MOD5CSi

First off I am still a rookie, and I know I need to improve my driving. I also need help in tuning. Heres some basic info.

2000 Civic Si
Dencer CO (5280 ft above sea level)
6 Auto-Xs in E-Stock (no mods, stock tires)
2 Auto-Xs in STS (with the below mods)
-ITR Springs
-Koni Yellow Shocks
--Front: stock perch setting, one turn from full firm
--Rear: one perch down, 1/2 turn from full frim
-Comptech 22mm swaybar
-Brembo OE Rotors
-Carbotech SS Pads
-Stock Wheels
-Bridgestone RE730, 205/50-15
--205/50-15
--Front: 44 psi
--Rear: 40 psi
-factory recommended alignment
-no engine mods or bolt-ons

Heres the Story/Question;

I started off late last year in E-Stock and did quite well in my class last year. Over the Winter I installed some parts for my enjoyment, which put me into STS. Where I am getting destroyed by Imprezza RS's. Again I do this for friendly competition, and to learn more about my car. But I am continuously getting my @$$ handed to me by these guys.

I know I need to improve my driving, which will only come with more seat time, but what I am looking for help on are my settings. I continually spin my car during fast hard transitions (slaloms, 'Chicago Boxes,' chicanes, etc...). The car handles awesomely during longer turns (continious, increasing, and decreasing).

Are there any recommendations for tuning this out? Or is this all me, and I need to improve more?

MaddMatt

Soften the rear shocks
and/or Get a smaller rear swaybar (19mm)
and/or toe the rear wheels in a little

Crosser

It sounds like you have a good set up for a course with steady state corners. With a car like yours means usually about full stiff in the rear and mid stiff to soft up front. The problem with this set up is it does not transition well. The reality you will learn is that there is never one set up for all courses, you need to set the car up based on the course. Transitions such as slaloms and offsets like to have the rebound set higher than you normally do for steady state corners and the rear rebound set a little lower how you have been running it. Of course you have to realize that there is nearly never a course that is all steady state corner or all transitions. What you need to do is look at the course during walk throughs and watch other drivers run the course. Try to figure out where the most time can be gained (ie. does the course have a lot of transitions and one sweeper turn or is the course mostly sweepers), then set the car up based on those observations. Make adjustments as you run. It really comes down to trial and error to find the best settings for certain situations. It is best to keep a written log of how you set the car up under certain situations and what was the fastest to help you set the car up in the future. Also, try and make one adjustment at a time so you know specifically what that adjustment does.

Hope this helps a little,
EC

WRXRacer111

Eyeballing your setup, it's not terribly far removed from that on my Integra. A few things you can check on your driving-

Be more gentle- Sometimes it helps to resist the temptation to dive into a slalom full-bore. Transfer the weight smoothly, and the car will behave better. Focus on smoothening your brake releases particularly if you're braking hard up to a slalom, since any abrupt inputs will seriously disrupt the balance of the car. Try to keep a constant throttle position through slaloms. Since it sounds like your car gets very tail-happy in transitions, you might want to sacrifice some entry speed so you can apply a little gas through the slalom. This might help keep the car under you a little better. I don't know if you left-foot brake, but I find it's helpful in some slaloms to make minor attitude changes. Granted, on a perfect run, I'll not want to be doing this, but leaving your left foot on the brake frees your right foot to stay on the gas, ready to punch the throttle out of oversteer if need be. Looking ahead and not getting behind in slaloms will allow you to use smaller steering inputs which will keep the car more composed in addition to being faster.

fsp31

Since it's a transitional problem, a sway bar adjustment might be the ticket. Do you still have the front sway bar? Try tightening the front bushings a little bit. Then, loosen the bushings a little on the rear bar. Sounds unconventional, but IMO the EK chassis responds better to a front sway bar than the CRX's and EG's.

Another thing to try is a radical tire pressure change. Like try reversing pressures front to rear. Making BIG changes to tire pressures can help identify "trends" in handling characteristics, even if the resulting pressures don't produce better results.

As for beating the scoobies, Si's are porky and they don't have a LSD. That's gonna be tough to overcome. Street Mod may be the answer. ;-) I think it's definitely possible to make an Si competitive with the WRX's under SM rules.

-brad

MOD5CSi

I will try tire pressures and shock settings...those will be the easiest to change, for now...

Crack Monkey

Aside from the problems you've had with transitions, which have been adressed by others, you're biggest problem is probably keeping the Si within it's powerband.

There are several Si's that run locally. They have been piloted by all levels of driver. The unanimous bitch is lack of powerband (plenty of power, but hard to keep the rpm at a good level). The solution in STS is smaller wheels. There are several locals attempting to fit lightweight 13" and 14" wheels with AVSi tires (about the only good tire left in those diameters).

Crosser

Hey CM I am helping Michael Poole set his up and I think the best 13" available right now for STS is actually the Sumitomo they are 215/50/13. Ron Conrad runs them and says they are softer than the AVS's he ran last season, and the gearing is much better with them. Ron like them a lot and he is nationally competitive. On top of that, Tire rack sells them for $49/tire!!! That is going to be the best bet going right now for STS Civic Si IMHO.

Talk to you later,
EC

MOD5CSi

Thanks again...

I have thought about the smaller wheels, but if I am going to fork out money for new wheels and tires, then I might as well get race wheels and tires and go back to E-Stock where I was already competitive in my region.

As much as I want to be competitive I really want a fun car to drive on and off the course. I guess I will have to resort to sabotaging those Scubbies. They are known to have tranny problems anyway arent they?