Auto x setup for upcoming season.
 

Hey guys Autox time will be here soon and its time to get my car ready. Looking to do some mods this year in addition to the driver mod. Can you guys give some feedback on my new setup?

Driver:
This is my 3rd year driving a z in autox and I do ok finishing twoards the top half of the group with best being 3rd. My main problem seems to be that my back end is always coming out in hard turns and I get a lot of body roll. The back end coming out is mostly on hot days where the tires are just too hot.

Car: 2011 370z with sport package rays 19's and ark grip exhaust

Tires:
Im on the stock tires but I am planning to get the dunlop zii 275/35/19 all around. Anyone try these tires square in autox?

Suspension:
Stock sport package
Thinking maybe I should get the eibach front swaybar and possibly remove the rear. Is this
a good idea for a sqaure setup? Im open to suggestions.
I also want springs but I cant decide if I should do swift springs or swaybars first. Any input? I would like to add the one that does the most benefit and im not sure that that is since I will have an almost sqaure setup.

Brakes:
New ate fluid and a set of stock pads. I read this is ideal for autox.

Thanks for the help!

Big front bar will help put power down as well....

Z2's work well, but they don't do especially well when it is really warm out. You should be OK in Boston, though. I wouldn't do the springs, they don't offer much more rate than stock and bump you up a class.

Front bar will also help on the body roll, mostly on entrance and mid turn...what is your rear toe set at?

Tracy

What class are you running in, BSP, street tire?

Check out this post, there is some good info in it that goes with your questions. http://www.the370z.com/track-autocro...-can-done.html

Here is a thread I started about sway bars. http://www.the370z.com/track-autocro...ack-autox.html

This last year pulled considerably better times on Swift R spring then I ever did on the Nismo springs. (yes spring changes are illegal in BS, but ssshhh) Still came in 4th over all so it didn't help to much.

I ran BS in my Nismo last year and I'm moving up to ASP this year.
I hope that is some help, good luck!

Hey guys thanks for the replies. I forgot to metntion that the clubs I run with mods dont matter as long as you are on street tires. And when I run with the BMW club ill be bsp but eveyone in the class will be on street tires as well. So... no rules!

So far sounds like the front bar should be the frist mod to get prob the eibach since I hear hotchkis is too stiff for street tires.

Zusky I have stock alignment at the moment. Can I change the toe without suspension mods ? Im not ready to buy camber arms yet.

Apollo thanks for the links. I read those threads a while back and thats when I statrted wondering if I should remove the rear sway bar but that seems kinda scary to me. What made the most impact on your times , springs or sways ?

370z is NOT legal for BSP.

ASP but either way it doesn't matter my club goes by street tires or race tires. Ill be on street.

My bad, I drive a Nismo. I know the 370Z start in CS, and I just figured it moved up to BSP, but I guess you guys move right to ASP as well.

Biggest improvements you can make with your car are going to be big front bar. Leave stock bar in back. Then upgrade your shocks to nice Koni or Bilstein. The Direzzia II is a good tire upgrade.

If youre not worried about classing - real LSD will give you better times. Adjustable camber arms will help with alignment setup.

Yes, you should be able to adjust the toe a bit with the stock suspension. More interested in what it is at too...

Tracy

I would like a lsd but thats further down the line for me. But I will keep camber arms in mind.

Its possible it cold be out of wack, never had the alignment checked. I do plan to get one when I put my tires on. Im thinking stock settings shold be good uless theres something I can improve with the stock suspension setup.

I cannot wait for the next season of AutoX....:excited::yum::excited::rolleyes:

I can't wait either. Op do you run with SCCA at devens airfield?

Same here, I feel like an addict that cant get a fix. I used to run with SCCA at devens but you dont get enough runs there. Now I run with baystate corvette and nesvt clubs at devens. They get about 10-12 runs vs the the 4-5 you get with SCCA. I also plan to run with the BMW club if I have time. What clubs you run with Masterbeatty?

Yeah scca sucks for autocrossing

Agreed its cool but the rules for street tires suck. With the clubs I run with I can have mods and still compete only against other street tire cars. At least then I have a chance.

Last year I tried out scca ner, CARTCT, and fcssc because I just moved here. I like SCCA ner becuase of the longer runs but I don't like all the rules. The other two are well managed and I can run r comps and compete better. But the courses are 35 secs about and in sh!Tty parking lots. But I am tracking the car with NASA NE this year and autox in between track events.

I think I might run with PCA too because I liked them when I lived in San Diego.

I got bit hard by the bug when I got this car.:happydance:

Cart will be doing some track days, they are less serious than the nasa guys, give them a shot

Yna they went to pocono north and lime rock last year but I had to work. I just wish they could have better lots. The only good lot they ran at was Mohegan sun casino, plus it was 15mis away. Hopefully they have there 2014 schedule up soon.

Beg to differ. SCCA does NOT suck, though you are entitled to your opinion. Much better competition, stronger ruleset for many MANY (some would say too many) classes, and great event sites, courses, and insurance...if something bad may happen.

