Hi guys,

I am thinking about getting into roadracing and leaving the drag racing scene on the backburner for a little while.

I am planning on switching back to the six speed from the A4 I currently have...

Here is an outline of my car and mods:
98 Formula hardtop
ARE 360 ci motor with 226/234 cam and 2.02 1.57 heads. (Approx 420RWHP through the six speed)
Hotchkiss LCAs and panhard rod
12 bolt with 4.11s
Random tech TA
17 inch Enkie win CX wheels and Potenza RE730 tires
powerslot rotors and GM pads
Mac headers, full 3inch exhaust
LS6 intake, ported Tbody and ported MAF
LS1 edit tuning

Should I step down in gear from the 4.11?
I have a 7000rpm rev limit and the car is currently making mad power (122.6mph in the 1/4 through the automatic)

Anything else I should look at? Lowering springs, stiffer shocks? Bigger front and rear sway bar etc?

Thanks for any advice you have
Chris

<small>[ June 11, 2002, 09:31 AM: Message edited by: Chris ARE 360 ]</small>

 

G2 springs, bilstine shocks (HD's), poly/rod LCA's, LG's 13" front brake upgrade w/ carbotech panther plus pads, and 32mm front/ 21mm rear 1lE swaybars w/ poly bushings and endlinks. set your Torque Arm to factory specs and have fun.
dont spin the motor to 7k (6k will be plenty) and run 7 qts of oil.

 

You don't NEED to do anything from what you have to get started. What you NEED is seat time and some instruction. However, you should do a little preparation to the brakes such as replacing the fluid (ATE superblue is great), and upgrading the pads.

Once you get a little better you can worry about more modifications. A short list from me would be to upgrade the braking first off. You've got plenty if power so better braking would be nice. Also shocks would be the other thing to replace, with Bilsteins or Koni's.

George E.

 

I agree. A lot of people jump into a ton of adjustable suspension stuff, and they dont even know the characteristics of thier car yet.

I'd get a set of dedicated road race tires (after all, you have drag race tires) as tires are about the most important mod (besides the driver). I'd prep the brakes too.

I would lay off of the extensive suspension mods untill I could make consistent laps at whatever track it is. When you can string together 5 laps with pretty similar times, then you know what can be changed, and how to go about changing it. Right now I'd just have fun tuning tire pressure and learning. You got a cage yet, that will really help stiffen the chassis and safety too.

J.

 

Do you have a digital thermometer (a/k/a pyrometer) to measure tire temps? It helps to check the edges against each other and the middle, to see if you have the best camber and tire inflation. A pyrometer speeds up the learning curve.

 

get rid of the polyurethane in your rear suspension... the stock components will work better than what you have right now

upgrade your brake pads... or just get a set of race pads and rotors to change at the track(only the fronts are neccessary)

brake fluid- want that stuff to be as new and as clean as possible

 

Ahhh, another one is seeing the light! <img border="0" title="" alt="[Wink]" src="gr_images/icons/wink.gif" /> Seat time is the best mod!

 

I'm starting to see the light as well. Where do I go in south Florida to get into auto-x?

 

I have a good bit of road racing experience but was wondering what the simplest mods would be. I am not interested in changing rotors after already putting on the powerslots. Also I think I am going to keep the rear suspension the same.
Would this be a good start...
stock rear with 3.42's
1Le swaybars
Just going to try it out again for fun and see how it works.
Thanks again,
Chris

 

Chris, everyone has made great suggestions (did someone mention Ford HD brake fluid and ss lines? If not I would do that).

You have a stout setup that is going to drive some of the exotics crazy, but I 2nd the notion of getting some sticky tires also. Buy them used! <img border="0" title="" alt="[Smile]" src="gr_stretch.gif" />

I'm going to pose a brake question for you in a new thread, partly because it's something I'm curious about as well.

 

Thanks <img border="0" title="" alt="[Smile]" src="gr_stretch.gif" />
I am definitely looking into sticky tires. What would be the best choice?
thanks!
Chris

 

Nitto RII's have a treadwear rating of 100.. and are probably the cheapest... they're streetable

Kumho Victoracers have a treadwear rating of 50.. $5-10 more than Nittos.. a guy i met at an autocross said the Kumhos grip better, but he uses Nitto DRs because they last twice as long... they're streetable when they're new, they get smooth pretty quick

Hoosier RS303s have a treadwear rating of 40.. they're something like $50-75 more expensive than Kumhos... they're much lighter and have better grip and they'll wear out the fastest... they're not streetable

 

</font><blockquote><font size="1" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">quote:</font><hr /><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Originally posted by Quickin:
<strong>I'm starting to see the light as well. Where do I go in south Florida to get into auto-x?</strong></font><hr /></blockquote><font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Go to www.google.com

Type in "ft lauderdale autox"

Thats similar to how I found the autoxs around here.

J.