John's Autox/Everyday Sonic

[JohnT]

A long-winded belated story about my Sonic and my autocross adventures...kudos to those who are bored enough to read it all I'll continue to add more pictures and stuff as well as slowly editing the hastily written text.

Boy the lengths I go to in order to avoid doing real work...

A baby was coming, I was in school, and I followed the path of so many before me and said goodbye to the toy miata(s). I searched to replace my current daily IS300 for all-in-one four door/fun car. After six months I happened across a 5spd IS300 with high mileage, but on the plus side it was cheap. Unfortunately I have even less time than money and the IS300 turned out to be much more of a project than I wanted to deal with. After replacing the AC in midsummer heat I decided I was done. I wanted something new and unmolested, but still at least somewhat fun to drive. Budget was light, so I shopped the cheapest new cars on the road – Mazda2/3, Fit, Fiesta, and the Sonic. We already own an automatic Fit; it’s no brainer and a great versatile car. The mazda2 was too small to fit a passenger and the baby seat, and surprisingly so was the 3. The sonic was a wildcard, and knowing GMs history I wasn’t extremely confident, but after doing a lot of research it just made all sorts of sense. Honestly the little snail and the gearing of the six speed is what won me over; otherwise I would have picked something else. In fact I had decided that I would make an offer on the only LTZ turbo in town and if they didn’t take it I would just go pick up a Fit Sport. Well they took the offer and I took it home that night in October, a 2012 Victory Red Sonic LTZ.

 

[JohnT]

Once I sold the IS300, (which was far more difficult than I expected considering the rarity of the car), I picked up an extra set of OEM wheels and mounted up some Hankook RS3 autocross rubber. I had used 225/45/15 RS3s on both 8” and 9” wide wheels on my miatas, but they behave a bit differently on the relatively narrow LTZ wheels.

Tires are by far the most important modification you can do to your car. Replacing the tires is to your suspension what the tune is for the engine (although tires also help acceleration too). No other mod will have as big as an affect as tire choice.

One thing to note when moving to a UHP tire like this is that they will be considerably less compliant and less comfortable than the OE tires. The ride will be stiffer, and they tend to follow irregularities in the road more since there is less deflection. They are also louder. None of these things bother me in the slightest, but its worth noting if you are considering new UHP tires. THey are also not ok to drive in freezing weather, even in Texas I was not using the RS3s as daily tires until just recently.

 

[JohnT]

I don’t drive a lot, so after only about one month and 1000 miles I changed the oil and headed out to the first autocross in the Sonic. A bit of background, I started autocrossing about 8 years ago, but I had taken a hiatus for the past few years. Having only driven front wheel drive cars on course a few times, I expected to be disappointed. I was not. The car was a lot of fun on course. There was less push than expected too. On my first few runs while I got rid of the mold release the back end actually wanted to come around. After figuring out the tire pressures a bit more the car was really easy to drive fast and rotated well. I ended winning the local street tire class on my first outing and surprised many local competitors as no one knew who I was or what the hell a Sonic was

The next week I was at it again, different club but similar results taking the win in tire class. I was getting better at driving the car, but still not feeling super confident. One thing that happened at this event was I overheated the stock brake pads. I had never had that happen before at an autocross…in fact I ran OE mazda pads on my miata on purpose. I took a mental note, but thought maybe it was a fluke.

2013 came and the new season in Texas started right away at the end of January. Again I managed to stay on top of tire class, but while there were more competitors, many were not well prepared. I had settled into staying within the top 10% on overall PAX and I felt confident enough that I should take the Sonic to the national event in March. Two weeks later and another local event and again the same results, although this time my competitors were arriving on new tires and I just barely squeaked by for the win with under a tenth difference. I didn’t feel I drove particularly well that day, but sometimes courses never come together for me.

Some videos from the first two events of 2013:
AutoX Video 1: getting a little sideways, the picture of me punting that cone is from this run

AutoX Video 2: Cleaning it up and my fastest run

AutoX Video 3 First run of the day, not my fastest but fairly clean

AutoX Video 4 Same run as above filmed on a go pro stuck to the rear fender

 

[JohnT]

I missed the next couple of events as life would intervene. During that time I ordered a set of RS dampers and some EBC greenstuff pads.

First off on the brake pads…I love EBC greenstuffs and I’ve used them before. They dust a lot, and they occasionally squeak, but they have wonderful initial bite and I love the confident braking feel. When I brake at an autocross with ABS I don’t want anything but maximum deceleration. The EBC pads were night and day from the stock pads. They make me aware of them every time I touch the brakes, on the street or on course.

The RS dampers and bump stops were a secondary addition. The bump stops are slightly shorter but significantly stiffer. The wording in the SCCA stock ruleset permits replacement of the factory bumpstops as long as they do not engage earlier than the OE ones. The RS stops contain the body roll just ever so slightly better than the soft OE ones. There is still a large amount of movement before hitting the stop, so it won’t remove the bulk of the body roll. The RS dampers are definitely a bit stiffer by feel, but I was unable to find someone who could dyno them locally, so I just installed them and went.

