I'm looking to start autocrossing , and I'm thinking about doing some suspension mods. I'm looking at buying a rear strut tower brace, rear sway bar, and maybe some springs. Its probably pointless at this time for me to buy a set of coilovers at my current driving skill level, and level of technical know-how.

So my few questions about springs are this :
1) What springs are available that will not blow out my stock struts?
2) Would a mostly linear or mostly progressive rate spring be better for my evo which is daily driven, on some rough roads.
3) Which type of spring would be best for autocrossing?
4) and lastly, can I use camber plates with aftermarket springs, and who's would be best?

I'm a total noob in the area of suspension. Its definitely something I want to learn more about,so your help is greatly appreciated. I apologize if this has previously been covered, if so just drop me the link.
Thanks.

 

Forget it all. Save your money for tires and brake pads. Slapping on parts isn't going to do anything. Spend a season autoxing then buy products that cure whatever problems you may be having or match your driving style.

 

I don't necessarily agree with Mayhem; though, it is a valid argument, and I am probably biased.

Running the vehicle stock is certainly the easy and low-cost alternative and can be competitive, especially the Evo in AS.

One has to first decide the level of competitiveness that is sought, even if it is their very first season. We have seen many people who have won championships or been runner-ups in their first years in competitive regions. Jack Brennen is first to come to my mind in the WDC region, which hosts 230+ competitors each event. In his first year, he missed AS championship by just few points with his Evo. This year, he clinched the championship last weekend in Street Modified.

One thing I do not agree with is that learning on a stock and then moving on to modified cars. The behaviour of the car changes so much, especially with good suspension modifications that many people are forced to re-learn the driving technique to get comfortable again. It is best, IMO, if modifications are desired, to perform that at the earliest and learn and adapt to the car as fast as possible.

Also, the life span of a competitive vehicle is roughly 3 year IMHO; then better a newer cars arrive into the scene that are more competitive. If auto-x competition is of serious interest, then one better take advantage of the tools they have at the given time, especially if the situation is favorable. This season is a good example of that: Evo was classed in ESP, which I think had the best chance of winning locally and possibly nationally (we'll know just within few days ). Things may be quite different if the Evo is moved to the BSP class next season.

Also, if you decide to enter autocrosses, make the modifications according to the rules' extend, limited by budget. Springs-only suspension upgrade is a wate of money. Either stay stock, or go with full coilovers. Single adjustable coilovers are not difficult to learn at all, they are very simple; a lot of people exagerate the situation.

However, the list of vehicle modifications for autocross, in priority, should be:

1- Tires (street or r-compound depending on the class you want to compete in)
2- Suspension
3- Engine

We prepare autocross vehicles for customers, and it is my opinion that after learning few driving techniques, tire and suspension give the most bang for the buck.

 

Thanks for the info!
Heres Some stuff I have found that might work:
Tires : Falken Azenis - a friend of mine (who has gotten me into the idea of autocrossing) has had much success w/ these tires on his bimmer.
Suspension : cusco rear strut tower brace and 24mm rear swaybar, and either Tein basic or ss coilovers.
Engine : 3 in turbo back exhaust, manual boost controller, apexi s-afc.

I'm probably not going to start til next year, so that way I can saveup to get all this stuff.

 

1- Unless you decide to run in STU, Azenis is out the door. You need r-compounds in all other classes to be competitive. If you run STU, Azenis should do fine, but once they heat, they are useless. May or may not be a problem for you.

2- Tein Basic or SS is quite useless for autocross, you will need much higher spring rates. I'd suggeest JIC, or if the KWs were out in the US for the Evo, I'd say go with KW. Also, make sure the rear strut tower brace is a two-point one, and not 3; otherwise you will be in Street Modified class; very hard to compete in.

3- TBE is fine, but need to make sure of the cat location if decide to run in STU; otherwise you can even remove the cats in Street Prepared. The boost controller will put you in Street Modified, avoid it.

You have the winter to plan your path, become familiar with rules first, then decide on the upgrades

 

Thanks. I'll definitely be doin my research. Looks like if I decide that I need r-compounds, I might need two set of wheels. Don't wanna wear them tires down on the street.

 

Yep

 

I'm going to say you're biased here as a vendor. You're telling this person to purchase suspension products for unknown reasons. At least let him spend a season getting used to the car to be able to judge FOR HIMSELF if these 'upgrades' did any good at all. There is no way a novice can tell if the car is faster out there. It may 'feel' faster, but what you feel rarely means anything at all. Let the clock speak. Since every weekend the autox courses change it may take an entire season to figure out where you stand amongst everyone else and then next season you can really start judging those time differences with your new "upgrades".
It won't take that much time to "re-learn" the way your car handles.

If you do decide to start replacing parts, do one thing at a time for testing purposes.

 

As I mentioned previously, your point is valid too; however, I don't agree with it

There are companies out there, such as ours, that test components and actually figure out the optimum combination of parts to measurably improve performance. As an individual, I doubt you can perform as extensive testing as we can. For that reason, what we really sell is our intellectual capital based on our research and development. Also, I would not expect most individuals to have the knowledge we have in car setup, and even if they do, most don't have the experience. So, I do not think that a person starting out in competition (autocross or otherwise) can find the best combination for themselves It may sound arrogant, but it really isn't; working with as many cars and individuals as we have, you have no way but to gain the experience and knowledge.

Of course it is your choice to take advantage of it or not. Am I trying to sell parts? Believe me I am not. We make very little money on parts sales; we make our money in consulting, tuning, and supporting performance-oriented customers; on the track, autocross or some street.

It is my experience that learning on a stock setup and then moving to a significantly different setup really requires a lot from the driver in terms of adjustments to driving style. If the driver is not experienced enough, it will take them at least 1/2 season. By that time, they would have spent two years trying to be competitive as a driver/car package; and the car - IMHO - will be near the end of its competitive cycle. What we offer is a significant reduction of that time period

 

Ultimately it depends on which class he chooses to run in. If he is like most people with a turbo car that cannot resist to turn up the boost, then he had better have deep pockets for SM.

 

Thanks for remaining civil. I hadn't consumed my coffee yet when I made the second post.

 

It works out better for all of us that way And thank you for your input as well, multiple views are always better than a single-side one

 

Well I dont have deep pockets. So I might have to keep my car as closer to stock.