SCCA F-Street Setup. What's Everyone Done so Far?

FS car here. GT PP

Mod List:
K&N Drop in filter
X Pipe
Modified mufflers
Slotted front Struts to gain camber (Best mod yet)
Moroso AOS (should be here tomorrow)

Next:
Tires. After 8 events=70-80 runs and 4500miles the stock tires are dead. They are good to learn the car with, but are not very grippy and will make the biggest improvement. Hope Bridgestone comes out with a 285/35 soon for the 71R
Wheels. Stock wheels are crazy heavy at 30+lbs
Sway bar. Probably front as I have no issues with rotating and the front seems to roll quite a bit
Shocks. As soon as they are available as the car has some rebound issues
Brake Pads. Stock leave much to be desired if you get on them really hard.


Locally I am in the top 10% of PAX. Went to a Toledo event that had 200+ cars and several national competitors where I finished 5th in class of 10 and 80th in pax out of 200 cars.
To be competitive the car needs shocks and tires really bad, simple as that.
Went up against David Feighner who is a national competitor who has been running the 15GT PP for a season now and is a VERY VERY fast driver. Chatted with him and he has put together his own Koni kit using shocks off other cars and running Bridgestone 71's in a 275/35-19 on stock wheels and what looked otherwise to be a stock car. He is a much better driver and tool 6th IIRC in PAX overall and flatout beat me by 4.5 seconds. Im not nearly as fast, however it came down to the fact that stock tires are to small for this weight of car and the stock Pirelli tires simply have a hard time holding up to hard driving if you plan on being competitive.

If I could suggest 2 modifications it would be simple as proper tires and front camber.

snowman4us said:

Chatted with him and he has put together his own Koni kit using shocks off other cars and running Bridgestone 71's in a 275/35-19 on stock wheels and what looked otherwise to be stock

Click to expand...

So did he, and anyone else as well, go ahead and go with a square tire setup even though the wheels are .5 wider in the back? The 275's fit okay on the 9's up front?

I have always been a Dunlop guy but the RE71's seem to be too good to pass up. I am on the ZII SS' on my FR-S right now. I Think by the time I get the car in in August I may just run the Perellis for the remainder of the season and then look into whatever the new hot tire is next year.

Areddi said:

So did he, and anyone else as well, go ahead and go with a square tire setup even though the wheels are .5 wider in the back? The 275's fit okay on the 9's up front?

Click to expand...

Pretty sure Chris Cox and Dick Rasmussen went square on the 275s.

They fit fine up front.

I had the same concern as I am looking into buying new tires, and I was surprised how well the 275/35's fit on the 9" wide.
About the ONLY thing holding me back from pulling a trigger on the 275/35 is the fact that the gear ratio's will drop. I already have a problem with some courses running out of 2nd gear, and loosing more top end will mean having to shift into 3rd instead of bouncing the rev-limiter for a few yards in 2nd.

Based on my calculations a perf pack car should top out at 63 in second gear on stock tires. the 275/35's should be a 4% drop on top speed which would take the top speed in second to 60.5. Not terrible, but should yield some rev limiter riding moments. We don't have much choice though unless they offer some taller tires in that size in the extreme summers. At least 4% loss in top speed is equal to a 4% torque gain from gearing ratios relative to rpm.

What we need are some 285/35-19 & 295/35-19's in some Autox tw200 tires. Better diameter, and pushing the limits of what will fit on the stock wheels. These are heavy cars and need more tire.

Grintch said:

What we need are some 285/35-19 & 295/35-19's in some Autox tw200 tires. Better diameter, and pushing the limits of what will fit on the stock wheels. These are heavy cars and need more tire.

Click to expand...

Agree. I checked Tire Rack and it looks like RE71's and Rvial-S can be had in 285/35/19

Areddi said:

Agree. I checked Tire Rack and it looks like RE71's and Rvial-S can be had in 285/35/19

Click to expand...

Old Rival, and even older RE-11 (not the newer RE-11A). Not the latest generation of tire. And no 295/35-19 options at all in a tw200 tire.

Areddi said:

Agree. I checked Tire Rack and it looks like RE71's and Rvial-S can be had in 285/35/19

Click to expand...

Only the old Rival is available in that size. RE71Rs are available in 275/35/19 and some narrower 19" sizes.

