Firts of all, thanks for taking a look into this topic. I'll be running the last leg of this season and looking forward to run the entire next season. I would like to know what class am I going to fall under. Here's the description of the vehicle:

<U>BODY</U>
'96 Honda Civic H/B

<U>Drivetrain</U>
'99 LS complete swap, no internal work done to the engine, '00 Civic SI AEM CAI, 2 1/4" cat-back, Tenzo-R rear quarter; tranny has a Competition Clutch (kryptonite), no name short shifter, and an ITR lightened flywheel. Engine runs on a '96 LS ECU.

<U>Suspension</U>
Ground Control coil-overs with Koni Yellows in all 4 cornes, Spoon rear upper strut bar.

<U>Brakes</U>
Front: stock / Rear: '99 SI conversion

<U>Wheels / Tires</U>
'01 GSR swirlies on stock tires

That's all for now. Will be doing some changes in near future. Like some engine, brake, and suspension work. Tires will be changed soon also. Are these changes going to throw me in a different class? Any help will be appreciated. Thanks!

 

SM? I'm pretty sure it's SM because of the motor swap

 

I kind of figured it would be SM Class, but I wanted to make sure. I guess since I'll be in that class, I might have to step up my mods a notch and drive the heck out of my car so I can have fun with the big boys. Thanks!

 

definately SM

lose the drag racer mentality and focus on your driving... not your mods

 

I would get 2 "mods" first an LSD, second some 8 inch wide wheels with R-Compounds. Then drive your *** off cause SM is fast.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by JoseCuervo &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I kind of figured it would be SM Class, but I wanted to make sure. I guess since I'll be in that class, I might have to step up my mods a notch and drive the heck out of my car so I can have fun with the big boys. Thanks! </TD></TR></TABLE>

Your mods wont do a damn thing because you'll most likely suck until you realize its all about the driver. If you can't reach 10/10th of your ability then no amount of power, handling, etc will do you any good.

Just drive the car the way it is, learn everything you can about going faster, and then worry about the car.

 

if you have some crappy tires laying around, I'd suggest you start autocrossing on those. It will teach you to be a better driver

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by jwn7 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">definately SM
lose the drag racer mentality and focus on your driving... not your mods</TD></TR></TABLE>

jwn7;
Thanks for the pointer, but I lost my drag racer mentality a few years ago ) (long story). The mods that I was talking about were suspension mods, brake mods, and some engine mods to give me some more bottom end / torque and engine durability. I have been auto-x'ing for a few years now, on and off, I was just trying to know what class I was going to be thrown in. I pretty much knew that I was going to be in SM, but I wanted to hear from the ones that have more experience than me. Thanks!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Mattamotor &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I would get 2 "mods" first an LSD, second some 8 inch wide wheels with R-Compounds. Then drive your *** off cause SM is fast.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Mattamotor;
Thanks for the reply. The LSD has been added to the list, but I was thinking that an ITR/CTR tranny would do a better job. As far as tires go, I was going to keep my rims and get some Falken Azenis (205/50/R15) to throw on them. I agree with the fact that I'm going to have to drive my *** off ). Thanks! Later.

 

I'd still suggest you just buy some average all season tires and kill 'em off before moving up to azenis.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Sean O’Gorman &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Your mods wont do a damn thing because you'll most likely suck until you realize its all about the driver. If you can't reach 10/10th of your ability then no amount of power, handling, etc will do you any good.
Just drive the car the way it is, learn everything you can about going faster, and then worry about the car.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Sean O'Gorman;
Just because I posted a rookie question does not mean that I'm a rookie. On my 1st year auto-x'ing I took 1st place on my class. That's when I had a '00 Civic SI. I got a little power greedy and slapped a turbo on that car. Soon after I had to sell it. After taking that loss, it took me a while to get back on my feet. Now I have a daily driver and a toy car that it's going to be purposely built for auto-x'ing, still being street legal. I do know how to drive 10/10, I'm just trying to build a car that can take me as a driver. The car will be adjusted / mod to my wants / specs, not the other way around. Anyway, thanks for your input, it's appreciated (I'm being serious when I say that), and your point has been taken. Later.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by LX4CYL &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I'd still suggest you just buy some average all season tires and kill 'em off before moving up to azenis.</TD></TR></TABLE>

LX4CYL;
I'm going to beat the heck out of the tires I have now - stock '01 GSR tires. I know the Azenis are a world of difference. Thanks for your help.

 

ya. I'm still on michelin energy MXV4s (came with the car) and find I'm still not ready for Azenis

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by LX4CYL &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">ya. I'm still on michelin energy MXV4s (came with the car) and find I'm still not ready for Azenis </TD></TR></TABLE>
LX4CYL;
How long have you been auto-x'ing? How do you know that you're not ready for the Azenis? Have you tried them already? A friend of mine has them on his S2K, and they are something else. Another friend has them on his ITR hatch and they work really good. The only way to know is by trying. Later.

 

well, I did my first 6 events on 225/40-18 Yoko ES100s, and my latest 5 events on Michelin Energy MXV4s. Right now I can feel as though I'm driving better on the michelins, but I'm still making dumb mistakes behind the wheel. Once I get back to autocrossing (school keeps me busy), I hope to get the mental game sorted out, before I move up to Azenis. I also want to wait until the MXV4s are worn down to slicks

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by LX4CYL &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">well, I did my first 6 events on 225/40-18 Yoko ES100s, and my latest 5 events on Michelin Energy MXV4s. Right now I can feel as though I'm driving better on the michelins, but I'm still making dumb mistakes behind the wheel. Once I get back to autocrossing (school keeps me busy), I hope to get the mental game sorted out, before I move up to Azenis. I also want to wait until the MXV4s are worn down to slicks </TD></TR></TABLE>

LX4CYL;
225/40-18's!! Pretty big wheels and not a whole lot of wall for cushion. My very 1st season on the SI was on stock tires. It went pretty good. When I got the hatch, still had the D series engine, she had some Z-rated tires. Some off the wall brand. They handled pretty good at the auto-x, but sucked on wet roads (as expected). The old owner had some pretty bad camber settings (front and rear) that ate the hell out of those tires. By the time I got her and got those corrected, it was too late. I only got 2 auto-x out of those tires. Once I get the new tires, I'm going to get the car corner weighted. That would be in a while, I still have plenty of meat left on the stock tires ). Later.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by JoseCuervo &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

jwn7;
Thanks for the pointer, but I lost my drag racer mentality a few years ago ) (long story). The mods that I was talking about were suspension mods, brake mods, and some engine mods to give me some more bottom end / torque and engine durability. I have been auto-x'ing for a few years now, on and off, I was just trying to know what class I was going to be thrown in. I pretty much knew that I was going to be in SM, but I wanted to hear from the ones that have more experience than me. Thanks!</TD></TR></TABLE>

Well then in that case, forget the other mods you want to do, and get a set of race wheels/tires. I don't actually race a Honda so I can't help you with that but I'm sure someone will chip in with suggestions.

 

Konig Heliums in a 15x6.5...10.8 lbs. There's your race wheels, I'm getting a set one way or another.

With the ZC swap that was done by the previous owner I should probably be in SM but I'm in STS right now and so far (in my one event) went from a 86.6 +3 cones to a 76.1 clean, which I was happy with. A guy in the same car with a similar setup was running 65's on Azenis (vs. my Zeix 512's, which actually stick real well for 400 tread), so I've got a lot of work to do.