[pr0file]

I did a search and couldn't find a thread related to what I'm about to post.

For those interested in autocrossing their Celica or those needing more ideas for mods, I have listed all my mods on my car. It would be very helpful to all if everyone listed their mods, so people can do a compare and contrast. The Civics have a formula out there in the internet and I want to do the same for our cars. So here it goes:

Engine/exhaust mods:

AEM CAI; DC header; Custom exhaust with SuperTrapp muffler; ES engine mounts; AEM alternator pulley; Odyssey lightweight battery; Unichip.

Suspension mods:

Tein SS suspension (280#F, 392#R); Hotchkis Street rear sway; RMM front tower bar; RacinJason's rear tower bar (I think); ES control arm bushings; 3-dot crash bolts, top and bottom; alignment: (currently testing) -2.3 F, -1.4 R, zero toe.

Wheels/Brakes:

15x7.5 SSR Comp's wrapped in 225/50-15 PP S03's; alternate set: 15 x 7 Kosei K-1's wrapped in 205/50-15 Falken Azenis; Axxis Ultimate brake pads; StopTech SS brake lines; Valvoline brake fluid

Interior mods:

Schroth Rallye 4 harness; removal of all loose items: spare, jack, floor mats.

Future mods: Cusco pillow ball mounts

Please post your setups Thanks!

 

[B1mmer]

Noel, pull your steering bushings... they're illegal for STS. I'll post my setup soon. Lots of changes going on. - AB

 

[00 scrub]

I have a nice slow and not complete setup:

AEM CAI
HKS axle back exhaust

-1.7* camber front, 1/32 toe out front
-1.5* camber rear, 0 toe rear.

Kumho Ecsta MX 205/55/16

I'm planning to use the Whiteline Caster bushings to see if they help my corner exit. I believe that they are legal under the offset bushing rule for STS.

 

[autxr]

My setup will be:

RMM short ram intake, Tein-SSP coilovers (spring rates as shipped), whiteline rear bar, metal bushings for the shift linkage and base.

I'll be running race tires though, but if I do run street tires I'll spank B1mmer

Scott

 

[pr0file]

Noel, pull your steering bushings... they're illegal for STS. I'll post my setup soon. Lots of changes going on. - AB

Aaron, thanks for the heads up. I am awaiting a response from Doug Gill on the ruling about the steering bushings. Once I find out the results, I'll pull them out or leave them in.

Thanks, scrub00 and Scott for posting your setups!

 

[Fastbrewer]

Current setup is:
Tein SS-P coilovers 7kg,9kg,
1 inch rear bar,
Tannabe front strut tower bar,
TRD catback (soon to change),
Hybrid CAI with Injen filter and stock mounting point for MAFS,
16x7.5" Wheels with 215/45/16 Azenis (might change once I'm at SEMA and see what sizes are available next year, the new Azenis will be officialy unveiled),
Toyota brake pads, Valvoline Syn power for the fluid

Favorite alignment settings this year have been;
-2.6 front, -1.2 rear camber
0 toe in the front and 1/32 out in the rear
I might go to -3 in the front for the national events that we trailer to.

The car is officially retired for the season but over the winter a few more things are going in:
Trial header,
Shifter bushings,
Polyurethane engine mounts,
lighter battery,
rear strut tower bracing,
a new clutch before the season starts.

The seats will stay Toyota as well as the air conditioning. I don't plan on going to full prep with this car and I don't plan on doing any computer work either as I want to try and maintain some long term reliability because after next year there will be an autox specific car in the garage and the Celica will be out for the occasional local event but mostly a daily driver. We will be at all the west coast Pros next year and maybe a few tours and definately at Nationals.
-Jon

 

[pr0file]

Fastbrewer, thanks for posting your setup, also!

How does everyone get more than -2.3 in the front? I have the 3 bolts in, top and bottom, and my alignment guy couldn't get more than that with me in the drivers seat. You need an extra person yanking on the wheel, while the car is getting aligned, correct?

 

[sm4k]

It varies what people can get for camber settings. If you can't get that much it might be that your car just doesn't allow for it. I mean, isn't that part of the reason why those bolts exist to begin with.. since it's impossible to manufacture each car to the exact same specifications?

 

[conehugger]

If you want more camber, there are two ways I have been able to do it. 1st is jack up the car so all the weight is off the corners. Most alignment guys don't do this. I remove the wheel. Then it either takes two people or a knee and a powered impact wrench. With the two lower bolts loose and the top bolts loose, you grab hold of the top and bottom on the caliper. Push in at the top and pull on the bottom. If you lift slightly and shake it around a bit there is normally a little further adjustment. This is where the second person is helpful, because they need to tighten the lower two nuts while you hold the caliper. I could get -3.3 on both sides of two different celicas. You can also slot the upper holes but I found at most that this would get you another -.1, and if you don't do it correctly the bolts move around when you back up the car. That all being said a lot of it has to do with the tolerances you have on your shocks/coilovers and their holes. I have heard of some Coilovers that actually move the bottom hole a couple of mm to help compensate for the camber gained when the car gets lowered.