The pictures show the RS vs LTZ front struts and the RS vs LTZ bump stops (RS is all shorter by about 12mm)

 

[JohnT]

The local A&M club was hosting an event at the same site as the National Tour would be held the following week. It’s only about an hour and a half drive so I went out to run the event and see what it was like. Texas A&M’s site is wonderful. Grippy concrete and tons of room. We only had four runs to get things right, and with the warm hot weather and few competitors in between runs I was able to really get heat in the tires and the times showed. My PAX position (4th given the street tire modifier) would indicate I was running right on par with some fantastic drivers in well-prepared cars. I was excited about the next week, but I knew that my ability was not consistent.

My best run of that day:
2013 TAMSCC #1 Run3 - YouTube

 

[JohnT]

The National Tour

As most of the US has had to deal with a spring that just won’t come, Texas too had found some unseasonable weather. I arrived on Friday for a test and tune (6 runs/$20) and to see what was going on. It was 85 and sunny and everything was the same as the weekend before. I walked the course the night before when it opened up at 4PM.

I stayed at the main hotel with most of the attendees and was up late drinking beer and BSing and that was good fun, more fun than I would have driving as it would turn out.

Saturday morning it was 54 degrees and raining when we left the hotel, although only misting when we arrived on site. The Hankook RS3s are next to useless in that kind of weather. On my first run out there was a slight offset gate as the very first element. As soon as I turned the wheel the back end immediately swung out and I plowed through the gate. Not even a back and forth, it just immediately let go. Finished the run but it was obviously slow. Next run I came out with the hope that things would be a bit better with some warmth in the tires, but I still managed to swing the back end around again. On certain parts of the concrete there was mold, and when dry its hardly noticeable, but when wet it was slippery. I was in the middle a long steady state sweeper and crossed in to the black patch and the back end just let go. My last run was timid as hell, but I made it though clean and somewhat faster, even though my line sucked. It was enough to be in second place, although a significant 1.4 seconds behind the leader. The weather was cool, but I was dressed well and with only 150 entries we were done by 2:30, not a bad day overall. I stuck around to walk the next days course and then back to the hotel for more beer.

Sunday it was dry, but the temperature had dropped to 45 and the wind was really bad, 25-35mph and steadily blowing - very miserable. Everyone was hiding in their cars. I ran first and worked third both days and boy am I glad I didn't have to work right away that morning.

I was pretty much resigned to deal with even less grip and being so far out of second I wasn't worried about being competitive anymore. I dropped 5psi in the front and 10psi in my back tires as a gamble, since I had never run in those conditions. It apparently worked because the first run out, although a bit loose for the first few turns I actually had more grip than I expected. I also beared the wind and watched some of the fast FWD drivers and realized that when the car was loose I was driving it like a miata, letting off and counter-steering a bit, when what I really needed to do was lay into the gas and pull myself out. The minis would wag the tail all over the place to the point it looked like they were drifting, but then when they got to the point where they wanted to go forward they just stabbed the gas and away they went. I don't think the sonic can pull that off since it loads up a bit too much with the soft suspension, but it gave me something to work on. It was too cold and too long between runs for any heat to build up in the tires, every run felt the same for the first few turns and then the car started to grip. My line was bad, I was overly aggressive, and I think the lack of sleep kept me from learning the course properly, but I managed to eek out about the same performance as the day before to hold on to second place. I think if I was given a couple more runs I could have easily dropped a second, but three is all you get. Wouldn't have mattered though as I was more than that off the pace of the leader.

All in all it was a good experience and I would do it again for sure. I would have liked to have the right tires and a codriver to help keep heat in the tires…or just good warm weather. But mostly what held me back is not being able to put down my best times right away and not being able to deal with less grip.
The people who do really well are consistent from their first run...I'm starting to think a lot of that is helped with longstanding familiarity with the car...unless you are like Hollis and you just drive anything fast.

I put the Sonic on the scales while I was there for S&Gs. Its 2668lbs with a nearly empty tank of gas...not exactly a lightweight. Compared to the HS mini that’s about 350lbs extra…and they get sport suspension. I bet if the Mini was bumped to GS that the Sonic could be the car to have, but until then I remain skeptical whether a Sonic could compete with an HS mini at the highest ranks. The Sonic’s key is the low end torque. For small lots the power is great and it easily out accelerates others…but when you move to a flowing nationals style course with higher speed, there is nothing left at the top of the power band and your advantage is gone.

I'm starting to think the Sonic MAY have a better chance in STF because the excessive body movement can be removed and the slight bump in power (you have to remain stock boost level). I've been getting comments about its body movement from many different observers on course. The Sonic is not yet classified for STF, but I’m hoping it makes it in. It fits well within the spirit of the class and compared to the other cars in the class it is not an overdog on any performance metric.

 

[JohnT]

My next autocross in the Sonic was at a new site for the local club and it was a small lot with too many light poles. This resulted in a really short course, but probably the most fun I’ve had on a small 25 second course…it was simple but flowed well. Tire class had 27 entries this time! And more people were coming prepared with good tires. The Sonic, however, loves small courses and managed to take the win by just under a .1 of a second. Just behind me in second was a Porsche GT3 driven by probably one of the best drivers out there, Hollis. Although not really a fair fight as the GT3 needs a bit more room to run, it was still a good feeling to even be competitive under any circumstances. I don’t expect a repeat of that result…ever.

