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2012 stf

12K views 33 replies 13 participants last post by  2000blackzx3 
#1 ·
Anyone planning on running in it? The PAX looks awesome!
I'm definitely excited.
 
#3 ·
i think ill be in STF next year, aslong as i can get a hold of a few parts. (coilovers)\

if not i'll just co-drive in STU in a STi
 
#7 ·
So I am thinking we may want to do the upgrades for the wife's SVT Focus to run in STF this year. She ran HS Index last year. She won the Index2 class at the Packwood SCCA National Tour event in July and would have beaten all the guys in Index1 also.

If you had your wish list, what would it be?

Coilovers?
Camber plates?
Intake?
Tuning hardware (I have a tuner)?
Headers? Exhaust? No cat?
Sway Bars?
Tower braces?

I may run her car if it turns out well to save on tire costs or just run my Z06 again this year.

Any and all comments welcome. Thanks in advance.
 
#8 ·
I would suggest suspension before power. Camber, coilovers and swaybars to make better use of the power that the car has already.
 
#9 ·
Which company for each type of part? I had good luck with KW coilovers on my STi I ran in STU class.

I have not noticed much from tower braces, honestly.

Camber plates are huge, but none of them I have found add more than 1 degree negative?

Who for sway bars?

She just chimed in and actually likes the way it handles now as it does not rotate like a FWD should and she kinda likes it that way. I was thinking camber plates, camber bolts for the rear, intake and tune. Which intake?
 
#10 ·
LCR camber plates (they don't make them anymore, you'll have to find used ones) or K-Mac (very expensive). Otherwise its SPC, which only add 1 degree but you'll get some more negative camber with reduced ride height.

I've heard good things about KW coilovers, though I have no personal experience with them. Another option is H&R Race springs with off the shelf Koni yellows. It is regarded as the best shock/strut/spring combo for the Focus off the shelf. I ran this set up on my car for a couple of seasons and really liked it. It was also pretty tolerable during dd duty as well.

SPC camber bolts in the rear worked fine for me. In conjunction with the H&R race springs I had about 1.6 degree negative camber in the rear and I was never left wanting more.

In conjunction with a 22mm front sway bar off a Focus wagon and 24mm rear sway bar from H&R the car handled very well and was easy to tune with just tire air pressure changes.

Massive Speed System and FSWerks make front and rear upper "stress" bars. FSWerks also makes a front lower.

For an intake you can't go wrong with an AEM cold air intake.
 
#11 ·
honestly the stock intake is solid, you wont see much gains from an aftermarket intake. i'd go with a tune over an intake, you will get better low end power. (which the SVT lacks)
did they change the rules for STF? because in ST you could not remove the cat, that would have bumped you into STX.
 
#12 ·
I thought all ST* classes (ST,STS,STX,STU,STR) has to retain the cat within 6" of the stock location.
 
#14 ·
I am running in STF, already started. And all alone ... for now.

But am looking forward to having some fun in there in the next couple of months.

I was already close to those older Civics, so now I am going to be a competitive one in there. Yay.

The people in our region are calling in ST-Focus now. hahaha

-Ray-
 
#15 ·
I have been running my 2012 Titanium in STF. The only change I made was a new set of wheels and Falken Azenis FK452 tires. Heck, it still has the original oil in it.

In my region my only competitor is in a Mazda2 but I have been able to keep ahead of him.

I think the new Focus can be very competitive in STF. Problem is there is such a small list of vehicles that fit in it that I don't see me having much to compete with. I could run in HS but that has had less competitors in my region.

We have a local class called Street Touring Open 4. Any mods, ST legal tires and 4 cylinder naturally aspirated. We also have STO6 and STO8. Forced Induction bumps you up a level, except for 8s. Rotarys run in 6. We had 6 people in it last event and I would have won that but not by much, so maybe I should move there.

Those classes are always the ones with the best turn out. A number of stock cars are always entered because many people would rather lose to someone that win against nobody. Seems to go against the Solo mindset of each car needing to be competitive in a class.
 