Any one find upper camber plates yet?

Dave

 

[pr0file]

Thanks sm4k and Dave!

As for front camber plates, if you can design them, I have a friend who can machine them

 

[Fastbrewer]

Oh Yeah I also have camber plates up front!
They come with the Tein SS-P coilovers. David, you were checking them out on my car in Wendover, but I don't think that they'll work on any other strut than the Teins.:thumbdown
The -2.6 that I use is with the stock bolts, not the dot 2 or 3.

 

[conehugger]

Fastbrewer I remember seeing those. Jeff Hurst had some with his coilover setup too at Nationals. QWKsilvr808 said he can get the Cusco plates. I know about the Tein and tanabe plates, but both of those seemed to be designed around the respective shocks.

Alignment settings for Nationals this year were -3.3 with crash bolts, and a little tow out in front. -2 in rear and a little toe in.

Other parts
AEM CAI, Trial header, TRD Exhaust, Shifter bushing, ES Engine mounts, Unorthodox Pulley, Koni DA and Eibach springs, hotchkis street rear sway along with their rear camber links, 15" x 7.5" White SSR with Kumhos, Mobil 1, Valvoline Syn Brake, Redline Tranny Fluid, Hawker battery, and Speedgraphic graphics. Koni Shocks and springs have been yanked for custom coilover setup, based on re-valved and re-sprung TRD setup.

pr0file, thanks for the offer on the machine. Not sure I am that ambitious when I can buy them shipped to me for less than $300. BTW I noticed you have the front and rear hotchkis bar, how do you like the handling? Did I ask you this once before? I am currently debating putting the stiffer competition rear, and the stiffer front on to see how it handles. Anyone try this yet? I have them just sitting in the garage. I thought the stiffer rear was just too much by itself. Too much rear wheel lift, and unpredictable oversteer.

 

[B1mmer]

Here's my setup:

Alignment:
Front: -2.1 camber, zero toe
Rear: - 1.3 camber, zero toe
(Hotchkis Rear Camber Links installed)

Sways:
Custom front bar 3/4" with 3 adjustments
Rear: Whiteline 22mm with 2 adjustments

Struts:
Koni SA Fronts (revalved) with 350# Eibachs on GC coilovers (will be shortened in a few weeks)
Koni DA Rears (revalved with 850# Eibachs on GC coilovers (will be shortened in about a month)

Wheels/Tires:
2 - SSR Comp. 16x7.5 up front with 215/45 Azenis
6 - Kosei K1 15x7 rears with 205 Azenis

Exhaust:
4" Ghetto pipe with SuperTrapp, weighing about 2#

Shifter:
TRD SS Kit
Metal Shifter linkage bushings

Intake:
AEM Gen 1 with K&N

Seats:
Corbeau Forzas

Battery:
Hawker Genesis

Bushings/Motor mounts:
ES control arm bushings
Front and rear motor mount filled with Shore 80A Silicone

Fluids:
Redline Tranny
Amsoil Motor Oil

Graphics:
Lots of MAD graphics courtesy of Speedgraphics and McGeorge Toyota

2363# at Nationals, which was weighing about 40-50# heavy according to most of the Prepared guys I weighed (about 75 for the week)

- AB

 

[sm4k]

1st is jack up the car so all the weight is off the corners. Most alignment guys don't do this. I remove the wheel. Then it either takes two people or a knee and a powered impact wrench. With the two lower bolts loose and the top bolts loose, you grab hold of the top and bottom on the caliper. Push in at the top and pull on the bottom. If you lift slightly and shake it around a bit there is normally a little further adjustment. This is where the second person is helpful, because they need to tighten the lower two nuts while you hold the caliper.

Friend of mine was tellilng me how some people will (just before they replace rotors) take of a wheel and put a jack right underneath a rotor, and jack it up so that the full weight of the car is on the rotor, so they get as much camber out of it as possible. I'm a bit too squeemish to try that, but I guess ome people will try anything and everything.

 

[pr0file]

pr0file, thanks for the offer on the machine. Not sure I am that ambitious when I can buy them shipped to me for less than $300. BTW I noticed you have the front and rear hotchkis bar, how do you like the handling? Did I ask you this once before? I am currently debating putting the stiffer competition rear, and the stiffer front on to see how it handles. Anyone try this yet? I have them just sitting in the garage. I thought the stiffer rear was just too much by itself. Too much rear wheel lift, and unpredictable oversteer.

Dave, I believe you asked me this before, but I'll answer again...I personally like the feel of the stiffer sway bars. The car feels very stable and has a bit of snap oversteer with my last alignment (-1.9F, -1.3 R). At the last event, the rear didn't kick out as much with my new settings (above). When I took the Evolution school a couple months ago, Pat Salerno and Steve O'blenes said my car was very well setup. They enjoyed driving my car out of the group (Evo's, STi's, WRX's, Focus). I hope this helps! (BTW, I run my suspension at full stiffness at all events.)

