2015 WRX auto-x impressions

[mitchman]

Front sway bar looks easier to swap out than my Miata! lol! Nice!

Where did you see someone offering custom valved Bilsteins? That would mean that there are standard Bilsteins available for the 2015 car.....right? Custom valved Bilsteins can be fairly affordable. Maybe I should call FatCat Motorsports.

Thanks for the help/advice! :-)

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[tuskenraider]

Originally Posted by epv

OZ Alleggerita HLT are the lightest in 18".

FTFY.

[epv]

48mm offset. Stock is 55mm. 6.35mm+/- puts them out of spec. PF01 are at 50mm, which is whithin tolerance.

[tuskenraider]

Originally Posted by epv

48mm offset. Stock is 55mm. 6.35mm+/- puts them out of spec. PF01 are at 50mm, which is whithin tolerance.

I believe the proposal in the 2014 April FastTrack to delete text in red will be in the new rule book:

Street
#12693 Wheel Offset Allowance Proposal
The following rule change proposal is recommended by the SAC and SEB:
Change the first sentence of 13.4 to read as follows:
"Any type wheel may be used provided it complies with the following: it is the same width and diameter as Standard and as installed (including wheel spacers if applicable) it does not have an offset more than ±¼" (±6.35mm) 7mm from a standard wheel for the car."
Comment: The wheel industry has moved from using inch measurements to using millimeters for wheel offsets.

[Manicdan]

Originally Posted by mitchman

First post on this forum!

Thinking of buying a 2015 WRX for D-Street. Any advice? (package, options, etc...)

Are there decent light weight wheel options available?

How hard is it to change the front sway bar? Do you have to drop the subframe?

Any news on Koni (or someone else) coming out with some Street class legal shocks? (hopefully with lots of low speed dampening)

Thanks in advance!

Mitch

used my brothers for a few events this year, CVT version. completely stock i was able to get within 2-3 seconds from pax.

heres what we are doing:

1. Kosei K4R and keep the gear ratio about the same. should shave off 7-10lbs off stock per corner (oem rims might be 22 or 24lbs) tires would be 235 or 245 45-17s, going to buy this early next year
2. very large rear sway bar, like 24mm, with adjustments from 23-25mm or 22-26mm (not sure yet what is available)
3. still looking at shock options and dont think the STI ones will do anything for us, and hope to see some customizable Bilsteins over the winter time.
4. upgrade exhaust, something lighter and louder, maybe custom. hearing the RPMs is going to help cause we have the CVT and can shift whenever

[gary p]

Originally Posted by Manicdan

still looking at shock options and dont think the STI ones will do anything for us, and hope to see some customizable Bilsteins over the winter time.

The STI struts from 04-14 were revalvable; don't know about the 15's but I'd be surprised if they were different. The rear shocks from 08+, however, are not serviceable.

[ABQautoxer]

Originally Posted by tuskenraider

I believe the proposal in the 2014 April FastTrack to delete text in red will be in the new rule book:

Street
#12693 Wheel Offset Allowance Proposal
The following rule change proposal is recommended by the SAC and SEB:
Change the first sentence of 13.4 to read as follows:
“Any type wheel may be used provided it complies with the following: it is the same width and diameter as Standard and as installed (including wheel spacers if applicable) it does not have an offset more than ±¼” (±6.35mm) 7mm from a standard wheel for the car.”
Comment: The wheel industry has moved from using inch measurements to using millimeters for wheel offsets.

Correct, the BOD approved the 7mm change for 2015.

