FL5 (BS?) Autocross Thread

[optronix]

No. Totally stock. Even though I plan on going to all the Kansas City SCCA autocross events this year I do not plan on doing anything with the alignment. In my opinion the car is pretty darty as is and at this point I don’t want to mess up how enjoyable the car is on the street. I do plan on getting another set of wheels (19” - FL5 stock or FL5 forged) to run 200TW tires. I much prefer the look of 19” to 18” and don’t mind the ride on the 19s at all.

I'm in the same boat, but the wheels are already putting me out of BS so I'll probably do coils at some point and then all bets are off. Probably 18s and RE71RS eventually too, although I have an ITS and think 18s look worse on the Integra than the Civic.

As for tires, what do you plan on running? I too am considering 200-ish TW tires when the PS4S are toast (that point is rapidly approaching btw), but our options are limited at 19", especially if we want to stay at 30 AR. As far as I can tell, we have Cup2 connected at OEM size and Falken RT660 at 275/30/19. The Falkens are considerably cheaper so I'm leaning that direction.

Sponsored

 

[Sooner1]

I'm in the same boat, but the wheels are already putting me out of BS so I'll probably do coils at some point and then all bets are off. Probably 18s and RE71RS eventually too, although I have an ITS and think 18s look worse on the Integra than the Civic.

As for tires, what do you plan on running? I too am considering 200-ish TW tires when the PS4S are toast (that point is rapidly approaching btw), but our options are limited at 19", especially if we want to stay at 30 AR. As far as I can tell, we have Cup2 connected at OEM size and Falken RT660 at 275/30/19. The Falkens are considerably cheaper so I'm leaning that direction.

Options are definitely limited with 19s. Along with the Cup2 and RT660 the Nankang Sportnex CR-S are also an option in the stock 265/30/19 size. These get positive reviews in any 200TW comparison test.

I am also heavily considering getting a set of 9.5 x 18 wheels and that significantly opens up the tire options. Almost every 200TW tire is available in 265/35/18. But the only reasonably priced wheels I have found that would be legal in BS are the Apex flow formed EC-7 9.5"x18" ET58 - Apex Link. These are $1,500 for a set before shipping. Is anyone running these? Any clearance issues?

I am going to be buying a set of wheels either way as I want to keep running PS4s when not autocross/tracking. So, I will either buy a set of stock wheels (most likely slightly used from someone who has gone to 18s) or purchase something like the above mentioned Apex.
Stock Wheel Pros - can get them cheaper than any other wheel set and I like the idea of sticking with the stock setup as Honda designed the dual axis strut system around them.
18" Setup Pros - significantly more tire options and even though the initial investment will be a bit more tires are cheaper - after just 2 sets of tires the savings will pay for the difference in initial wheel investment.

Anyone have an opinion on this decision or an opinion on the Apex EC-7 wheels?

 

[RacingManiac]

I think the 2 people I know who has ran FL5 nationally are/were using those. I have nothing against Apex EC-7 aside from the look(just not into the BBS style look anymore) and I think they are still currently out of stock(I think). Apex are pretty light for the money and I know a lot of BMW/Camaro people use them(5x120 pattern). Not my pic(or car), Mike Leeder's car from last year.

e

 

[RacingManiac]

Some thoughts on the car so far after 3 events running BS setup. Working my way up to understanding where the limits are, I ran one event on the softer of the Karcept rear bar at full stiff, then went to the stiffer of the Karcept rear bar and ran it one setting below full stiff. This car I think is less twitchy feeling to me vs FK8 were. Where I ended up on the full stiff setting with the softer Karcepts but sometimes it still feel unstable especially in slalom. I am sure the wider tires and longer wheels base helps with that. I feel like I can lean on the car more without worrying it biting as much. The pogoing feeling so far actually isn't that apparent at speed, slower course seems to expose that more. Ran an event in Canada last weekend at an airport site, the course is pretty simple but much faster than most autoX I've ran ever. Got into 3rd twice and almost ran out of 3rd gear near the finish. Pretty small event ended up 3rd on pax and 5th on raw time.