 

[JohnT]

While I’m not going to do a full STF build as this is still and always will be an affordable,comfortable daily driver and baby hauler, I plan to run in ST* trim for the time being. Also it would be silly to build the car for a class it isn’t in. I should probably keep the car stock as I have been quite successful in the tire class, but I always tend to tinker with things.

Another factor is I just finished school and big life changes are coming, whether that comes in the form of physical relocation, relocation of assets, or relocation of free time, it will undoubtedly affect my autocross hobby negatively for the time being :/

So I installed Eibach springs and the car just looks so good lowered, it makes me smile to look at it . I kept the RS bump stops in place for now. I like the idea of minimizing body roll as much as possible. The downside is the car will rebound too quickly on a steep impact. If comfort is at all your concern than use the Eibach bump stops or at least OE LT/LTZ stops. It is still soft and quite civilized and comfortable on normal roads. I’m happy with it.

Ultimately I will probably move to coilovers, but I’m not enamored with any of the current options, nor willing to drop $2k+ to get what I want. I’ve gone down the cheap coilover road a couple times and won’t do it again.

The next step is wheels and tires. I’m holding off until I see what is coming in the next few months, but if someone decides to buy some of my current wheels I may accelerate that purchase. In the mean time the RS3s are still in their prime and look great on the car.

 

[theenico]

Nice write up John.

 

[stever525]

I almost felt like I was reading an article in grassroots magazine. Thanks for taking me along for the ride.

 

[SonicBoy24]

Love that pic of getting your back tire off the ground
Although I don't believe it would happen as easily in a sedan, just saying

congrats man, keep it up

 

[Eric Smit]

this was a damn good read.

 

[sx sonic]

Indeed great read John

 

[JohnT]

Love that pic of getting your back tire off the ground
Although I don't believe it would happen as easily in a sedan, just saying

congrats man, keep it up

We need that rear sway bar to come out to increase the rear roll stiffness and then it will lift that inside wheel on every single corner. Well set up FWD autocross cars often tripod around every single corner.

I bet the sedan would lift the inside tire just fine

 

[JohnT]

Snapped a couple of quick pictures of the car in its current state after the Eibachs and a car wash. Don't care to change a thing about how it looks, save maybe an exhaust tip.

 

[JohnT]

I ran my first event last Sunday with the Eibachs in place and using the "stock" boost trifecta tune. There is definitely less body roll, although it still feels soft.
The lot was rough and running the stiff RS bumps made the car a bit bouncy, although not terrible. Many well set up cars were doing similar things because of the bumpy corners, but I think not enough rebound for those long stiff stops. I'm afraid you'll have to go to properly damped stiff rate coilovers to see any real time benefit on course...I'd start at maybe 8k/11k, but personally I'm not going down that road.

I kept the boost stock because I wanted to see what it would feel like in STF power, although I ran the default STX since the car is not yet classed there. Not surprisingly power wise it didn't feel better, hard to say my butt dyno is not that sensitive. In retrospect I should have said f-it and had more fun with the boost turned up...maybe next time.

I managed to win local STX, but it was more a factor of who was in the class than the Sonic's competitiveness in STX. There was a real STX car running pro that was something like 2 seconds faster on a 45 second course...

But alas I'm taking a job in the pacific NW so I'll be packing up and moving soon. I'm not sure how many more events I'll make in the Sonic. I'm going to take the Eibach/RS shocks combo off and go back to stock for comfort. Not entirely sure if it will go back on as I will probably start to look for a more dedicated machine once I settle in out west.

Three pictures of me entering in a gate too hot with not enough angle...also some weird pavement and grip changes made it a awkward corner.

A faraway slalom picture

 

[firstorbit84]

So the Eibach springs didn't feel like they helped that much on the course?

 

[Goneau]

So the Eibach springs didn't feel like they helped that much on the course?

x2

 

[JohnT]

x2

Not really and this isn't really surprising, the eibachs are just a tad stiffer than stock...if you want spring rates that will control body roll its going to be much stiffer (like 3-4 times stiffer) and be relatively uncomfortable for daily driving. Thats just the reality of car setup. Road spring are there for road bumps not cornering loads on sticky tires.

The Eibachs greatest benefit is in feel as there is less movement and slightly less time for the car to react to driver input...which can make you faster if you are under driving due to the large amount of body movement.

Keep in mind in both cases, stock or Eibachs, the car is cornering entirely on the bump stop, all the Eibachs effectively do is remove about an inch and half of shock movement before the bump stop starts compressing. This may show up as an improvement in transitions like the slalom, but you can mostly compensate by adjusting when you start to turn in.

Most road suspensions are more about feel than actually making it faster for at the track performance. That's not to say they are worthless, I like the feel on the street a lot, and it looks great...I'm just thinking about the 2500 miles I have to drive across the country and I'd prefer it be comfortable as possible

 

[Goneau]

do you plan on getting coils? I'm sure that would make it handle exponentially greater for autox