With a number of races under my belt, and a true feel of how autocrossing works, I'm looking at a catalogue of brake modifications and starting to consider small add-ons to my car other than the change of tires and K&N drop-in filter I put in. Nothing crazy, just enough to aid the smooth flow of power needed for autocrossing runs.
Here are a few of the possibilities, but I don't recall the regs on these:
1) Brake pads/rotors- easy to self-install, easy boost in performance from one major aspect
2) Exhaust system- some extra power possible, might give me a little extra oomph in the right spots
3) Minor suspension modifications- somewhat more difficult to make it work properly, but would certainly aid performance on course
Again, I'm not completely brushed up on the regs with these, so if anyone has any advice, feel free to jump in here. I'm planning on getting in many more races this season, but not going to modify until summer starts creeping up my ass. I've got a little time to think about it, plan it out, so I want to do it right, and very much UNDER budget, which is very low to begin with.
Do you recall what the limits were on brake modifications to stay in Stock?
Also, the kinds of modifications I meant were possibly bigger sway bars, but I seem to recall that you couldn't modify the front bar without leaving stock.
"13.6 BRAKES
A. The make and material of brake linings may be changed.
B. Substitution of clutch and brake hydraulic lines with solid metal
or braided metal is allowed on all cars manufactured before
model year 1992.
C. Alternate brake bleeder fittings such as “Speedbleeders” are
permitted. They may serve no other purpose."
And...
"13.7 ANTI-ROLL (SWAY) BARS
A. For front anti-roll (sway) bars:
1. Substitution, addition or removal of any front anti-roll bars is
permitted.
2. Substitution, addition or removal of anti-roll bars may serve
no other purpose than that of an anti-roll bar.
3. The use of any bushing material is permitted.
4. No modification to the body, frame or other components to
accommodate anti-roll bar addition or substitution is allowed,
except for the drilling of holes for mounting bolts. Nonstandard
lateral members which connect between the brackets
for the bar are not permitted.
B. Rear anti-roll (sway) bars:
1. May not be removed, replaced, or modified in any way."
A metalmaster or Ultimate pad heat range will or could help a tad.
Maybe try running without the front bar. Just disconnect the links and make sure they are tied out of the way. See if the car feels better that way.
I have cobalt GT-Sport pads on my car and they're a tremendous difference from stock. I haven't had experience with any other aftermarket pads but I'm told they're on par with the Hawk HP+.
I also have Cobalt OE replacement rotors which seem to resist rust better than the Acura rotors. Besides that I see no performance improvement.
I also just installed Koni Yellows in the rear and wow, what a difference. I really didn't think it would be such a change but it is.
Hmmm, this sounds like a very doable plan. I already checked out the rotors and pads, that should be doable with some good solid work at the end of the semester to boost funding. Hopefully I can figure out the suspension soon too, but we'll see what happens. If I get into the Coast Guard, it may just be the brakes. Won't have time after getting into OCS, might have to just leave it stock otherwise.
I have cobalt GT-Sport pads on my car and they're a tremendous difference from stock. I haven't had experience with any other aftermarket pads but I'm told they're on par with the Hawk HP+.
I also have Cobalt OE replacement rotors which seem to resist rust better than the Acura rotors. Besides that I see no performance improvement.
I also just installed Koni Yellows in the rear and wow, what a difference. I really didn't think it would be such a change but it is.
I also run these pads & they are a great improvement. Pretty noisy on the street though. They have a break in technique that could get you a serious ticket too. So find an appropriate place to do it.
I also run these pads & they are a great improvement. Pretty noisy on the street though. They have a break in technique that could get you a serious ticket too. So find an appropriate place to do it.
There isn't many sparcely populated area's around me so I went by Argon National laboratories where they have deer just to prove they aren't screwing up the environment. I did it late at night and figured if a cop stopped me I could tell him I saw a deer.
I don't rember exactly what the bed in process is but it goes something like this; get up to 60 then moderately brake down to 10 then drive for a minute without using the brakes. Get up to 60 again then down to 0 heavy breaking. Let cool agian and repeat like 4 times.
I have had great experience with the PBR metalmasters...good for autox as they have real good cold bite (not enough time on an autox course to build up much heat).
As far as break-in, every pad is a little different, but you want to do a couple of stops from 10mph-1mph (NEVER come to a complete stop during any of this or you will get uneven coating on the rotor), a couple from 30-1, a couple from 50-1, and a couple from higher speeds...keep the car moving then for a little bit to cool everything down, then come to a slow stop to park.
^^ Brakes are those things that help you get the car to rotate...
Of course most of the "old timers" call them binders. So you may have the lingo confused...
:rotfl:
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