#16 ·
Here in TX, we have the HS class full of people. 2 Stock Minis, 2 VW Rabbits, 1 Tiburon and a few other cars as well. Those 5 people are the same ones at every event and add or subtract newcomers each event.

In STF here, there is Myself, an eclipse, a couple of Mazda2s and a Mazda Protege.

I missed my last event. But will be back by the next.

-Ray-
 
#17 ·
Are you close enough to the OK region to race against them instead of the KS peeps?

You may re-kindle your joy of racing a person in your class.

-Ray-
 
#18 ·
I am smack in the middle of KS. I can get to Salina Region and Wichita region in an hour. The rest would be kind of far to drive. Our events tend to be 30-40 people so not a lot of people to spread among the classes. Last event in Salina there were 2 in STF. STO4 had 7, STR had 4 and the rest had 1 or 2.

If I ran in ST04 that event I would have taken second, I was less than .4 seconds behind first in that class. Winner was in a road race prepped Mazda Protege MP3.
 
#19 ·
So my wife has asked to head down the path of setting up her car for STF. She and my oldest son got smoked by Andy and Ann Hollis at the Packwood Tour last weekend. Some of it is driver.

I think I will go with the H&R Race springs and Koni Yellows to start. I will have to get the more expensive camber plates for the front aqnd bolts for the rear.

What header? I have one vote here for stock intake and one for AEM. I want to do the tuning once so I want the exhaust and intake installed before I tune it.

What wheel tire combo sizes? 225 width on a 16" wheel?
 
#20 ·
You should have chatted to me about it last weekend. I plan on jumping to STF from H-Stock.

For start, just worry about upgrading the suspension, and finding the right combination of wheel/tire. If you have the winter package (like me), then disabling the traction control should be high on the priority list as well.

H&R race springs and Koni's should be a good start. I'm looking around to see what coilover set I want. A rear swaybar is a must, if you haven't already. I was planning on the H&R rear bar to start, and if I feel it's not enough, I will consider the Steeda bar.

For wheels and tires, I am going to run a set of 16x7.5 Kosei K1's that I have (there's another set currently for sale on FJ that I would like to buy as a spare set, but you should maybe try to pick them up if you can). Toyo just made R1R's available in 225/45R16, which is what I plan on running for dry days. It's slightly shorter than the stock diameter which will help with the ridiculous SVT gearing. These would work well in the wet as well, but 225/50R16 Continental DW's should be better.

After watching Andy race his 2 the last couple weeks, I am convinced that the SVT can keep up with him, but it's going to take everything we can throw at these cars in order to do so.
 
#21 · (Edited)
Wish we had talked to you. Rex was stuck at home, and the kid and I are more on the introverted side. [facepalm]

I'm glad you're thinking of jumping in to STF - it will be fun to see what the car can do in good hands!

Since we've never done any mods even within H-Stock allowances, I'd like to start there and see how it goes. I've already started the season in stock street tire and have a good rivalry with a DS Cooper S in our local club. Hopefully, we can take a few steps that will be legal in HS and compatible with a future ST upgrade.

All input seems to indicate shocks and a rear sway are the top priority. [I don't think my '02 has a winter package to disable.]

What all have you done to yours within HS?
 
#23 ·
All input seems to indicate shocks and a rear sway are the top priority. [I don't think my '02 has a winter package to disable.]
That's a solid start.

Bills h stock setup is very good. And worth emulating.
 
#22 ·
All I have done, is GAZ shocks/struts. I threw in an H&R front sway when that's all you could do. I have a rear sway waiting to throw in, but I have to put the stock front one back in in order to do so as I'm still in HS for the remainder of the season. But I have been kinda putting that off. After the results of the last two weeks, I might be more motivated to do so. I'm running OZ Ultraleggera wheels (about 15.5 lbs each), which require machining 1 mm off the hub face to be HS legal. 225/40 Hoosier A6's mounted on them. And I just threw in an all aluminum Top Speed cat back exhaust to between the NT and Pro, mainly to shed weight. A K&N drop in filter, and that's pretty much it.
 
#24 ·
Yeah and get some nice sticky tires on the ride and you will be golden in H-Stock.

All that would be left to do after the shocks, rear sway and tires is practice, practice, practice.

-Ray-
 
#27 ·
I run the R1R 195/50/15 on my Miata, and it is an outstanding tire, and stays that way until they cord. You're right about the compound changing on the bigger tires, but they absolutely do not suck... they are still very nice tires, just not as nice as the "secret" compound. Personally i think the tire will be a perfect fit for the SVT (225/45/16 r1r) i can't wait until someone tries it out.
 
#28 ·
Copied from our local autox forum. Discuss. I for one think the pax should be atleast .800

From the desk of Mr. PAX, Rick Ruth:
My calculator and I have been following Andy Hollis (the other alien, Brian) around the country in STF. I've been paying attention to not only the competition he has (or does not have) in STF, but also the relevant competition in the related H Stock Open classes. Weight was given to any Minidrivers who were still or did previously run (and especially trophy) in the last SCCA Nationals in H Stock in these comparisons.From my desk, what I think I'm seeing, is that Andy's Mazda2 is NOT covering the "spread" of the .794 STF Pax Factor. In other words, it appears to me that it may indeed be too stiff, and may need to be lowered (like .788) next year to be statistically relevant.
 
#31 · (Edited)
Lowering the STF PAX doesn't make any sense... tracking Andy's results at Nationals is not the only baseline that should be followed. IMO there are better contenders than the Mazda2 in this class and it would be fun to see what Andy could do on another car...

Locally some people are yelling that STF is too soft, with my SVT being almost non-reachable in Street Touring, even by some well-prepped STX JCWs and last year's STR winner. I have PAXed top 3 overall out of between 60-100 drivers at almost all of 2 local championship events this year (around 10 events). I'm on my way to winning both Street Touring championships, maybe winning a club overall championship (with some luck, real position would have been 2nd), and ending 2nd overall in the other organization. I also won the ASN Canadian Autoslalom Championship by 0,5 secs in front of a crazy SM GC Subaru, a DS Type R with awesome drivers and a nice STR Miata.

Anyhow, I know that I wouldn't cut a top 20% at National level, with a fast DS JCW on Hoosiers PAXing within a sec in front of me and classing top 30 at Devens NE National event. This being said, maybe the STF index is not too far off... but should'nt be lowered.

If they lower the index to make the 2 more competitive, it could be considered to re-class some cars and keep ONLY the very low-powered FWDs in STF, and have a separate class for higher-powered non-LSD cars at maybe something between 0.800 and 0.810. Two fast drivers are running a 2002-gen Spec-V and a 2007 Civic Si locally and are always within 0,5 sec (in front or behind me), but STF PAX kills them. Only advantage with their cars IMO is the LSD, and they should'nt get a 0.030 higher PAX in STX. Usually I run the same raw times as prepped Coopers S's and new FR-S with good drivers on RS3s, 1.5 sec behind prepped John Cooper Works and within 2.5 sec of STU STI's.

With this increasing number of ST classes, I think that it could also be logical to re-organize them with the same structure as stock classes. Just sort all existing cars in A-B-C...-H street touring classes...

On my side I will be considering FSP next year if STF is made even softer, Street Touring competition would become hard to find... At some point leading your class and almost overall PAX, sometimes with runs with small mistakes that you know could have been better, is not more fun than fighting for a podium...

Oh, and that no-class-hopping rule this year is detracting... why not let play cars without OEM LSDs in STX if they want to? FSP is now the only option with a Quaife/Torsen in the SVT. We now have to choose to be over-competitive in STF or not even close to a contender in FSP.

Here's a video of my run at one of my last events :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJh5iEcn3KI&feature=share&list=ULMJh5iEcn3KI
 
#33 ·
What are the details on your car? Springs/Shocks/Swaybars if you don't mind sharing.

I think there is ZERO chance of them softening the STF PAX or adding ANOTHER ST* class for FWD cars.
 
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