Interesting GRM Article

[SentraWV]

To me, anyway. The October issue of GRM's cover story is "10 tips for better handling." It doesn't cover any issues/tricks that we already know about, but I'm a bit surprised at what works well and what doesn't.

They took a WRX wagon, started dead stock, and added a series of tweaks, measuring the improvement in lap times. Here's the 10 things and how well they worked:

Tweak (Secs improvment)
Air pressure (-0.756)
Alignment (-0.404)
+size wheels (+0.082)
Tire upgrade (-0.989)
Sway bars (-0.520)
More camber (-0.062)
Struts/springs (-0.056)
Wider tires (-0.456)
Strut bars (+0.044)

No surprise how important tires were. I'm surprised by how little improvement the struts and springs (Koni yellow + Eibach ProKits) made, tho'.

Thoughts?

[evilnissan]

This is why I love stock classes so much, just tires and go.

[Random_WRX]

i think the struts/springs would have helped more if it was done before the sways instead of the other way around.

[Nathan]

Depends a lot on the car. Some of use have stock springs and shocks that aren't exactly WRX quality. And that's not saying much, lol. Subarus.

[Jason V]

I could go on and on but in a nut... the shocks and springs made the car more predictable... that goes a long long way.. the change would have made a BIG difference if it were a more race oriented setup... off the shelf "street" springs are only a bit stiffer than stock (30/40%)

[Hillbilly]

When I won SM my car had a big rear bar with stock struts and springs along with 225 R-comps as opposed to 205 z-rated streets. The big rear bar changed the balance and along with added grip I could basically do what I wanted with the car. Adding springs and struts just made it easier to drive.

[ShortysTRM]

Thanks for posting that, Jon.