October 11, 200916 yr I'm setting up my RX for autocross my goals are ambitious but I think achievable. My goal is to win either Street Mod or F Street Prepared. I will need a balance of power, grip, and lightness for the car to be capable of this. I will also need to tune up the driver so I can drive the car to it's maximum. What I'm starting with is JWX's old RX it has the suspension used for the GRM challenge so it's stiff enough but in my opinion underdamped. It also has a set of custom camber plates giving -1.5 deg of camber. The car was generously delivered with 2 sets of premium 13" wheels and a set of Enkie 13x5.5 8 spokes. Also enough tires to fit all of the wheels with leftovers. The engine is a more or less stock EA82t with just a BOV and a TWE down pipe. I have already purchased an intercooler and built a boost controller. I'm planning to add a 2.5inch exhaust to complement the TWE down pipe. Inside I will be adding a harness bar for a 5 point harness and at some point a proper racing seat. Edited October 11, 200916 yr by vagen
October 12, 200916 yr sounds nice man, got some piccys? im really interested in the custom camber plates, got some piccys of that as well? and any info of where they came from etc?
October 13, 200916 yr Author I'll try to take some pics tomorrow since I'll be installing the exhaust then
October 13, 200916 yr IIRC, JWXs car (possibly formerly WJMs?) just had standard EJ camber plates in it. I know they would fit, but the orientation would be a bit different (not bad, would allow compound adjustment of camber and caster....).
October 13, 200916 yr You didn't mention at what level you were planning on competing on... Local, regional, national. In my opinion, you could build an RX to be a great local/regional racecar, but unless you are an unholy awesome driver, you won't get far with this platform. This chassis is old, unloved and underdeveloped. Most of the mods you would be doing would be homebrewed. There really aren't any "bolt-on" mods. That being said, if you're just doing this for the love of Fuji, it would be a fun build and would surely entertain everyone here. Just want to let you know the realities of competing with an unloved, obsolete car. I've done one autocross event in my '84 GL turbo wagon (countless events in WRXs and STis) and there were a lot of things I would want to change. Let me know if you have any setup questions.
October 13, 200916 yr Author I am more concerned with power in this car than the suspension. This car has has many years of autocross development by both JWX and Pleiades, both are well versed in Suby autocross Pleiades especially. The spring and sway bar choices on this car were made with an experienced eye the only issue I see is the shocks are Subaru and worn out. I am researching front shocks at the moment and I'm leaning toward swapping a set of KYB AGX for a 95 Galant and in the back AGX Miata rears. this has just one draw back the springs currently on the car won't fit due to different perches on the struts. I am looking at a coil over system but the spring rates will have to be re developed. Because of these issues I will run a season on Subaru struts. I am building this car for local/regional autocross with the possibility of going to a national level. I am an experienced autocross competitor, I have been till this point had either underpowered or over weight cars. My 2003 Saturn LW200 was used extensively and had some success winning its class in one event and placing top 3 in the rest. I will not say I'm a national level driver because I have not been to nationals. That may change with this car. I have been looking at WRX and legacy suspensions at the wreckers and I really don't see a ton of difference between them and the 80s in front in back well that's a different story but I don't see it as vastly superior. I guess time will tell and if I can fix the nut behind the wheel this car might be a national level car. Edited October 13, 200916 yr by vagen
October 13, 200916 yr I wasn't trying to dissuade you from this project and I'm willing to lend as much knowledge as possible, as well as stealing any data that can be applied to my wagon. Do you have any pictures of the car to share?
October 13, 200916 yr Author here is the car this is the TWE down pipe today I replaced this with this For those who want to see my camber plates here they are as you can clearly see they are not adjustable Edited October 13, 200916 yr by vagen
October 14, 200916 yr huh...cool plates! WJM had a set of EJ adjustable ones on his white RX that I thought he sold to JWX....but I could be wrong. it's been while. also loving the roof scoop....looks like a WRX hood scoop
October 14, 200916 yr Author JWX has another white RX with adjustable camber plates and many other mods the hood scoop appears to me to be a stick on aftermarket piece that has had the adhesive die. I will be replacing it and perhaps the whole hood so I can relocate the opening for the scoop slightly. Edited October 14, 200916 yr by vagen
October 16, 200916 yr Author I took the car to an autocross tonight I placed 6th in raw time over all and was 2nd fastest for several hours. the fastest car tonight ran a 28.3 second run I ran a 29.7. For the first half of the event the fastest car was 28.7 and no one was any closer than my time. This is quite literally the first time I have driven this car in anger and WOW it's quick. Edited October 16, 200916 yr by vagen
October 16, 200916 yr Author I think intercooler is going to be first then more boost finally a TD04.
October 16, 200916 yr Author I just installed the boost control and I had it adjusted wrong but wow 25 psi is strong!!!!! I backed it off to 11psi
October 17, 200916 yr Author I started the install of my intercooler and with the bracket to keep it solid I need to cut the pipes to hook it up and add the fittings to hook up IAC and BOV
October 18, 200916 yr can you post a close up of the roof scoop? very cool car, appreciate the pics and the race story and comments to go with them
October 18, 200916 yr Author the roof scoop? its just a stick on scoop and it doesn't do anything other than ruin aerodynamics. In fact I'm removing it. Edited October 18, 200916 yr by vagen
October 18, 200916 yr Author here is a short video of my RX exhaust Edited October 18, 200916 yr by vagen
October 18, 200916 yr the roof scoop? its just a stick on scoop and it doesn't do anything other than ruin aerodynamics. In fact I'm removing it. ah. thought someone had made some kind of interior vent or something else that was functional rock on (btw exhaust link is broken)
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