2018 SM (Street Mod) Autocross Discussion
Mar 19, 2018, 12:43 PM
#20
Bummer dude, but seems like cycling getting more and more serious. You running at Crows this year? I have an open seat right now. Ive been considering moving on to some ST platform getting out of the SM power game. Once I finish the rear suspension for the Evo, might need a new platform to start working on.
Mar 19, 2018, 09:42 PM
#21
I'm still running FS with Sean occasionally, but I don't think we're that serious this year. Not planning to do either of the Crows national events. My training load for cycling is somewhere around 12-14hr on a given week, with races most weekends, so not sure where I would even find time for the Evo if I had it back. If the motor gets done sometime soon, I'll probably just tinker around with it when I have time.
Mar 20, 2018, 07:55 PM
#22
Plan for 2018...more seat time, more seat time, more seat time.
Already working on my front splitter and hopefully a big ole **** sometime later on this year. Definitely time for a real front diff as well since I'm spinning the inside tire in tight corner exits.
Three events under my belt so far with good results including Champ Tour at Dixie where I finished 3rd!!! woot woot!!!. C
Already working on my front splitter and hopefully a big ole **** sometime later on this year. Definitely time for a real front diff as well since I'm spinning the inside tire in tight corner exits.
Three events under my belt so far with good results including Champ Tour at Dixie where I finished 3rd!!! woot woot!!!. C
Mar 26, 2018, 08:20 PM
#23
I keep telling myself I'll try SM when my motor finally lets go, but (un)fortunately it never does. 
Beyond a built motor, what other reliability mods are required to keep an SM car semi-reliable?
Are any of the transfer case rebuild options sufficient? Or is the T-case a wear item every few years at these power levels?
Beyond a built motor, what other reliability mods are required to keep an SM car semi-reliable?
Are any of the transfer case rebuild options sufficient? Or is the T-case a wear item every few years at these power levels?
Mar 26, 2018, 09:17 PM
#24
I keep telling myself I'll try SM when my motor finally lets go, but (un)fortunately it never does.
Beyond a built motor, what other reliability mods are required to keep an SM car semi-reliable?
Are any of the transfer case rebuild options sufficient? Or is the T-case a wear item every few years at these power levels?
Beyond a built motor, what other reliability mods are required to keep an SM car semi-reliable?
Are any of the transfer case rebuild options sufficient? Or is the T-case a wear item every few years at these power levels?
Apr 12, 2018, 02:03 AM
#26
i was trying to go on and corner balance my car today and running into a issue trying to get from to rear better and curious what you all think. Is it worth it to mess with my sway bar link mounting to get more clearance between my sway bar link and the spring seat? keep in mind this is full tank of gas, full size battery and heavier winter wheel set still on it along with i may leave the factory seats in it for tt rules
lf 948 rf 968
lr 668 rr 663
lf 948 rf 968
lr 668 rr 663
Jul 23, 2018, 08:23 AM
#27
Just wrapped up Packwood Tour and Pro weekends and talk about a roller coaster of emotions.. Been trying to get the new setup dialed as well as fit with the flags and the tires beside the spring instead of the perch. The new setup is with no front sway bar which by Pro is now working SO GOOD.
Tour: Saturday was a crap shoot, in the 12 runs we didnt get the back of the car to move 1 time. It was just way too planted and while we had solid grip we had no yaw to get the car to turn around things. Fast enough for a good 1st margin (like 1.3 seconds lead) but frustrating to drive. Also PAX results were sad along with where I know I normally place to others. In fact, because of the lack of rotation I would say I wasnt faster and might have been slower than just running my DGAF RE71r's. We also made a bar setting change in the rear but even on full soft we were lifting a rear which means more bar isnt going to help in the area we needed.
Had many comments wondering what was going on since car just didnt look like normal. People just thought it looked slow and painful, I agreed
Sunday we jacked up the rear tires pressure 4psi and it was a huge difference in balance. Front grip of course is the same but now the rear is actually playful. Unfortunately is was about 100deg in the shade and way hotter on the asphalt. My head was fried since we ran last and I just found my self coasting around things and through slaloms. So times were again weak but car actually felt like a huge improvement. Even with the balance change the average sat to sunday split of most people was around 0.5 sec, and I managed to go about 1.5 sec slower.
Oh well, still got a win.
Pro: I ordered 100lb/in heavier springs for the rear and swapped them in Friday before pro and set rear bar back to full soft. Reduced spread on pressure to 4psi. Launch set to 5000rpm with a med boost setting that seemed to hit around 24psi and held pretty steady there. That setup seem to light up the tires quite a bit netting mostly 1.7 60fts but clutch and drivetrain stayed happy so I stuck with it.
To make a class we got some CSP guys to jump to SSM for a full S1 which gave them a good chance to win 2nd place tires. They can be pretty dang fast so I was sorta worried even though I had a pretty significant advantage on the line. Walking the course most people seemed to think it was too tight and definitely a miata course. Well there were two really tricky turn-arounds and my data says I still managed to hit 60 before I had to brake for first turn. There were some good digs to pull out of so I would definitely consider this a power course, time potential seemed to agree there were huge advantages to have HP.
Balance change from the spring change made a huge difference. Car was dancing and doing great things, all 4 tires were heating up at about the same rate, and car was just super fun to drive. Really seemed to respond well to almost over driving as long as you get early on everything. Over driving just got the rear to dance around things. I struggled with the lights as I was practicing preloading the clutch so things were just coming off the line so much faster. I had to try and find a place between last yellow and green to go on, didnt work very consistently for me. My two fastest runs saturday were with redlights, but data shows one side was a 1sec improvement and other 0.2sec.
