piknockout's STU Auto-x Build - '06 STi sponsored by Agile Auto *9/27 SCCA Nationals*

[piknockout]

Sponsored by Agile Automotive Performance in Fallston, MD

For those that don't know me, my name is Josh and I'm planning on using this thread to document my STU autocross build as well as my progress throughout the season including setups and changes. To start things off, I would like to give a BIG THANKS to Hill McCarty at Agile Auto for his support and help in this build, along with all the help in the past!

Now for a little background. I've been autocrossing now going on 5 years, with all of my previous experience coming from building my 2003 Nissan Sentra SE-R Spec V that I built for STX. Although the car wasn't the prime choice for the class, I was able to win STX for Philly Region in 2006, WDCR Region in 2007/2008, and Autocrosser's Inc. in 2007/2008.

After driving the car for 5 years, I knew it was time to get into a car better suited for it's class. I sold the car in August 2008 and spent the next few months doing some co-drives to figure out what best fit my wants/needs. A special thanks to John W. (ButtDyno) for letting me co-drive the WRX to finish out the WDCR STX season! But after driving Iman's (bdi) STU prepped STi, I knew exactly what car I wanted to buy and what class I wanted to run in. I've enjoyed the ST* class and knew that it was the right fit for me.

Through research gained here and conversations with several great STU drivers (Thanks Colin, James, Iman, JR, John W, and anyone else I left out!) I decided that a 2006 STi was going to be tool of choice. I searched through the classifieds on here, IWSTI, autotrader.com, eBay, etc. for about a month before I found what seemed to be the right car. It was a 2006 Aspen White STi with only 17,300 miles, a 3.5" APS exhaust, COBB short ram intake, and Accessport with Stage 2 tune. And to make it even better, the guy only lived 25 minutes away. A couple of weeks of pricing negotiations and the car was mine on November 21st!


The car shortly after purchase



The old autocross ride





Needless to say, the next 4 months were hell. Having this beauty sitting in the garage, doing research, dealing with snow and cold...just painful. Fortunately all that ended last Sunday when I began the autocross modification process.




Through yesterday I had installed the following modifications (it's been a busy week!):

- APS 3.5" turbo back exhaust with MIL.SPEC 100 cell race cat welded into downpipe by Agile Auto







- Hawk HP+ brake pads




- Braille 6lbs race battery



- Re-installed stock intake to replace COBB short ram to reduce intake air temp during summer events



- Corbeau 3 pt. Harness (autocross use only)




- Rolled front part of rear fenders



- Whiteline 24mm adjustable front sway bar with Whiteline spherical endlinks




Midway through the work



- Whiteline 22mm adjustable rear sway bar with Whiteline spherical endlinks




- Racecomp Engineering Tarmac 2 coilovers with 600lbs front springs and 500lbs rear springs topped with Vorshlag camber plates set at Racecomp suggested Track settings (Thanks Myles for the discussion and help!)





After the installs (before alignment and fixing front ride height...at 2am)



Test fitting some borrowed 17x9 et35 RE30's (before alignment and fixing front ride height at 1:30am)



- Ported stock headers by Agile Auto (no pics...forgot the camera)

- STU Protune by Hill at Agile Auto...318whp/318wtq (I know, kind of high...dyno chart to follow) along with a street tune 325whp/350wtq





And a few other things

- Alignment set at -3.2 front camber and -1.9 rear camber with zero toe for both
- Ordered 5Zigen FN01RC's 17x9 et43 in flat black
- Deciding between 245/40/17 Bridestone RE-11's or Kumho XS's

Where the car currently sits as of 3/14/09




First test day is this coming weekend on March 22nd with the Philly Region, followed by the WDCR practice event on March 29th. I'll either be running the borrowed RE30's with Dunlops, or if I make a tire decision tomorrow I should have that setup by the weekend. We'll see what happens. I don't know how everything will work first time out, but it should be interesting. Iman (bdi) will be co-driving with me this coming weekend to help work on the setup a little bit.

My plans for the season are to run a full WDCR schedule, Fed Ex Field events with Autocrosser's Inc, Citzen's Bank Park events with the Philly Region, the DC Pro (and hopefully Toledo, but doubtful), either the Seneca Tour or NE Divisional, and Nationals in Lincoln, NE.

