what would you do next ???

[silverstangz]

I REALLY want to take my car to the next leval, soo right now the car has stock shocks/struts,I'm getting more interested in doing more auto-x/ track days, so... should I get new shocks ?? fays2 watts link ?? or better brakes ??

 

[GrnBullitt08]

Attack the suspension, brakes, tires...

 

[FR500GT]

Go do an autocross completely stock. When you get done with the event, you will know what needs to be replaced first

 

[Cone Sweeper]

Technically you don't need anything to go out and Auto-x ... until you get comfortable with driving the car, learning how the car acts, learn braking and coming out of a turn...get the seat time before tossing a bunch of shit on the car

 

[Sleeper_08]

Are you going to Auto-x in a specific class and a particular sanctioning body? if so then what you can do is restricted by the class rules.

 

[pcdrj]

Honestly, if you're asking that type of question then more seat time is what's recommended. You may have an itch to mod the car but that is not the best way to get to the next level. Although this is unpopular advise I guarantee you will be giving it to someone else once you get more experience.

For now, brake pads, fluids, ss lines and possibly ducts will let you push your limits further. Then you can begin to determine what then car's doing and work from there.

 

[Philostang]

Honestly, if you're asking that type of question then more seat time is what's recommended. ...this is unpopular advise

Bingo! Unpopular, but common around these parts.

Notice the theme coming from most of the responses so far: understand what you want out of the car before you bolt on parts. The key is "understand," and that takes more than a desire to "take it to the next level." Budget, intended use, rules, and direct data (even if it's just "seat of the pants") all need to be taken into account.

You said you wanted to do "more" auto-x/track days, so does that mean you've already done some? Can you give us more info on what your experience was, what you found lacking, what you felt was working well...anything? Absent that, we're throwing darts in the dark.

We can tell you what you're likely to experience and therefore want to do, but that's about it. Stock brake pads suck for any kind of performance driving, so you'll need to upgrade those just to get out and really push the car (to get that data we're all asking for). You'll also need fresh fluid, and if you can swing it, flush the system entirely with high temp fluid. That's it. I'd even go more conservative than pcdrj and say no need to get into the stainless brake lines or brake ducts yet...again, assuming very little track experience on your part (sorry if that's mistaken, but you didn't tell us where you're coming from).

Let us know, maybe we can help.

Best,
-j

 

[isthatguy]

go buy a miata. and throw some falken azenis rt615's and have fun! =)

 

[pcdrj]

Here' what I'm doing to "take it to the next level". I'm in the red Miata. The E30 has 60 more HP and the VW has 20 more HP and weighs 300 less pounds. My Spec Miata has a stock motor with 110 HP with very minor suspension upgrades. The only way to get faster is to fix the "nut behind the wheel". BTW the guy in the Ferrari was supposed to be an advanced level driver.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hrjwXAGTFg0&feature=email

 

[isthatguy]

just like I said, buy a miata, I miss mine.

I had adjustable shocks and eibach springs, with some rt615's that bitch hugged the course.

 

[jayel579]

Tighten the nut behind the wheel

 

[Sam Strano]

Two things are in play here. One is modding the car, the other is driving the car.

Should you go and do it and expect it to take time to learn how to autocross? Absolutely. However, there are two points I think I need to make. 1. Unless you are completely clueless it's not long until you find the limits of a stock car, and they can be frustrating to drive, harder on tires, and frankly not as much fun. Often folks won't come back over those details. 2. Modding the car might not mean the difference between winning and losing early on, but it makes for a more fun car to drive, both while autocrossing and on the street too. The trick here is to do mods that are reasonable, and will help *both* the timed runs and the street and that you won't later find useless and have to change again.

Sure, I'm biased as I sell parts. I also am a long time instructor (since 1997) for the most known autox school in North America. And I was a newbie once and learned the mod vs. driving thing. I wasn't very good as a driver when I started and that was humbling and I had to learn a lot. And it took more than 2 years to get to a pretty good place and another 4 or so to get to the top. All that time, if I had a bone stock car I'd have quit. I needed a competitive car to see where I actually stood.

 

[Vapour Trails]

After you autocross a few times, you'll know how serious/competitive you want to get about it.

If you want to be competitive, then you'll start looking at the class in which to place your car; and that will determine what you can/can't do to it.

If it's just for fun, then you can ignore classes completely, like I do. My personal mantra is life to too short to drive around everyday with less power and fewer modifications than I would like because it fits into a class I race in 10 days a year.

 

[Philostang]

In principle I'm with Vapour...but beware, the competition bug bites hard.

Due to stupid-crazy circumstances last year, I'm trying out the competition thing this year as a way to try out a different aspect of motorsports...and I confess, it's a bit addicting - and we're only prepping the damn car!

Anyway, I was trying to suggest something similar to what Sam said (I think, at least if I read him right). Some things you'll very likely want to do soon (brake pads, fluid), others you'll likely want to do sooner rather than later (say, shocks/springs, for the reasons he cited), and then there's a whole host of things you really are better off waiting to decide upon until much later (after you figure out which bugs bite and what problems really ail you).

Best,
-j

 

[JesseW.]

i started autocrossing last october and was put in the SM class because i was supercharged and had lowering springs. my car was woefully underprepped and near stock mustangs with sway bars and tires were killing me. after 2 events i took a one mod a month approach and compared my times to the ftd. i did sways, then rotors/pads, then rear shocks (yellow struts still on backorder ..) and then this last month did tires.

the sway bars made the most noticable difference in how the car handled, but didn't really drop my times. the brakes hit ABS sooner cause of crap tires. the shocks made it much nicer riding on the street. the tires (hankook rs-3) REALLY helped. i went from finishing mid pack on raw times and near the back in PAX to taking 7th out of 42 cars in the raw times and 14th out of 42 in PAX (4.1 seconds back instead of 7.6 sec from the prior month) by putting better tires on it.

the crap tires did help me learn throttle and brake control, but i was always more concentrated on not spinning than i was the course. i hope to stay on these street tires a while and learn better lines to drop my time now instead of trying just not to spin. now when i wear out these tires i hope to finally switch to a R-compound and pick up a few more seconds...

 

[SilentScope]

brakes, coil-overs, sway bars, watts link.

Weight reduction. Short shifter.

Then some 17" wheels with proper tires.

 

[SoundGuyDave]

To a point, I'll agree with Sam, Philo, and Pc... Seat time will move you along further, and faster, than any mod will. Yes, the S197 has some pretty glaring deficiencies, particularly in the tires/brakes/dampers area, but I would honestly hold off on doing too much to the car for a variety of reasons. Spend the money on seat time, with a good instructor! Once you can consistently get the car to the limits of it's ability, then it's a good time to mod the car. If you start modding before you know what you have, you'll be fixing problems that aren't issues, or doing some stuff twice (but I thought "brand X" struts were good...), or building a car that's just too much of a handful for your skill level to really handle. My two cents, anyway...

 

[foolio2k4]

shocks/springs first, sway bars, tires, then watts.

 

[silverstangz]

sorry should have listed whats allready done to the car. "Eibach" pro- springs & sways, front & back, adj, panhard bar & brace," UMI" adj uca, & lca's,and bolt in sub-frame connectors stock shocks,Baer rotors on all 4 corners, and baer's OE replacment calipers on the front, strut tower brace up top. the auto-x's I've done are non-sanctioned, just LOTS OF FUN, but.... the group I've done/ do this with also does some serious track days also. hope this helps