Hey, I have a k24 swapped hatch and because of the swap it places me in SM-F, so I generally don't pay much attention to PAX times. I'm trying to get my car to be more competitive without losing all of the daily drivability.

Currently the car is on Koni Yellows with H&R springs, the usual gambit of LCA's and braces, rear cross bar etc etc. I'm currently on 16x7.5 Kosei K1's with 205/45 Hankook RS4's (I know the RS4's are not the most competitive tire but they last long and again daily driver) It's currently on factory brakes (still rear drum) I run a fairly conservative alignment, but plan to go more aggressive after the suspension changes. Open diff currently.

I've just ordered a Progress rear sway bar kit and CS3 coil overs, and switching from my the 16" setup to a 15" setup with 225/45's (RS4's again) Also doing GSR brakes with Hawk HP+ pads and stainless lines. I'm not sure how much I'll gain from any of these.

I guess my question is, Should I do each of these upgrades individually to see what I gain, or just do everything all at once?

To give you an idea I'm currently 5-7 seconds off the top cars, and all the Miata's kick my ***. Am I being greedy or is that an acceptable amount to be off the top guys. I have the time slips I can post if anyone is interested to see.

 

I'm not an autox guy... i havent been since i was 18ish years old... BUT i do know this... unless your competition is also compromising between autox car and street car... you are bringing a knife to a gun fight.

you want to dial in the best car possible. your car is 90% of the solution. the last 10% is in your head and how aggressive you are. that last 10% can be hard to reach when the car is a street car (or in my case, a brand new race car build).

some things to think about... RS/LS/GSR front brakes are all the same BUT brakes on a road course dont net a lot, so on an autox course they wont net much in time IMHO. Hopefully the CS3 coils and the progress bar are good enough... locally most of the autox guys i know are on some sort of high dollar setup and/or redshift coils... or in golden eras they still love the koni/GC with custom spring rates and an ASR hollow bar. no one is on 16 inch wheels... the tire selection just isnt there.

more speed (and the time that comes with it) is all about how well you can manage oversteer. 225 (45 or 50 side wall depending on the style of course and if you need a little more top end) in the front and a 205 rear is usually the way to go. start with the rear sway bar on soft and bring tools to adjust as needed. you'll want to be sort of catching the rear of the car every single time you turn... such is FWD life.

 

Appreciate the feedback. I am a fairly aggressive driver and I often find the limit of the rear grip with my current setup. I think its the same across North America for the factory base brakes on these things that they are quite tiny even the front Integra brakes are quite a large upgrade over stock. I have a CRV master in the car already and even hard on the brakes I haven't been able to get them to lock up, so currently I brake a little sooner then I would if I had more confidence in the cars stopping ability.

The top car in our club is a very modified Focus RS and its stupid fast.

 

Is the top car on hoosiers or is everyone locally competing on 200tw tires on a gentleman's agreement? I think you are going to have to switch tires, either RT660 or A052 to gain time. I also think the Open Diff is probably hurting you too.

My opinion is to do each mod individually and see what happens.

 

He's on re71's, bought a bunch before they discontinued them. But yes most of us are running 200tw tires. I am actually considering switching to the RT660's after these rs4's are done.

 

while i agree on the tires and diff... i wouldnt do them separately unless you cant afford it all at once. The basic prep for a golden era autox car includes diff, the best tires (especially if everyone else is using them), adjustable rear sway bar, etc.

they spend a lot of time classing cars so they are "equal"... showing up with a minimal prepped car to the rules is an issue.

 

I am not sure on the experience level of the OP, but I was under the assumption (I should have asked first) he's experienced in autocross, but not at the experienced level to go full prep, which is why I did mention to do it separately to find out the results.

He's in SMF and already not full prep already and is looking at times with others as a comparison. I've been autocrossing with a somewhat minimal prepped car for years, but I am also not SRS BZNS about it or willing to financially commit to going full prep just yet on an uncompetitive platform. It also sounds like a local event which is a bit different than Nationals

 

I'm not sure how I would gauge my experience to be honest. I've been doing autocross for about 5 years (maybe a dozen events a year), before that I did some drifting and some track stuff.