[Honest_Bob]

Nice setup! I hope it works out for you.

[Got Insulin?]

Awesome! I love seeing cars that are being dedicated to a specific purpose, being built by their owners.

[TalonTsi97]

Great upgrade over the sentra. I always enjoyed seeing it at the autoX's but the Sti is a great step up. My only suggestion is to do something with the taillights. I can't stand stock lights on newer Sti's. Good Luck!

[piknockout]

Yeah, something will be done with the tail lights eventually. Needless to say, that hasn't been my focus on this project.


Thanks guys!

[DaveSTi]

Looks great! Why did you choose the Whiteline bars over the RCEs?

[piknockout]

I believe the RCE bars are 25mm f/r IIRC, so they were definitely stiffer than what I wanted to go. I decided on the stiffer spring/softer sway bar suspension strategy.

[ASIAN JUL]

Wow, great to see a build with a purpose! That was a nice read. Car looks great, hope it performs the way you'd like it to.

[Ciotti]

Nice man, I'll be sure to shoot a bunch of pictures for you this Sunday

[alwaysinboost]

Congrats on the purchase, white is my favorate color

After seeing you run in STU at that CBP event last year I'm sure you'll be giving those guys a run for their money.

I still remember the time you took me for a ride in the spec v... up until then I had never seen a FWD car do a 360* before.

[piknockout]

Ah yes, I remember that! Of course, I didn't mean to do it.

Thanks guys, just keep the expectations low until the car gets sorted out.

[Buster]

I'm kinda trying to do something similar with my car, I just pulled off my Megan Racing track coilovers for RA suspension (KYBs) from an 04 STi and was planning on leaving the stock springs in it. I have the car set at -1.5 give or take a tenth each side, what size RSB would you reccomend. I like the oversteer Ive been getting but I thought that putting a FSB in would make the car more neutral. I was looking at the Whiteline 24 for the rear and leaving the stock 20 in the front.

[DaveSTi]

Originally Posted by piknockout

I believe the RCE bars are 25mm f/r IIRC, so they were definitely stiffer than what I wanted to go. I decided on the stiffer spring/softer sway bar suspension strategy.

Good plan! I can't wait to see your results with the T2s. I plan on running this year myself and want to get some good track settings out of mine. They're 500/400 though, so our settings will be a little different.

Glad to have another T2 owner on here though, these things rock!

[piknockout]

Buster, not really too sure as I'm learning how to set this car up. Most believe the bigger front sway bar the better, especially for a stockish type setup. I would leave the RSB and pick up a 27mm FSB for best results based on the rest of the setup and my limited STi knowledge.

Definitely make it out sometime Dave, you'll love it.

[Buster]

what if i stagger them? say a 22 in the rear and a 27 in the front, It has just a little too much roll the way it is right now. Im used to the zero roll the megans had.

[JDMTyler3326]

Wow man looks very nice/clean

[piknockout]

Thanks!

I think you would be good with a 27mm front/22mm rear sway bar based on my very limited knowledge.

[Buster]

lol sounds good to me!

[DaveSTi]

Originally Posted by Buster

what if i stagger them? say a 22 in the rear and a 27 in the front, It has just a little too much roll the way it is right now. Im used to the zero roll the megans had.

After playing around with the following swaybar setups:

stock (20/20)
cusco (21/22)
whiteline (29/22)
whiteline (29/24)
whiteline (27/24)
whiteline/rce (27/25.5)

I gotta say that you don't want too large of a front bar compared to the rear. it results in a lot of understeer at the limit after you've reached the limit of your front tires/alignment. I'm currently of the mindset that equal sized bars front and rear really help the car stay more neutral with a proper alignment and spring rate.

[piknockout]

Just arrived yesterday! These are 5Zigen FN01R-C's in 17x9 et43. In need of some rubber soon, still debating between the RE-11 and XS.





And also, I have dyno graphs. Directly below is the STU graph with the Street tune just below that. I'm looking to get the STU graph plotted against boost, at which point I will post as well.