rice: sounds like some pretty damn racing! Long courses... FUN!!!!
what's ur current suspension set up?

Namer: sorry i didn't get a chance to see you run! I left at lunch. I was on 3 hrs of sleep and wanted to bail ASAP.

[ilikerice]

Thanks. I really wanna get a gopro and record these runs. I just cant throw that kinda money around right now.

I am running megan coilovers. I adjust the rears completely hard and the front mid soft/hard. 23mm UR rear swaybar. 15x7 rota gr3 rims wrapped in 225/50 hankook rs-3's.

[xnamerxx]

Originally Posted by ilikerice

Thanks. I really wanna get a gopro and record these runs. I just cant throw that kinda money around right now.

I am running megan coilovers. I adjust the rears completely hard and the front mid soft/hard. 23mm UR rear swaybar. 15x7 rota gr3 rims wrapped in 225/50 hankook rs-3's.

If you want to go cheap and have a smartphone you can rubberband it to rv mirror and record that way.

No worries Jesus the heat that day was a killer, I got there kind of late and got stuck hot lapping behind the proparts civic.

[ilikerice]

Oooo.. thats a really good idea. Thanks namer