I can't afford to have a fully prepped car, I like showing up to the events adjusting my tire pressures and thrashing about for the afternoon, but the competitive side of me wants to maximize what I can out of the car without losing being able to drive the car.

The only other civics I have to compare to are a 8th gen SI, and RSX and a new Type R. We had a k20 eg come out last year that ran a few times and his times were 0.3 - 0.5 faster then I was (he was on rt660's in a 225/45r15) and was gutted interior.

With PAX the only way you could be competitive after any Kswap would be a prep built car imho (AWD and boost)

It would be nice to have a an idea of where I'm at as far as the potential of the car is concerned.

 

Gosh, some more aggressive alignment, spring rates, corner balancing and better tires and you could close a lot of that gap. I think moving to the CS3 might be backwards. I went from CS2's to Koni Race/ GC and they are far superior, but those were the CS2. Looks like the only difference on the CS3 is them being RA adjustable like the Koni's. That Koni/GC combo is just so good. I would ignore the brakes. You'll probably get more brake performance from tire and suspension changes than any changes to the brakes themselves. Good luck!

 

I certainly don't mind my konis, but they are the the sports, and I blew the right rear out out at the last autocross event (Working on getting warranty). Budget wise, after doing a ton of research the CS3's made the most sense, Really the CS3's are just a complete packaged Koni/gc combo as far as my research has showed, upside is its way easier to get different spring rates quickly and fairly affordable. I'm a bit of a suspension nut, playing with corner balancing and rebound adjustment and stuff makes me happy.

The brakes are gonna get done regardless, I have the parts already sitting here and if I'm gonna be ripping out the suspension to begin with, I may as well do it all at once. The car has 3 times it's original horsepower and is on stock cx brakes, it's more of a safety thing then anything else.

After I get the work done with how easy it is to remove the sway bar I may do a few runs without it to see what the difference is. Run the 16's then the 15's then run the 205 in the rear with the 225 on the front see what actually picks up time. Also depends how many cars show up and how many runs I'll get that day. first 2 runs are basically a wash getting used to the layout, and typically we get 8-10 runs total.

 

I currently autocross my 4dr b20v integra in XSA due to weight and 200tw tire. I would recommend XSA or XSB vs SMF. I'm usually 2-3 seconds off from National Champs in str prep'd ND miatas. I've gotten as low as 9th raw out of 90 drivers but on average somewhere in the top 20. SMF is really a Hoosier class. If you decide to leave your region you will run into fully prep'd SMF cars. Aero, slicks, etc. XSA and XSB are starting to turn into classes where people who normally run in a class with Hoosiers will put on 200 tw tires and run in XSA and XSB. In terms of mods, I would just do what you can afford. I've run into so many people where I asked what mod they noticed to be most effective. Most of them do so much at once they don't know. However, they are fast so does it matter. Tire's: I currently run falken rt660's. Front 245/40/15 on 15x9 +35 Konig Dekagrams and Rear 225/45/15 on 15x7.5 +35 dekagrams. Brakes. Currently running stock GSR brakes front and rear with stoptech street pads and stainless lines with an ABS delete kit and 3030 prop valve. I can lock the brakes up with ease with 245s up front. Been thinking about getting a manual prop valve and upgrading to 11 in rotors upfront but will be changing to an EF next season. Below is a car that runs in SMF in my local regions. Usually gets top RAW and most of the time TOP Pax. At nationals I think he's usually 5th or 6th and his wife won last year at nationals. But when I see prepared SMF cars in other regions this is what they look like and are just as fast, most of the time faster than CSP Miatas. Nowadays STR ND Miatas on 200tw are almost as fast as CSP Miatas and SMF cars really just depends on the surface.

 

I agree with DA, you need to be on a more aggressive tire. I run steer modified with my S13 and I run Hoosiers. I have run with other tires in the class but I generally don’t do as well. Not a huge leap down the board but the tires can only do so much. I like the R888 and the advan A048. I lean towards the A048 most times though.

Your suspension setup is fine. When I raced my EG hatch, I was on Tein coilovers, asr rear bar. I’m sure no one here needs to tell you that a FWD car has problems rotating. A thick rear bar (adjustable bar is better) will help you make it do just that, along with a slightly skinnier section width tire. Also a LSD will help corner exit tremendously.