Just like Mugen Mojo, I autocrossed my bone-stock Fit Sport MT two weeks after I bought it. Massive understeer, excessive body roll and sidewall flex from the OEM Dunlop all-season tires all made for an unenjoyable experience.
Fast forward four weeks to today's SD Region practice day at Qualcomm Stadium. Since H-Stock was too restrictive in terms of mods, I decided to set up for STS instead. The mods and setup on the last of twelve runs were as follows:
Skunk2 Pro-C Coilovers (lowered 1" rear, 1 1/8" Front, dampers set full stiff rear and fuill soft front)
Progress rear swaybar
Konig Heliums 15 x 6.5"
Bridgestone RE-01R tires 195/50-15 (35psi cold all around)
Hawk HPS Acura RSX Base-Model front brake pads
Motul RBF 600 brake fluid
The good news is that much (but not all) of the understeer, body roll, and sidewall flex are gone with this setup. In fact, once the front tires get up to temperature, the turn-in on corner entry is ALMOST neutral and the rear can actually be pitched slightly sideways to better set up for a corner.
Now for the bad news. First, the car is most likely underpowered for STS. The fast guy locally in STS here is in a 2.5L '01 Impreza RS, and over a 60-second course, there was a 2-second gap. Perhaps on a shorter course that is less horsepewer-dependent, the gap may be smaller, but the Fit's lack of low-end torque is still a liability. Second, as I mentioned earlier, the understeer becomes less as the front tire temps increase relative to the rears. The only problem is that it takes several runs before the tires get up to temp. Normally here we get three runs during a race day, but the tires didn't come in until the fourth run.
Others here have run over 40psi cold in the rears, which would decrease rear grip relative to the front. What I want to do is increase front grip without decreasing grip in the rear. In particular, I need the front tires to heat up quicker. This is my first time running a FWD car, so I'd appreciate any suggestions.
Linear Mode
