starchland

I agree.
drive the car and see. Very workable. Nothing you can't compensate for while driving

deception9

KW V3s with stock spring rates

THMotorsports

I run a square 255 setup on my 06. Front bar is a ST Swaybar (375lb/in), compared to 393 lb/in of the ap1 bar, running the small 06 rear bar. 9k/8k spring rates. I think it's very balanced for autocross and track use. A big front bar would help more for autocross settings, and preventing inside rear wheel lift. But keep in mind that setting up an autocross car is very different than setting up a track car. Some people have gone to the smaller NC Miata front bar in the rear. This helps to further improve wheel independence but helps take out some of the sloppiness of not having a rear bar at all. Front Rear Front Rear
Model Year Spring Spring Sway Bar Sway Bar
--------------+------------------+--------------------
2000-2001 219 291 393 427
2002-2003 246 309 300 396
2004-2005 262 278 300 311
2006-2007 262 269 300 311
2008-2009 280 294 354 311
2008-2009 CR 384 343 392 362

Shift9303

How did the car feel on the streets with 255 square + whiteline bar? Any back road twisty driving? I do plan to occasionally auto X but I can't resist the occasional spirited drive.

How does a auto x setup differ vs a road course setup? I've only co driven a lightly prepped car so far and sat shotgun in a couple of STU cars. I presume auto x tends to have a stiffer front utilized in conjunction with a more aggressive driving style using momentum to swing the rear around? So the front end requires stiffer bias to act like a pivot? I don't intend to go too hardcore with auto x, at least at first, and the car will largely see street and spirited driving duty for the mean time. So right now I'm mainly aiming at getting a workable setup for the street. No stupid driving, but I want to be able to rev the car out a bit with out having to be paranoid about the rear swinging out. I've spun once before and I still get flash backs, kind of.


Right now I'm thinking Cusco front bar +/- 06 rear bar to hold me over until I get a set of KW V3s, or Ohlins DFVs. Tires will be either BS S04 or Dunlop DZII. Don't want to go full on with RE71R at the moment. I know the two tires are different categories, just mulling over some thoughts. Experienced friends recommend learning the car at lower grip levels first.

shiv

Street driving was just fine with this setup. Prior it was a staggered setup 225/245. So more grip everywhere with 255. Could push the car so much more into the corners, and if you felt so inclined, could get the back to step out nicely. It was actually a really nice setup. If you mainly plan to street drive the car, it would maintain its compliant ride, but make spirited driving more fun for sure (certainly faster as well). Once I threw on the stiff as hell coilovers, regular roads became much more uncomfortable.

As for the street driving, the rear stepping out will still be highly plausible with this setup. I found it to rotate more easily than stock setup actually. But rotation isn't a bad thing, just enough will help you get pointed in the right direction more easily and then you can get back on the loud pedal sooner. The best thing you can do regarding this is more seat time, and if its possible for you to get a good coach or instructor.

Fokker

I have 255 square with Karcepts bars front and back and Swift Spec R w/ CR shocks for autox and street. It's a very controllable setup with my bar settings keeping the rear planted when I want, but allowing for rotation.

andrewdruiz

On the subject of square setups and FSB's - I see the Karcepts bar is the "best" bar out there (I was originally going with a Moddiction/Saner bar), but it seems like mostly auto-x guys use these highly adjustable front bars (Karcepts & Gendron), which begs the question - is the Karcepts bar worth it for track days/road course use?

Fokker

Certainly, it can be worth it. You can get a thinner wall center section to allow you to set it relatively soft (I have the 0.25"), but still have the adjustability to be stiff enough for autox. The rear will depend on driver preference and overall setup. The rear bar at it's stiffest is a bit short of the late model OEM bars' stiffness, but you could always ask about the possibility of getting a custom center section for the rear to bring that up higher if you want a different range of adjustability.

The build quality and fit is top notch and I like the option to fine tune with the greater range of adjustability.

Chibo

So I'm actually also running the Karcepts setup. I got ahold of Car Analogy's balance spreadsheet and I plugged in my numbers:
850lb/in front spring
500lb/in rear spring
1215lb/in front swaybar (0.250") setting
145lb/in rear swaybar setting

I'm running 255/45 square on 17x9. The car is -extremely- stable, does not understeer on entry unless you came in hot to something like an uphill corner, will let you steer with the rear if you prod it a little bit, does not lift wheels, and does not understeer out of corners. It lets go very progressively, lets you feel the tires, does not body roll or bob, etc.

Now, this setup makes NO sense to me on paper and comes out as a 76% / 24% balance in the spreadsheet... but it really works GREAT at the track and rides REALLY well on the street for what it is. It is set up as I bought the car, other than raising the car 1/3" of an inch all around. I really don't want to screw with it because it works, but is different than any other setup I have heard of.

Whodafukknows.