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

[TeeLew]

Ecoboost faster than gt350 in an autocross?

It can happen modded, but it's pretty unlikely if both are in stock form.

 

[kz]

What is funny about the move of the GT350 and the 1LE is that the Pax will be lower for them than DS, where the ecoboost resides, and the Type R rules. Ecoboost faster than gt350 in an autocross? The stock classification committee has an impossible task pleasing everyone. Any change will bring winners and losers.

Have some faith in Mr. Ruth. It'll get adjusted. Pax has nothing to do with SEB / SAC and neither it is fixed once published.

 

[Chisel05]

I think the assumption is that the FS pax will change soon, but IDK.

I'm in agreement that the PAX will surely be updated, but I question why a 2022 PAX is released at all, before an actual 2022 rule book is published. In addition to FS being vastly incorrect, it's also missing SST which I believe will be a new class for 2022.

 

[Dana Pants]

Thank god the SEB killed FS before Black Friday. Goodbye FS, hello CAM-C.

 

[kz]

I'm in agreement that the PAX will surely be updated, but I question why a 2022 PAX is released at all, before an actual 2022 rule book is published.

Because Pax isn't published by SCCA. Only PSI is.

 

[SteveW]

Thank god the SEB killed FS before Black Friday. Goodbye FS, hello CAM-C.

/thread haha

 

[unknown]

Hi folks

I'm a new (a couple of months) owner of non-PP '16 GT. The car is a daily driver and a weekend warrior in one. Suspension feels a bit soft to me. Specifically on roads which have a bit of vertical profile, the car takes too much time to regain composure. I want to make car less "floaty".

I consider autocross and would like to limit mods to the ones that keep me in F-street, otherwise I would probably get Ford Performance's street or track handling pack with springs, shocks, etc. A description of strut+shock kit (M-18000-F) says it is designed to be used with FP springs… how well do you think it's going to work with stock springs? I read the last ~30 pages and it seems a few folks run adjustable Koni shocks… would you put them on stock non-PP springs? Are there other non-adjustable alternatives?

 

[Dana Pants]

What is the motivation to avoid adjustable shocks & struts? The knobs on the Koni’s are quite useful.

Don’t forget to do the factory approved camber mod before putting them on the car. If I didn’t have Konis I would use bilstein monotubes.

 

[kz]

I read the last ~30 pages and it seems a few folks run adjustable Koni shocks… would you put them on stock non-PP springs? Are there other non-adjustable alternatives?

I've had Konis on my '15 non-PP car with stock springs. Bilsteins like Dana said are another non-adjustable alternative, but between having an adjustment and not having it, why would you want to not have it ?

 

[unknown]

Thanks for the answers.

If you know what you're doing then adjustable for sure better than non-adjustable… I'm not so confident that I do

Also, my assumption was that adjustable are more expensive… but after checking out prices for Bilstein B6 and yellow Koni, the difference is less than 10%…

I guess indeed there's no reason to avoid adjustable ones… I'll put 'em on my todo list.

Don’t forget to do the factory approved camber mod before putting them on the car.

Any specific camber plates you would recommend/not recommend?

 

[Dana Pants]

Camber plates aren’t allowed in FS. You can slot the strut as shown. Note the 1mm limit.

 

[kz]

Thanks for the answers.

If you know what you're doing then adjustable for sure better than non-adjustable… I'm not so confident that I do

I didn't know either (still generally don't) but it's just one know to turn either way. Not a whole lot to adjust.

 

[SteveW]

@unknown and others if you are curious:

From Koni's website: https://www.koni-na.com/en-US/NorthAmerica/Racing/Autocross-Tuning-Guide/

Adjusting the Rebound Damping Control
Once you have found what you feel to be the best bump setting on all four wheels, you are now ready to proceed with adjusting the rebound damping. The rebound damping controls the transitional roll (lean) as when entering a turn. It does not limit the total amount of roll; it does limit how fast this total roll angle is achieved. How much the vehicle actually leans is determined by other things such as spring rate, sway bars, roll center heights, etc.

It should be noted that too much rebound damping on either end of the vehicle will cause an initial loss of lateral acceleration (cornering power) at that end which will cause the vehicle to oversteer or understeer excessively when entering a turn. Too much rebound control in relation to spring rate will cause a condition known as "jacking down." This is a condition where, after hitting a bump and compressing the spring, the damper does not allow the spring to return to a neutral position before the next bump is encountered. This repeats with each subsequent bump until the car is actually lowered onto the bump stops. Contact with the bump stops causes a drastic increase in roll stiffness. If this condition occurs on the front, the car will understeer; if it occurs on the rear, the car will oversteer.

1.1. With the rebound set on full soft and the bump control set from your testing, drive the car one or two laps, paying attention to how the car rolls when entering a turn.


2.2. Increase rebound damping three sweeps or 3/4 of a turn on all four dampers and drive the car one or two laps. Repeat this step until the car enters the turns smoothly (no drastic attitude changes) and without leaning excessively. Any increase in the rebound stiffness beyond this point is unnecessary and may in fact be detrimental.


EXCEPTION: It may be desirable to have a car that assumes an oversteering or understeering attitude when entering a turn. This preference, of course, will vary from one driver to another depending on the individual driving style.

I bolded that last part because I have found I can use rebound control to aid with trail braking (front rebound) and putting the power down on corner exit (rear rebound). Just don't stray too far from 2.2 above else settings will be out of whack.

You don't need to do laps on a track to dial this in for autox. Just find a semi bumpy, curvy country road and test at normal speeds. Work up from full soft.

 

[unknown]

Camber plates aren’t allowed in FS. You can slot the strut as shown.

Thanks I clearly misunderstood advice about "camber mod" Where did you get the pictures from? Just want to check out the source to learn more.

Too much rebound control in relation to spring rate will cause a condition known as "jacking down."

I guess that's an example of situation which made me hesitant in choosing adjustable shocks. Meaning, there's a chance to make it perform worse than stock aka make them out of whack.

Quick question: full soft on Koni is still firmer that stock, right?

 

[kz]

Thanks I clearly misunderstood advice about "camber mod" Where did you get the pictures from? Just want to check out the source to learn more.

It is from factory shop manual - beside the rule book allowances, only shop manual modifications are allowed in a Street classes.