Next autoX season I'll be moving up to DSP and I'm trying to plan my upgrades to become competitive. Any sugestions on crucial upgrades would me much appreciated.

Mods so far:
ITR rear swaybar
ITR JDM Header
AEM CAI
Zeal B6 Coilovers
Kosei K1 15" w/ Kumho 712
Schroth 4pt.

Next step:
1. Quaife LSD
2. ?

I know R compound tires are a must but I don't feel like wearing out expensive tires when the rest of the car still needs improvement to be competitive. Getting my but kicked for a season is fine with me just as long as I learn something

 

I currently run DSP without the diff, and with race tires only. It is a lot easier to get in to the game with tires than with the diff, as the start up cost will be much lower. I also have come to prefer the way the car handles without the diff, as I can hold slides and hang the rear end out under power for much longer times. Get the tires. Skip the diff for now and work on your driving. That is going to count for more than any mod anyway. Hope that helps.

 

From your sig, it sounds like you may already have a good bit of experience, so you may want to consider race wheels and tires. Wheels in the neighborhood of 13 x 8 or 9 are definitely the ticket, though I've heard of GSR's having brake clearance issues with some designs. The 13" size is important though because of the gearing advantage.

The reason it might be time for race rubber is because there is an adjustment period. Your lines will change somewhat and turns will be coming at you much more quickly. ;-) Plus, the suspension will behave differently at the higher loads that race tires will put it under.

 

I'm still leaning more to the LSD over the tires right now because if I went with tires I would probably want to get some smaller rims so I'm looking at at total of around $1200+ (cheap rims) or the LSD installed around $1000. Also, I'm quite familiar with my street tires now and know how far I can push them.

From the replies I have decided to move up the tires on my priority list.

Any sugestions on what 13" rims to get?

 

I inquired about this earlier, and the consensus seems to be either Kaizer or Panasport wheels. If I remember correctly, there is one member on here with a GS-R running 13"x8" (not sure if the width is correct) Panasports. I'm sure someone else can clue you in with some more info if you are really interested.

 

Mike Neary is the member who uses Panasports. BTW, they are modular/3-piece, not the one piece Ultralights.

I've seen the Kaizers fail on the track. The bolts that hold the rim sections and the center bit together failed, causing loss of tire pressure mid-corner. Not a pretty sight.

 

We like "Real Racing Wheels" from <rsracing.com>. These are light weigh racing wheels, not suitable for the street. For a 13"x8" the cost is about $160.00 ea. in non- beadlock design. A 13" Hoosier radial autocross tire is about another 160.00 ea. This is the best mod you can make for a DSP autocross car. All the other mods with improve times, but the biggest bang for the buck is race wheels and tires.

 

Agreed. The LSD will not be as beneficial as you might think if you're only running on street tires. You're selling yourself short by not buying race rubber.

 

Used ones! I picked up a set of wheels with Hoosiers already on them for much, much cheaper than I could have purchased them new. (yes, the tires were almost shot, but they lasted several autocrosses) Go hit improvedtouring.com, sccaforums.com or hit up some of your IT/club race friends and see what is spare and that they will part with...you never know.
Just keep in mind your sizes, offsets, and bolt patterns. (the Integra is 4x100, and so are most Civics)
Hope that helps.

 

Another Option is to run STX. You can get your diff and retain all the mods you currently have, but still run on street tires. Then when you want to get Race Tires and Wheels, you can spring for that, but at least you'd have a home where you're competitive (temporarily) until you make the full switch to DSP.

 

Ok, I am now activly looking for some rims to wrap in some race rubber. Is 13 x 8 the best choice for a GSR? There is a guy in my region who was running in DSP with 15" Spoon rims. He just switched to some 13" Lenzo rims but it doesn't look like his times improved much but it may of just been that he isn't used to the new wheels yet.

I did think about just sticking in STS but several DSP drivers asked me to move into DSP. Some of our best drivers are in DSP, in fact the last event the lead driver in DSP PAXed overall fastest. Maybe I might learn something from them


[Modified by Geratol, 2:03 PM 12/21/2001]

 

Some 13s will not fit over the front caliper, so be careful what you buy.
We tried a 13" set of keizers and revolutions on my car and neither fit. I heard the 3 piece Panasport fits, but it is quite expensive.

