Street Touring Hatchback (STH) discussion/setup

[xXDavidCXx]

I’d like to start an STH-specific discussion to help new/experienced drivers navigate the class, together.

About me.

I’ve autocrossed for 20+ years starting with a 95' Civic Si, 02' Civic Si, 04' Honda S2000, 08 Golf R32, and now my 17’ GTI SE DSG.

Current (as of 2 April 23)
setup:
17x9" ET42 APEX VS-5RS Forged VW/Audi Wheel
255/40-17 RE-71RS
Ground Control V2 strut camber plate here
Ohlins Road & Track shocks
Custom front/rear springs (650/1000 in/lbs)
Hotchkis front bar with 034 adjustable end-links
034 adjustable rear bar (25.4mm) with adjustable Verkline end-links
Powerflex adjustable front lower offset bushing race/black
SPC adjustable rear upper arm
APR MQB Intercooler
Turner racing universal catch can
Schroth QuickFit 4 point harness
Simpson Hybrid S head and neck restraint
APR+ ECU & DSG tune
Traction/stability control long press coded off w/ OBDeleven
X-Force cat-back exhaust with varex muffler
OEM intake -snow guard + intake block off on passenger side + holes drilled on driver side + aFe Magnum FLOW Pro DRY S Air Filter
Audi RS3 brake ducts
Aggressive autocross alignment

I recently moved to AZ so now I'm driging on asphalt.

Important threads

Anyone have experience with updated Ohlins road and track kit?

suspension choices analyzed should I upgrade springs sway bars or both and more

Suspension modeling

Street Touring Hatchback (STH) discussion/setup

Ultimate Suspension Thread

Autocross to Win (DGs Autocross Secrets) - ATW Home Page (farnorthracing.com)

 

[RacingManiac]

DSG or MT? Shocks?

 

[xXDavidCXx]

Edit shows DSG, stock shocks. I don’t want to deal with removing the rear shocks to adjust, so I will hold off on shocks for this year.

Also, I’ve read through your threads and appreciate the info you’ve provided to the community.

Did you sell your GTI and all your racing parts?

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[RacingManiac]

yeah I sold my car to another autoXer locally with everything...

STH won't limit you to the shitty Koni like I have, but obviously fancier shocks means fancier money....lol

 

[sean.mason.75873]

I went down the ST Rabbit hole 3 times now.

05 STI, full prep, car was fast and fun, but terrible DD.

08 STI, rear sway, camber plates, DP, tune, and wheels tires. Was still fast, but a great DD.

15 Miata Club, full prep, again, terrible DD.

I'm trying to stay in GS with the 19 Rabbit, but it would be such good DD with a tune, DP, rear sway, camber plates, wheels and tires. The question is would it be good on course. My guess is yes.

It's a pax wagon in GS though and I run in a Pro class that uses pax so I don't want to shoot myself in the foot.

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[RacingManiac]

I think GS is still the best place for the car, but STH might not be terrible from a competitive stand point, but the DD aspect can suffer. The class is not that serious business nationally but I think you still need a dialed in car for it. STH PAX I think is still relatively soft also...

 

[sean.mason.75873]

I think GS is still the best place for the car, but STH might not be terrible from a competitive stand point, but the DD aspect can suffer. The class is not that serious business nationally but I think you still need a dialed in car for it. STH PAX I think is still relatively soft also...

Agree. If VW can get the 2019 ecu map figured out, I'll just stay GS.

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[RacingManiac]

Edit shows DSG, stock shocks. I don’t want to deal with removing the rear shocks to adjust, so I will hold off on shocks for this year.

FYI these exists now that they didn't used to be when I started:

http://www.tcklineracing.com/webdocs/Items/Details1179.cfm

Basically similar to what I sent mine to ProParts to do except I only had single adjustable rebound. You can make a tool for this so you can adjust the rebound(on the rod) without removing the shock if you cut the wheel liners.

 

[xXDavidCXx]

I was able to fit 18x9s on all 4 corners with 265/35/18 RE71-Rs.

Wheels are Avant Garde M310 ET48.

The fronts have a 1 mm spacer but they still rub the inner liner at full lock.

The left rear didn’t need a spacer but the filler neck on the passenger rear forced me to use a 5mm spacer and It still didn’t fit until after my alignment guy set the rear camber to -.5.

I also found the front camber .5 degs off from left to right after installing the 034 upper spring perch. Not sure why that is.




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[xXDavidCXx]

I was 6/6 drivers in STH, on a unknown setup. The car handled well, but had too much oversteer at the limit.

Made some changes for day 2.

-Removed the 034 rear bar and put the stock rear bar back on.

-fitted 5mm spacers (4mm increase) up front for more inner fender liner clearance.

-fitted 10mm spacer on the rear (5mm increase) to increase track width and reduce load transfer, hopefully to increase rear grip.

Front tire

Rear tire

Camera/cone clearance for body roll camera.


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[xXDavidCXx]

Ended up removing a link on the rear bar to gain rear traction, with some success.

Stayed in 6th place.

I probably won’t autocross much more this year, and I hope to try next season with new tires and supporting mods.


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[xXDavidCXx]

Here are the videos from the recent event.

https://youtu.be/MHy9TH_tK9U

https://youtu.be/j_2lx-g5bKg

Also, I found out that the waiting list for Nationals was empty and decided to register.

Then I convinced my wife to get new tires and a front sway bar!

I have one more event and the test-n-tune course at Nationals to get the new parts dialed in.


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[CFB_GTA]

FWIW, our local scca equivalent series just had a 2019 rabbit win the series in GS. Mods were an 034 rear sway with endlinks and 235 re71rs on stock 18" rim's.

Our competition isn't like the states, but I imagine GS can outpax STR in nationals, depending on the course.

 

[RacingManiac]

Interesting on the car being loose, what is your alignment like? I think we settled on the GS car with something like 1.25 or something rear camber(0 toe) and it seems to calm the car down a bit with the big rear bar. But I would not say it was really loose ever. You also don't have anything to lower the car, maybe the extra front camber made it gain more front bit than what's possible over the GS setup.

 

[sean.mason.75873]

Interesting on the car being loose, what is your alignment like? I think we settled on the GS car with something like 1.25 or something rear camber(0 toe) and it seems to calm the car down a bit with the big rear bar. But I would not say it was really loose ever. You also don't have anything to lower the car, maybe the extra front camber made it gain more front bit than what's possible over the GS setup.

My GS car with a little toe out in front is crazy loose with zero rear toe and a 26mm rear bar, even at -1.8 camber. Had to run 6 psi lower in the rear.

I can't imagine the front toe would upset balance that much.

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