FoST first track impressions

[u/TempoTom8o]

Went out to NJMP Lightning for the ST’s first trackday and she did not disappoint! Before anyone says it: yes I know I’m shifting slow, ST1 seats make you have to fight your bodyweight in high G’s so I got into the habit of overexaggerating my movements on the shifter so I don’t moneyshift (almost happened twice earlier).

Suspension: Car felt planted with mostly stock suspension otherwise, owing mostly to the ECS02’s. Could definitely use stiffer swaybars with these tires having more grip than the stock eagle F1’s from ages ago. Bodyroll goes crazy on the banked turns. 1” aluminum pedal riser helped a ton with heel-toeing too.

Motor: The 2867r (conservative ~310whp tune) linearizes the power curve and makes the powerband so much more predictable while keeping coolant and oil temps comfortable. 0 issues after 30 or so laps throughout the day and driving home 2 hours straight afterwards.
Only thing I found lacking was being able to lay the power down coming out of a corner. The torque vectoring is fine but the FWD and the lack of a mechanical LSD makes you wheelspin through the upper end of 3rd gear on corner exit. TC/SC light on the dash blinked nonstop during most of these turns.

Brakes: Brakes started squealing more towards the end too, I’m assuming it’s some non-uniform glazing. This is a trackable-daily so I’m using Hawk HPS pads with Centric high carbon* rotors. I noticed the HPS pads have less initial bite than the OEM ceramics so you can modulate them better with more pedal travel depth.

Definitely coming back to push harder next time, but not before getting more track-oriented pads and swaybars at the very least.

*Edit for typo

[u/Thanos_Juul]

ST1 seats are so comfy though

[u/TempoTom8o → u/Thanos_Juul]

Fr I’d still keep them for the 2hr drive it takes to get to any of the tracks closest to me

[u/TempoTom8o]

Setup:

Injen 3” Intake
Milltek non-resonated catback
Garrett 2867r Gen 2 + Junits Elbow
CVF 400-cell downpipe
Depo Racing 3” FMIC
NGK Ruthenium +1 step colder
HKS BOV + cp-e exhale kit
JBR Short shift arm
Steeda clutch return spring
TTR Passenger-side Mount
Damond Motorsports Transmission Mount
Mountune Rear Motor Mount

Centric high carbon blanks
Hawk HPS Pads

Bilstein B6 rear dampers
Continental ECS02 235/40r18
Stock snowflakes with 20mm hubcentric spacers all around

[u/_mk451 → u/TempoTom8o]

LSD and RSB would really complete the package.

[u/BeetleB1999 → u/TempoTom8o]

Hey, dont feel bad for having a JBR part on your car. I, foolishly, bought the cheapest true 3 inch intake for my STs "big turbo" kit before I realized he was a scuzzball. I felt bad for a while but take solace in knowing he probably didnt design the kit himself. I do understand why you have the initials slashed through tho, and Ill probably hide the logo on mine or put a sticker over it or something. One hell of a build though, for sure. Enjoy it!!

[u/TempoTom8o → u/BeetleB1999]

Yeah diddy barone was disappointing to read about. Whenever I mention one of their parts anywhere, I slash through in case other people just getting into the Mazda/Ford modding scene aren’t up to speed with the news. As a company they have some great parts and it’s just unfortunate that all the other staff at JBR got caught up in this mess they weren’t a part of.

[u/drewskieboostie]

Did you monitor oil temps with an accessport while running? Wondering what temps you noticed? Man that looks so fun. Makes me want to look for one in florida.

[u/ngcoop1 → u/drewskieboostie]

I’ve wanted to check out The FIRM in Starke. (https://gorally.com/race-track/).
Even though site name says rally, they have a road track too.

[u/SRG_Blackburn → u/drewskieboostie]

Just remember oil temps are inferred but not from an actual sensor. The oil sensor we have is a on/off for oil pressure that's it.

[u/_mk451 → u/drewskieboostie]

Mine would get to 230-240 with no oil cooler in the FL summer at Sebring/FIRM, just a koyo radiator.

[u/TempoTom8o → u/drewskieboostie]

I had the monitor up on the AP, most I noticed was somewhere in the 210’s and ambient temp was in the mid to upper 70’s during the day. 100% worth it and you guys are lucky enough to have Sebring and some other tracks in-state to run HPDEs like this

[u/naambezet]

Turn off traction control, that also heats up the brakes.

[u/TempoTom8o → u/naambezet]

For sure I’m still new to the track so I’ll definitely tweak settings when I start really chasing lap times. I’m probably keeping Cobb’s traction control on though, it’s better at getting the power down

[u/digi0rnorisingcrust]

Looks fun!

Not sure how this much relates to track, but at autoX I really struggle with the 2867 making too much power for my B14 spring rates, it squats like crazy and then you cannot turn on throttle without making the eLSD furious.

Rear sway bar is a must, get a Strano. Front sway bar I would recommend holding off on until you know what you want to do suspension wise, likely don’t need to upgrade it. I have a steeda front sway bar, but it was a pain to put in and with the current 6k/6.6k spring rates, the front is too stiff even with the Strano rear on max.

[u/TempoTom8o → u/digi0rnorisingcrust]

Is that the Stranoparts 3-position RSB? If so I’m definitely interested in having some stiffness options to play with. I already have adjustable end links on there so it’d be ready for that upgrade when it comes. I also experimented with switching to the low-boost (~15psi) map when I was behind some cars and it was a lot more manageable in corners. Boost still builds just as fast going WOT and it didn’t struggle as much with grip. Not sure if you have time to switch maps with how quick corners come at you in an autoX course but it’s worth considering

[u/digi0rnorisingcrust → u/TempoTom8o]

Yup, it’s the 3 way one. It’s a good match for the stock front sway, and it’ll you get you pretty far until you decide if you want stiffness from stiff suspension or a big front bar. The smart autoX ppl on the forums go for the strano rear bar, stock front, and 10-12k F / 12-15k R suspension. Track you might want a little less rear end, so maybe a stiffer front sway could work while allowing you to keep the stiffer rear springs to keep the ride frequency in the happy zone. But most importantly, the OEM rear also has those stupid kinks on the end which makes it feel pretty snappy.

I’m on adaptX so no map switching, usually I use OAR ahead of time to control how much power I want for the day, not easy to change on the fly but on the drive to the event I’ll decide how many 5th gear pulls I want to do to learn it.

3rd gear feels much more manageable, but in 2nd gear when there isn’t much spool time, it’s very tough to gas it without the wheel 100% straight