Please welcome me by helping me figure out what class I'm in.

[left footed whooten]

Howdy, this is my first post here and all, so I thought i'd ask you guys what class my car would fall into. Dont laugh....very hard.
96 Impreza Brighton (yes brighton) with unmodded EJ18.
Has all suspension bits from same generation (98-2000) 2.5 RS plus 16X6.5 WRX wheels.
Pretty unlikely Id be running in stock, so what class would I be getting clobbered in? I do still have the 14's (stock) to run if I needed to....

Horsepower? I dont need no stinking horsepower.

[Kevin M]

Depends on which suspension parts they are. If it's just springs and struts, you can run DSP. If you did control arms or trailing links, I think that's okay too.

[left footed whooten]

I put on the whole shtoople. All are stock 2.5RS parts though:
front and rear struts and springs
front and rear swaybars, which meant that I had to put the radius(?) arms on because the brighton didnt even come with a rear bar, therefore no mounting brackets. I dont know if my terminology is right for the rear arms, but you know what I mean, where the endlinks mount...I had to get those from a rear swaybar-having Impreza, and install the other brackets as well. Otherwise the only other pseudo-upgrade were my $45 KYB GR-2's, 2.5RS fitment.
Really curious, as I have about 90 shetland ponies under the hood.
Do the wheels present a problem (16x6.5 vs 14X5 or 5.5 stock)
I only have a leftover rulebook from 1991, from my Killer Pinto high school days, the last time I autocrossed, down in the SF region events.

[left footed whooten]

Oh, and I just saw your post on classing, I am trying to find it in there myself, but as I have a slow, more obscure model, I am looking for insight from those of you who Auto X currently...

[Kevin M]

I'm pretty sure all of your changes are DSP legal. The control arms and links just have to use rubber or poly bushings.

Also, at the bottom of that post is a link (the top one) to the online rulebook. You can download it for free as a .pdf file.

[left footed whooten]

Thanks,
yeah DSP it is...I checked it out and it sounds like since I dont have any real HP that throwing some decent rubber on my 14's might be a better idea. I have 205/55's on the rex wheels, but without any power, i dont think the extra rubber/wider tire will help enough to be worth it with the bigger diameter. I'd be lower with the 14's also and could accelerate more (or as much as I can with 90HP) I may be the most underpowered in my class, no?
2cents anyone?
Gotta go take a test now....

[Kevin M]

More tire is better, always. If you buy tires, go with some 225/50s on the WRX wheels. We actually used to know a guy who ran a 1.8 L with a bunch of suspension mods in STS. He actually did fairly well. Uh, until he burned his car to the ground, but that's a story for another day...

[left footed whooten]

Originally Posted by BAN SUVS

More tire is better, always. If you buy tires, go with some 225/50s on the WRX wheels. We actually used to know a guy who ran a 1.8 L with a bunch of suspension mods in STS. He actually did fairly well. Uh, until he burned his car to the ground, but that's a story for another day...

Yeah, I was told that on nasioc too. What ive got are lame kumho asx in 205 so thats what id be running. ive noticed that the acceleration feels slighly less, or should i say, the bog is slighly more with my 16's on...theyre almost 2" more in diameter (175 70 14 to 205 55 16)
I guess if i dont have to slow down as much, i dont have to accelerate as much, eh?
Gonna be striving to get to the next stead event.
By that time i could actually have a 'gasp' power modification....
Maybe a pulley or exhaust or something.
Burned to the ground, huh?

[Kevin M]

In that case, 215/45R16 Falken Azenis RT-215s would be perfect for you. You can still get a set for under $400 if you hurry.

[left footed whooten]

hmph...are those the new ones that replaced the azenis sports? or are they something else? I might be able to hook up a set of azenis sports for the same or cheaper, but i havent heard of the 215 before. where might i find them.

[Kevin M]

RT-215 is the old Sport. RT-615 is the new one. There's a vendor on RS25.com that bought a boatload of them, and is still selling them pretty cheap.

[bruspeed]

[QUOTE=BAN SUVS]RT-215 is the old Sport. RT-615 is the new one. There's a vendor on RS25.com that bought a boatload of them, and is still selling them pretty cheap.[/QUOTE

Dude!! you can't tell everybody that until I buy a set!!

