mdb20

I participated in my first SCCA Solo event today and learned alot and had a good time. My 95 LS held its own with several cars with more extensive mods. I was only one of a few competitors running street tires. After today, race slicks are high on the priority list for mods to my integra if I want to compete at a higher level. Another needed modification is shocks/springs. My 2 biggest issues today were tire grip and body roll. The car felt like it had plenty of power running in 2nd gear through the entire course. Lightweight wheels and almost bald all season tires didn't fare too well and made some interesting video clips to say the least. On some of the corners you'd think I was ripping the e-brake like I was Ken Block or something.

Long story short, I'm looking for advice about tire pressure with street tires and/or slicks. What psi is good to run with each kind? One guy at the track mentioned running higher psi's with street tires. Any thoughts? I'm also looking into a decent, cost effective suspension setup to go on the car. I looked at the Eibach Sport-System kit on TireRack and it looks like a decent kit considering the price. Any thoughts on this kit or advice on another kit in the $500 dollar price range?

Spec R

wow congrats on doing an autocross. your whole mod path changes drastically when you highlight the weaknesses. as far as tire pressure goes, it typically depends on the course, and is something that I cant really help you with right now haha sorry

as far as suspension mods, do a couple more events with it stock, but with better tires.

also, look into a product called a CG-Lock.

that helps wonders too.

mdb20

What is this CG-Lock product you speak of? I just bought a set of flat black 15x6.5" Rota C10's used off craigslist and got a set of used Hoosier Autocross tires. Total investment of only $300! New, it would have been closer to >$1600! Not too bad for starting out. There is another local event in KC on Halloween that I'm going to attend with the dedicated track wheel and tire combo. As far as tire pressures go, I did some research on my own and figured I'd share. According to TireRack and the Honda & Acura Performance Handbook, tire pressures for competition tires are as follows: Honda's with DOT race tires should use 35-45 psi in the front and 30-40 psi in the rear. Start with higher pressures and work your way down. If the car is loose in the rear with oversteer (rare with Honda's unless you have an ITR or a big rear sway bar) lower the front pressure and add to the rear. Increased pressures normally result in increased traction. Adding air to the front tires will cause them to stick better and your car will pivot around a point and cause the tail to swing out in a turn (oversteer). Increasing pressure to the rear will cause the back end to stick better and will induce some plowing (understeer) in corners. The same principles apply to DOT street tires as well.


http://www.tirerack.com/tires/tirete...jsp?techid=58&

Tobra

On street tires on my GSR I run 38 in front an 35 in back when hammering on it. Get all the crap out of your car and run with less gas in the tank. Wait on the suspension mods, read up on what you can do before you get yourself into a tougher class. Consider aftermarket brake pads too, you will be stunned at the difference that can make. Keep in mind that aggressive pads will eat up your rotors a bit quicker.

If you get one of those laser thermometer things, you can read the temp of the tire, which would help you on the tire pressure, you want even temps across the tire. Hotter in the center, too much air, hotter on the edges not enough.

No offense intended, but the best money you could spend would be to do a good driving school.

Spec R

+1 on driving school, if not, theres no replacement for plenty of seat time

mdb20

I agree with the driving school and the seat time. I went to another event on 10/31/10 and did pretty well, considering. I rode with a couple of the more experienced drivers and I had one of them ride along with me in my car on a couple laps. They showed me some of the "tricks to the trade" and it helped my lap times considerably. One was driving a Evo IX and the other a 1993 N/A MR2. Both cars were pretty fast on the track. Anything under about 56 seconds was a good time per lap. Under 50 seconds was fast. My best laps were 55.7, 55.7 and 55.3 seconds. The MR2 ran 50-51 sec and the EVO ran 48.5 sec. My tire pressures with the Hoosier's were around 40psi front and 35psi rear. This seemed to work pretty well for the most part. Surprisingly, the car was able to rotate in the rear (oversteer) quite a bit and I even spun out and off the course on one run. Pretty wild in a FWD car. I guess the front had too much grip and with the lower tire psi in the rear, it caused it to lose control. I was told that I was over driving the car in the corners and slalom sections and coming in a little too hot, causing my exit speeds to suffer. There is so much damn body roll on the car that it's easy to do. One of the more experienced guys said that I was already making my next move with the car before the car had settled from the first move. In regards to brakes on my car, I have akebono street/performance pads on the front and rear and cryo rotors front and rear. Stock calipers and lines though. The brakes stop really well, but I may upgrade to a more aggressive pad and stainless steel braided brake lines for a better feel. Since the air intake on my car already puts me in the prepared category for SCCA, all of the mods that I'm considering should only help me to compete in the class and not put me in a higher class.