Brendan's 2014 Solid Red STU Autocross Build Thread

[Brendan]

Got the seat and installed it over the weekend. It as actually a pretty fun project. I went with a Recaro RS-GK which is their Japanese market fixed back seat, and a sliding mount from PCI. I'm 6'2" and now have more headroom than stock which was a major concern when I was researching seats and mounts. Anyways, here some pictures of the car in its most recent state with the seat in.

_BES6722 by brendan sobers, on Flickr

_BES6753 by brendan sobers, on Flickr

_BES6748 by brendan sobers, on Flickr

_BES6735 by brendan sobers, on Flickr

[Brendan]

Got the helpers installed on the front to go along with the pair I added in the rear. Huge difference in the amount of down travel. The vehicle is noticeably more composed over high frequency bumps now, and just look at all that down travel.



photo below of the difference in travel gained with helpers

[Brendan]

Practice event over the weekend. This is the first drive with the seat, longer travel suspension, and a few other minor changes to ride height and alignment. The seat made a huge difference in my ability to drive the car (duh) to the point that I think I'm ready to run a rear bar again. We have another event next weekend so I'll get to test it soon.

The seat is easily my favorite mod in that it's allowing me to take advantage of all the extra grip the car has. Now that I'm no longer fighting my own weight moving I can apply steering, throttle, and brake input much more precisely allowing better control entering and through a corner.

This was just practice but I had one of the fastest runs that day against some local drivers that would have dusted me in the past. Looking forward to competing more in the season.

[Brendan]

Got my first local win with the car. Still decided to make some changes. The seat is allowing a much better level of control so I decided to try out the stock rear sway bar again. If I die I die.



Check out this rear tire lift. I softened up the dampers for more front grip so now I think its time to stiffen then the rear to turn this lift into rotation.

[Z33KLF]

love to see people doing STU build with their Z34

[Brendan]

No real updates aside from the fact that the car may possibly go to a much wider tire next year due to rule changes. If everything works out we will be able to run a square 315 set-up which will be insane. If it passes all my energy will go into figuring out what it will take to fit that tire on all four corners. The grip will be insane. Here go some recent action shots I took from some events over the summer.

[Spooler]

Originally Posted by Brendan

Made one of the first changes for the 2020 season.

The car drove great on the 16k rear but I ran to an issue with not being able to get as low as I would have liked. I had to run my rear coilovers on the maximum low setting just to get the car to sit slightly lower than stock. This was due to the fact that the stiffer springs did not compress as much at rest as the softer ones I started out with.

The solution? Helper springs. I went with the 3k kit from swift along with a set of 5 inch long main springs in the same rate as the 7 inch springs I had before. The result was the ability to set the car lower while not giving up any travel. In fact I gained about 2 inches of down travel after installing the kit. The additional down travel has the added benefit of making the car much more comfortable on the street since the wheels stay in contact with the ground for a longer period of time.


kit installed


side with kit installed with over 5 inches down travel


side with the old setup with a little over 3 inches

I need to do this on my rear 7in. 10k Swift springs with SPL midlinks. My front springs are longer, 10in. I think. Who did you contact to help you get the right stuff from Swift?

[Brendan]

Originally Posted by Spooler

I need to do this on my rear 7in. 10k Swift springs with SPL midlinks. My front springs are longer, 10in. I think. Who did you contact to help you get the right stuff from Swift?

I did it myself. You just need to match the the inner diameter of the helper springs to the main springs(ie 60mm helper with 60mm main springs). The kit from swift comes with a plastic coupler you can see in the photos. Once I had the kit I adjusted the length of the damper to the maximum length and then set the ride height with the perches.

I ordered from evasive. They have all the spring specs listed like free and compressed lengths.

[Spooler]

So if I call Evasive they can tell me what helper spring and swift spring to buy to keep my 10k- 7in Swift spring rate. I think they are 60mm springs. Ugg, this will mean I have to redo
my corner balancing again. No fun but I beat it will be worth it.

[Brendan]

Originally Posted by Spooler

So if I call Evasive they can tell me what helper spring and swift spring to buy to keep my 10k- 7in Swift spring rate. I think they are 60mm springs. Ugg, this will mean I have to redo
my corner balancing again. No fun but I beat it will be worth it.

I didn't re corner or align when I did my springs. I just adjusted the height exactly where it was when I started. When I checked the corner balance at the end of the season it was where I had set it prior.

Regarding evasive, I just measured what I needed and ordered. Not sure if they consult on the phone.

[Hotrodz]

I can't see the pictures from yesterday!

[Brendan]

Originally Posted by Hotrodz

I can't see the pictures from yesterday!

Thats weird. I'll try to repost them later.

[Brendan]

Update.

Over the offseason they updated the rules to allow up to a 315 tire for naturally aspirated front engine rwd platforms. Tires got here last week so I spent the weekend working on the car to get them to fit. Now running 315/30r18 Advan AO52 square.


_BES6507 by brendan sobers, on Flickr

_BES6502 by brendan sobers, on Flickr

_BES6498 by brendan sobers, on Flickr

_BES6490 by brendan sobers, on Flickr

Biggest change was having to give up the lower ride height. A worthwhile sacrifice for nearly 2 more inches of rubber front and rear. Cant wait to see what it does on course.

[cv129]

Jeeezus that’s a lot of tire haha

[Brendan]

Originally Posted by cv129

Jeeezus that’s a lot of tire haha

Car still drives surprisingly well in the street. I was expecting it to be a tram-lining mess