Project STF Domination

Another 11hp/8ftlbs with a tune. Not sure that I have the $500 for that this year. Tune, intake, exhaust puts it aright around 170whp/165tq. For a car sitting at 2800lbs sans driver that's not bad.

170 WHEEL hp? Holy cow! That little crap box has as good a power/weight ratio as my 911. I need to pay more attention to these cars as they age. Might make a good "kids car" when the little ones start driving in a few years.

yep. They start around 150 stock. IIRC, ~150hp/145tq. So all the bolt ons pick up ~17hp/15tq. HFC and heeader can find another 4-5hp we think, but it's not been verified that I know of.

That means with the same percentage of loss (~13.3%), that 170whp translates to 193fwhp. Add in the extra 4-5 of the header/cat and you're over 200fwhp. Not bad for a Korean crapbox.

mazdeuce wrote: 170 WHEEL hp? Holy cow! That little crap box has as good a power/weight ratio as my 911. I need to pay more attention to these cars as they age. Might make a good "kids car" when the little ones start driving in a few years.

Seems about on par with many other STF/C builds... right?

In reply to ProDarwin:

Well, yes, but everyone knows that the Korean cars suck and are a terrible choice for any motorsports.

Are these internet horsepower numbers or did you put your car on a dyno?

DaveEstey wrote: Are these internet horsepower numbers or did you put your car on a dyno?

My particular car has not been on a dyno. I am not verifying any actual numbers. What I AM verifying, is that instead of feeling the power taper off at around 6500rpms before hitting the rev-limiter at 6750, it pulls just as hard right into the 6750 rev-limiter. This is very similar to the same results I had with the intake/exhaust on the old Elantra. It pulls just as hard at the rev limiter as it did at 6k.

if/when I do get it tooned (looney style) it'll be done on a dyno and this particular car will have exact numbers.

Sweet. Looks like they've got a good engine going there.

ProDarwin wrote:

mazdeuce wrote: 170 WHEEL hp? Holy cow! That little crap box has as good a power/weight ratio as my 911. I need to pay more attention to these cars as they age. Might make a good "kids car" when the little ones start driving in a few years.

Seems about on par with many other STF/C builds... right?

I think the Mini guys are getting ~110hp at the front wheels, but they're only carrying 2400-2500lbs. The Yaris guys are in the same ballpark of power but with even less weight (2300). THEORETICALLY I should have an advantage on "hp" courses because even though I've got an extra 300lbs of mass (~15% more), I have an extra 50-55hp (~30% more).

Now, theoretical numbers didn't mean squat for the Swift so I'm not holding my breath here. But last year's Nat's finish (13/25) on stock engine and cobbled suspension makes me feel better about it. Now that I finally have the suspension close to "done", and I'm making 5-8 more wheel hp I'm hopeful for a trophy slot this year. Now, if I could only learn to drive it!

I have the little 2.0 engine and mine dynod at 125hp/130tq on a slightly muggy day with just an exhaust and drop in filter.
Weighed in at 2764 on trucker scales.
These things make good numbers for what they are, and bobs 2.4 is rated at around 20 more hp and tq than mine, so those are very realistic figures

17hp/24tq, and my torque comes in about 300rpm sooner than the 2.0L.

I still can't believe that pile of plastic was 8lbs more than the new intake though. crazy!

I ran a RSX S in STF for the first two years of STF. The engineer in me loved doing the mod work and wrenching on it was fun. Lots of suspension mods and typical bolt on hp mods. I took first in class and first place pax for the year in our region. sold it to someone who will be running it at Dixie and Lincoln this year. Can't wait to see how it does. It is pretty awesome if the couse allows it to use it's hp/weight advantage. (190 whp/2650 lbs)

The 2 advantages the Forte has over the RSX is A.) gearing and tied to that 2.) torque. I can honestly leave it in 2nd for just about any and all courses. It will pull hard at 2500rpms and the top end is sitting at 63mph according to the GPS. These engines are making 120ftlbs from 2500 to redline peaking at ~150 at the wheels around 4k.

Oh, and I don't have a complete crap rear suspension.

with the reflash, 8600 rpm and a bit over 62 mph

stock torque is 145, probably at least 150 with the mods

can't argue about the crap rear suspension. So,run super stiff springs on it and take it out of the equation. I ran 750s on mine but I think it would do better all the way up to 1000 lb/in

if you make it to dixie or lincoln you can see how you would do against it. I'll put my $ on the Honda

I rode in Chris Bailey's RSXs when it was in STX trim (circa 2009 or so), and it was impressively fast.

FSP_ZX2 wrote: I rode in Chris Bailey's RSXs when it was in STX trim (circa 2009 or so), and it was impressively fast.

Yeah, but didn't it have 20-30mm more tire, and 1.5" more wheel?

ProDarwin wrote:

FSP_ZX2 wrote: I rode in Chris Bailey's RSXs when it was in STX trim (circa 2009 or so), and it was impressively fast.

Yeah, but didn't it have 20-30mm more tire, and 1.5" more wheel?

I'm sure they were a bit wider, and certainly that will make things better...but it won't turn a dairycow into a thoroughbread either. A decent car is a decent car...

viccath5 wrote: if you make it to dixie or lincoln you can see how you would do against it. I'll put my $ on the Honda

Barring something catastrpohic we'll be at Nats in sept. If I could find a better driver I'd take you up on that bet. Unfortunately.... it's just me.

I'd love to go to Nat's. But have to balance my autocross fever with home life. ha ha. I run mostly in the TVR region (Huntsville al) but frequent the AL region (Birmingham) Both regions have a fairly large traveling group. I believe you will run with the RSX out of birmingham with Father and son co driving. I would also expect you will be running against a mini that has been prepped during this off season that runs both regions as well. It would be a treat to see any of these guys trophy. It will be great to follow your success as well!

I'd love to find another person locally that wants to get serious and spend the year with me helping develop the car. Right now I'm a one man show, single car development. Makes it hard.

If I didn't care about classing, I'd just throw in a LSD, 8.5" wheels with some 245's and just have fun. The wheel wells are huge on this car for it's weight.

The guy who finished second in STF last year is already heavy into testing with his Mazda3. It's clearly faster than the Mini was last year.

I really don't think the Mini's are the car to have for this class. They just don't make enough power. Sure, the handling is there, but if you can't accelerate at all, it's not going to help you.

stf is very course dependent. The minis and mazda 2s will do well on tight momentum type courses. Open it up a bit and add a power feature and the rsx s will shine. The mazda 3 would be my choice as the all round best car for the class. If I was targeting this class it would be my choice.

Then I really really really hope my mediocre driving skills nets me a trophy this year to prove that the car no one thought about was really a contender with a mediocre driver.