[Dean]

How wide are the 14s? They may actually be a better bet. Larger overall diameter is bad for most cars, In general, you want as short and wide a tire/wheel combination as you can reasonably get.

Scratch that, there are basically no performance tires made in 14s that I can find. 15s and up appear to be it.

The 215/45-16s are a great street choice as the speedo will read basically perfectly, but if you really want some gearing advantage, and probably lighter weight, you could pick up some 15s and run 205/50-15s. They are even shorter than your stockers, and as they are 15s, are dirt cheap in almost all brands. Kevin's favorite S0-3s are only $134 and Kumho ECSTA MXs are only $86 each. Or even better yet, the new Hankook Ventus R-S2s for only $78 each.

[Kevin M]

All good points Dean, but on a budget, just getting the 215/45s for the 16s is cheaper than any 15" alloys, and lighter than any 15" steelies and the 205/50s. Plus the gain in extra gription.

Having run 215/45s, I'd consider it again with the RT215s.

Sorry Chris.

[bruspeed]

Originally Posted by BAN SUVS

All good points Dean, but on a budget, just getting the 215/45s for the 16s is cheaper than any 15" alloys, and lighter than any 15" steelies and the 205/50s. Plus the gain in extra gription.

Having run 215/45s, I'd consider it again with the RT215s.

Sorry Chris.

eh, he's running 16's anyways.

[Dean]

Stupid question since his car came with 175-70-14s, does he have fender clearance for a 215?

Oh, wait... Hankook Ventus R-S2 195/60-14 $60 each... and still a 1.8% gearing advantage. Now that wins foir a cheap autocross tire...

[Kevin M]

He's got clearance for 225s. Same chassis as mine. Plus the tires are so short they can be any width and still clear with RS struts. Remember how much fender gap I had last year? And I'm lowered over an inch.

The 215/45R16 RT215s are $360 plus shipping. Also, his 14" steelies probably weigh more than the WRX wheels.

[Dean]

Oh, and actually, you do notneed to know what class you are in for the first 4 days you come out.

Just run in the Novice class, and you can run iether morning or Afternoon, or both, and get a feel for it before you have to worry about class. we also regularly have "mentors" for the novices to help them get started ...

I bet those 14" steels are pretty light...

[Kevin M]

So, uhh, welcome to SECCS. Get used to similar pedantic arguments between me and Dean in almost every thread in the tech and motorsports forums.

I officially vote for the RT215s in 215/45R16.

[bruspeed]

Originally Posted by BAN SUVS

So, uhh, welcome to SECCS. Get used to similar pedantic arguments between me and Dean in almost every thread in the tech and motorsports forums.

I officially vote for the RT215s in 215/45R16.

Ooh! "Pendantic" somebody has been using there word of the day calendar!!

[Kevin M]

Dude, I'm the king of pedantics. That word's been in my vocabulary for years.

[bruspeed]

Originally Posted by BAN SUVS

Dude, I'm the king of pedantics. That word's been in my vocabulary for years.

It's an awesome word!! P.s. your sig in referance to Kenny Wayne Shepherd?

Class: wrong <--- that shit is funny!!

[Kevin M]

Only Scott and Matt understand my sig.

[left footed whooten]

Yeah, thats the kind of chatter I like to hear!! Thanks fellas, yeah ive got 14X5's maybe 5.5 if im lucky, absolutely as heavy as both of oprahs breasts. My wrx wheels are lighter. I will be checking out 2.5RS.com to see if I can get any with my pedantic cash (read: student loans) because i dont think its gonna be pretty running these awful kumho asx's at an event. My 14's were just an idea as they would let me sit sooo low. But there just arent any tires in that narrow of a fit that are worth the cash. Thanks for the pedantics, and keep up the antics of all sorts.....



....I had to look in the dictionary

[left footed whooten]

OOO! oh yeah, meant to ask also.... they require a snell 90 helmet still for soloII right? do they still have loaners, or was that a luxury of the SF region for us high schoolers at the time?




...and uhhh, PEDANTIC....take that!