fairladyz541

So, I have yet to do a road course, but since racing out here is almost done since its getting colder, I was looking for a project for the winter. I was going to give some road courses a try out here when spring comes around. I was woundering what would be a good setup. Just list all the parts you would recomande. I HAVE A GOOD AMOUNT OF MONEY FOR THIS PROJECT BUT NO ENOUGH FOR A BIG BRAKE UPGRADE, SINCE THAT MONEY IS GOING TO THE LSD.( damn just noticed the CAPS sorry but I dont feel like typing over again..... )

Thanks guys..........

tcengel

I thought you were selling the car?

JSC_Speed

So what is the "good amount" of money? Ballpark it for us.

But...you don't really have to do much of anything to make your car road track worthy.
Hawk HPS or HP+ pads up front. Hi-temp (Motul) brake fluid. Good tires. Go drive. Unless of course you're competing, but it doesn't sound like you are. That's what I did, and love every second of track time.

engifineer

Yeah, if you are just out for fun, you can just drive it. If you want to improve, I would suggest springs and a rear sway (if you are more serious a set of sways) and some good tires. The BBK would probably be absolutely last on my list. The tC has a pretty good braking system on its own. So for springs and rear sway plus a good set of tires you are looking at about $800 or so if you do the spring and rear sway install. That really makes a nice difference in handling on this car. I am running TRD springs and a TRD sway on the rear and it makes a very nice change to the car

HKSpeed

i want that kaminari cf or fiberglass hood.
big brake kits add more weight to the car

tekisui

I built mine for auto-x, so I know where you're coming from. For suspension, Id get a rear sway bar and coilovers first. That's really all you need, besides a decent set of tires. I recommend Hotchkis for the rear sway bar. You'll be AMAZED how big a difference it makes. I *believe* its the stiffest you can buy. It has 3 settings, and I run on the middle setting, which is something like 250% stiffer over stock. My coilovers made a big difference, but I'd say only about half as much as the sway bar. Body roll is really the tC's biggest enemy as far as handling.
You can look at my profile to see exactly what I've got. Be prepared to spend alot of time on your own fiddling with the coilovers, whatever brand you go with. They require some time to adjust them to where the car handles how you want but is still comfortable to drive daily.

engifineer

Considering "CF" hoods for this car are actually fiberglass overlayed with CF, they really have a tiny effect (I think 10 lbs or so) on the weight. So unless you really like the look of CF (which I dont) then they arent really going to help much in this department. Fiberglass hoods are even heavier than the part CF ones. Even if you could get a true all CF hood (spendy) you would probably only save about 20 lbs or so I am guessing.

I have the TRD rear sway, which I am happy with. Instantly noticed the difrerence in hard corners. I almost went with hotchkis, but going too stiff can induce nasty oversteer (some is good on an already "pushy" car like a FWD) and I want to keep more independence in the suspension for daily driving. If I end up switching to hotchkis I will go front and rear to balance it out. I think hotchkis even reccomends not going with thier rear alone most of the time. But it sounds like it is working well for tek.

I would say that bang for the buck handling wise, the sways have it hands down. The car does a great job with decent tires once you keep them planted well. Even the TRD on race setting made a world of difference. I have a "test curve" I use. 90 degree semi tight curve. Before the sway with the new Avons on I could go into it at 60, accellerate through it and come out at about between 65 - 70 mph. At that range the car would begin to push to the point that I had to modulate the throtttle and steering a bit to keep it in line. It was just on the verge of breaking loose. With the TRD rear sway on race I can enter that turn at 70 and pull through it easilly. The car stays much more balanced at the point of break away rather than going into bad push. I can imagine the stiffer sway or a front and rear sway would make it extremely nice.

fairladyz541

I was but instead I am moving out of my parents house and getting my own place. I think it is a better choice then selling the tC and starting all over again.....

Brakefade

Why don't you just race the tC just with your LSD, and keep the rest of the money around just in cast you break something while racing? A big part of road racing is to test your skill, and see how far you're willing to push. For wana be race car drivers the best improvements in lap times can usually be made by improving your skill and not your car.

But if you do still wana set up your car for a road course, I think it would be best add one mod every time you go to the circuit. You'll have more fun, and you'll actually know how each mod is helping you, instead of adding all your mods at once.

tcengel

If you want to race, stay with your parents as long as possible. This hobby gets expensive! Good luck though.

You've seen my car. I have the Megan coilovers with TRD rear sway and Potenza RE070's and the car is ready to go. The handling is better than my WRX was with springs and sways. For breaks, just change the pads and use a better fluid that won't boil after repeated use. They sell Motul at the local murrays and it works very well.

Keeshwah

I purchased the Hotchkis springs and sways. Only have the sways installed but they are the most amazing things ever. I have the front on the softest setting and the rear on the middle setting. Once I have the springs installed I'll probably put the back on the hardest setting (I used to ebrake every corner in the winter w/ my Camry so I love oversteer). With my set up right now the only problem I have is the tires. I can still induce understeer if I accelerate too quickly into a corner and the front tires break loose. Other than that I can hit a corner at pretty much any speed I want and the car will just slide around it at worst (obviously not very good for the tires).

As far as your intent for racing goes I was thinking like you for a while that a LSD would definitly help with something like auto-xing but ever since I heard ZPI was working on a 6-speed tranny I kind of think the money would be better spent on that. I haven't done a lot of racing so hopefully someone more experienced can chime in here. But anyways with the way the gearing is setup now the tC is begging for another gear. Right around 70-75, maybe 80 there should be another gear. Now you might not reach fast often enough to warrent the 6-speed tranny but if they tighten up some of the gearing a little bit (ahem 3rd *cough* *cough*) you would definitly get some more power when cornering if you're turning on rails.

CuRiOuSfIsH

IMO, if the car is going to top out at 12XMPH and stay at stock fuel cut, there is no need for a 6 speed tranny. You'll need to shift gears way too often. (if ZPI tightens up 1-5 and adds a 6th) As 5 speeds go, the gearing is pretty good for speed. I think the 6th gear is good for when cruising on the highway.
SCC mag's project tC has a BBK. They did tests and found it to be kind of useless. Braking distance didnt decrease much but the cooling affects were noticed. They said the EBFD kind of makes BBK not as useful.

CapeCodBlitzBlue

SUSPENSION, SUSPENSION, SUSPENSION!!

I installed TRD suspension, all around. Shcocks, Springs, Struts, Rear Sway. Added to that was a DC Sports Strut Bar. What a huge difference. Next come a set of tires and I'm gonna see what the racing scene is like out here.

Keeshwah

You're probably right, I just wish 3rd was tighter.

So how come this is in drivetrain & power? fairladyz541 are you looking for NA mods that would be good for racing or just whats good for racing in general??

fairladyz541

Some NA mods and also some suspension, but I cant post in both sections so I had to choose one.....

I have been looking at tons of parts and things that everyone has said to get. It looks like I need a good suspension setup and some brakes and tires.....