I'm in the beginning of building up a 96 del sol VTEC for autocross use. Right now I'm looking at STS but I'm trying to decide on a suspension & wheel/tire combo.

I'm planning on keeping the front strut tower bar & adding a rear ITR bar w/ beaks kit. I can't decide between a Koni/GC setup or a true coilover like Tein. Any suggestions. Also, what difference is there, if any, between the del sol suspension and a normal Civic. Some people tell me I need ITR LCAs and some tell me that a Tein kit for a Civic will bolt up. Any help here?

For rims, would you suggest 15 or 16 rims/tires? I realize that 15s are going to better for speed but wouldn't 16s be better for handling limits? Finally, what is the widest tire I can run so I won't be rubbing (I know 205s will work but some tires (Azenis, etc.) only come in 215 for a 16".

Please Help!!!!

TIA

 

I don't think the DelSol is legal for STS, is it? 2 seater = illegal.


[Modified by Todd00, 3:48 PM 10/7/2002]

 

Yup, DelSol's are illegal for STS.

 

<shaking head> I'm baffled by it too, but yes the uncompetitive Del Sol's are not allowed in STS.

 

My '95 del Sol VTEC:

GC/Koni Yellows, 400/400, ES Bushings, Beaks ITR rear bar kit.
Neuspeed front upper and rear lower braces. No-name rear upper brace.
Skunk2 A Arms, swapped side-to-side, SSR rear uca's, SSR rear toe-kit.
ITR Spec front brakes, Fastbrakes 11.4" rear disks, Axxis Ultimate pads.
16" Rota Sub-Zeros, 205/45 Toyo Proxes T1-S.

Stock motor. Full interior. The car is set up for track days and some street use. Too much mass to be very competitive in autocross, but I still do run it occasionally at local events for the hell of it.

 

Leave it Stock and run in H-Stock this car will do well there I my opinion it has more horse power an about as much torque as most of the other H-Stock cars, please the VTEC suspension improvments, it should do pretty well.

 

i know the s and si are h-stock but i don't think the vtec is.. i could be wrong, i don't have the rulebook handy.. my delsol s is VERY competitive in h-stock tho..

 

well....you're kinda outta luck buddy....rules are rules, and the Del-Sol is illegal for STS. Best bet is to run DSP only set-up differences is you can't run adjustable control arms and you'll need R-compounds to be competitive....it's where i'll be, and I'm in an integra with no VTEC! I think a DelSol could be pretty competitive in DSP...relatively light, short wheelbase....good power.

 

dohc vtec DelSol = GS

 

Last rule book I saw after the stock reclassifcation had move all of the del sol's to H stock. Has that Changed?

 

Thanks for your help everyone. After going back to SCCA's website, I see the part about a back seat. Well, stock class is out for me as I've already got a cai, clutch, and flywheel on the car. Looking at DSP, it doesn't look too bad on a local level but regional and national are going to be out of the question for a while since I won't be able to take full advantage of all the permitted mods. Well, I can still have some fun even if I don't get to take any trophies home.

Does anyone else know of anything that has been missed so far? Perhaps an unknown small class where del sols are in the same class as stock 1978 Pintos???

Ok, what about the wheel question? Sizes that you'd recommend for a daily driver/dsp vehicle since I will be running street tires in the beginning until I get my skills up to the level to warrant R compounds? 15 or 16" and what the widest you've seen without rubbing. Oh, if it helps, they'll be Rota Circuit 8s or Subzeros, Mugen MF8s, or Volk TE37.

THanks again!

 

well, I wouldn't go any bigger than 15....13's are ideal and yes they clear the brakes (Lenso VPD's or the 3 pc. panasports) I'll be running 15's since those are the lightest and widest of the 3 sets of wheels I own...but once I save some money I'm probably gonna get a set of 14x8's custom made.

