What should my next major mod be, planning for this coming season.

[Chad44]

So, I think I'm only going to be able to swing one more major upgrade for this coming season. Most of my driving will be autocross, but I WILL make it to a track and want to push the car and myself.

I am in the middle of a brake upgrade that will put me in good position there, and plan to get a new set of tires at the beginning of the season...

Here are the potential mods I am trying to chose between:

1. Limited Slip Diff, prob not changing gear ratio.
2. swap my (new)zhp shocks and HR coils for KW V2 or V3's.
3. R-compound tires

Any advice and info would be appreciated.

[LivesNearCostco]

Do you have any AutoX class restrictions? Do you have a dedicated set of track/AutoX wheels? Is your goal just to go as fast as possible, or are you also trying to decide which mod will give you the most fun and enjoyment? Do the KW coilovers come with--or would you add--camber plates?

I have read that for AutoX, the 1st most important mod is the driver, 2nd most important is tires, and then comes any other suspension stuff (springs, shocks, camber, swaybars, bushings, strut brace, etc.)

[Chad44]

I should have also mentioned this is my daily driver.. I have another set of wheels that the r- compounds would go on- however I wouldn't use them for Autocross, I really was thinking about the track.

I agree about modding the driver, but already feel like certain limitations of the car are holding me back- this is where the LSD comes in... I thought this would be my most likely mod because I would enjoy it in all situations including daily driving. The open diff allows the car to correct itself when I put too much power down in some situations by just spinning the tire, but more often than that I one leg it when a light fishtail and 2 wheeled take of is what I'm trying to do. (mostly in Autocross, but also on the occasional on ramp)

I want to go fast, have fun, and come in first... I'm an "all-in" kind of person.

I do have camber plates, and the KW suspension has them also. Because I have lowering springs on stock shocks, the rebound feels off on the car... This is the part that would be most noticeable to me, I'm just not happy with the feel of the suspension in certain aspects- but it does it's job and sticks to the road pretty damn well.




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[M0nk3y]

Here is my opinion on R-Comps, don't get them.

Unless you've been doing Auto-X or Track for years and years to come, and you can't shave anymore time. R-Comps masks user error. When I say that, they don't provide user feed-back like normal tires do (aka-screeching). Their break-away is NOT linear, and at one point in a turn you can have all the grip in the world, the next you can be going off track at 80 into a wall. Especially for people who are still learning lines...etc, do NOT get them. I drove my friends BSP prep'ed E36 M3 on R-Comps and it was a world's difference, I ended up spinning it at 50 MPH flat out in a turn on the Auto-X course because I thought I had the grip.

Get some sticky street tires. I wanted to go to R-Comps but I can't justify the costs, but given you will be going through a set every year. It's not worth it. They are referred to crack, because once you go onto it you can never go back.

With that being said, I suggest you start modding into STX. ZHPs are really good cars when they are modded correctly into that class:

http://www.scca.com/downloads/#solo

I think you should start reading the rules to STX and go from there. I don't know/remember if changing the diff would throw you into a different class (like a prepared class or street mod).

What times were you running compared to other cars in your class?

[Hermes]

coilovers will be the best mod to plan for this year if you want to track your car. the tires are a temporary mod that will run out fast, and the LSD won't help your times as much as a good suspension will

[spencers]

Easy. R-Comps!

Kidding. Suspension would help..

[M0nk3y]

I feel suspension should be matched with Sway Bars if handling is where you want to gain...yes?

[Chad44]

So throwing away the idea of r-comps... I do want better handling, though with my current setup it's not bad- the weakest links this past year were my brakes and tires. I bought a set of style 71s with brand new pilot sport sp1s... Before I knew anything about tires. They did okay, but I will do potenza so3s, or star spec, or something this year with a bit better grip, and those tires will be put onto my vmr vb3s.

As of last week I had been planning on changing to a coil over system, but then started thinking about LSDs.

I'm open to other ideas if anyone has them- I am working with a budget of about $1500 on this.


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[Chad44]

Or do I just do the conforti shark I've been planning on and save the rest for more hpde's?

[LivesNearCostco]

I've never driven with a LSD, but my understanding is that for track and AutoX, it really helps just with putting power down on corner exit, especially tight corners... and maybe all the corners when it's wet. I have played with regular and sticky street tires (not R-comps) and noticed that with the stickier tires, I have fewer problems with DSC kicking in (for those times when I didn't turn it off) and with the rear end one-wheel pogo on corner exit. I was going to say front camber is the first thing you should do, but since you've already got camber...

• Tires help you everywhere but probably last 1-2 seasons (with camber plates and dedicated wheels). The stickier they are, the faster you use them up! Mine R-S3s lasted for about 8 months, which was 10 track days plus 8 Autox days. I heard maybe Star Specs last a little longer.
• LSD lasts forever (basically) but pretty much only helps on corner exit. Or if you want to get into drifting.
• Suspension improvements last years and can have aesthetic benefits if you want to lower the car more but probably not as much effect on time as stickier tires. However, suspension improvements can help your front tires last longer by wearing more evenly
• If you're going to the track, you might need to upgrade brake pads too (and flush brake fluid). That might be the first track mod.

In the San Diego and Los Angeles CCA AutoX classes, just having camber plates or lowering springs already puts you in "modified" class so you could do R-comps, LSD, and coilovers (and most other mods except FI or slicks) and stay in the same class. The Golden Gate (San Francisco) chapter uses points, so you could probably do any 2 of those mods (coilovers and LSD, or LSD and stickier tires) and stay in the base ZHP class, but doing all three of them would bump you up a class. In SCCA... I'm not so familiar but you're already way out of stock class, where about the only allowed mods are tires (including R-comps), intake, shocks and front swaybar. If you're serious about SCCA competition (someone suggested STX), then mod to the class rules.