[WAM]

Originally Posted by Manicdan

used my brothers for a few events this year, CVT version. completely stock i was able to get within 2-3 seconds from pax.

heres what we are doing:

1. Kosei K4R and keep the gear ratio about the same. should shave off 7-10lbs off stock per corner (oem rims might be 22 or 24lbs) tires would be 235 or 245 45-17s, going to buy this early next year
2. very large rear sway bar, like 24mm, with adjustments from 23-25mm or 22-26mm (not sure yet what is available)
3. still looking at shock options and dont think the STI ones will do anything for us, and hope to see some customizable Bilsteins over the winter time.
4. upgrade exhaust, something lighter and louder, maybe custom. hearing the RPMs is going to help cause we have the CVT and can shift whenever

I was thinking of buying a CVT for rallycross, as our local courses are too fast for 1st, but bog out in 2nd. Gear ratios seldom match the course. Was thinking the CVT would be the answer to that.

I would want a DS autoX setup for the car too. From what I read here, the CVT seems to add an off-corner bog, which apparently can be addressed with left foot braking. Once that's conquered, how competitive do you think the CVT will be against it's M6 counterparts in D Street? It's a pretty expensive experiment if it sucks.

[epv]

Originally Posted by WAM

I was thinking of buying a CVT for rallycross, as our local courses are too fast for 1st, but bog out in 2nd. Gear ratios seldom match the course. Was thinking the CVT would be the answer to that.

I would want a DS autoX setup for the car too. From what I read here, the CVT seems to add an off-corner bog, which apparently can be addressed with left foot braking. Once that's conquered, how competitive do you think the CVT will be against it's M6 counterparts in D Street? It's a pretty expensive experiment if it sucks.

You would be down on power due to the torque converter and up on weight due to the additional bulk of the CVT.

[Manicdan]

Originally Posted by WAM

I was thinking of buying a CVT for rallycross, as our local courses are too fast for 1st, but bog out in 2nd. Gear ratios seldom match the course. Was thinking the CVT would be the answer to that.

I would want a DS autoX setup for the car too. From what I read here, the CVT seems to add an off-corner bog, which apparently can be addressed with left foot braking. Once that's conquered, how competitive do you think the CVT will be against it's M6 counterparts in D Street? It's a pretty expensive experiment if it sucks.

I consider the car very competitive for DS, at my region the DS class is not that competitive, most times the top guys are about 40th from PAX, ive been able to do about 30th consistently.

with better tire grip, less un-sprung weight, and a sway bar to reduce the understeer on turn-in, i think i could be in top 10 PAX.

left foot braking will easily make up 2-3 seconds. Even if you already know how to left foot break, you will probably begin noticing that as you finish turning you hold the brakes a little longer as your pressing the gas to spin up the turbo. Im still trying to learn the car, its way different than an NA manual, thats for sure, but ive driven a Legacy with CVT for the past 5 years which helped.

my first race i didnt know about launch control (still its not that impressive), ended up 10.5% slower than PAX (63rd).
second race was still trying to learn the car and it was a very competitive multi region event, 11% slower than PAX.
third race i started figuring it out, 7.5% from PAX (29th).
last race was fighting with tire pressure issues case we forgot our gauge, best was 8.3% slower than PAX (35th).

Tips for CVT:
Google the Launch Control, basically hold down both pedals for about 3-5 seconds, then let go of brake.

leave it in manual S#, i dont know for sure, but i feel that automatic does not act as responsive.

if you are comfortable with down and up shifting (shift light/noise/reading tach) use the paddles and get to first for slow sections, and dont be afraid to go into third, its a CTV, it wont care one bit.

Track mode im still playing with (long pres of the traction button), dont know if vector braking is good or bad, i get on the gas so early that i kinda force my way through and out of a turn. but turning off traction control (quick press of the button) seems like a must.

[WAM]

Can you M6 & CVT guys to do a simple test for me? Our slowest corners in rallyX are 10-15 mph. I want to be able to exit a 10mph corner without downshifting from 2nd in a M6.

Using nothing but a stopwatch and your dash speedo, can you guys give me times from 10-40mph? Needs to be a coast-down to 10 and then jump on it any way you think is appropriate, since I'm looking for bog & lag. I don't need much power since I'm on dirt, but it does need to be responsive and brisk.

