Minor mods

[tnord]

Well, i've pretty much made up my mind, no more mods for the 240.  I know i've only got springs and shocks, but if i do anything else major i'll get bumped up race classes which requires harnesses and by the time i'd do enough to stay competitive i'd be in it for around 1200.  So i'm going to start saving up for a real race car.  But of course i can't avoid tinkering with the 240 so i'm looking for some help.  Do you guys know of anything minor that will help my performance?  Such as synthetic tranny oil, plugs, wires, etc. Thanks in advance.

[sykikchimp]

I hear Redline makes some really good products, ie, Engine oil, tranny oil, differential fluid, Water Wetter.. I have heard raves about all of them, but I've never used them personally.
Also I hear Denso iridium  Spark plugs are good..

I know, I know..  a lot of hearsay.. but its at least a start.

[NoTuchn]

i hear bosch platinum spark plugs work wonders, i have some but i havent put em in my car yet... ill tell you what i think asap.

[HippoSleek]

:confused: I'm confused :confused:

What kind of racing are you involved in?  I saw "DS" in your signature and assumed Solo I or II D-Stock (which is different that the 240's running ES here which was confusing enough).  But now you are talking about harnesses?  

I've never heard of an organization that requires harnesses, but no cage.  I know of no organization that requires a cage for autox.  I know of several organizations that require a cage, but there is no way you could run your car w/o one ever (no matter what other mods you lack).

Before we go any futher, please enlighten me on what type of racing and what sanctioning body we are talking about.  :confused:

[tnord]

i can see how you are confused........if you look on my signature it says "Midwestern Council of Sports Car Clubs" that is the sanctioning body i run with. They are a chicago based organization that along with the typical parking lot autocrosses, they also run a high speed autox series (similar to solo I in SCCA).  All cars are placed into categories just as in SCCA; X A B C D E F G. With Council there are four sub groups depending on how well you're car is prepared, S for basically stock vehicles, M for somewhat modified, P for well prepared cars, and R for race cars. If any car is modified to the extent that it leaves the stock class, harnesses are required. I don't think cages are required until you get into the race group. If you fall into the X class (really fast cars like the 3rd gen rx-7 and ZR-1) then harnesses are required from the beginning i belienve. Tracks that council run at include Road America, Blackhawk Farms, Gingerman, Grattan, and Brainerd. We are trying to expand to others as well. Feel free to ask any question and i will answer it to the best of my ability.

[AceInHole]

I've always been told running a harness without a cage is dangerous......

[Azarael]

Just as dangerous as seatbelts <img src="http://www.zilvia.net/f/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/tounge.gif" border="0" valign="absmiddle" alt=':p'>

[240meowth]

i'm currently using bosch platnum +4, it's working fine for me, but i was told platnum reduces your performance to gain lifetime. &nbsp;platnum will last for a long time. &nbsp;i'm lucky that red line has a distribuator about 6 cities down frome me (yah, i know pretty gay) i'm putting in redline's water wetter in soon. &nbsp;it clamins to let you run 20 degrees F cooler, and it is not as thick as regular coolant, thus freeing up power that are used to operate the radiator pump. (i'm pretty sure it's insignificant) but it keeps your radiator clean. &nbsp;

i've heard redline tested a BMW M3, chaing all the oil (engine, gear, differential, etc) to redline, and it gained about 5-6 hp to the wheels, pretty exciting if you ask me. &nbsp;but the thing is, those mofos cost you like 8-10 dollars per qrt.

iridium plugs do work, from what i heard, but only in high performance cars. &nbsp;i heard that the furthur the gap is on the park plug, you gain more hp from this plug. &nbsp;So, aftermarket ignition gismo is recomanded.

my 2 cents

[HippoSleek]

</span><table border="0" align="center" width="95%" cellpadding="3" cellspacing="1"><tr><td>Quote </td></tr><tr><td id="QUOTE">Quote: from AceInHole on 10:50 am on Jan. 9, 2002
I've always been told running a harness without a cage is dangerous......
</td></tr></table><span id='postcolor'>

Travis - that's my reasoning. &nbsp;I've seen a guy get cut out of a car using a harness w/o rollover protection! &nbsp;NOT something you want to see. &nbsp;The problem is you get trapped upright with only your head to hold up the car. &nbsp;W/ a shoulder belt, you will slide to the side. &nbsp;IIRC, SCCA, NASA, and most open track groups won't let you run w/ a harness and no cage (maybe in a parking lot autox, but that's it). &nbsp;That's F'N nuts!!

Also, your class structure is really odd, to me. &nbsp;The basic SCCA classing is more natural to me - springs usually put you in a class that will allow some basic bolt on upgrades (I/H/E) to go w/ the improved handling. &nbsp;That is really odd to me that you can't have those, but you can get springs. &nbsp;Oh well - I looked at the wesite for the organization... for the &quot;high speed autoxes,&quot; do you run on a go-kart track or something? &nbsp;I've heard about that from people in PA.

In any event, I couldn't find the rule book anywhere, so I can't really think of any good ideas for you. &nbsp;Try searching for &quot;free mods&quot; or something like that to see stuff about timing adjustments and the like.

[tnord]

i'll have to break out the rulebook and read more on the harness/rollbar stuff

as far as our class structure goes, you are allowed 0-2pts in stock class, 3-7pts for modified, 8-14 for prepared, and 15+ is considered race, some examples of how modifications are evaluated are as follows
replacement springs:2pts (this is how i'm still stock)
sway bars: 2pts (1pt for each front and rear)
CAI:1pt
cat back:1pt
larger or addition of intercooler: 3pt
larger or addition of turbo/supercharger: 4pts???
i could go on, but this gives you an idea

as far as the tracks go, these are real race tracks, just take a look at their websites, about 2-3 miles in length, technical enough to test your skill, long enough to really open it up

if you have any other questions about Council, i'd be happy to answer them to the best of my ability

[bing]

as for fluids, i did a full synthetic oil change and i can now chirp the tires, my clutch i going so i couldnt before, that enough to sell me, no more non-synthetic oil for my boy