I've done several events this year. I have a lot of room for improvement in my driving, but I'd like to pick a class for next year in which to compare my times to others and set the car up.

BS appears dominated by RX8's and the gap between the G35 and 350Z seems to be growing. STX might be a good fit for the coupe. Can anybody running the coupe in STX comment on their experiences?

 

i am in stx well was.... going to esp in an evo9 next season, your biggest competition are wrxes but i've beat them before

 

What type and size of tires were you running? Is there any setup or testing information that you can share?

There seems to be a crazy sale at Vulcan Tire right now on the Falken 615's.

Yeah. I can see that the wrx's are well represented in the class.

 

i'm running STX legal tires on 17x8 wheels all around with toyo proxies RA1 235/40ZR17 they are sticky *** hell when they are warm and gives the coupe a more neutral feel but you can still feel the weight of the car most of the time especially on quick transitions

try: http://www.bmwwheels.com/bmwwheels_toyo_tires.asp

let me know if you are looking for sway bars (front/rear) I have the 350EVO ones I never had a chance to install that i'm looking to get rid of still out of the box brand spanking new... these are legal for STX too

 

Are you sure about the legality of RA1s? According to the 2005 rules the minimum UTQG Treadwear for the SCCA street touring classes is 140 and the RA1s have a rating of 100.

Here's a pretty interesting review of some street touring legal tires: http://www.grassrootsmotorsports.com...5_tiretest.pdf

Thanks for the heads up on the swaybars, but I'm not ready for'em just yet. I'm still trying to figure out what wheels and tires to run. Possibilities include:

1. 18x8 rpf1's w/ 235/40R18 615's
2. 17x8 rpf1's w/ 245/45R17 615's
3. 17x8 rpf1's w/ 235/40R17 615's

For example, I make at least 180wtq from 2900 to 6212. In 2nd gear the tire choices cover the following speeds for that power band:
1. 26.65 to 57.09 mph
2. 26.95 to 57.72 mph
3. 25.60 to 54.84 mph

So like that I need to look more closely at the gearing and wheel/tire weights and decide. One thing I'm also worried about is draggin my body work with really small diam tires. I get the car pretty close to the ground on my factory suspension w/ the Pilots.


Good luck with the Evo. I keep hearing chatter about the stievo's getting reclassed.

 

When I ran a 245/40/17 my mud flaps would scrape the ground when the suspension bottomed out. It shaved about a 16th off the bottom. I guess that it only happens once, then they are shorter and clear the ground. It does have the potential to damage the whole thing.

For those who are wondering about the best classes, keep in mind that the G35 is moving to FS on 1/1/2006. They are also moving a number of other cars including an S4 to FS. Could be a very competitive field as the weights will be closer than what happens in BS. You have to read the minutes of the SOLO meetings for Oct. and Nov.

PS I just went to Toyo's website and they rate the RA-1 as:
V and Z speed-rated (depending on size)
- UTQG Treadwear 40
- UTQG Traction A
- UTQG Temperature A

The 40 treadware rating does not quite make 140.

 

Do you have any idea if the flaps are removable or are they glued on? I couldn't find them in the service manual and they seem more secure on my car than the 4 little screws through them would indicate.

Was the move to FS approved? I know it had been proposed but I didn't see it in the Dec fastrack (http://www.scca.com/_FileLibrary/Fil...-fastrack.pdf). The S4 was there. The 330 ZHP looks headed to DS.

You're the second person to tell me the RA1's are 40. Just curious, where are you finding this? http://www.toyo.com/tires/tire_lines...tures_benefits says 100.

 

oops in that case i was illegally running them but my regional autox doesn't really care it's not scca sanctioned or anything but is governed by the rules

 

The flaps have four screws plus double-sided tape. They can be removed, but then you need to use some adhesive remover to get rid of the tape residue.

The toyo website lists 40. I have not confirmed this by looking at the tire.

http://www.toyo.com/tires/tire_lines/high_perf/ra1.html

The move to FS is noted on page 8 of the PDF at:
http://www.scca.com/_FileLibrary/Fil...1-fastrack.pdf

It says:

Fastrack 8/05
ITEM 7) The following proposal is
being recommended to the BOD, effective
01/01/2006:

Infiniti G35 Coupe From BS to FS
Comment: The Infiniti G35 Coupe is
longer, heavier, and has a more intrusive
traction control system than the
Nissan 350Z.

