Got a track related question? I'll try to answer.

[gramicci101]

How are your brakes? Any upgrades done? Stock pads and fluid?

[CSG Mike]

Originally Posted by Tainen

How long will my stockers last on the track? I've got 6k miles on the car now, tires look relatively un-worn. Three car control clinics and an autocross day on them.


First HPDE of my life tomorrow. Excited, nervous, and curious. Can I run my stockers all summer, or will they be junk after the first day? Planning on 3 or 4 HPDEs this summer. 4 x 25 minute sessions. Stock alignment.

\They'll be fine your first day. Drive em till they're done.

Get camber bolts asap; they'll save your tires.

[CSG Mike]

Originally Posted by endless_pain

Hey there

Just a heads up about a question in your thread.

Thanks

"My apologies if it has been asked before, but I had to stop reading after 28 pages.
Do you recommend bracing? (Strut, rear, under)
If so, which ones?
If you recommend switching bushings to urethane or any other, which ones will go with?

I'm not talking brands as much as which ones specifically since there are so many out there including the seat ones (

GTSPEC Front Seat Rail Support

) which look silly to me."

Are these your questions?

Rear strut brace and front strut brace are functional (minimally).

Bushings REALLY depend on your own personal tolerance for noise, clunking, and maintenance. How much experience do you have with spherical bushings? Do you live in an area that sees salt/rain?

[AZP Installs]

Originally Posted by kavanagh

I'm not sure how long these harnesses have been out, but they are street legal, and FIA homologized. I understand and appreciate your experience @AZP Installs but would you consider these harnesses unsafe if combined with a harness bar such as this one from Cipher Auto in a car without a cage?

The harnesses have the anti submarine feature sewn into the inboard shoulder strap, which is why I am curious to know your opinion on these without a full cage. I agree that any 4, 5, or 6 point harness that does not allow for the body to flex in the event of a rollover is bad without a cage, but have you seen these particular ones before?

The harness bar bolts to the stock shoulder belt point and also the rear seat lap belt outboard bolts.


Sorry if I'm beating a dead horse, but my background in physics and mechanical engineering suggests this setup would be safe. What I lack, and look for in this forum, is practical on-track experience.

Feel free to tell me to shut up and get over it - stock interior until full-racecar if that has to be.

It would depend on the individual installation. I realize a lot of the 4-point belts are all the rage, but I personally feel that you really should stick with stock setup until you are ready to jump to at least a 4-point cage + 5 or 6 point harness and race seat or back braced seat.

I personally do a lot of track events and open track with full on race cars. Last week I was at WGI with the following cars on track with me:

(2) NASCAR cars practicing
(4) IMSA Light Mazdas
(several) Tudor and Continental Teams Practicing

At no point did I feel my stock safety belts and setup were a safety issue. Think of it this way, would you go out with questionable safety in terms of your fuel lines? Springs? Bushings? Steering? Tires? Why do your safety harnesses half-way then?

-Mike Paisan


Maintaining, Modifying and Educating TriState Enthusiasts since 2001.
Like us on Facebook! | E-mail: sales@azpinstalls.com | 725 Fairfield Ave | Kenilworth, NJ 07033 | 908.248.AZP1 (2971) |AIM: AZP Installs
"Race Tested, Enthusiast Approved!"

[AZP Installs]

Originally Posted by Tainen

How long will my stockers last on the track? I've got 6k miles on the car now, tires look relatively un-worn. Three car control clinics and an autocross day on them.


First HPDE of my life tomorrow. Excited, nervous, and curious. Can I run my stockers all summer, or will they be junk after the first day? Planning on 3 or 4 HPDEs this summer. 4 x 25 minute sessions. Stock alignment.

I don't suggest doing any HPDEs with the stock all-season prius tires. That's just me.

-Mike Paisan


Maintaining, Modifying and Educating TriState Enthusiasts since 2001.
Like us on Facebook! | E-mail: sales@azpinstalls.com | 725 Fairfield Ave | Kenilworth, NJ 07033 | 908.248.AZP1 (2971) |AIM: AZP Installs
"Race Tested, Enthusiast Approved!"

[AZP Installs]

Originally Posted by SirBrass

Agreed. A 4-point DOT-legal (single button release and ASM device on the towards-center side) harness with a properly-installed harness bar that is properly mounted in the car seems like it should be fine. It basically takes the functional place of the factory system without compromise.

Take for example the schroth quick-fit, rallye 3 & 4, rally cross, and auto-control II.

I would also have to check with the NJ State regs. They have some very weird safety laws regarding race tracks here. (like the state police can give tickets in the paddock and they also check belt dates and what not of race cars and can issue tickets to race cars)

-Mike Paisan


Maintaining, Modifying and Educating TriState Enthusiasts since 2001.
Like us on Facebook! | E-mail: sales@azpinstalls.com | 725 Fairfield Ave | Kenilworth, NJ 07033 | 908.248.AZP1 (2971) |AIM: AZP Installs
"Race Tested, Enthusiast Approved!"

[DatApex]

What would you recommend as starting alignment setups for KW Clubsports? Other suspension components are stock (for now) on 17x8 +45 rpf1s with RE-11As, 245.