I ended up top qualifier with a left side run having a 1.0 light, and right side having a 0.8 light. Terrible, or you might say lots of sand for the super challenge. I had a 1.5 sec lead over 2nd, but the CSP guys that jumped managed to get their 2nd place tire.
Was all ready with my game plan for super challenge and tried to run easy laps with my "sand", 1st lap the messed up on the computer and our lights dropped at the same time. I ran anyways with a 1.3 reaction because I was suppose to go 2sec after my opponent. So now we have a re-run. Next side Im just trying to take it easy and hit my points. Well, turning in at slower speed doesnt rotate a car, turned right into a cone... FUUUUUU. Try to go ham on the other side and break out to save things but its no good. Light was a low .5xx and data says I was 0.2sec slower than my best run (other redlight) so I made up time but not enough. Boooo, time to pack up RV/Trailer and head home.
TLDR; Car sucked, Car got better, Car got awesome. Won 4 tires between Tour and Pro, won Top Qualifier for $100.
Tour: Saturday was a crap shoot, in the 12 runs we didnt get the back of the car to move 1 time. It was just way too planted and while we had solid grip we had no yaw to get the car to turn around things. Fast enough for a good 1st margin (like 1.3 seconds lead) but frustrating to drive. Also PAX results were sad along with where I know I normally place to others. In fact, because of the lack of rotation I would say I wasnt faster and might have been slower than just running my DGAF RE71r's. We also made a bar setting change in the rear but even on full soft we were lifting a rear which means more bar isnt going to help in the area we needed.
Had many comments wondering what was going on since car just didnt look like normal. People just thought it looked slow and painful, I agreed
Sunday we jacked up the rear tires pressure 4psi and it was a huge difference in balance. Front grip of course is the same but now the rear is actually playful. Unfortunately is was about 100deg in the shade and way hotter on the asphalt. My head was fried since we ran last and I just found my self coasting around things and through slaloms. So times were again weak but car actually felt like a huge improvement. Even with the balance change the average sat to sunday split of most people was around 0.5 sec, and I managed to go about 1.5 sec slower.
Oh well, still got a win.
Pro: I ordered 100lb/in heavier springs for the rear and swapped them in Friday before pro and set rear bar back to full soft. Reduced spread on pressure to 4psi. Launch set to 5000rpm with a med boost setting that seemed to hit around 24psi and held pretty steady there. That setup seem to light up the tires quite a bit netting mostly 1.7 60fts but clutch and drivetrain stayed happy so I stuck with it.
To make a class we got some CSP guys to jump to SSM for a full S1 which gave them a good chance to win 2nd place tires. They can be pretty dang fast so I was sorta worried even though I had a pretty significant advantage on the line. Walking the course most people seemed to think it was too tight and definitely a miata course. Well there were two really tricky turn-arounds and my data says I still managed to hit 60 before I had to brake for first turn. There were some good digs to pull out of so I would definitely consider this a power course, time potential seemed to agree there were huge advantages to have HP.
Balance change from the spring change made a huge difference. Car was dancing and doing great things, all 4 tires were heating up at about the same rate, and car was just super fun to drive. Really seemed to respond well to almost over driving as long as you get early on everything. Over driving just got the rear to dance around things. I struggled with the lights as I was practicing preloading the clutch so things were just coming off the line so much faster. I had to try and find a place between last yellow and green to go on, didnt work very consistently for me. My two fastest runs saturday were with redlights, but data shows one side was a 1sec improvement and other 0.2sec.
I ended up top qualifier with a left side run having a 1.0 light, and right side having a 0.8 light. Terrible, or you might say lots of sand for the super challenge. I had a 1.5 sec lead over 2nd, but the CSP guys that jumped managed to get their 2nd place tire.
Was all ready with my game plan for super challenge and tried to run easy laps with my "sand", 1st lap the messed up on the computer and our lights dropped at the same time. I ran anyways with a 1.3 reaction because I was suppose to go 2sec after my opponent. So now we have a re-run. Next side Im just trying to take it easy and hit my points. Well, turning in at slower speed doesnt rotate a car, turned right into a cone... FUUUUUU. Try to go ham on the other side and break out to save things but its no good. Light was a low .5xx and data says I was 0.2sec slower than my best run (other redlight) so I made up time but not enough. Boooo, time to pack up RV/Trailer and head home.
TLDR; Car sucked, Car got better, Car got awesome. Won 4 tires between Tour and Pro, won Top Qualifier for $100.
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alpinaturbo (Sep 4, 2018)
Sep 3, 2018, 02:25 PM
#30
#solonatshasstarted
Practice in the books, possibly 100% irrelevant cause forecast calls for constant rain. If it's wet enough, should be on h2o's but as long as it's just damp we'd stick with A7s.
FWIW, practice felt good. Car is pushy at the limit there but if you're patient coming in and agressive coming out with tidy lines it seems to be quick.
Practice in the books, possibly 100% irrelevant cause forecast calls for constant rain. If it's wet enough, should be on h2o's but as long as it's just damp we'd stick with A7s.
FWIW, practice felt good. Car is pushy at the limit there but if you're patient coming in and agressive coming out with tidy lines it seems to be quick.