I have been wanting to do more to the suspension of my car. The car is an 89 Camaro with a 2.8 in it, its staying V6 to so none of the get a V8 stuff please. The car is being built for AutoX. Right now I am in STS and will probably stay in that class for a while till I can get better. I wish that I started out in stock class. Anyways as of now the car has swaybars from a WS6 with poly endlinks/bushings, wonderbar, Bilsteins in the back, crappy Monroes in the front, Firestone Firehawk 235/60/15, and stock springs and rims. As for brakes I am staying with the stock setup but I have gotten some good pads and stainless braided lines. What would be the best mods for the car in STS class and still be streetable. I don't mind a bad ride quality either. Any reccommendations like springs, shocks, and tires would nice for me to really compete as I get better.

Forgot, is there any camber/alignment settings that will help out to?

 

For best autocross performance, I would suggest looking into the following, in this order:

1. Driver - Get as much seat time as possible, especially with an experienced autocross instructor in the passenger seat. Learn to drive faster by slowing down and hitting your lines through turns.

2. Tires - I'm not sure what the best street tire is nowadays, but typically only a few brands are considered really competitive. There is a minimum treadwear rating for a street tire in SCCA, as I recall.

3. Struts - Koni sport struts (yellows) or Bilsteins, for sure. As an advantage, Koni's are adjustable.

4. Brakes - I prefer Hawk pads, others may have a different opinion. Get your fluid professionally flushed, filled with a high performance fluid like ATE or Motul, and bled correctly. Having fresh fluid with no air bubbles makes a world of difference in stopping power. Slotted rotors are a nice option over standard rotors.

Once you get those four dialed in and get plenty of seat time, you'll have a much better idea of where to put the rest of your money as far as aftermarket parts go.

 

I was thinking about getting Konis possible over the summer for sure. Already got the old fluid flushed and new fluid put in, the brown fluid that was in there needed replacing I think.

I am going to go to an event probably once a month. Already been twice and have improved some, this last competition I was only ~2 sec away from the leader instead of 10 sec at my first event.

 

I am currently running Stock, but I plan on jumping up to STX soon. I would say get Koni yellows but since you already have bilstein on the back, just get the bilsteins for the front (unless the shocks on the back are uber old and worn out). As far as the alignment, most good race shops should know how to properly set it up. I would say get some of the GTA wire wheels (about 16 lbs each), but you can only have a wheel up to 7.5" wide. I also plan on going with some Hawk pads. I'll be replacing almost everything in the suspension with UMI parts. I would also recommend getting a race harness even if you dont want to spend the $250+ on a race seat. It will hold you in much better than the stock seat belt and it will allow you to focus more on controling the car instead of bracing yourself so you don't have your head hanging out the window as you go through turns. My BFG KDW's don't have enough grip for my IROC so I typically do more drifting than anything else. I may not be anywhere near first place but I put on one hell of a show.

Most of all... get more seat time. Last weekend was the first autocross event for the year, so it was the first time I was able to beat on the car (probably a little to much since I broke the rear end ) and I was able to improve my times by about 3 seconds by having one of the "pros" ride along and give me tips.

On a side note...
I can't imagine racing a big thirdgen with a little V6, it just seems like it would be so slow. Then again, I'm a minor so I have to have parent or instructor in the car with me all the time so I have an extra 200 lbs to lug around that most don't.

 

With the V6 it isn't a nose heavy as a V8 and really you don't need as much power since its not all straight lines. These motors make their power in the bottom/mid range of the RPMs which is good. I am building a motor with a little more power though. I am trying to get as much seat time as I can. Really I don't get thrown around alot while driving. The stock seats hold me in pretty well.

 

True, but a little extra power won't hurt. I think a V6 with about 225 at the tires woul be sweet.

 

I'm shooting for 200 at the motor (crappy heads) with a nice helping of torque. It will be a nice improvement over the stock 135 HP.

 

Generally you want to run at least a degree of negative camber and maybe more depending on how much body roll you have and how much the tires roll over. Hopefully you are upping your tire pressures before you run... Also, most people like a little bit of toe out (neighborhood of 1/8") for auto-x to increase steering response and help the car turn-in better. However, on the street you'll want a little toe in to keep the car stable at highway speeds. Speaking of tires, they make a huge difference! With your size rims, they shouldn't be terribly expensive. I don't know if they make them in the size you need, but the falken azenis 615's are one of the best street tires for auto-x. However, I've heard some people say that when you are first starting out, using harder tires will help you improve more quickly (teaching you to drive smoother instead of the tires saving your butt). I'll also vouch for the koni yellows. Gobal west has some good looking springs, but I haven't tried them out...yet.

 

turboes help crappy heads....lol
if you hit 200, you'll have more power at the crank than I do and you'll be in a lighter car, and I know I still have fun.

 

Tires are the biggest thing that will help an autocross car. Honestly if I were in your shoes and set on throwing money at the car, I'd find a cheap set of extra 15" wheels and get some Bridgestone RE-01Rs. F-Bodies will easily hold all four tires, and you can change when you get to the autocross.

If you're in STS, you can't run anything wider than a 225 tire, although nobody will probably say anything to you since you're driving a 20 year old F-Body on Firestones.

But if you're looking for cheap stuff to do to the car, find a racer-friendly shop to do an alignment and get as much camber out of the car as you can. There's a lot of play in the upper shock mounts and lower control arms. For toe settings, set the toe to "0" and forget about it if you're driving it on the street all the time. Ideally you'd want some toe out, like 3/32nds or 1/8th, but it will chew up the tires on everyday driving. (If you're mechanically inclined, you can change the toe settings when you get to the autocross. Set at "0" for the street, change it for the autocross, set back to "0" before your leave.)

And get rid of those Monroes for Bilsteins or Konis.

I'd worry about 1. alignment, 2. front shocks and 3. tires before anything else.

Pat

 

I am deffinately getting Konis for the front next, then some tires probably. Alignment is probably going to be soon also, the car is my DD so I don't want to chew up my tires and probably don't want to reset my settings at the track, to lazy.
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cam and higher compression should do it. The intake side is ported a little and the exhaust is polished.I'll get what I can from it.