For those of you that have already had the pleasure of taking your Fit around the cones you can understand the excitement that I'm about to describe. And for those of you that have not... what are you waiting for?

It was Sunday December the 2nd and I showed up early to get a few ride-a-long's before I started in on the afternoon session. I was welcomed by drivers of all types. This one guy in a fox body mustang that looked to have about $100,000 thrown into it looked at me and said "I like your car". I replied back "you've spent gobs of money on your mustang and you like MY car?" He said that he drives an accord everyday and would have bought the Fit but they didn't have one in a five speed when he was ready to buy. It was a nice feeling to be the only one with a Fit in the bracket that day. I think it was the first one to compete with these guys since most of them asked to ride along with me to see how she handled. I got a lot of complements on the color as well. Not too many Blackberry Pearl's in the SCCA.



So I competed in the STF class. From what I'm told this is a Houston only class and it is not strict on the modifications you can do to your car. I came in second place with a time of 60.332. The guy who beat me won by 1.2 seconds. He's been going out there for six months now. And considering this to be my first time. I don't think I did that bad. Here is the link to the results --> http://houscca.com/solo/results07/07REG12R.TXT I must say, there were only two of us in this class so you can say I came in second or I came in last. But I prefer to say second.

Best time of my life. "Don't tell my wife I said that!" I plan on going every month from here on out so I'll get you updated on my progress and hope to become the STF Champion for 2008!!



This is the guy that beat me.



Happy Motoring!

 

nice you got 2nd place! how are your tires now?

 

Tha loooks so fun! I need to get into AutoX! How do you find a place/group to do it?
Also why is your Lip taped, is there a reason?
Thanks!

 

My tires are still in good shape. They only let us run four laps. My tire pressure was at 35psi all the way around. The instructor said that was good enough from riding on the wall. Next time I'm going to increase my pressure in the back up to 40. A few guys I talked to after the race told me that would improve my handling.

On Jan. 5th I'm going to work the run off's in the morning and then everyone who worked will get to race 15 laps around the track. So the next day is Sunday and that's when the time's count. So I'll have plenty of practice and just might be a little more competitive!

If you would like to find a place to go race check out SCCA.com and click "find your region."

 

Oh yeah, the tape is to keep the rocks from chipping up my brand new car! You should have seen some of the Lotus' and BMW's. Those guys used up a sh!t load of tape.

 

rock out. i can't wait till my region gets back into the season. i bet the fit only needs some good tire to be pretty fast, maybe a rear bar.

 

I'm assuming "STF" is a "street tire" class. This typically allows quite a few mods (that Civic that beat you looks lowered). I'm just curious why you didn't compete in a "stock" class instead. You might have been more competitive there, and it allows you to run a racing-compound tire. Is it because you plan to do a bunch of mods to your car?

 

I plan on doing a few things to stay competitive. I want to focus on weight reduction. Carbon fibre hood and some nice wheels and tires after I lower the ride height.

 

I got to compete again last weekend and I came in 1st place! I only had one other person in my class but it was a Mini Cooper so I guess you can say that the Honda Fit can hold it's own. Here are the results... http://houscca.com/solo/results07/08REG01B.TXT

 

Was it the same course for every class?

If so you beat a 06 civic si by more than 1 second

 

Yes it was the same course and he did not like seeing that when we were checking the times for everyone after Heat 2. I tried to be humble about it, but I don't think I did too good of a job on that.

 

good stuff keep it up!

 

Cool. Not too many Blackberry Pearls at all, let alone in SCCA Mine is one of two BP's I've seen locally.

How do you like the feel of the car at its limits? Stable or slightly top-heavy? Neutral or a little understeer? Also, how is the steering? Do you always have assist or does it get confused sometimes, being electric?

I've done little more than 'misbehave' in mine on the street. I don't have 900 miles on it yet and I want to break it in right.

But I might autoX it just for the hell of it.

 

Goodwork.

STF is likely Street Touring F class which is only for your local area.
STA or STB is for higher powered cars and F for lower power cars.

Normally Street Touring for the Fit is STS but there are also Street Touring X, U and other classes for two door models.

What are your modifications so far on your Fit Sport? Normally if you have a completely stock car you can run in either H-stock or in STS. H-stock doesn't allow for much modding except for any Cat back exhaust and any front swaybar, but you can use stock sized rims and R compound tires like Kumho V710 205/50-15. STF likely allows for some mods but street tires rated 140 treadwear or more.

If you look at the H-stock competition it's pretty tough in your area. If you look at G-stock you can see how the experienced MINI drivers with R compound tires did. Also very competitive.

As you gain experience you'll improve, keep at it. Try to walk the course as much as possible before your runs and practice as much as possible to get to know your car well.

 

I bought the car for the sole purpose of AutoX. I have lots of plans for it in the very near future so I jumped right in STF. The other classes you mentioned have very stiff competition. STF has very little. There are only three of us that run in that class. The guy in the Civic who beat me in December (Ryan) and the guy in the Mini (Jeremy).

The car handles much better than I had expected. The understeer is a bit much. But I have not noticed any struggle in the steering. The only modifications I have done as of now are the 16" Konig Heliums and the Progress rear sway that I will be getting in this week.

 

Once again I take first place for the STF class! I ran well with the new progress drop springs and rear sway. I have wheel rub like you wouldn't belive but I plan on getting rid of the 16" wheels soon.
Looking forward to the trainning class on March 29th. A lot more seat time for the money.
http://houscca.com/solo/results07/08REG02B.TXT

 

Hey, you beat a Mini Cooper by nearly a full second. That's awesome. Was that a Cooper S or the base model? What were his mods?

I also noticed your time would have put you in 3rd in H Stock (forgetting your mods for the moment), ahead of a whole gang of Mazda 3s.

 

The cooper is base with good tires and no other mods. The Cooper S would be in a whole different class. But the driver has been out there seven times total. This was my third time to compete.

 

nice.
im thinking about starting auto-x. i do a lot of canyon runs around here with all the forums. but havnt gotten around to auto-x.

im guess im just waiting to get the 15x7 rpf1 track wheels first.
and some sway bars before i enter. just so i can at least hold my own.

great results man.

 

You should think about those mods and where you want to compete before you spend the money. Stock class autocross requires wheels the same dimension as stock (15x6 for a Fit Sport), and no rear swaybar is allowed. But you can add any front swaybar you want and any aftermarket shocks/struts. Wider wheels and a rear bar will bump you up a class, to Street Touring or Street Tire, probably. The Fit is unlikely to be competitive -- but it would still be fun!

Mojo: Was that Cooper running street tires or R-compounds? And what kind/size of tires are you running?