Took the P2H (Purple People Hauler) to its first AutoX today to get a baseline.

Man, does this bugger understeer. My other car is an S2000 so it's a pretty dramatic difference in dynamics. Acceleration isn't its strength so maintaining momentum and not scrubbing speed appear to be key. Slalom speed and agility were good -- if I trusted myself and the car more, I could have made up a lot more speed since there were two slalom sections in the course today.

Here's the video link:
Doing an open track day next month to get a feel for stock performance on the road course, then I'll decide what tweaks I want to start making ... besides more practice, of course. "Mod the driver, not the car" I keep telling myself ...

 

What tires you running?

 

They're General Altimax 205/45/16s ... not my pick; they were on the Mugen rims when I bought the car. So they're a bit wider and stickier than the base tires but I'm sure there's room for improvement there. Open to suggestions; I run RE11s on my S2K but I suspect there are some good lower cost options for the Fit.

Conceptually my plan is brakes, then tires, then suspension.

 

I run RE 11 s on my fit. i trust the car now.

 

tires tires TIRES



Depending on class, you have alot of options in 15"s albeit fewer in 16"s. Dunlop Star Specs, Advan Neovas, Kumho XS, and RE11 (pricey imho) just to ramble off some options. I've personally used 2 sets of XS', and i'm currently on my second set of Hankook RS-3s although i'm running an aggressive size (for STF) of 225/45/15.

For autocross, brakes are less important. I never noticed fade unless it was a brake-heavy course (rare) in the middle of Florida summer. If you're doing track days then yes, beef em up with some better pads and race fluid.

 

I have done quite a bit of work on my STF GD3 for auto x... been doing it for 4 years strong since 2008 and I run 225/45 RS3 in the front and 205/50 Toyo R1R in the rear seems to be the best set-up I have used so far.

I have used 195/55 Star Specs, and 205/50 AD08... but the combination on top is the best to reduce understeer and help rotate the car... If you're plan is road race might be a bit hairy with such a loose rear. I also have a progress rear sway bar and Skunk 2 Pro C's (corner balanced)...

Also with the big tires in the front I used to kill my front brake but I left foot brake a lot, I went with the Type R upgrade and Hawk HPS with drums in the back and i have had ZERO issues since then.

Good Luck out there !! and show them folks what a Fit can do

 

Glad to see more Fit's out there doing AutoX!!!

I agree with every one above, tires and then suspension is where you will see the biggest improvements. Killing all of that factory understeer was my main mission and I feel fairly confident that I have done so.

I am actually also running big (225/45 15) RS3's and am looking into replacing my OEM brakes after 65+K. Seems to be the consensus on here is stainless lines, HPS pads, upgraded fluid and simple blank rotors. Hope to have that done for my first real track day in Oct

 

RSB FTW. And watch out for tyre selection vs scca class. just outlawed hankook rs3 and toyo r1r in new Road Tire class. Still ok in STF.

 

I'll do the brakes to support track days -- got a baseline test coming up in a couple of weeks on the track. I do like the RE11s on my S2k but I agree -- they're too pricey for the Fit.

I'm thinking of picking up the new tires in 15x7 to stay consistent with B-spec requirements. Any thoughts on that vice 16s or the wider tires?

 

Unfit may convince me to put the Cusco RSB on to match my beefy blue Cusco bar up front

Also, going to try some Ferodo DS2500 pads this time around... not happy with the bite of the HPS. I'll report back in the discussion thread with my impressions

edit: I had hankook Z214s (c71 soft) on some 15x7 wheels... loved the feel of that setup. Never felt like I was struggling for grip, and it seemed to pair well with my suspension setup. Not too unforgiving yet not too soft, as far as breakaway. Measured 1.2G spikes and 1.15G through constant radius corners