THSCC Forums

Your car is in HS, the slowest Street class and STS, the slowest Street Touring class that allows RWD cars. How much more competitively classed can it get?

Maybe consider returning it to Street until you get back in the groove, then go back to STS.

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Steve Carter
1972 Datsun 240Z-- resto pics at http://picasaweb.google.com/srcartermd
2007 GPW Honda S2000-- STR 86

Well, let's see... It could have been a Civic Si in STC, or it could have been a Miata in STS.
EDIT: You're trolling me, aren't you?


Returning it to "Street"? The classes that used to be called "stock"? Did they change the tire requirements for those classes, or would I still have to put race tires on my daily driver?

...In addition to having to figure out where to get a stock intake and a stock exhaust manifold, and putting the stock springs and swaybars back on. And the stock T/C rod bushings which turn the front suspension into a cluster flop.

And in Chesapeake switching to "street" means getting beaten by a Ford Fiesta instead of Miatas. That doesn't sound any better to me.

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Autocross: It's not for tuners that use boost as a crutch.
It's for people who know what a corner is.

Street class and Street Touring class tire rules are identical other than Street Touring has max section width requirements I think.

I assume for "have to" you mean in order to be competitive. The RE-71Rs are pretty decent daily driver tires since they handle rain pretty well until the tread depth is low. Rival's are not so good according to the experts. The Dunlop ZII's were similar to the RE-71Rs but noisy at some "freeway" speeds on my car. Obviously a TW200 tire that autocrossed isn't going to be a long mileage tire and like all summer tires isn't supposed to be used below about 40 F.

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Dick Rasmussen

FS 50 2018 Mustang GT

Grassroots Motorsports now has this article on the subject:
https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/artic ... -shootout/

Their test shows the Rival-S to be the fastest tire, on the Miata they used, which is about a 2200lb car.
I haven't weighed my 240SX, but I would guess it's between 2700 and 2800 lbs.

My bathroom reading material includes a 2009 SportsCar magazine where they tested tires on a 2800 lb RX8, and said that some tires struggled with the weight of such a "heavy" car. (That's their idea of heavy? Do they know what my Evo X weighs? Or a Camaro? )

SportsCar didn't test a BFG tire in that test, but for the tires they both tested, the results agreed that
the Dunlop and Bridgestone tires were about equally fast, and the Yokohama wasn't far behind.

Also, the Dunlops and Bridgestones apparently weren't fazed by the immense weight of the RX8.


That's good to know. I also didn't see it coming.
The Rivals' traction rating is "AA" and I thought that signified good wet traction.

...And looking at GRMs picture of the tires' treads it looks like, if you drive through water, the Rivals are the only tire that gives the water a path all the way from the center to the outside of the tread.

So, I guess pictures of treads don't tell me what I need to know.

Anyway, it looks like a decision between the Rival-S and the RE-71R.
...After I get a VLSD installed and correct the current 1WD.

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Autocross: It's not for tuners that use boost as a crutch.
It's for people who know what a corner is.

I had guessed my 240SX was in STS this year, but I just downloaded a page of the rulebook and - I was hoping I read this wrong - my 240SX runs in STX now, doesn't it?

At the last event, the STS cars were ahead of me by 3 to 3.5 seconds.
Now that I look at the STX cars, they were beating me by 6 to 10 seconds, on a course that took me 96 seconds.
I have to be 7% faster to beat the next slowest guy in STX, and I have to be 10% faster to challenge the leader.

I can put on whatever tires I want and not make up that difference.

So, now my question expands to:
How the #*@% do I make my car 10% faster?

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Autocross: It's not for tuners that use boost as a crutch.
It's for people who know what a corner is.

Oops! I need new glasses!! Must've mistakenly read "240" instead of 200sx.

You get wider wheels and tires, up to 9 inch and 265 section width so there's that, at least

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Steve Carter
1972 Datsun 240Z-- resto pics at http://picasaweb.google.com/srcartermd
2007 GPW Honda S2000-- STR 86

And now for something completely different (If it works):

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Autocross: It's not for tuners that use boost as a crutch.
It's for people who know what a corner is.

At the last autocross I noticed a lot of RE-71Rs, mostly on Miatas and a Mazda 2.

Well, I think I have a plan, now.

In researching 240SX tire sizes, I found that anything over a 235 tread width requires you to do something to your front fenders. I don't want to, partly because I don't think the fender liners would fit any more.
At a size of 235/40R-17, the Tire Rack has some fairly limited choices.
I think I'll get 225/45R-17 for now, and by the time they wear out I'll see how I feel about rolling the fender lips or whatever to fit 245 treads.

I can get some 17x8.0 wheels from CCW. I just have to get the zillion-dollar 3-piece wheels to get a usable offset. :-/
They'll cost the same as the Volk wheels I wanted, but won't have the 3+ month lead time. EDIT: Yes, they will.

And I'm pretty sure I want an OS Giken limited-slip.

(Or, I could fill up the trunk with $1s, and drive around with the windows down and hatch open.)

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Autocross: It's not for tuners that use boost as a crutch.
It's for people who know what a corner is.

As of now, I officially have some phat rimz, yo!

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Autocross: It's not for tuners that use boost as a crutch.
It's for people who know what a corner is.

damn, have to admit that whole setup looks pretty nice. Well done...

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Rodney

'08 Bullitt mustang, CAM 7
Autox VP '09-'10, President '11-'12, interim President 2nd half of ‘14
proud recipient of the Bowie Grey service award '12
Now just a guy driving a mustang....

Thanks!
I put the wheels on last Friday and the limited-slip differential went in this Tuesday.
Testing this afternoon was pretty promising.
With the new tires and LSD, I have a lot more confidence in this car.

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Autocross: It's not for tuners that use boost as a crutch.
It's for people who know what a corner is.

I don't personally care for what I call "too many spoke wheels", but I love the two-tone paint scheme!

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Vincent Keene
'06 Ford Mustang GT (track rat)
'15 Dodge Charger R/T (yeah, it's got a HEMI!)
'07 Ford Fusion SE (205,000 miles and counting)
'98 Chevy Z-24 (retired)
'93 Acura Integra (Team SWB 24HOL Car)

Hey, how do I find the results for today's event???

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Autocross: It's not for tuners that use boost as a crutch.
It's for people who know what a corner is.

It usually takes a day or two before they get posted.

They usually get posted here though, or on the main www.thscc.com site under autocross results.

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2017 Autocross Chief of Tech

2000 E Street Miata
2015 Focus SE EcoBoost 6 speed
2015 Fiesta ST (Wife's ride)
2012 Yamaha FZ1 sorta crotch rocket? All I know is 150HP and 487 lbs is fun!

Rodney had a way to look at my times yesterday.
Is that not on thscc.com?

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Autocross: It's not for tuners that use boost as a crutch.
It's for people who know what a corner is.