Thanks Aaron for posting your setup!

It looks like everyone has they're own formula for their car. I'm curious to find out what everyone's driving style is Should I start a new thread?

 

[conehugger]

Thanks Pr0file, I thought I had asked before. I guess the car is going up in the air this weekend. Well I might wait till after the event. It is the first of our state championships. All you guys seems to like the stiffer spring and sway setup. I was running 158 front and 208 rear, and I would have to say that is too light.

BTW I think the DA on the rear is a waste of money. It might be something worth while in the stock class because of rule limitations, but I think with the stiffer rear setup you want full stiff on compression and rebound in the rear. So just get the shocks valved accordingly. I think the DA/SA on the front are worth while, because it is nice to dial in another 1/4 turn of rebound if there is enough grip or 1/4 out if the grip is not there. Compression I normally left alone once it got dialed in.

As far as driving style I think everyone has there own opinions of how they drive. I know I get comments all the time that I am smooth. Some times I think a little too smooth. Some courses you just need to toss the car. At least that is what I am working on for the year.

I did watch Jeff H at Nationals and he looked really smooth except for the slightly bouncing rear. What do you expect on those springs.

B1mmer I am not sure if it was you or your co driver that I was watching. It looked like to me like your car was having trouble hooking up. Too much wheel spin, and the rear was bouncing really bad down the straights compared to the other setups. Jeff has stiffer rears but less bounce. Where you guys power shifting to second on the south course, or was that the results of your setup? I have never seen a GTS get that much wheel spin in second on a relatively straight section at the start.

Anyway just my thoughts after watching you guys. I fell a little bad for not running in STS, but I had a lot of fun in the 93 RX-7 in SM2. You can't really say no to 400HP, and rear wheel drive.

Dave

 

[Fastbrewer]

Originally posted by conehugger
Thanks Pr0file, I thought I had asked before. I guess the car is going up in the air this weekend. Well I might wait till after the event. It is the first of our state championships. All you guys seems to like the stiffer spring and sway setup. I was running 158 front and 208 rear, and I would have to say that is too light.

Dave

Conehugger, Check out SCCA forums and in the Pro Solo section there is someone that posted some pictures from Wendover. There are good pictures of both of our cars at the same place on course and it is interesting what the different spring rates will do to the car.


On another note has anyone found adjustable rear anti sway bar end links other than the hypermotives ?

 

[B1mmer]

Thanks Pr0file, I thought I had asked before. I guess the car is going up in the air this weekend. Well I might wait till after the event. It is the first of our state championships. All you guys seems to like the stiffer spring and sway setup. I was running 158 front and 208 rear, and I would have to say that is too light.

BTW I think the DA on the rear is a waste of money.


B1mmer I am not sure if it was you or your co driver that I was watching. It looked like to me like your car was having trouble hooking up. Too much wheel spin, and the rear was bouncing really bad down the straights compared to the other setups. Jeff has stiffer rears but less bounce. Where you guys power shifting to second on the south course, or was that the results of your setup? I have never seen a GTS get that much wheel spin in second on a relatively straight section at the start.
Dave

I agree, DA in the rear is a waste. I'm using the shocks from the stock days, and don't feel like investing in just SA's.

My car I think is undersprung now up front, so I may throw the 500# back in. The rear needs more rebound, and when I have the shocks shortened, I'll have that done.

The car is now putting a lot of power down, and if I shift at 8400, it can break the wheels loose at ease. I'm going to more tire this year to aid in that.

Testing starts this week with some wild alignments. We'll see what happens.

As for endlinks, screw Hypermotive, I'm making my own for a lot less using McMaster Carr. - AB

 

[conehugger]

I'll go look for the pictures.

I have the hypermotive end links, and I am just using one on the rear. I could never get the fronts to work without a lot of washers, and since I am still running stock in the front, I don't think it was necessary. There was a 10 lb preload on the rear, which is why I am using it on one side. They still make a lot of noise.

There are a couple off other places that have hyme joints, but I had not bought anything yet. What I have works, just makes noise because the tollerances are not that tight on the bolt going through the hyme joint.

 

[LoCore]

Another STS data point.

Alignment:
-2.1 front, -1.6 rear (crash bolts in front)
0 toe front and back

Suspension:
TRD (USA) struts/springs/sway bars
Hypermotive front and 2pt rear strut tower bars

Wheels/Tires/Brakes:
Kosei K-1 Racing 17" (thanks B1mmer!)
Kumho Ecsta MX 215/40/17
Stock rotors
TRD brake pads

Engine/Drivetrain:
TPR short ram intake
TRD short shifter
metal shifter linkage bushings
TRD exhaust

Fluids:
Mobil 1 full synthetic - engine and tranny
ATE Super Blue - brakes

Misc:
CG Lock lap belt tensioners
ChaseCam in-car video