Hey everyone. Have some questions about my rex. I just got it the week and I cant wait to autocross with it. The only autocrossing I have done is with my friends 1966 corvair up at gingerman raceway in michigan, but everything was already setup on that car for autox. Now that i have my own car thats actually capable of autox i would like to get some info on suspesion upgrades.

What I have ...or will have is and uppipe,downpipe,catback,shortshifter,and soon to be getting the UTEC. Everything else i already ordered. I was looking around for complete suspension kits and here is one i found at a nice price and i was wondering if anyone has it or knows someone or what you overall just think of it. Thanks.

http://store1.yimg.com/I/hopup1_1841_23848691

Yep, that looks like the one everybody else is running! Get it!




j/k - to get a nice response in this forum, you'll have to provide MUCH more detail than just posting a picture of some multi-colored suspension parts. :lol:

And you might want to do a search before asking any questions, as it's all been covered in GREAT detail before. Feel free to call me an ahole for telling you to search, but it is the best source of info... :)

I'll be an a-hole too. If you've only had the car a week and you haven't autocrossed it yet, how will you ever know what's needed to make it faster for you? Sure, you can generalize and slap parts on the car based on a lot of opinions about what works for other people. But how are you going to know if the parts make you faster or if they simply cost you a pile of money?

Drive it for a while. Don't try to buy competitive-in-a-box.

you'll have to provide MUCH more detail than just posting a picture of some multi-colored suspension parts. :lol: winn4r

-Tom

What class?
At what level? (regional, divisional, national, etc)

You neet to answer the above to get a remotely reasonable answer.

From the looks of that kit it will put you into SM which will have you running against some SERIOUSLY well prepped cars. (ALK is in there it looks like as well as some other stuff)

I think the first thing to do is take your car out as it is and auto-x it. After a couple of events go from there and decide which class you'd like to run in and build your car up from there.

WRX's will find a lot of people in the STX class around IL and WI so that is always nice to have competition.

Joe

PS. If you search there are a lot of really good threads describing other peoples auto-x setup.

The "kit" posted looks STX legal to me. There is no ALK in the pic. It won't be competitive in STX but it looks legal.

The chrome strut bar makes it worth it!

-Tom

I just looked up the kit it has sub-frame reinforcment brackets that I thought were an ALK. I however have never used or dealt with either so they could be diffrerent or the same, I'll leave that up to the gurus.

Here;s the complete list for that kit

The Stage 3 TVS system includes Sport Coils, Competition Sway Bars, Sub Frame Reinforcement Brackets, Fabricated End Links, Rear Camber Links, Strut Tower Brace and Front Camber Plates.

well he will be SM anyway because of the UTEC. I run UP/Down, catback, with AP so I can run the STX map and stay STX legal. better competition for me there.

Before this becomes "Autox Classing 101" :lol:

Nowhere in his post did he say he wanted to be competitive... just said he wanted to autox it - so make sure you ask instead of assuming. I've talked to a lot of people about autox, and a lot of them don't really care if they're competitive or not - they just want to have fun. You can have a lot of fun in a totally-stock car, but you can have even more fun in an extremely-modified car. :)

But he still needs to provide more information.

Alright id like to be in stx then....im not to competitive but if i decide to ill go from there. So thanks ill just take a look at the rules for that class and go from there. Alright thanks you have been very helpful.

I cant wait till my first day on the track with my rex!!!! :banana:

If your thinking about STX... try this...and in this order.

1.Good set of 17" x 8" wheels with an offset of 48.. give or take a couple mm. Rota is a good way to go. A set of Falken Azenis 225/45/17 for rubber. Put a set of Cusco Camber Plates on the stock struts. Goto an alignment shop and tell em you want an alignment with these specks.

Front..... Camber -3.0 degrees Toe 2mm toe out

Rear...... Camber..... as much negative as they can get Toe 2mm toe out

These values are a descent setup that won't grind your tires down to nothing on the street. Just swap out to your stock wheels and tires inbetween events, so you don't burn through your good rubber.

2. Drive at as many practices as you can... and find someone with a Suby that can give you descent advice on where to go next.

This should get you started. Once you become familiar with basic suspension theory, then you will be able to make the best choices to suit your budget and level of interest. This forum is an excellent place to search for info, plus there are countless books and info on the web, to learn how to tune your suspension for specific applications.

I hope this helped.

I would say stay stock wheels, or some 15" with Azenis. ooo or some 16x7's would be nice.

Rear...... Camber..... as much negative as they can get

What's your reasoning? (Curious, since your recommended setup is different than most of the top STX cars.)

Rear...... Camber..... as much negative as they can get

Well.. he is kinda quick with this.... but it's been many others experience that the lest camber in the rear the better to aid rotation.

What's your reasoning? (Curious, since your recommended setup is different than most of the top STX cars.)

This is just a safe setup for him to get started. One that will allow him to drive and learn.. One that will, or should inspire confidence. The back of the car would be settled in the slaloms while he can experiment and learn.

He is only gonna be able to get around -1.5 to -1.8 max in the rear because of the stock config. So it's not like he is running huge amounts of rear camber.

