Hey guys...first of all it's a shame that there are not more people in this section, because auto-x is the true test of driving skill, not 1/4 mile racing (but of course, you know this already).

Anyhow.....
Over a decade ago (or a little more) I used to auto-x my 1970 Triumph GT6 in various classic car events (I was in high school at the time), but I have never run in SCCA solo2...

I am an SCCA member and plan to do some solo2 this summer, but for some idiotic reason I cannot open up the SCCA rulebook that I downloaded from the site. Basically I'm just trying to figure out what class I'd be running with my Maxima, which has the following "mods":

2000 SE
Springs: Maxspeed
Struts: Illumina
Stillen RSB
Otto FSTB
Matt Blehm's stage 2 LTB
not sure which wheels I'll use, probably borrow some lightweight 17's
tires: most likely an all-season tread
Brakes: 5th gen calipers w/ 6th gen rotors (soon to be 6th gen calipers also) with SS lines, etc....techinically they are "stock" just not for my car
Engine: Intake, that's about all noteworthy
Exahust: stock

so basically I'm all suspension and no "go"

any thoughts about what class I'd be running, and what kind of cars I should expect to see in that class?

thanks guys

 

The Stage II is probably what's going to kill you.. a stage I is legal for ST classes, but the SII is either prepared or modified- I forget now and I just run SM because of all the stuff I've done.

Most likely, you can go in under STX or STU and they won't say anything about it unless you go in there and whoop up on people.

the struts are unrestricted (you can run $5000 penske shocks in stock class for all they care), but the springs are considered a mod..

The modded brakes will also be an issue, but likely they won't say anything about them since you're still using the factory calipers- again, as long as you don't go in there and wax everyone in your class they don't really care much.


Your best bet is to show up at an event and talk with one of the tech people or registration and they'll jointly decide what class to run you in. letting them pick the class for you will smooth over any issues later, if you wax everyone and they later decide you're not eligible for the class.... if it's their decision, then they can't take your trophy away.

 

thanks matt...I figured as much....alot of suspension mods but few engine mods would probably make it unlikely that i'd smoke anybody

 

if the stg 2 ltb is an X brace it is not legal in an street classes .... as long as your tires are 245s or smaller I think you will pass for STX ..... tread wear 200+ .... I would not suggest a all season tire.... very poor performance..... best bang for the buck is Kumho MX..... or the new Falken RT-615 ... I wouldn't worry about the brakes on a regional level.. they would never know if you didn't tell them...... btw same for the LTB if it is a X .. forget you installed it .... as for STX cars .... lots of street moded imports fit the class.... our area.... no one has been running STX for a season or 2 ..... not sure why it was very popular...... STU has been popular with moded M3s and STIs on street tires..... I don't post here very often .... since the my Max is a daily driver.... and I compete with my 300ZX .... E street prepared... I was Central Florida West Coast Champ for 2004

 

Here's a nice summary of classing
http://www.sff.net/people/dburkhead/prepcompare.htm

If I had to do it all again from scratch I'd first choose the class I wanted to run in and then mod to fit. Tires and wheels are particularly dependent on this. Assume you pulled the Stg2LTB. All of these become open to you (pretty much)

STS 225 street tires, 7.5" max rim
STX 245 street tires, 8" max rim
DSP any race rubber on any rim

Next to your driving ability, the tire choice is the most important piece to being competitive.

Oh, and this forum's just a bit slow since it's the off season in many regions. But you do have company. Just click on this for pics
pics of various Maxima's racing

 

How come I'm not on there?

http://www.mattblehm.com/pics/track_pics/

 

click the link in my sig (webshots) for autox shots of the Z ^^^^^^^^

and as for the season.... I just finished my 2nd event last week ... gotta love florida

 

Same here.. we run all year round in Houston..
http://houscca.com/solo2/soloresults.aspx

You'll note the April event is non-existant as that's the month we host the national Tour... that's always event #4 for the year, and we stick it back in and run 2 events in October when it cools off.

 

Ah, Cardomian probl, copyright on pics, jealous of IRS? Ok, problem fixed.

 

Okay, better now. Just had to get a pic of at least one 3rd gen in there!

 

Matt, I'll be joining you soon with a 3G autocrossing. I'm going to convert the '94 into an sts car for fun.

 

Woohoo!!
springs, shocks, stage I LTB, FSTB, RSTB, and sway bars... and the widest Azenis you're allowed to run in the class. should have you good to go.

 

Springs and shocks: Check. LTB and RSTB: Check(just ordered from you) ST front ADDCO rear: Check. Largest KUMHO MX's I can find.....still need them.

Mike

 

thanks guys...due to the fact that the first couple SCCA events local are ALREADY full, I'm going to do some more local auto-x with the capital racing club...smaller courses, lower speeds to practice with the maxima....and they don't run classes, but just have every car handicapped (there are ALOT of classic sportscars in this group, as well as alot of Miatas and Subarus...looks like the maxima will be the biggest car registered except for a couple 5-seres Bimmers....)

A couple years and I'll probably turn my maxima into a pure track car, once I have it paid off and a new daily driver.......I know a smaller car with IRS would be better suited, but I have a couple big ideas with fabrication that we'll see about (think: 5th gen IRS)....but that's another idea for another year or two down the road....

Anyhow, thanks for the advice. I might have to suck it up and get beaten for a while, since there's no way I'm taking the LTB off....but will be doing full ES bushings and stage I sfc's in the near future....someday i'll get around to making more power out of the engine...but suspension is far more fun IMO than speed.......

that....or I'll turn one of my two GT6's into a track car and drop an impreza AWD engine and drivetrain in since I only have 1 GT6 motor

ah.....now if I just had a garage at my house....dammit.

 

Actually I found that falken is making an interesting size for us in STS. 225/50/15 in the new 615's. Too bad they won't be available till Q4

 

Rumor has it that size was dropped by Falken for the 615. Personally I've never endorsed the idea of 15" wheels except for drag. Biomax and Chafin though both toyed around with that size for a while so maybe I'm nuts.

 

well if you can get something with a short enough sidewall and still have ground clearance, then 15s are fine.
personally I would go with some 16 or 17 though... 17s get expensive, but you can get the widest tires on there.

I just had a set of 245/40/17 Kumho MX mounted last week, and there's enough room left to go to a 255/40 if I use a tiny (like 2-3mm) spacer on the rears.

The widest they offer in a 16" is 225/50/16. that's the perfect diameter for our cars, and they're $25 cheaper per tire, but you can go much wider for more traction if you want.

 

That 225/50/16 is a perfect for STS. That is the only class I think the 3G would be competitve in and even then you have those peasy little civics to deal with. The car needs a weight loss program.

 

That's been my thinking for 4 years now but I keep wondering if STX wouldn't be better. Our Max vs those Honda's - 50% heavier, x2 the power, and 10% more treadwidth in STS. Another 20mm per tire might be helpful.

 

Unfortunately the max isn't a nationally competive car in either class. In STS oru cars are too big and heavy. In STX still a little too big and underpowered. The lack of a mechanical LSD hurts alot to when you goto STX.

I do believe with the right driver and setup the car is a upper mid level contender.

Be even with all those odds I think I might give it a shot again.

 

Pretty sure that Chafin actually won using 16's (Which I bought off him when he parted out) Though I really think that 15's would work great if you could get tires wide enough for them.