By far the most bang for the buck is the 15x7 Kosei. a great package when teamed with a 225/45/15 Hoosier.

 

You need a three piece 13" wheel, split the rim mount the tire. Any wheel with a drop centre for mounting the tire will not fit. Look at Monocoque, Superlight, Panasports, BBS, or Lightspeed now handled by Bogart

 

What kind of difference am I looking at between 15x7 and 13x8 as far a course times go? Is 13" a must or can I get away with 15" and be competitive? Can driver skill make up for the extra rim size or would it be too much of a handicap?

 

My comments are strictly from personal experience, but I would say your looking at a 1 to 1.5 sec. handicap on a 60 sec. course with equal driver, cars and course that did not provide an advantage too one tire and wheel over the other. Light years in a highly competive class!

You wrote:
"can I get away with 15" and be competitive? Can driver skill make up for the extra rim size or would it be too much of a handicap?"

Dependent on your competition and your own driving ability. Locally you’re likely in the game on 15s, nationally get the 13s.



[Modified by DB1-R81, 2:39 PM 12/24/2001]

 

Thanks for the info.

 

>>Dependent on your competition and your own driving ability. Locally you’re likely in the game on 15s, nationally get the 13s.<<

That's almost always true, but maybe not in this case. ;-)

I just noticed you run in the SFR region. Tough competition in that region. Real tough...

IMO, it's a good idea to go with the "optimal" (as good as the budget allows...) set up the first time around. Since the best autocross wheel/tire combo is pretty well written in stone for our cars, you'd ultimately just be wasting money by going with something else then replacing it in the future. Buy the "right" wheels the first time around and they can provide great service for the life of the car.

 

It's no joke that DSP is a real tough class in the SFR region. The other DSP drivers have been very friendly and said I would probably learn more by losing to them then to win in an easier class. I have decided on getting some 13" Real Racing rims (I think another driver uses 13" Real rims in my region and does quite well with them). It's just a matter of getting the money together to buy them.

Until then... I have to get my but kicked on my 15" street tires

 

Be careful...the Real Racing rims look a LOT like the Keizers and the Keizers will not fit a GS-R in a 13". I'm not saying the Real Racing 13s won't fit, but check and double check before you mount tires on them. When I was researching for 13s for my GS-R the only thing I found that would fit over the front calipers were the Panasport C8 3-piece wheels which run about $270 each. I know of at least one person (Orange Teg in CA somewhere) that ran the Lenso "drag race only" wheel which is considerably cheaper, but in talking with Lenso, they did not recommend this as the wheel is not designed to handle the stress of hard cornering.

Good luck.

Mike

 

Soekam Sobiantoro (sp?) maybe? Anyone know if he is on this site?

 

Hmmm, now panasport has me looking. I notice that you (RacerMike) are running 13" x 8.5" rims. Do you think 8.5? is a better choice over 8"?

Also, does anyone have weight and price info on Panasports? on panasport.com all they had were pictures and no usefull info.

 

Hoosier Tom sells them (support those who support the sport!!) and has the info on them on his website. He will match the price of K-SPeed if you ask him to. I believe the 8.5" are the best size for the Hoosiers...ask Tom if you decide to go thru him. You have to get the C8 modular wheels...the UltraLights won't fit over the brakes! I believe my 8.5s weigh in at just about 10lbs each.

Mike

modifications: stupid URLs!!!!



[Modified by RacerMike, 6:47 PM 12/26/2001]

 

Are the UltraLights (Panasports) the ones that should be used for street use?

 

Actually Keizer's fit... I have a set. 13x9 with 215/50/13 BFG R1's. del Sol VTEC has the 10.3" front brakes like the Integra's. It has 1/2" spacer and special deep shank lugnuts. hmm you're local to me in Richmond. you can check it out sometimes if you want.




[Modified by frank@b16a.com, 7:46 PM 12/26/2001]

 

Do the C5C R1 or F1 Panasports fit? I like how those look over the C8s. Ugh, $1200 just for rims is getting rather pricy for me

Frank: Do you ever come to the SFR autoX events or that a track only car?



[Modified by Geratol, 10:42 PM 12/26/2001]