Adding some front camber won't kill your tires. Toe kills tires, not camber. I've run -3* with 0 toe and have noticed no accelerated inside wear with street driving.

Having autocrossed in the V12s (in a different car), my suggestion would be to get the Dunlops. They're a MUCH better Autocross tire and give up very little in daily drivability. They're good in cool conditions, good in rain, and can tolerate heat if you treat them right.

With regard to the RS3s: in these cars they seem to offer similar grip levels vs the Dunlops, and might be marginally quicker for a an occasional magic run. The issues that we've run into though is that they have a narrow window of maximum performance. Too cool and they won't grip. Too hot and they won't grip. And worse, they go from "just right" to "off" very quickly. Combined with the poor wet weather performance, and the Dunlops seem the logical choice. They're much more consistent, much more forgiving, and still really fast.

 

Agreed on all counts.

When I first started autocrossing, I too avoided camber adjustments for fear of excessive tire wear. That ended the moment I noticed the outside shoulders of my tires were wearing much faster than anything else. Max negative camber on the factory setup not only offers more grip, but it more even tire wear when autocross is added to the mix.

I have no personal experience with the V12s on my own car, but you can't just think of them as a longer lasting, slightly less grippy R-S3. For some (far from perfect) perspective, the treadwear values for each tire:

R-S3: 140
Star Specs: 200
V12: 280

The V12s aren't going to be in the same ballpark as the R-S3s with almost twice the treadwear rating. Additionally, the Star Spec starts out with more tread depth than the R-S3, which gives it an extra edge in longevity. The bottom line is that the V12 is in a different class than the Star Specs, R-S3, and other top autocross street tires.

If you're just looking to have fun, then the V12s will be just fine. If you want to be competitive, then consider the top tier of tires to be the price of admission. Money spent on the best tires will pay more dividends than just about any other mod. If budget is an issue, then I would definitely postpone your planned suspension upgrades and spend the money on Star Specs.


As for the R-S3s, everyone I know who ran R-S3s for a portion of last season has since switched to Star Specs for all of the reasons mentioned above. They're definitely great tires, but when it comes to Autocross the Star Specs seem to be more favorable in my area at least.

 

I know as soon as my RS-3's are dead I'm getting Star Specs and not looking back. I was completely amazed this last weekend at how crappy their sidewalls really are and it cost me at least a good second the second day since I was consciously and subconsciously worried about it.

Yeah the heat here would make the RS-3 a more grippy tire, but I've noticed until you get them heated, and once you go over their optimal heat they seem to drop off more than my old RE01r's or XS. Star spec should be a little more responsive on turn in too.

In your case 9!'clipseDOHC, I'd get the Star Specs or the v12s this year and the star specs next year. Either is going to be worlds better than the Chinese 400+tw tires the previous owner put on the car. The V12's will be tons better than those current tires, you would improve and learn alot just from that transition.

 

With that being said I will go for the -2* camber with 0 toe when I get my alignment. I will be getting that done before my next autox (which is June 17th), along with tires, so that should help a lot.

I agree with what you are saying, 100%. I don't view the V12's as being in the same class as the R-S3's or Star Specs's as the best autox "street" tire. I see the v12's as a great performance tire for the money, which will meet my needs, meet my budge, let me have fun at autox, and be a huge improvement over my current tires.

My planned suspension upgrades are already a ways off. I know it's what I want, just not when I will be able to afford them. I will be doing the rear diff restack myself so I will be able to do that in the near future also. When I first bought this car I had to promise my wife that it wouldn't be a second project car. I already have the DSM for that. This is to be and remain a clean, comfortable DD that I will also Autox.

I'm still leaning that way. V12's for now and if I'm not happy with them I can shell out for the Star Specs next time. I just looked up the prices on tire rack and right now the v12's are $94 each (after rebate) while the star specs are $179 a piece. That makes the V12's almost exactly half the price. I'm not trying to be cheap, but I've only owned the car for two weeks and have a bunch of stuff to spend money on at the moment including a set of stock Ricaros!

 

Would the knowledgeable dudes from this thread mind helping me out:

https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/dr...alignment.html

I posted in the wrong forum (thinking it was the right forum & PM'd a mod to have it moved, but he didn't have permission in that forum but is working on it blah blah blah). Mr. Vortico has provided some input, but I'd like as much as I can get.

 

I posted in the linked thread, but for posterity:

-3.0 front / -1.5 rear is probably your best bet to achieve the balance you're looking for.

If you're going to DD the car I would recommend zero toe to increase tire life. If the car is mostly for AutoX/track or you're not concerned about shortened tire life then 1/8 toe out would be worth trying. Just know that it will wear your tires faster.

 

Awesome. Thanks for the input in both threads.

I *think* I'm looking for a more neutral handling setup, but maybe I should go slightly more rear happy & rely on the power of the car? My times thus far are always within the top 15 (~60 regulars) of drivers in my region, but I feel I have a lot of room for improvement. I always think to myself after a run that perhaps I should have been slightly more aggressive. I love autocross, but I hate the lack of driving time to really get better. I ran a school event as an excuse to learn the car better, but beyond that, it's been general events.

 

I got the alignment done today. -2.1 camber in the front and -1.5 in the rear. On the driver's side -2.1 was achieved by flipping the front bolt but on the passenger side they had to install an adjustable camber bolt. I also had them zero toe all the way around.

I was out there with the guy while he was working on it and he had it perfect by the end yet it still pulls to the right a little bit, same as it did before. I'm guess it has something to do with the tires? I'll be replacing them soon so we shall see.

 

Given the weight distribution of the car and the front suspension design, your goal is to first and foremost maximize front grip. Depending on your front roll stiffness (springs, bars) you may even find that more than 3* is required. Particularly with a X.

Use the rear of the car to tune for balance and driving style. I would pick aggressive rear spring rates, and something around 1-1.5* camber. I tended to maintain alignment settings and kept zero toe. The I would use the adjustable rear bar, tire pressures, and shock settings to get the car to rotate. Those things are easier to adjust at an event.

The numbers aren't important. What's important is finding a balance in your setup that goes fast and suits your driving style. Much of that comes with testing, trial, and error.

 

I think there's something wrong with your car. Has it been in a collision?

Then front has eccentric bolts installed in the upper attachment point of the struts. If the alignment dude had to add an adjustable bolt, that suggests that something is amiss in the front suspension.

 

Good tips, Mr. Boost. Thanks, man.

 

Toledo Pro Solo..... here I come!

 

Brian can i reserve a ride in the next PE on the 9th, im the slowest evo in STU and a im hoping riding shotgun in the magic evo will help me

 

Just want to spread the word that my STU car is for sale here:

https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/sa...ross-prep.html

 

Clean car. I hope you enjoy the FR-S.

I'm curious though: can you share dyno plots of your stock boost/stock fuel pump E-85 tune? I've always wondered how those look.