Once a move is recommended to the BOD it is rarely rejected.

In addition the following cars are also being moved:
Audi S4 V8 (04+) From AS to FS
BMW M5 ('00-'03) From AS to FS
Cadillac CTS-V From AS to FS
Ford Mustang SVT Cobra From AS to FS
Mercedes E55 AMG From AS to FS
Jaguar S-Type R From BS to FS

 

Yeah, I'd heard about the move to FS. Makes me reconsider what class I want to run in next year. I'd have to take some stuff off to fit into FS, but would probably be better than STX?

 

I didn't have much luck getting clarification on sccaforums.com. It seemed odd to me that the move to FS was discussed in the oct and nov fastrack, but not in the dec fastrack where all the other stock class change proposals were listed. Then again I don't really understand the process. I guess I'll need to wait till jan to know for sure.

FS does seem like a better class--cheaper, too.

 

Hey guys. Haven't posted here in quite some time but I just wanted to help with any questions you guys might have. I've been running my sedan in Houston since 5/03 and have worked my way up the ranks. This past Sunday I ended up 13th in PAX out of 105 (STX PAX of .802). I had been running a local class called STB which is basically based off BSP which is where both the Sedan and Coupe were moved to this year (Sedan was formerly ESP before they re-classed). I ran STX this event since that's where I'll be next year and I had already clinched my STB trophy for the year (won 6 of 8 and was 2nd place the other 2). Comparing my time with the local STX guys, I would have been in the top 3 every event this year. Needless to say, our cars can compete. I have done a lot of work to mine and have always stayed within the STX rules since I knew that's what I was aiming for.

I have competed in STX in divisional events guys that took 3rd and 10th at the nationals this year and although they beat me solidly, it showed me that I could at least be in the same ballpark.

Most recently I'm running the newer Falken Azenis (615s) in a 245/45/17 all around on 17x8 wheels. That's the max. allowed width for STX and a really good fit for my car. I used to run the older Azenis (215s) and the biggest difference I've noticed is that I have more grip out of a spin than with the 215s. I feel like I've improved quite a bit time-wise with the newer tires.

Next year will be my first full year in STX and if all goes well, I will take it to Nationals to put the G35s on the map. Wish me luck and I'll keep you updated on how it's going.

You can take a look at my times as well as who I've been running against here (#35 STX and #35 STB):

http://www.houscca.com/solo2/soloresults.aspx

I'm on the local SCCA board so I'll look into the rule changes and get back with you. What I thought I had heard was that the G's were being re-classed to what they were in '04, but I'll take a look and see what the final verdict is.

 

Thanks for the info, guys. Hopefully, the 615's will still be on sale when the G classing question is answered. 245/45R17 are $152 right now at vulcan tire.

lead_foot, care to share your setup (springs, sways, pressures, etc.)? BTW where was the G classed in 04?

 

In '04 the Sedan was DS and the Coupe was BS. I did check this morning about the Coupe in FS and as for now, it still stands as a recommendation.

As far as my setup, here's what I've done:
Tein Flex Dampers all around with EDFC
Cusco Front Sway (had the rear on as well, but went back to stock)
17x8 light Enkei wheels all around
Kinetix Rear Camber kit + toe bolts
350evo Front Camber Arms
350z LSD swap
UR Crank pulley
Injen CAI
PIT Headers
Crawford High Flow Cats
Stillen exhaust
Technosquare ECU
Crossdrilled Rotors
Hawk Ceramic front pads
Hawk HPS rear pads
Stainless Brake lines

As far as pressures, in the Azenis 615's I run 37 front and 35 rear.

Hope that answers all of your questions. Let me know if you need anything else.

 

Wow, lead_foot. You have quite a bit of development of the car. Thanks for all the info. My car is still bone stock -- running the same paper filter and tires that came on the car when it was new.

An interesting data point: Todd Milstead (10th at Nationals) was at the last event that I attended. His best time was 85.409 and mine was 89.496--not bad I guess for a developing driver and a car with alot of room to grow within the STX ruleset.