Wow! Just had them mounted and went for the inaugural "heat cycle" today. I'm just a beginner at this autocross thing and have never driven on anything but "street" tires. I couldn't believe the difference on my casual little jaunt! Seemed to have MUCH more responsive turn in.

This raised a question- I noticed that the Kumho 245's were about the same width as the stock SO-2 225's, but the Kumho 225's were quite wider than the stock fronts. Should I expect alot of oversteer compared to when running the SO-2's? In the few events that I ran on the SO-2's I felt like I was fighting more understeering than oversteering. I know it's a matter of driving style, to some degree. But now I'm beginning to understand all the talk about getting a thicker front sway bar. What's the latest concensus on which one to get?

Or- will this handle simply like "stickier" SO-2's. I'm sure I'll find out after the first run, I'm just hoping to not spin out.........

BTW, Tire Rack was pretty unbelievable re: delivery, Ordered them Monday around 5:30pm, had them at my door at noon on Wednesday. Wow.

 

You may want to get a beefier front stabilizer bar.

That's what I'm doing . . . I'll let you know how it works out.

 

vmb,

I'd be very interested in hearing how things work out for you. My Kumhos are sitting in my garage, awaiting my JDM wheels.

cal

 

I've found that on the asphalt lots I normally race on the Kumhos are very controllable with throttle position. That doesn't mean you can't easily spin, however. On a high-speed concrete course I ran recently, I was all "elbows and assholes" trying to keep straight. A front swaybar is a definite plus.

It also depends on your driving. You might want to stay stock until your times improve to the limit of the car (ask an experienced driver to take a few runs with your car) and THEN change the front bar. That way you'll have an apples-to-apples way to compare.

 

Sorry Jeff, but I have to disagree with leaving the car as it is until becoming a better driver.

The difference that vmb talks about in contact patch is VERY noticeable on the course. The car oversteers a lot and is very hard to control, especially when the tires get warm. It is possible to do it, but I wouldn't wish that on anyone. Yes it can be driven to keep the car behind you, but typically you have to slow down a bit to do this.

I've been autocrossing for about 8 years now and in that time have become pretty good. One of our first events in our MY2000 nationally last year was with the stock bar. I did ultimately come in 2nd (San Bernadino Pro Solo) but it was a huge amount of work. It was my first two runs Sunday morning and I couldn't back them up, because the tires got too hot and I couldn't keep the back of the car under control.

I feel that we've finally got our car set up pretty well and that is with the new, soon to be released Comptech adjustable swaybar. We currently are running it on it's stiffest setting which is probably in the range of 200 - 300% stiffer than stock. The car is very controllable now and is much easier to drive.

All told, I'd recommend getting at least the big Mugen bar, but I'd wait for the Comptech bar.

Ron

 

While I agree that this is one car which will benefit from a significant modification, I've been autocrossing since 1974 and, while not a national competitor, I can say that I've seen far too many folks spend money on mods rather than concentrating on driving. I'd rather see you spin a few times to learn what it's like and how to control it. Yeah, we're probably splitting hairs here but 99% of all autocrossers are not running many, if any, national events. Since these folks are not likely to become terrific drivers in the first few seasons, we need to use caution in suggesting modifications before driving skills.

Your point is well taken but must be approached with the understanding that a good driver can drive a slow car fast while a slow driver can make a fast car look like a slug...

 

Good info/advice, thanks, guys. Let me see if I'm understanding the stiffer front sway-bar theory: The S2K oversteers, and by reducing front body roll with a stiffer sway bar, less weight is transfered to the outside front wheel, therefore reducing grip to that wheel, which causes understeer. My whole problem with this is that why should this car's handling problem be fixed by reducing front grip instead of somehow incresing rear grip? Is it because the rules of A-Stock don't allow for such modifications?

I'm gonna go along with jguerdat's plan and "stick" with the stock bar for at least several events. Then maybe my pride will get the best of me and I'll blame the car instead of my mediocre skills and I'll just "have to" get the Comptech bar. So, when is it expected out, anyways?

Thanks again, guys, I'll let you know how things go!

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by vmb
[B]Good info/advice, thanks, guys.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by RandyP
[B]

A softer rear bar would also reduce oversteer, but would cause more body sway.

 

Yes, putting a big front bar on will allow that. But we are talking a BIG bar. We've done the calculations about our latest attempt at a sway bar, and it's about 3x stiffer than stock and we are still running rear camber (actually Windscreen did the calculating, we just took his word for it ).

If you get too large a front bar, you will eventually encounter understeer in some situations (we still haven't found too large a bar yet). This will become more frustration since sometimes the car will understeer and others it will oversteer.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Tanqueray
[B]Since these folks are not likely to become terrific drivers in the first few seasons, we need to use caution in suggesting modifications before driving skills.