Fellow Evo Owners I wanted to start this thread to get feed back on Auto X set ups from Auto x racers. My 06 MR is currently completely stock I looking for the first stage of upgrades. So far I’m thinking of getting 25mm RRE Sway bars and Eibach ProKit Lowering Springs for a start. Is their any one who is currently running this set up? Also I don’t want to limit this discussion only to these two up grades; any other cost efficient upgrade suggestions will be appreciated. Let band together, share our knowledge to leave STIs in the dust.

 

We discuss such things in the Motorsports forum below. We have some big-time national-level racers on this forum, and that's where the racing is discused. This forum is mainly just for basic tire/rim/suspension discussion.

Whatever you do, please do not start your modding with a set of Eibach springs. A sway bar and set of springs may be the normal thing to do on a Honda or something, but you'll want to do a lot of research on the Evo suspension and what works best for autox before doing anything whatsoever. Also, you should master the Evo in stock form before messing with it.

 

First decide which class you are going to race in. Then read the 2008 SCCA Solo2 Rules posted on www.scca.com

Then read the following threads. That will get you started. . .

STOCK CLASS
https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/sh...ad.php?t=57489
STU CLASS
https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/sh...d.php?t=320844
B STREET PREPARED CLASS
https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/sh...d.php?t=318668
STREET MODIFIED CLASS
https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/sh...d.php?t=318633
https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/sh...d.php?t=241435

Then join in the discussion on whichever class you plan on running and you will get a lot of suggestions. Many people new to autocross start modding thier cars first, then find that what they think are simple beginner mods puts them in the fastest class around . . .

EVOlutionary

 

+1 on what the other 2 respected solo Evo drivers said.

Don't start modding yet. So far both items you said are wrong - 25mm swaybarS and lowering springs. Do some events, decide what class if any you want to run, ask around, then mod. Otherwise you will be buying the same parts twice.

So far, in the street tire class, the STIs has left us in the dust

First stage of universal upgrades would be an alignment, max the front neg camber. Tires if needed (dependent on which class you plan to run).

 

Springs aren't always a bad idea for the budget-conscious. It's just that you have to look into the right ones; Eibachs for Evos aren't in that category though from what I've heard. Most people seem to find an increase in handling with a few springs (Swift, GTWorx/RCE, Works and Robispec are all commonly mentioned names) though most others (particularly Tein S-Techs) seem to deteriorate handling or not affect it at all... both of which are counterproductive and against the point of performance springs.

 

Thanks for the pointers. I will definately check out the stu forums. I have been doing auto x for the past year with this evo mr stock. I have been able to get with in one second of the STU class Subarus ( they have front rear swaybars, coilovers, camber kits, exhaust and intake) I know Evos are very sensitive when it comes to suspension thats why Im going to learn as much as I can so I can be cost effective and also win. Thanks again for pointing me in the right direction.

 

Cool, talk to the top STU guys down there too. I think McCall, Mayar and Hacney are in your region.

 

So whats wrong with good springs and a 25mm swaybar?? Eibachs are junk but you telling me Swifts or Works dont work because as far as I can tell they work pretty good.

 

Nothing, it probably works for street and speeding around at HPDEs, but not for AX competition.

 

Care to elaborate? Meaning as it doesn't work good or its not worth because of being put into a different class.

 

It's not going to work effectively. Those lowering spring kits are generic spring setups for the masses. Use them with the stock dampers and you have a setup which cannot be tuned outside of tire pressure and alignment.

Typically a "competitive" autox car is setup around whatever tire & wheel package will be run for the class. If it is STU then you will find the appropriate spring rates, damping, swaybars, alignments and ride heights which will hopefully get the most out of your car.

Unfortunately for the OP the first step which makes the biggest difference is a good set of coilovers and an alignment. This is typically the most expensive component in most ST or SP builds.

Another thing which should be understood is that Warrtalon, Evolutionary, SS RX7 r2 and myself are all nationally competitive autoxers and our version of "fast" or "competitive" is probably really skewed with respect to the OP, who seems to be looking for a couple simple upgrades in the $500-$800 range to make the car better.

Now I think there is absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to do that, but expectations need to be somewhat grounded. Making simple changes will improve the car somewhat and will help get the OP closer to those pesky STi's. Here's the thing, at the local level competition is usually more based on driver skill than car setup as the percentage of well prepped cars is lower than at national events. You can have a decent driver in a stock car destroy a poor driver in a fully prepped car.

Hope that makes a little sense.

John

 

If you plan on going out and having fun, maybe placing in local events I think you can get away with springs and a swaybar.
Thats what I am doing and the car handles better then when I was stock in the stock class.
Of course your definitely not going to a national event and going to be placing anywhere notable on this sort of a setup.
Its really about your goals... elaborate and maybe we can clarify the best route for you!

 

What Kekek said, plus:
Springs:
You can't lower the car much on stock shocks, because bump travel would be shortened. This could be done if the spring rates were very high, to limit travel, but then the stock damping would be beyond the range to control the spring. We realize there are "better"springs, but it's still a compromise, it be only maginally quicker than stock. Bottom line, a stock Evo with a set of half way decent coil-overs, would be faster on an AX course than your car with the all the mods done to it.

25mm rear sway bar:
With lowering springs you don't have enough front spring rate to control roll and dive. With a big rear bar the car will lift the inside rear wheel. Once the wheel is in unloaded the rear bar is ineffective. It would be better the use a smaller 23mm Cusco bar, or the hollow Hotchkiss bar. The OP also mentioned a 25mm frt bar, that would need a host of changes to keep the car's balance.

Classing:
Also as you noted, those mods would put you into classes where the car would be much less competive than running it stock, or a local street stock class. Fun is fine for a while, but no one likes losing with no chance to do well.

Kekek, Evolutionary, Warrtalon and myself have placed top 10 in the country in our respective classes of BSP, SM and STU (higher if Warr wasn't dragging the group down ), also see Evolutionary's car in the current Tirerack add. That's bragging, but it means we've tried or driven a lot of the suspension set-ups out there. I'm on my 6th or 7th round of spring rate refinement.

 

well I auto x at all the local events to get seat time. I would like to win at my local events because I like to win. However I would also like to go to the nationals when I have the experience, time and money. I would have to win locally to get to nationals anyways right? Knowing you and your car are the most important things to me. I personally feel a lot of under steer during corners and I feel that the car just plows when I try to make a tight turn. I have used late apexing and trail breaking but it seems to slow me down a lot at these types of corners. Do you guys have this issue? If it’s my driving then how do I fix it? for example At the BMW autox event today it was very hard to make a tight u-turn and I feel a lot of body roll during a S- turn

 

You don't have to win anything to go to Nats. You just have to be an SCCA member and participate in one Divisional or National Tour event, or pay an extra fee. As far as your driving, most regions have instructors who can really help out. Let one of them drive your car and you will learn a whole lot.