Car will be used on track and street equal amounts. Looking for a good base setup for alignment to start toying with and see where I need to go from there.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

[ddeflyer]

Originally Posted by AZP Installs

It would depend on the individual installation. I realize a lot of the 4-point belts are all the rage, but I personally feel that you really should stick with stock setup until you are ready to jump to at least a 4-point cage + 5 or 6 point harness and race seat or back braced seat.

I personally do a lot of track events and open track with full on race cars. Last week I was at WGI with the following cars on track with me:

(2) NASCAR cars practicing
(4) IMSA Light Mazdas
(several) Tudor and Continental Teams Practicing

At no point did I feel my stock safety belts and setup were a safety issue. Think of it this way, would you go out with questionable safety in terms of your fuel lines? Springs? Bushings? Steering? Tires? Why do your safety harnesses half-way then?

-Mike Paisan


Maintaining, Modifying and Educating TriState Enthusiasts since 2001.
Like us on Facebook! | E-mail: sales@azpinstalls.com | 725 Fairfield Ave | Kenilworth, NJ 07033 | 908.248.AZP1 (2971) |AIM: AZP Installs
"Race Tested, Enthusiast Approved!"

This is kind of an odd item, but could you define what you mean by "4 point cage"? I've usually heard of cage as the full setup with braces on the A and B pillars, back stays and usually door bars, which would be a six point attachment. When you say a four point cage do you mean a roll bar with back stays or a cage (A and B pillars) with no back stays?
The difference is rather important since one can still be driven on the street and the other, well, the EMTs might find your head painting the bars after a freeway accident.

[SirBrass]

The reason I'd go with a 4pt asm DOT-legal harness over the factory 3pt belt is not for safety (b/c the two would be equally safe when set up right), but for staying more securely in the seat during maneuvers. A factory belt is there for safety primarily, whereas a street harness has 2 primary functions: safety and stability.

And some have found the CG lock to be too tall when used in the BRZ b/c of the height of the buckle receptical + cg lock on the buckle raises the belt too high above the waist to be effective.

[CSG Mike]

Originally Posted by AZP Installs

I would also have to check with the NJ State regs. They have some very weird safety laws regarding race tracks here. (like the state police can give tickets in the paddock and they also check belt dates and what not of race cars and can issue tickets to race cars)

-Mike Paisan


Maintaining, Modifying and Educating TriState Enthusiasts since 2001.
Like us on Facebook! | E-mail: sales@azpinstalls.com | 725 Fairfield Ave | Kenilworth, NJ 07033 | 908.248.AZP1 (2971) |AIM: AZP Installs
"Race Tested, Enthusiast Approved!"

They're allowed to give tickets on private property? Or, are all the NJ tracks owned by the government (e.g. Laguna Seca)?

[SirBrass]

Originally Posted by AZP Installs

I don't suggest doing any HPDEs with the stock all-season prius tires. That's just me.

-Mike Paisan


Maintaining, Modifying and Educating TriState Enthusiasts since 2001.
Like us on Facebook! | E-mail: sales@azpinstalls.com | 725 Fairfield Ave | Kenilworth, NJ 07033 | 908.248.AZP1 (2971) |AIM: AZP Installs
"Race Tested, Enthusiast Approved!"

OEM All-seasons are bridgestones, iirc. The Michelin Primacies are the summer tires, and are grippier than the AS OEM tires (I've heard nothing but horrible things about the OEM A/S tires, while the OEM summer tires have their fans and their detractors and those of us inbetween).

[CSG Mike]

Originally Posted by DatApex

What would you recommend as starting alignment setups for KW Clubsports? Other suspension components are stock (for now) on 17x8 +45 rpf1s with RE-11As, 245.

Car will be used on track and street equal amounts. Looking for a good base setup for alignment to start toying with and see where I need to go from there.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

How much experience do you have? What kind of cars have you driven in the past, and do you prefer a progressively loose, or pushy car?

[DatApex]

Originally Posted by CSG Mike

How much experience do you have? What kind of cars have you driven in the past, and do you prefer a progressively loose, or pushy car?

Average to moderate experience. Previous cars I've raced: 97 240sx, 91 Miata, 08 speed3. Roughly 50 or so combined autox/hpde events over the past 5 years.

I'm very inexperienced with suspension tuning in general (raced 2 of those 3 just stock form). I have a decent understanding of the basics of what does what, but not much on how it all works together. Looking for a good starting place to make adjustments from to suit my driving style. But, definitely prefer pushy to loose.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

[endless_pain]

Originally Posted by kavanagh

The common response in this thread typically asks you what you are trying to accomplish, and what type of driving you plan to do.

Are you experiencing snap-oversteer? Do you want to? are you autocrossing, or HPDE, and also are you on a short/slow/technical track, or a fast/long/curvy one?

Most everyone here suggests driving the car stock, until you identify that your driving ability has surpassed some particular part of the car. Then by understanding what happens to you on track, they can make suggestions to improve the car.

Thanks for the input.
Since OEM bushings are soft for compliance, noise and comfort, just as making a car flex less is better for motorsports, I didn't think my questions needed all that info since bracing and bushings can/would help in any scenario(Auto-X, Track). Bushings and bracing are not something you can adjust depending on what track you are going to do, you just install and forget. I'm just looking for what works best and what is a waste of money on this specific car.
These are my opinions based on my experiences, and I understand I could be wrong.