I was at my first Auto-X on 10/7 and I heard a lot about rotation. Theoretically I know what it means; you get the rear tires to follow the same path as the fronts, which has obvious advantages around corners. Is it possible to have the car set up to rotate TOO easily? Do I just need to learn to control it? Or is it really just a case of massive oversteer? BTW my current setup is 27mm FSB 22mm RSB (set to full stiff) and endlinks. I am running stock size tires 205/55/16 - 440 treadwear. I know that if I really want better performance I NEED better tires. I'll save that for another thread
tires are the biggest factor at this point if you are running 440 treadwear tires. I would wait until you get new tires to change anything else.
yes my car is a drift machine on S03s... however the car is completely different on sticker RE01rs. Get some decent street tires before you start messing with setup.
OK, lets talk tires. I know I need them, but I also know that my stock wheels are 6.5" wide. The main reason I don't have better tires is I am thinking that I should save up for some wider wheels so I can run wider stickier tires. On a tight budget right now, so i don't want to get new stock size tires (205/55/16) only to find out I could have saved that for a new wheels that will allow me to run 225 tires; the widest that you can run easily on a wagon w/o rolling fenders (which is absolutely not an option)
I also know that a bigger wheel/tire combo will be heavier. Does the better handling from wider tires offset the increased rotational weight?
step 1: figure out what class you want to be in. step 2: start (if at all possible) with the best tire/wheel combo you can afford for that class step 3: autox for a year or so with just a few mods (said wheel/tire combo) and maybe a set of sway bars step4: after first year re-evaluate which class you want to be in; start building up car for said class step 5:....... step 6: PROFIT!
Sounds good, thanks! If I have any other tire/wheel questions, I'll post them in the appropriate forum
usually people go for the lowest weight wheel they can get their hands on for autox. I've since really nice wheels (SSRs and Volks) on really cheap cars just cause it's a huge weight savings. However some people do experiment with different diameters to change the gearing and get more of a second gear. Figure out what's the best class for your car and budget and then go ask either SCCAforums or NASIOC what's the best wheel and tire size for this class.
Tires make a huge difference. Get the 225/45/16 Hankook Ventus RS-2 Z212 to START with. Run 45~50 psi in them....Autox for a few months to a year. THEN decide if its something you want to stick with...I'd start off keeping the car STS or STX legal. That way, you dont go mod crazy. As soon as you step into DSP/FSP world and beyond...the car starts to become non-streetable and a constant project...then has little resale value to the rest of the world. Usually only WRX and STi holds decent resell when prepped. Anything else drops like a rock. But, Mere said is QUITE well: