Newbie with a few autocross questions

[Andy.B]

Super quick background: I ran one autocross with WNY-SCCA 3 years ago in a miata. Haven't made it back since. I still have that Miata, but I got an e30 as a winter car, and absolutely love it. Ran the first event of the season yesterday. I didn't know my class, so I told them my history and list of modifications, and they told me I would be running novice in street modified. Upon looking over the rules, I would have thought I should be in Street Touring.
I have been reading through the 2013 rulebook, but have been getting a little overwhelmed.

Results from the event can be found here. I am 'Byrne, Andrew' (ended up 4th in novice class).

Question 1: What class should I be in?!?
1987 325e coupe
modifications:
-front Sparco strut brace
-complete i exhaust
-custom intake (with heatshield and K&N cone filter)
-ebay special chip (I know, I know).
-ST m3 springs
-stock m3 CAB's

running on stock weaves with all season tires.

And the m3 CAB's are what they said put me in SM. I didn't embarrass myself among the novice class, but as far as SM goes, I was destroyed. Do I need to go back to stock offset bushings to get out of SM, or was I incorrectly classed? This is a daily driven eta, and I like to be in a class with comparably competitive cars. Either way, what do I do now?

Question 2: What else should I do to improve the car and stay in a reasonable class? What should I NOT do?
I have some parts collected that haven't made it on the car yet, but I am planning on installing be by the next session:
-new brembo rotors
-streettech pads
-kyb agx mr2 front shocks
-ie m3 drop link mounts and m3 droplinks (car is equipped with stock 20mm front sway)
15x7 wheels with used Toyo Proxes RA-1's (100 treadwear - Can I use these?)
Are there any other changes I should make (on a budget) before the next event?

Again, I am a total newbie at this. I was hoping there would be someone else there with an e30 that I could try and get some setup advice from, but there where no others. And I know there are a million threads out there with a million opinions on these cars. I am reading and reading and reading, but I would love to get some advice from you guys regarding what class I should be in, what to do if I got placed in the wrong class, and what I can do to make the most of what I've got.

[Gary Horneck]

Question 1 - I believe you should be in the ST class. In the rules 14.8 b says - Offset bushings may be used. The springs are also allowed in ST. That's where I would have put you after inspecting your car. Your only hope to be competitive would be go back to stock. ST class is tough with all the modern car tech the class cars have.

Question 2 - I ran in ST for my first year. I ran StarSpecs @195/60 and had a ball. Just try to drive the car to its limits and play with all the cool things the chassis will do when you ask it. I don't think there is anyway to trophy in ST with an E30, but its fun as hell trying. I changed steering racks, which pushed me into SM, so I changed all sorts of stuff since I can. SM is not where you want to go for awhile. Competing against FWD turbo cars on Hoosiers in SM is not easy. I gauge my progress through raw times anyhow. I would be in the bottom 1/3 for my first year, then last year I made it to the upper 1/3 of raw times. Just turning better raw times than a Elise, or Cayman with a 25 yr old BMW is good enough for me. Get a co-driver, then you have competition that is on a level field.

My 325e on its first AutoX in 2010.

[matthugie]

I think as long as the bushings are stock density you're fine for ST, but poly bushings would put you in SM. Avoid those, swapping racks, lightweight flywheel, and carbon fiber pieces and you'll stay out of SM. Oh, and motor swaps and boost will put you there too, but that's obvious. Brakes can be upgraded as long as you don't have rotors with aluminum rotor hats (like UUC's or Massive's BBK's).

As for the tires, I'd stay on street tires for at least a season. You need to learn your car and how to drive it before moving up to r comps as they can cover up bad driving habits. You'll learn more and be a better driver if you ease your way in.

Also, if it makes you feel any better I was also misclassed my first time out.

[Andy.B]

Question 1 - I believe you should be in the ST class. In the rules 14.8 b says - Offset bushings may be used. The springs are also allowed in ST. That's where I would have put you after inspecting your car. Your only hope to be competitive would be go back to stock. ST class is tough with all the modern car tech the class cars have.

I see what you mean about ST being a tough class. I don't have any illusions of victory, especially as a total novice. I just want to be sure I am getting classed properly. I daily drive the car, and would rather enjoy it every day with it modded according to ST class rules, than be stuck with it while complying with Stock class rules.

Question 2 - I ran in ST for my first year. I ran StarSpecs @195/60 and had a ball. Just try to drive the car to its limits and play with all the cool things the chassis will do when you ask it. I don't think there is anyway to trophy in ST with an E30, but its fun as hell trying. I changed steering racks, which pushed me into SM, so I changed all sorts of stuff since I can. SM is not where you want to go for awhile. Competing against FWD turbo cars on Hoosiers in SM is not easy. I gauge my progress through raw times anyhow. I would be in the bottom 1/3 for my first year, then last year I made it to the upper 1/3 of raw times. Just turning better raw times than a Elise, or Cayman with a 25 yr old BMW is good enough for me. Get a co-driver, then you have competition that is on a level field.

I would love to have a co-driver to compete against. I asked the GF, and a few friends (that I would trust with my car) to come, but no one took the offer.

I didn't find an instructor to coach me, and I wish I had. Next time I will definitely try harder to get some direction from people with experience.

[Andy.B]

I think as long as the bushings are stock density you're fine for ST, but poly bushings would put you in SM. Avoid those, swapping racks, lightweight flywheel, and carbon fiber pieces and you'll stay out of SM. Oh, and motor swaps and boost will put you there too, but that's obvious. Brakes can be upgraded as long as you don't have rotors with aluminum rotor hats (like UUC's or Massive's BBK's).

As for the tires, I'd stay on street tires for at least a season. You need to learn your car and how to drive it before moving up to r comps as they can cover up bad driving habits. You'll learn more and be a better driver if you ease your way in.

Also, if it makes you feel any better I was also misclassed my first time out.

The CAB's are stock m3 bushings, not poly. The brakes have more than enough bite to lock up with stock pads. The Street Tech pads should provide even more bite, so I am not planning on any more brake work.

I will take your advice on sticking to street tires. I felt myself thinking at certain points that I wished the tires had more grip, but I am certain I could do a much better job on transitions and positioning the car for the corner, and I should work on my technique before going crazy with tires.

[Nsquared97]

Your car is just fine for ST. The bushings are only an issue if you have the treehouse style, where there is significantly less bushing material in regards to metal. I would not put the RA-1s on, you'll get bumped to DSP/SM. And like metioned, it is a much better idea to learn a bit on street tires first, and IMO from there a good set of street tires (Rivals, ZII's, RS3's) that are much sticker but still allow you to stay in ST, would be a great choice. You can do a lot and stay in STX, while keeping the car very entertaining on the street.

[Andy.B]

Thank you guys for all the input. I will make sure I get classed properly at the next event in a month.

In the meantime I need to hope for some good weather to get the brakes and shocks done.

Am I correct in my interpretation of the rules that any sways and mounting points are allowed in Street Touring, or did I miss read that?

[Nsquared97]

"Bushing material, method of attachment, and locating points are unrestricted." I would say your are correct.

[brianpgriset]

Mods sound similar to mine and I was placed in STC.

[I8UR911]

Don't be fooled...e30's can be very competitive. Its a great chassis and with some skill, the right mods and in the right class CAN win. Your biggest let down is the eta motor. It'll be hard to "compete" using an eta. However you CAN swap an m20b25 with no ramifications. This will make you A LOT more competitive especially with the right diff (must use a production e30 LSD). Overall a very easy AND cheap swap, its the very best "mod" you could do to that car.

I placed 2nd in our "race class" last year with my e30 M50NV swap, gutted interior, springs and shocks, sways, camber kit, 3.25 LSD, chip and 15x8 TRM's with Hankook slicks.

Best mod is seat time. The Miata would be more competitive too if you want to win without spending lots of time and money on the e30.

Sent from my XT907 using Tapatalk 2

[Nsquared97]

Mods sound similar to mine and I was placed in STC.

Somebody must have messed up, E30's aren't allowed in STC. Supposed to be STX.

[GAbOS]

Just so there isnt any confusion. ;) Poly is allowed in ST. As Nsquared pointed out, you're not allowed to increase the amount of metal in the bushing from OE.

"Suspension bushings may be replaced with bushings of any materials
(except metal) as long as they fit in the original location. Offset
bushings may be used. In a replacement bushing, the amount of
metal relative to the amount of non-metallic material may not be increased.
This does not authorize a change in type of bushing (e.g.,
ball and socket replacing a cylindrical bushing) or use of a bushing
with an angled hole whose direction differs from that of the original
bushing."

[brianpgriset]

Somebody must have messed up, E30's aren't allowed in STC. Supposed to be STX.

Huh. Reading the rules looks like they just went by displacement and mods. Probably didn't know e30 chassis was specifically called out for STX.

Good to know.

[Nsquared97]

Huh. Reading the rules looks like they just went by displacement and mods. Probably didn't know e30 chassis was specifically called out for STX.

Good to know.

That's most likely the case. And, E30's were allowed in what used to be ST (before it was split into STC/STF), IF they had an open diff. That was changed a couple years ago (2?) so that could also be why they thought that.