"Fools Errand" advice, going from HS to STH

[toycar]

I realize with the wheel/tire and other constraints, modding my Fist for STH I say goodbye to those local trophies and high PAX finishes, but now that my warranty is almost up I'd like to see if I can up the fun and "race car feel" factor. I've searched and found some STH builds, but the ones I found seem to end early - and maybe that is a red flag that the mods do add up to much. Does anyone have any mods they really felt were worthwhile after tires and wheels?

 

[Pablo Pistoffo]

Differential, coilovers, 2 point brace, intercooler and tune, and you'd be 99% there, I think. Even modded, these cars punch above their weight.

 

[toycar]

Pablo, Thanks for the short list, is that the order you would suggest (I think finding someone to do a diff in my area would really be a project of its own, both in trust and price)? Looks like your Mod List would be pretty much everything you could do.

 

[Pablo Pistoffo]

Pablo, Thanks for the short list, is that the order you would suggest (I think finding someone to do a diff in my area would really be a project of its own, both in trust and price)? Looks like your Mod List would be pretty much everything you could do.

hahah- yeah, I tried to build it to class while still maintaining some daily drivability.

Wheels and tires are really the best bang for the buck- going to 15s were the easiest way I could find to get a 225 section width tire to fit, plus it allows a bit of CG lowering without any additional compromise of suspension geometry. The challenge now would be finding a set, either of the TDs or the group buy Konigs.

I really can't say enough about the diff, though- it's amazing how early you can put the power down coming out of corners, and it really kept the e-diff from going crazy on the brakes. The big downside is of course price- I think I paid $1,200 to have it installed, plus the parts of course.

I love my coilovers, but I think I probably got at least 90% of their performance from the Swift spring/Bilstein B6 combo I had, without the time it took to tune, adjust, etc.

I'm holding my own in the car- strangely, the one season I ran it in H Street, I didn't podium in PAX once, while I've been consistently up there the last 2.5 seasons running STH. As always, YMMV

 

[Saponetta]

As Pablo said, once tires are worked out, a diff will work wonders for your brakes. The e diff is hard on them. Braces are nice. They don't seem highly rated around here, but I really noticed the torsion beam brace. It made it much easier to point my car and helped me keep momentum and smoothness up. I definatly am not having to manhandle my car like I was, especially after the Bilstein pss install.

Inl do not have a diff on my car yet. But I have experience with adding them on modern brake diff cars.

 

[toycar]

Spring (Finally!) Update - Took the car out with Swift Springs, mild RMM upgrade, Cobb OTS stage 1 tune. Did a test and tune on OEM tires, and then an autocross on last years worn Falken 660's.

It was as you would expect. Fun factor increase due to the flatter cornering, still trouble getting the power down and a bit of wheel hop. First runs were very tail happy even at stock pressures, learned to "slow down my feet and speed up my hands" and got some decent times. Organization I was with has limited classes, was faster than the all the cars in my previous class, gaped by 1.5 seconds or so in the new class by the leader but a decent showing. So overall glad I'm trying this out - never going to Nationals just having fun.

Keeping with the budget build, just put in a Whoosh 2 point brace today (not a bad install if you take off the wheels to get the bolts loose in a much more comfortable position). Camber bolts next, not sure if I'm going to run them at full yet. Probably run it like that a little, then put on the Fresh 660's on 16x7.5 wheels if I don't find some 16x8

Further in the season, fit the upgraded IC I have in a box and stage 2 OTS tune (probably upgrade to a more custom one later).

Thanks for all the advice, open to hearing other suggestions.

 

[kevinatfms]

Camber plates over bolts any day of the week. Gets rid of the plastic top hats and goes right to a uniball mount.

Also LSD is easily the best part for the car. Highly recommend it.

 

[toycar]

Kevin, I was actually surprised by how much camber the bolts gave me visually even with them not maxed out (I have the arrows pointed about about "1:30" where max would be at "3 o'clock" if that makes any sense to anyone). If is started again I would have looked at camber plates when I put the struts back together - would be nice to adjust at or between events. It seems the traction bar is doing exactly that - though this is tough to test out on the street commuting to or from work!

 

[Pablo Pistoffo]

Camber plates over bolts any day of the week. Gets rid of the plastic top hats and goes right to a uniball mount.

Also LSD is easily the best part for the car. Highly recommend it.

Unfortunately, STH doesn't allow for drilling clearance holes for camber plates- there is negligible adjustment room when I tried with my FA 500s. I sent a letter to the SEB, but got the "thank you for your input" reponse.

 

[kevinatfms]

Unfortunately, STH doesn't allow for drilling clearance holes for camber plates- there is negligible adjustment room when I tried with my FA 500s. I sent a letter to the SEB, but got the "thank you for your input" reponse.

Clearance holes for adjustment of the top plate between events or overall adjustment in total camber amount?

 

[Pablo Pistoffo]

Clearance holes for adjustment of the top plate between events or overall adjustment in total camber amount?

Both- at least with the Fortune Auto camber plates, there isn't much room at all to adjust camber without the shock adjustment knob running into the side of the hole- maybe other setups don't need the clearance? I ended up using the slotted bolt holes in front and Dpro plates in the back to get camber. Props to FA for having two options available.

 

[Peterson]

I’m running STH.