I'm assuming the CVT will win this contest because of the low initial rpm with the stick. But I have no local dealer and my closest has no CVTs so I can't do this comparison myself.

I'm ready to buy -- just have to decide which to buy.

[Manicdan]

2 points:

The CVT could downshift to first without having to fight it like the 6MT might.
And I dont think either are going to be that responsive because your talking about <2000RPMs for second gear which has no boost yet.

for both the virtual 8 gear CVT in S# and the 6MT the first and second gearing is nearly the same, I believe ~35mph for first, 60-61 for second, virtual-3rd is much shorter though with the CVT.

I could probably ask my brother to do a test though, by doing a second gear all the way, or downshifting too. we have an ODBII scanner and torque on our phones, so mph and rpms for every .1s is easy to track, then you could calculate the G force in excel in minutes.

[WAM]

I have a pretty good understanding of what the M6 will be like at those low speeds, and Wayne has helped me out with some low speed test digs from 10mph to see what happens. Looks marginal under the worst-case conditions.

But I really don't know what to expect from the CVT in that situation. And I don't have one near me to check out. Even my closest dealer 100 miles away doesn't have one. I'm assuming I need to get it into 1st while entering the slowest corners, or perhaps just in CVT-acceleration mode, no gears.

As far as gear ratios, Stevesnow posted some ratios in another thread from which I calculated:

At 6800rpm in 2nd gear:
M6, 1.947 = 62mph
I & S modes, 2.238 = 54mph
S# mode, 2.405 = 50mph

[Manicdan]

you wouldnt want to run it in I or S mode because its still thinking about fuel rather than responsiveness. the paddles work quite well, just gotta get use to them. at first you can try S# auto (leaving the shifter in D rather than M) which will change gears for you, but it might add some extra lag as you leave a turn and it thinks you still wanted to be in third or something.

our top speed in second is definitely right on 60mph in S#
i googled but could not find anyone listing the top speeds of each gear in S#, should be easy to calculate too.

[stevesnow]

S# Mode
1st Gear
10mph -- 2,500rpm
20mph -- 4,000rpm
30mph -- 5,500rpm
42mph -- 6,500rpm (redline)
2nd Gear
45mph -- 5,100rpm
50mph -- 5,800rpm
60mph --6,500rpm (redline)

Just throwing this on here

[KC]

I'm having bad thoughts since the '15 is in STX.

--kC

[stevesnow]

Originally Posted by KC

I'm having bad thoughts since the '15 is in STX.

--kC

Can't find anything on that... do you have a link??

2008-2014 Audi TT Quattros are reclassed to BS from DS... THE WRX MAY RULE AGAIN!

http://www.solomatters.com/street_ca...moves_for_2015

[tuskenraider]

It's noted about four threads down........

[SPDboyNY]

so if 2015 WRX is going to STX, and the ECU can be tuned but not for any more boost than stock (I have heard of lean conditions on these) What is the max boost we can tune these cars to and still stay in STX?

[tuskenraider]

Originally Posted by SPDboyNY

so if 2015 WRX is going to STX, and the ECU can be tuned but not for any more boost than stock (I have heard of lean conditions on these) What is the max boost we can tune these cars to and still stay in STX?

Uh, stock boost.......

[SPDboyNY]

ugh, what is max stock boost captain obvious?

[SPDboyNY]

I did a little research and I guess people are hitting 22.1 on overboost

[tuskenraider]

Originally Posted by SPDboyNY

What is the max boost we can tune these cars to and still stay in STX?

You asked the question, I answered.

[Splash]

The answer is complex. My STU car runs stock boost and WGDC tables as required, but I will typically see 19-20psi or so.

The difference in illegal vs legal isn't whether you are boosting or not, it's HOW you're getting it.

[stevesnow]

Okay so I know that the "normal" boost for the 2015 is 15.9psi and the overboost is 22.0psi... does this mean we can run boost at 19psi all day in STX? I still don't see a solid answer... I don't know if they're counting "overboost" as normal boost levels...