 

[ToddR]

Options are definitely limited with 19s. Along with the Cup2 and RT660 the Nankang Sportnex CR-S are also an option in the stock 265/30/19 size. These get positive reviews in any 200TW comparison test.

I am also heavily considering getting a set of 9.5 x 18 wheels and that significantly opens up the tire options. Almost every 200TW tire is available in 265/35/18. But the only reasonably priced wheels I have found that would be legal in BS are the Apex flow formed EC-7 9.5"x18" ET58 - Apex Link. These are $1,500 for a set before shipping. Is anyone running these? Any clearance issues?

I am going to be buying a set of wheels either way as I want to keep running PS4s when not autocross/tracking. So, I will either buy a set of stock wheels (most likely slightly used from someone who has gone to 18s) or purchase something like the above mentioned Apex.
Stock Wheel Pros - can get them cheaper than any other wheel set and I like the idea of sticking with the stock setup as Honda designed the dual axis strut system around them.
18" Setup Pros - significantly more tire options and even though the initial investment will be a bit more tires are cheaper - after just 2 sets of tires the savings will pay for the difference in initial wheel investment.

Anyone have an opinion on this decision or an opinion on the Apex EC-7 wheels?

For a little more money, Apex just released their forged SM-10RS in 18X9.5 +53 which would still meet BS rules (+/- 7 degrees of offset allowed). Those wheels are on sale right now for $2200 and weigh about 18lbs, which is a sizeable drop in weight over OEM. They are backordered until July however.

 

[Sooner1]

For a little more money, Apex just released their forged SM-10RS in 18X9.5 +53 which would still meet BS rules (+/- 7 degrees of offset allowed). Those wheels are on sale right now for $2200 and weigh about 18lbs, which is a sizeable drop in weight over OEM. They are backordered until July however.

Thank you for pointing those out. Your definition of "a little more money" is a bit different than mine. $700 more or 45+%.

 

[ToddR]

Thank you for pointing those out. Your definition of "a little more money" is a bit different than mine. $700 more or 45+%.

Fair point, however compared to the EC7s, you are losing around 3lbs of unsprung weight on each wheel. And the EC7s are nearly 70% of the sunk cost of the forged set

 

[Sooner1]

Fair point, however compared to the EC7s, you are losing around 3lbs of unsprung weight on each wheel. And the EC7s are nearly 70% of the sunk cost of the forged set

Fair point on the weight but I am not trying to qualify for Le Mans with these wheels - just be competitive at a local autocross. This is a pure out of thin air guess but on a 1 minute autocross run (ours are in the 50-55 sec range) the weight savings for the lighter wheels will amount to an unmeasurable difference.

 

[ToddR]

Fair point on the weight but I am not trying to qualify for Le Mans with these wheels - just be competitive at a local autocross. This is a pure out of thin air guess but on a 1 minute autocross run (ours are in the 50-55 sec range) the weight savings for the lighter wheels will amount to an unmeasurable difference.

That's probably true. This is where I wish Konig had some of their flow formed options in desireable sizes for the FL5. They are lightweight and inexpensive.

In that case, the EC7 would be a good match for what you're looking for. A little less weight, more desirable 18" size, and allowable offset for BS. They look backordered until late June in the +53 fitment.

 

[RacingManiac]

Oh cool the Apex wheel is finally out ...

 

[ABQautoxer]

I forgot all about this thread as I had been lurking before I bought my CTR. I made a setup video with my first attempt setting up the FL5. Definitely don't have to follow everything I mention like reverse stagger tire sizes but in case this helps someone new, here you go:



Also I just ran my car after going from the RV6 bar on full stiff to the Karcepts .188" bar on 2/2 and I am very pleased with the improvements allowing me to run more air in the front tires with still more rotation than I had on the RV6.

Sponsored