PARTS LIST
BC Coils 5k/4k stock springs
- neg 2.2° front camber
DNA rear camber plates
- neg 2.0° rear camber
SuperPro bushings in LCAs & trailing arm
- 4° caster

DNA traction Bar
DNA Torsion Bar
DNA trunk brace
Whiteline adjustable end links

ITG Intake, Whoosh crossover, Airtec elbow
CPE FMIC
CPE hot and cold pipes with Tial Q
Light weight battery
Damond OCC
CPE motor mounts

COBB AP with JST e40 tune
Whoosh decat
TunePlus Titanium exhaust

16x8 Konig Dekagrams
205x45x16 Potenzas
EBC slotted rotors
EBC yellow stuff pads

 

[Peterson]

So I am slow. Getting beat by HS Fiestas. I have a faster car with more tire, so I need to really work on my driving to get up to this cars full potential. Even doing so, I think it’s a losing battle with other cars in STH.

 

[Pablo Pistoffo]

So I am slow. Getting beat by HS Fiestas. I have a faster car with more tire, so I need to really work on my driving to get up to this cars full potential. Even doing so, I think it’s a losing battle with other cars in STH.

Once you've built your car to class, it's going to take a while to acclimate to it and hone your skills. Some people have a natural ability to hop in a car and kick ass, for me I had to work at it for years to get decent results. I lent the car to a friend yesterday- he took second overall while I was much farther down the list- I kept hitting cones in the same damn spot every time trying to emulate what my friend could do, rather than working up to it.
Practice the fundamentals, get ride alongs and pointers from better drivers, maybe take in a school, and you'll get better. It can be a lot of work, but it is entirely do-able.

 

[Peterson]

Once you've built your car to class, it's going to take a while to acclimate to it and hone your skills. Some people have a natural ability to hop in a car and kick ass, for me I had to work at it for years to get decent results. I lent the car to a friend yesterday- he took second overall while I was much farther down the list- I kept hitting cones in the same damn spot every time trying to emulate what my friend could do, rather than working up to it.
Practice the fundamentals, get ride alongs and pointers from better drivers, maybe take in a school, and you'll get better. It can be a lot of work, but it is entirely do-able.

Yes it’s my first event back since 2020. I picked up 6 seconds over 7 runs, so I’m making progress.

I need to work out if I want to put on a rear sway bar (I have it sitting) or if I can tweak my coil over settings to get the car to rotate without spinning out.

I also need tires. I am conflicted with hearing though. I’m not sure what/where to look up the info I need. I have a set of 16x8 Dekagrams with 3 year old RE71s 205x45x16. I have another set of new 15x8 wheels that I was hoping to use so I could fit some 225 tires, but I’m not sure about the gearing. I don’t want to run out of 2nd gear all the time, but I don’t know how to research this.

 

[kevinatfms]

Yes it’s my first event back since 2020. I picked up 6 seconds over 7 runs, so I’m making progress.

I need to work out if I want to put on a rear sway bar (I have it sitting) or if I can tweak my coil over settings to get the car to rotate without spinning out.

I also need tires. I am conflicted with hearing though. I’m not sure what/where to look up the info I need. I have a set of 16x8 Dekagrams with 3 year old RE71s 205x45x16. I have another set of new 15x8 wheels that I was hoping to use so I could fit some 225 tires, but I’m not sure about the gearing. I don’t want to run out of 2nd gear all the time, but I don’t know how to research this.

You could always go 215/45R16's if you are unsure of the 15" gearing. Its 23.6" tall versus the much shorter 23" tall 15" sizings.

I run 15x8 and 225/45 and they work great but do have some areas at Summit Point where gearing is less than ideal.

 

[Peterson]

You could always go 215/45R16's if you are unsure of the 15" gearing. Its 23.6" tall versus the much shorter 23" tall 15" sizings.

I run 15x8 and 225/45 and they work great but do have some areas at Summit Point where gearing is less than ideal.

I bought a set today. I was offered a possible solution of raising the redline to 7k instead of 6500. Is that really gonna be an issue? I’m aiming to NOT bang it off the rev limiter consistently. I haven’t heard of too many Fiestas with valve float issues.

 

[kevinatfms]

I bought a set today. I was offered a possible solution of raising the redline to 7k instead of 6500. Is that really gonna be an issue? I’m aiming to NOT bang it off the rev limiter consistently. I haven’t heard of too many Fiestas with valve float issues.

Did you go 215's? or down to 15's?

 

[Peterson]

Did you go 215's? or down to 15's?

225/45/15

 

[kevinatfms]

225/45/15

I think the increased rev limiter was discussed a while back but i dont remember the outcome of it. I shift earlier as the stock turbo, even on E30, runs out of steam above 6500.

The car has a ton of torque down low so going to a higher gear isnt always a bad thing. The car can easily pull itself out of the lower rpms as the max torque rating is achieved from right at 4000rpm(unless you have a different turbo?). Tuned i believe we make nearly 300ft/lbs at the same RPM level(4000ish?) so going to the next gear up earlier should show too much lost time on track? Autocross might be a much different situation...

The biggest gripe is the extra shift required to keep the car from banging the limiter. Its not a very good situation for this car and the tire choices we are offered.

BTW, keep us updated on how you like the RT660 in the 15" size. Interested to see how they perform and the durability on our platform.