 

Del Sols are also legal for SM2.
But the clutch and flywheel is not legal for STS anyway. We were trying to get the Del Sols (since they weigh the same if not more than the 99-00 Civic Si and have the same engine) legal for STS. I don't know what happened.

 

Dave,
I would run 15's with street tires for a while in fact if I where you I would wait on the rest of the mods till you get your skill level up. The Del Sol Shares the same suspension with 94-01 Integra's (GSR, LS, RS) and 92-95 civic's. You already have a rear sway bar mounds so getting differnt lca's is not needed you can get some preet good sway bars for the rear from a lot of companies cary bars for Integra's.

 

I had Tokicos and GC coilovers on my DelSol. I loved the coilover kit. It was easy to install and adjust and worked flawlessly. I wish I had spent more on the Konis as the Tokicos di not have enough control for the spring rates when the car was fairly low.

I would strongly urge you to think about trying to get 14" wheels if they will fit over your brakes. The Del SOl really is a low torque motor. The less rotational mass you have the better. I know you can fit 205s easily on 14s but maybe you can go to 14x7 rims and 225s (is that STS legal??) If you don't go with 14" then don't go bigger than 15"

Regards,
Alan

 

Yep any wheel up to 7.5" wide and tires up to 225 wide are legal. Doesn't matter how big they are in diameter.

 

No way! The del Sol VTEC weighs in at a shade over 2500lbs. What's the curb weight on a 99-00 Civic Si?? I thought it was around 100lbs more than that......

Steve

 

This STS discussion is a moot point anyways...

Build it to SP specs. 13x8.5's and 225/45/13 Hoosiers are your friend.

 

i know.. i love how everyone likes to say how heavy del sols are.. my delsol s weighed in at 2280lbs with 3/4 tank and a full trunkload of tools, jacks and a spare.. sure it's only an s with a tiny little d15 and rear drums but that's definately lighter than what everyone thought it would weigh.. people were guessing around 2400+..

 

delsol IS heavy when compare to civic hb's. about 150 lbs heavier (than eg hb's) from the chassis re-enfocements and such. my 95 delsol vtec (factory is 2500 lbs) is stripped a lot and still weights 2400 lbs in drag race trim with like 1 gal of gas with me (170 lbs) in it. about 2230 lbs still.

 

yeah, that's still not the same or more than a 99+ si is it? people seem to think del sol's weigh the same as minivan's.. sure they're heavier than eg's and crx's but both of those are LIGHT! i still think del sol's sit at a reasonable weight for their size.. of course i'd like to see them lighter but it's hard to do so with a reasonably priced convertible that still retains enough structural integrity to not completely collapse in an accident.

 

Right, no del Sol (except maybe Dave 'darkSol' Stewart's) comes close to a 92-95 CX hatch, but they're nowhere near as heavy as a 99-00 Si coupe!

Yours is pretty light there Frank - must be that one missing turn lamp, eh?

BTW, darkSol's is down to ~1700 lbs.......

Steve

 

stock 99 si is about 2600 but if you stripped it down the same way you strip my delsol it'd be lighter.

1700 lbs darksol ohh my i guess he's gone the path of the "no return".

 

Actually, I've gone sideways, not back... I had my EG2 down to some ridiculous stripped form... 1680 lbs. but have since taken steps to make it look more "full interior" - completely stripped and trimmed all plastic pieces (hollow dash/airbag cover, trim door panels/radio/drink holder) and I'm going to use trunk liner for "carpet" and cover up the rear metallic "hole" left by not having any interior behind the seats at all. Total weight added will be less than 15 lbs. to have a visually pleasing full interior, including "carpet" My goal is 1850 lbs. race weight with driver (me!) looking full interior, 1900 lbs. "on-the-street" trim.

If the car wasn't a targa I'd just supertint the windows, run fully stripped and not care at all - but I'm sick of getting the "dood, someone messed up your car" looks while cruising with the roof out...

Anyway, had to pipe in!

Lata!