I took my completely recently acquired stock ap1 to the autox for the first time over the weekend. I ran in BS class. I didn't realize how "tail happy" these are and have been doing some research after the event trying to figure out how to be a little more competitive. I would like to do tires on the stock 16" wheels and a heavy front bar. This car is not my daily driver.

I see people talking about running both 225/245 and 245 square. Is it acceptable to run a square tire setup with a staggered wheel setup? Any rubbing up front with a 245? Also, I see practically no availability on 245/45/16 so would I be looking at 245/50/16 or is that too big???? What tire sizes should I be looking at?

As for front sway bars... what's the best bang for the buck when it comes to an autocross oriented bar and can someone point me to some suppliers please ?

Thanks

 

Lots of good info in the links below...

https://www.s2ki.com/s2000/topic/172...s-information/

https://www.s2ki.com/s2000/topic/107...tscompetition/

https://www.s2ki.com/s2000/topic/106...-b-street-ap1/

https://www.s2ki.com/s2000/topic/106...treet-for-ap1/

https://www.s2ki.com/s2000/topic/107...-street-class/

https://www.s2ki.com/s2000/topic/105...k-preparation/

https://www.s2ki.com/s2000/topic/107...reet-sway-bar/

https://www.s2ki.com/s2000/topic/107...-event-in-ap1/

-Marc

 

I'm thinking 225/50/16 rs3 square setup with a Moddiction front bar

 

I think everyone here agrees that the AP2's a better choice for BS than the AP1 is. Whether the AP1 will still be competitive is a matter of more debate.

Last I heard, jeffjanzen (super fast guy who's twice come in second in BS at Nationals) was running 225 RS-3s all around on his AP1 locally and was happy with it.

 

Would an AP1 be more competitive in STR? If so, what does it cost on average to prep a BS car for STR?

 

More competitive... it depends on your point of view. You might get lucky in one, but given the gearing and power advantages in a car that is otherwise identical, the ap2.2 is the car to have.

 

I just feel like the big handicap for the AP1 in BS is the wheel width and as a result lack of tire width/options. Where in STR you can negate this issue. Would a AP1 be more competitive within STR against all other cars (other than AP2s) or is it better off staying in BS?

 

IMHO STR is a better place for it. But as stated previously an AP1 can still be very competitive in BS.

 

I think your ability to be competitive in STR is higher than BS, but the AP2 will still be the car to have. Only because you can address the tire size issue by being on the same playing field as the AP2(as far as mods outside of the drivetrain go), and stepping out of a class with the C5 Corvette in it. That said, I've been running my AP1 as a BS car this year with stock sized RS3s and a front sway bar and its been fine.. However, I'm not that great of a driver.. Haha.

 

ive run a ap1 with the kumho xs 265/45/1 rear on stock wheels back in the day and did a few 1st gear downshifts on course usually, it worked ok
not sure how this tire in this size measures up to the rs3