Interested in knowing why you say it sucks...

Tracy

You should give baystate and nesvt a try. Courses are about 60 to 90 secs at its at devens to. PM me if you wanna know more. Need more 370z's out there. Btw dosent pca require you to have a porche ?

Anyone know if its possible to set the front and rear toe to 0 witout any mods? And if you do need mods then what? I know there are toe bolts for the rear but I cant find toe bolts for the front, just camber arms which I dont wanna buy yet.

Negative. You are just in a class of other non-porche cars. You can still race with them but you can't be a member so maybe $15 more per event. Plus you get to shmob on porches with a sub $30k nissan.

I will look into those clubs too. Ayer is a 3 hr drive for me so I have to make sure my support vehicle driver(my wife), can take off work on those days. Damn small cars and no room to fit extra wheels.

You are right it does have some of the stiffest competition, but they also have number of whiners and cheaters who ruin it for everyone. Also the large field they have is extremely annoying for people who just want to have fun on a Sunday. I know some people are super serious about this, but waiting 6 hours for 3 runs isn't for everyone. I can't even tell you how many times I worked for 2 hours for 3 minutes of seat time, screw that.

Last time I ran with PCA, I was FTD by 4 seconds. I prefer to have some competition, so SCCA it is.

Back when I had my CS MR2 Spyder, I went to a PCA event. Promptly took my 138 screaming horsepower monster to FTD....

...and was asked to not return ;-)

Tracy Ramsey

Well I stand corrected, guess I will have to check them out.

BTW anyone got the answer to my toe question? I based on searching looks like you dont need any mods to get 0 toe in the front but I wanna make sure.

Nothing

Are you only attending national-level events where contingencies are on the line, or are you actually running into this stuff at local SCCA-affiliated events?

well that's easy. Thanks.

You have 12 inch wide wheels you better beat everyone :-).

Chicago Region ALWAYS has 6 runs...always. Which region do you run? Only 3 runs, and I would be a bit put off also...

Tracy Ramsey

I have done them all and didnt enjoy most of them. I have had to work 2.5 hours for less than 3 minutes of seat time. I have had to work at night because the event went too long. I had an event that was cancelled with no refund due to heavy rain, this was after I sat out for 2 hours. There were also quirky politics and rules too. It's not everyone's cup of tea. If you like it, more power to you.

I don't think 6 run is the norm for most SCCA clubs, simply too many people.

I had posted this before, but they need to start having paid corner workers or at least minimize the working time. Its pathetic to be standing in the hot sun for such a long time for little seat time. I might as well do an amusement park ride if that is the case.

The quirky rules got a lot better this year when they changed the rules to where street tires will probably become the norm and most race tires will be on science-project cars. They still fret over small stuff in the rule book but the race tires in "stock" classes was the elephant in the room.

As far as work time goes, try a test and tune if you want seat time. At our events, it's not uncommon for people to get 10 runs or more on a test and tune day. A LOT of seat time is available at our novice school (10-15 runs before lunch) and the test and tune course on the other side uses 30-min work intervals for a pair of runs. Rinse, repeat.

Competition days have less seat time because of more people, but when attendance is light, we offer as many as six runs.

I agree SCCA at local level is not much fun. Too many people, too much waiting, etc. I prefer to go to non SCCA events that have more runs and are less serious about classing. Then go to big SCCA National tour events.

I'm lucky as our small clubs usually have more national champs running than any SCCA event.

And to guy who ran 4 seconds faster than any PCA entrant. You need to move out west as Andy McKee and the other podium level Mazda driver and several other national level drivers show up to our PCA events. You'd find plenty of challenge and get 12 70 to 80 second runs to boot.

I run AAS which indexes many classes but uses SCCA classes. American Auto-X Series LLC | Home. It's one of the better series around with top notch competition.

There will be even more people, that means more time sitting out on course watching some noisy Honda Civic going 30mph. I would rather stay home and watch porn and sleep.

I used to run with a local club back east, had fun because it was relatively stress and politics free. You can just go and enjoy yourself for the day. I moved out west. Things got super serious and there are just tons and tons of people. If I am going to waste $100 and one day of my time at an autox, I might as well spend an extra $150 and run a track day instead. It's the reason why I want to get rid of my Hoosier A6s because I know I can never go back to it. It's just my opinion, I know some people really value the competition.

I finally got my new dunlops mounted today and the shop gave me a free alignment check. Looks like my left side alignment is out of wack. I am thinking of getting the front toe set to 0 and the rear toe set to 0 or 1/8th. I also want the rear camber set to -1.5 or -1.6. You guys think this is a good setup for autox ?

Attachment 87813

Front looks good but the back has too much camber. I have slight front toe out and - 1.9 camber and I love it. Turn in is great and good road feedback. But I would like more camber up front though. Rear toe is good, I have 0 now and the back is too loose so I will change it after this weekends event.

I run about -2.5 in the back on the BSP car and 3.1 up front...hoosiers like camber, though.

https://farm8.staticflickr.com/7062/...0070bdcb_b.jpg