I would not buy the old Rival in 285/35/19 over the RE71R in 275/35/19 no matter what the effect on gearing. Compound > small increase in size.

Using 3rd gear is not the end of the world with the GT PP. It's not like it doesn't have the juice to get loose under throttle at low rpms in a higher gear.

Yep you're right I misread it on Tire Rack. Locally here where we run at FedEx Field going into 3rd is basically never worth it versus just sitting on the limiter for a second or two. I haven't a ton of national level event experience, only a few, and it was locally here, so I am not sure if on a Nat's course 3rd might be something you see more often.

Nat's registration is open, I am considering it, though I'd be under-prepped and I'd have to hope I get my car in August like I am supposed to. Tracking site still doesn't have me in yet.

Looks like the 285/35-19 just came out in the new Rival, and the Start Specs in a 275/35-19. Just checked TireRack
I might have to pick up those Rivals shortly. Little big for the front but perfect for the rear.

Edit: looks like its the Rival, not rival S...Booo

275/35x19 Bridgestone RE-71Rs fit fine front and rear and work very well front and rear. On oem offset wheels the clearance to the front strut is tight but the guys running them don't have rubbing issues. Sam Strano (Stranoparts.com) can source Forgestars that provide a little more front clearance but still meet the SCCA FS limit of 7 mm. TireRack and probably Sam sell an OZ wheel combo that is even lighter than the Forgestars (which are about 5 or 6 lbs lighter than oem). Sam has a easy bolt in off the shelf Koni for the rears that is working well for those of us that use it. Sam with parts from Chris Cox has a DA Koni race insert for the fronts (not a simple bolt-in) if you have the budget and "can't wait" for Koni to release theirs. The Feighners have the SA version of the front inserts. The Feighners and I have the Eibach rear bar. However one of the absolutely fastest 2015's in the East is Jadrice Toussaint's which just has camber and the Bridgestones (Jadrice is FAST). The car behaves very well! The short second gear is the only "challenge" other than the obvious width. I've spent a fair amount of time on the rev limiter but usually those areas are short enough that shifting would take the same distance. Conversely the car really pulls strongly out of the MANY 25 to 35 mph autocross corners. :-)

Dick Rasmussen
FS 50

PSA: Fuel starve starts at 9 miles to empty (at least on Packwood asphalt, probably earlier on concrete). With two drivers, looks like I need about a third of a tank to start.

destoups said:

PSA: Fuel starve starts at 9 miles to empty (at least on Packwood asphalt, probably earlier on concrete). With two drivers, looks like I need about a third of a tank to start.

Click to expand...

Good info. Since 9 miles to empty on the display depends on many variables did you happen to fill the tank to determine how many gallons were still in the tank? Also, where was the needle relative to "empty"?

FYI given the weight of the car versus the weight of 5 gallons of "extra" gas I tend to start a day with about 1/2 tank. Then even at a Pro or other event with a lot of runs I don't have to worry about running low.

Dick
FS 50

SteveW said:

I've been thinking about the EB PP with an 18" setup - 275/35/18 RE71R. I know that kills 2nd gear but then 3rd would be good from 26-64 mph for the manual and is the peak power band of the 2.3T from 2000-5000. Those speeds are right in line with national solo course speeds for a class like this, right?

Lighter, cheaper wheels. More tire options. Lower CG.

I think Des could get his car down to low 3400 lbs or maybe into the high 3300 range, too.

Click to expand...

Steve, I went to Packwood on Sunday for a Torque Steerers event. Did super well -- actually matched Bill Zerr in the M3 (beat him if you don't count a teensy little cone) on a course that had five big digs and a lot of speed in between them.

A lot of third gear stretches; the most important one started with a big sweeper that fed into that bumpy stretch across the bottom of the lot and led to a high-speed kink atop one of the bumps.

When I didn't shift in that area, I basically did the entire bottom of the course on the limiter at 57 mph. I could get through the kink flat to the floor with an easily managed little drift on exit.

I tried shifting to third for that area for two runs. The first time I carried a bit more speed (guessing about 66) and spun in the kink. The second time i lifted a bit before the kink but still spun, again.

It feels like there just isn't any juice there to help control the car's attitude.

What am I missing? Would the change in wheel size alter the power band radically enough?

Enjoyed swapping runs the other day; it was eye-opening! Especially the videos.