Nice garage Brian.

 

Works rear trailing arm, rear bumpsteer, and all of the rear diff bushings. I didn't notice any difference with the RTA and bumpsteer bushings. I also tried the AMS delrin RTA bushings, but couldn't get them to stop creaking (I'd sell them for a low price! ).

Diff bushings made an improvement on acceleration, but also added noticeable noise inside the car at some speeds.

 

I replaced all of mine with works bushings, including the tranny and shifter box. They dont make one for the hockey puck in the lower front control arms, so I bought new o.e. ones from mitsu parts net. They car is now a full on trailered autox toy, so I didn't have any concerns about NVH.

 

Does it count if you're always losing to two guys who trophied at Nats?

All my bushings are stock still - might get to some of them this year.

 

Thanks to all of you for the help, didn't see it listed much through the older STU threads, though I can easily miss some stuff. The rear lower arm has slop on mine, both the inner and outer most. Looks like I will just pick up a few additional ones as well from works &/or OEM depending on availability.

Again, thanks everyone. Now just to find someone with an 03-04 EVO that runs e85 (STU map) that would share it for 1 year. any takers?

 

Hopefully someone will do a proper head-to-head comparison of the Star Spec ZIIs and the new BFGoodrich g-Force Rival.

The preliminary reviews of the Rival look good enough that I think I may pre-order a set of those. Luckily my Star Specs from last year have enough tread left that I can wait it out.

 

Energy Suspension bushings Master Kit Brian. Cheaper than the alternative ones from Works or Whiteline.

 

Thanks, but that has parts I don't need & already have. (sway bar bushings front & rear, etc).


Think I figured out the few I'm replacing, and replacing the OEM Sphericals in the lower rear arm, as mine are quite sloppy.

Also registered for the April Wilmington Match Tour! And so it begins.....

 

Until then, you might end up just getting your **** kicked. The ZII's seem to be a significant improvement over the Z1. My initial lean is that I think the ZII will be better than the Rival, but we'll find out eventually. I have no real data to support this, just a gut feeling.

For comparison, John Hale (STU STi - Top 3 at Nats 2011) was running Z1's in TX yesterday. He finished #2 in PAX by 0.3s to an STX prepped MS3 on ZII's with a driver that hasn't been all that fast in the past. I'm sure there may be more too it, such as course design/conditions or something, but John made the statement that he didn't have anything for him. Interesting.

 

What is this STi you speak of...

Feeling the same way here actually, I preordered the zIIs in 2012, and I have not had any desire to change in favor of the rival... Hope to have them on for the Wilmington Match Tour.

 

None!

Actually finally replaced the big RTABs last season with Energy Sus, but it made no difference. IMO unlike a STi, there is not much to gain on an Evo w/bushings. Of course with your high mileage, it's a good idea to replace them with poly/delrin.

 

I decided pretty late in the winter (last week) to prep my '06 MR for STU, given that it may be my most competitive/cost-effective option for autoxing this year.

I'm currently reading through all the 20XX STU Discussion treads to put together the pile of parts that need to be procured and installed in advance of the first local event of the year on March 24th.

I have three questions that I haven't gotten satisfactory answers on, and I am hoping you guys can help me now while I'm still playing catch-up.

1. What should I be looking for in an 'eBay O2 Housing'? There are a few out there, and it's one of those parts I just want to buy and forget about given it'll be a lot more difficult to replace than most other STU-legal parts.

2. Has there been a consensus on 17x9 vs 17x9.5 wheels? I'll probably be picking up a set of RPF1's when the BFG Rivals come out in 245/40-17 and I have yet to see a consensus if the extra 0.5" is worth the weight. I plan to run some ZIIs on the OEM wheels for the first part of the season fwiw.

3. Ohlins R&T with custom spring rates/valving purchased new, or Moton Clubsports purchased used with the wrong spring rates (and custom valved for them by Mullerized) for a few hundred dollars more + the cost of new springs?

I would greatly appreciate any insight you can provide for me.

Thanks,

-Bryan Mancuso

 

For anyone looking to get into STU, my STU-prepped Evo IX is up for sale in the Classifieds section. Figured I'd link to it here since people reading this thread are the main ones who might be interested.

STU Evo IX For Sale

Sad to see it go, but my loss is your gain.

 

1) For the O2 housing, the "ebay" one AFAIK is the Megan housing. I actually have one I bought from PPI that's already heat coated to keep underhood temps down. I ordered it for the DC Pro, last year, it didn't get here in time, and I decided to just stick with the one I had. PPI went out of business, but it's the same housing as this:
http://web.archive.org/web/201002020...ts/evo/O2.html
It was $228 shipped I think - I'd sell it for $150. It's not the white Swain coating though, it's a silver coating that I believe is equivalent.

2) I think it depends on the tires. From what John L told me, the Hankook RS3s really needed the 9.5s to come alive because they are not as stiff as the Z1s. For something like the Dunlops I don't think it's quite as important. I ran 9's most of the time last year. One of these days I'll try same day testing.

3) Depends how you use the car. It seems like everyone loves how the Ohlins ride. spool_sample, who sold me my Clubsports, had both on his Evo, and he said the Ohlins rode noticeably better but he liked the extra adjustability of the Clubsports for tweaking. So if you're dailying it, the Ohlins probably make more sense, but if it's an occasional use car the Motons might. Although who knows how Mueller valved them and whether it's right for autocross. Are they one of those companies that doesn't even tell you what spring rates are on there or am I thinking of RRE?

Yeah, more people need to try out STU cars. The combination of power, grip and low tire costs is pretty awesome. Sorry to see you leave the class.

 

1. I appreciate the offer, but I've heard of people having problems with the Megan housings for some reason, and that's still a lot more than I was planning on spending on one.

3. My Evo won't be a daily, but I'll probably be putting >1000 miles/month driving to/from events. I have heard in the past that Mueller wasn't telling what spring rates were on the coilovers, but the seller has indicated that they are 9k/10k in this case.

Thanks,

-Bryan