I'm running alot of neg camber in the rear. Most of you guys would cringe if I told you the number, so I won't ;)... Either way, I have more upfront then the rear. So i'm close to the "East Coasters Setup".... LOL ;)

The Hotchkiss rear lateral links included in that package will yield WAY more than 1~2 negative degrees..........

Frankly, for the original poster...you say you just got the car a week ago. STOP. Don't go " Trowin " a bunch a money down the toilet right away. Do some more research, talk to your local competition, and compare and contrast alot more aftermarket stuff before you take the plunge. There are literally TONS of suspension options available for your car.

The Package you identified is a decent, high-quality street bling improvement IMHO...and its definitely better than stock suspension...but it "ain't" the best thing for auto-x....not by a COUNTRY MILE.......

Know what your budget is first...indentify what fits in budget...wait and save if you can't buy what your research convinces you ought to have.

#1. What to you really want to do? Recreational auto-x...competitive auto-x...or Hmmmm, I don't really know yet. This is the important first step before blowing a bunch of time and cash. If its recreational, or the Hmmm, I don't know yet...then don't buy any suspension....go race a few times first...

#2. OK, you love it, you want do it, and you want to beat people...I mean seriously whoop up: Invest in this list:

Time...I'm talking years of auto-x
Driving School...Evolution or the like...and multiple times.
Savings account: Because, for example, in say...STX you will ultimately need: All the stuff you listed as already purchased, plus: headers, turbine inlet, dynotime & retune, tires, more tires, more tires, coilovers, swaybars, suspension bushings, expensive lightweight wheels, aftermarket lightweight seats, plenty of alignment time (your's or someone elses), I can't remember everything...but, figure, oh anywhere from $5000 to $10,000 depending on condition and make of said equipment...and then travel expenses of course.

BriDrive

Thanks everyone for the info.

OK. well i have autocrossed before, but that was with and already setup car. So now i just need tons of practice with my rex. For now i am definitely sure its something i really want to get in to considering i have my own car to do it with. For now though im in it for total recreation and depending how good or not good i get with my subie will depend on whether i want to become competitive.

so what i have heard is that for now since i just want to be recreational with it that i should just start off getting some nice tires...obvious...and coilovers,swaybars, and camber plates. Then like you guys said from there with lots of practice i should decide how much more to invest in suspension. Ok well thanks alot for all your info. I know there is lots of post on this topic but i suck majorly at searching so thanks for not flaming me and actually helping me.

No problem.. But to be quite honest... You shouldn't jump right into coilovers...and maybe not even bars yet... Those two decisions need quite a bit of research.

The stock WRX will be descently fast with an increase in camber and good wheels and rubber.

I'm just trying to keep you from possibly making the mistake I did. I have ended up revalving and machining my coilovers now twice and switched to different bars twice. If I had just experimented and borrowed parts from others to try out, I would have spent half of what I have put into the settup of the car.

Also.... It makes sense to me, to work on getting the suspension dialed in, before moving on to power mods. It will make the learning curve less steep.

Just my 2 cents.

If you want to get involved at all I would recommend a set of falken azenis' or other sticky STREET tire. Get a performance alignement. Which means max negative camber. With 1/8 -1/4 inch toe out all in the front. Leave the back alone. You can then run in STX, or DS. If your region has a novice class I would recommend that as well.

Race for a full season or more. Go as many times as you can. Ride with the "fast" guys. Take an evo school or 3. And don't forget to have fun.

You will be suprised how much faster you will get. Just remember this.

The %100 driver in an %80 car will always beat the %80 driver in the %100 car.

Come up to the Milwaukee SCCA events. We have a lot of WRX's up here at every event usually about 6 or so STX setups, 3 or so STU and a smattering of others. A couple of the cars are running pretty close to what many people are running on the national tours. Myself, dwx, thechickencow, fliz, FTD, MNbiker (even though he runs a Miata now) and a bunch of others that are on NASIOC a lot are up there.

I would love to go. Whenever you guys go let me know ahead of time and i will take off work so i can go. It would be nice to go autocrossing with some people that are willing to help me out. Thanks

OH by the way. You dont think i should lower my car first.....thats why i wanted to atleast get a set of coilovers.

it's hard to say

OH by the way. You dont think i should lower my car first.....thats why i wanted to atleast get a set of coilovers.If THAT's why you wanted coilovers, then no. Absolutely not. The stock suspension isn't great, but geez, I think you'd be making it worse by buying "cheap"/non-motorsports-appropriate coilovers simply to lower the car...

If THAT's why you wanted coilovers, then no. Absolutely not. The stock suspension isn't great, but geez, I think you'd be making it worse by buying "cheap"/non-motorsports-appropriate coilovers simply to lower the car...

As she said no you probably don't if you are looking for performance. There are few cars up here that will show you without a doubt that just lowering your car will yield little to no results in the performance department. My recommendation is to come up here race and see what you like about certain levels of preparation in the WRX. The events are all online at

www.scca-milwaukee.org
www.waiautox.org

joe