rsq2_15

Thanks @rush2redline ! That makes sense and is aligned with what I've read over the last several days. I got into the rule book to be better educated and found the same as what you are referencing. I'm registered for an autox this Sunday as XA. Gives me quite a bit of freedom for anything else I may desire to do to the car. Thanks.

engifineer

Yep, xA will be a $$$$ class to be super competitive in at national level events but is also a nice easy place to play and be able to mod the hell out of your car. I have won a number of local events in xA in my car which is an STR setup with a wing and lightweight flywheel but competition at larger events and nats is quite different. But to get in and enjoy things and be able to have a track worthy car that you still autocross it is pretty nice. I do not care as much about being super competitive in autox currently. The s2k was killed in STR anyways when the ND came out so if I want to go to nats and be competitive I would just find a co drive most likely since I have spent more time on track in the last few years in the s2k and prefer to be able to do what I want for that use.

rsq2_15

I agree @engifineer . I won the last couple of local autox in both raw and pax, albeit with only 20 cars in the events. Heading to a regional event this weekend with 75 cars to check out some larger (for my area) events. I started modding the car prior to being super familiar with the rule book. So much to my surprise when I learned that the awesome looking carbon hood I just mounted throws me into a prepared class! haha Looks like I'll stick with XA and enjoy whatever lips, splitters, wings, etc I want to get my preferred look / feel. If I can be somewhat competitive regionally, that's all that I care about. Don't plan to join the national circuit any time soon.

engifineer

I also had my class and raw time by a good margin at the last smaller event I attended. Did not get PAX as there were actually some pretty fast drivers in soft pax classes but I expected that when I saw they were there

I do recommend going to nats, even if you think you may not do well. The experience is awesome and I loved every year I attended it. May get back there next year. The sheer number of drivers (roughly 1000) and total people (sometimes 2X that number) makes it a great time. The evenings can be a blast hanging out with all the people on site. Some pretty fun things occur in the after hours on site. Great time to meet a ton of people and see some pretty cool cars.

Shift9303

I’ll just add in that my half assed STR/XA car felt pretty natural transitioning to the track. The only thing that put me in XA were my wheels since I ran 17x9.5 and now 17x10. Also the local STR contingency was small and all my friends ran XA. I was fairly competitive in XA until all the boost buggies started turning up the boost. Not me, but another local STR to XA S2000 could keep up with the local STU Evo hero depending on course lay out so also a component of driver mod. Going to the track the only thing I really felt like I needed to do was set my coilovers to the stiff end of settings to reduce body roll at speed

Running Ohlins 10/8k springs, Karcepts front sway bar, and 17x10s with 255 RE71RS. Alignment -3.6/-2.8 F/R camber. 0 front toe and 0.4 total rear toe. TBH I probably want springs around 12-13k as 10/8k feels a bit soft but I don’t want to compromise street driving too much more for the time being.

I highly recommend going 255 non stagger. Also IDK forced induction stuff but I’m aware cooling becomes a major issue. I also wouldn’t really recommend the Ohlins anymore. They used to be a great deal but nowadays not so much. They don’t have the valving range to run the springs the car really needs for track, depending on how much streetability you want. Also depending on spring rates you may need aftermarket rear lowering cups so you can up the preload setting with mount being ride height limited. After all that you’re getting close to the next price bracket.

engifineer

If/when I go for a new coilover setup I will go with MCS through Karcepts. Nice setup and I have tried them out on other S2ks on an autocross course. No plans to change soon since I have other items to deal with and my current setup has worked out well for me.

Shift9303

Yeah same Karcepts MCS 2WNR is on my list but other priorities first like getting a proper safety equipment setup and fixing old car problems.

engifineer

for sure. Some of my upcoming plans will be trumped by tearing down my tranny or finding a suitable replacement due to 3/4 synchro issues. So that will eat up some funds this winter

Jub

I'm curious, what's up with your 3/4? My 3rd has popped out a few times under hard braking and has been hard to heel toe into under high loads and RPMs. I'm putting in a different box and plan to have the one I've got rebuilt.

Shift9303

Lol I know we're digressing at this point but my 3rd also occasionally pops out and clunks on rev match from 4th to 3rd. My 2nd gear also grinds sometimes on 1st to 2nd up shift but I rarely use it on track so it's not as big of an issue. Also I think I have a front wheel bearing going out? I know it's rare but I'm getting some weird oscillations with hard cornering only on that side. With a Bubba fixed rear bearing also I'm planning on putting my car up on stands over winter and just preemptively doing new bearings and hubs all around with extended studs; maybe Karcepts rear hubs vs gen 1 CRV conversion while I'm at it.