What's the new HStreet tire/size to have for the FiST?

[scotth560]

Setting a car up for HStreet. Ran a 2014 when they were new and nothing other than tires were available. After a hiatus, I am going back to HS for another run in one. I am finding only Bilstein B6 for the front struts and Koni Adjustables for the rear. What is the best wheel/tire combo for this car now? Curious to hear what works and what doesn't. Thank in advance for your help and insight.

-dsb

 

[CSM]

Setting a car up for HStreet. Ran a 2014 when they were new and nothing other than tires were available. After a hiatus, I am going back to HS for another run in one. I am finding only Bilstein B6 for the front struts and Koni Adjustables for the rear. What is the best wheel/tire combo for this car now? Curious to hear what works and what doesn't. Thank in advance for your help and insight.

-dsb

16x7 RPF1 or OZ Ultralagerra and Yok A052 in 205/50/16

 

[scotth560]

16x7 RPF1 or OZ Ultralagerra and Yok A052 in 205/50/16

That is what I'm seeing in the results of the fast guys. Thank you for your input!

 

[Lays]

16x7 RPF1 or OZ Ultralagerra and Yok A052 in 205/50/16

Is there a reason for that vs the deka 16x8 with a like a 215 or 225 45 16?

 

[CSM]

Is there a reason for that vs the deka 16x8 with a like a 215 or 225 45 16?

Can't do 8" wide for H street. Must be same width as oem

 

[Lays]

Can't do 8" wide for H street. Must be same width as oem

Aw yes forgot about that part lol

 

[Rexracer]

There are those going back to the 17" wheel for a firmer sidewall, and it opens up the slightly wider 215/40R17 size.
Koni yellows front and rear.
But if your pocket book is open Motion Control has a remote resivor 2 way adjustable shock setup.
Way of the FiST: Installing Motion Control Suspension 2-Way Dampers (turnology.com)

 

[M-Sport fan]

^^^It is truly amazing how they worked around the draconian SCCA H/Street rules with those things, but yeah, $$$$$!

 

[Rexracer]

^^^It is truly amazing how they worked around the draconian SCCA H/Street rules with those things, but yeah, $$$$$!

yeah, why allow 5k in shocks, but not a larger radiator that allows your car to not overheat...

 

[faust]

B6s were available for the rear as recently as last summer. In fact I have an unopened set in my garage I've been meaning to install.

 

[destoups]

This looks like as good a place as any to ask: Where have folks with newer cars found Konis for the front? I don't see anything in the Koni catalog. I can find a listing for the fronts at Pro Parts, but for 2014-16. I've got a 17; my impression was that the suspension changes occurred in model year 2016.

@scotth560 Good to see you back -- we ran at Dixie back in the day ...

 

[Erick_V]

They will fit. The suspension changes had to do with damping and sway bars. The suspension is interchangeable between the years

 

[Fiestadude]

I dont think yokos would work well in HS being our cars are camber challenged. I'd suggest the oz ultraleggeras with some falken rt660s. Dont worry too much about shocks. Stock suspension is fine.

 

[Rexracer]

I dont think yokos would work well in HS being our cars are camber challenged. I'd suggest the oz ultraleggeras with some falken rt660s. Dont worry too much about shocks. Stock suspension is fine.

While I agree that A052s would not be a good pick for the front, unless you hate money, I disagree the stock suspension is fine. Yes if your just starting off run what you got, but after a season or so you will be looking for that next step, and being able to clamp the rebound down is very helpful.

Last month, I was able to swap cars with a buddys stock FiST. He was running 4 seconds slower then me. He had 240tw tires, so good but not great, and he instantly ran 2 seconds faster, while I was a fully 2 seconds slower then in my car. Yes tires were a good portion of that, but 0.5-1 second of that was suspension.

 

[Fiestadude]

While I agree that A052s would not be a good pick for the front, unless you hate money, I disagree the stock suspension is fine. Yes if your just starting off run what you got, but after a season or so you will be looking for that next step, and being able to clamp the rebound down is very helpful.

Last month, I was able to swap cars with a buddys stock FiST. He was running 4 seconds slower then me. He had 240tw tires, so good but not great, and he instantly ran 2 seconds faster, while I was a fully 2 seconds slower then in my car. Yes tires were a good portion of that, but 0.5-1 second of that was suspension.

I don't think it's possible or accurate to quote what % of that time was due to suspension. I've beaten national level competitors on stock suspension. I'll rank what in my opinion matters the most in the fiesta (especially in HS) tires by a wide margin including air pressures , alignment, then way down after this sway bar, and shocks. You'd be way better off spending your money on autocross schools or more seat time after a season or 2. The way I look at it is that having adjustable shocks could be beneficial if you're able to dial them in. You dont get that much time at an autox to dial them in for a course. You could potentially just make things worse. You'd be way better off spending the time between your runs keeping calm and going over your previous run of what happened then trying to mess with the shock adjustments. Point is, imo, you don't need shocks in the fiesta to be competitive in HS.

 

[Rexracer]

I don't think it's possible or accurate to quote what % of that time was due to suspension. I've beaten national level competitors on stock suspension. I'll rank what in my opinion matters the most in the fiesta (especially in HS) tires by a wide margin including air pressures , alignment, then way down after this sway bar, and shocks. You'd be way better off spending your money on autocross schools or more seat time after a season or 2. The way I look at it is that having adjustable shocks could be beneficial if you're able to dial them in. You dont get that much time at an autox to dial them in for a course. You could potentially just make things worse. You'd be way better off spending the time between your runs keeping calm and going over your previous run of what happened then trying to mess with the shock adjustments. Point is, imo, you don't need shocks in the fiesta to be competitive in HS.

Hmm..well, since I drove the 2 cars back to back, and I am a national level competitor, I fell like I do have some reelevate experience. I suppose its like talking with Ryan Otis (multi time national champion), when discussing ice mode braking in an FS camaro, and he casually mentions 20-30 millisecond delay...you want to go "no way can you tell what 20-30 milliseconds feels like" then you realize he has all the credentials to back up his words, and you take him at his word.

Have you driven a fully prepped HS cars (tires/shocks/sway?") the adjustable Konis are not a "fiddle with every run" thing, its set and rarely if ever adjust. They are Rebound not compression adjustments, so suck the car down in quick transitions. An autocross course, while the layout varies, the conditions that would force a shock change do not.

I would agree with you tires are #1, alignment...while relevant isnt going to = much time, then sway, then shocks. But yes AX school would be the best bang for the buck. But OP doesn't mention budget, only "best wheel/tire combo" hus calling for Koni Yellows (only other legit option is MSC double adjustable, but I would say 5k for that isnt money well spent compared with other things).


If we want to talk about budget, I would say rock the stock wheels (or someone else cheap (200 or less) take offs and take the 1k saved over Ultraleggera's to put a full set of Koni Yellows, sway bar, and an alignment. That's money well spent over a couple of lbs saved on wheels. Besides, even better then the Ultraleggeras are the RPF1s being a full 0.9lbs lighter per wheel, and $70 a wheel cheaper. Thats half a set of Koni yellows plus 3.7lbs weight savings right there!
Enkei RPF1 Wheel (16x7, 43mm, 4x108, Each) Silver (oakos.com)

BTW I assume Albany is Albany NY, if it was Albany Oregon, we could meet, and we could do a side by side comparison.

 

[Fiestadude]

Hmm..well, since I drove the 2 cars back to back, and I am a national level competitor, I fell like I do have some reelevate experience. I suppose its like talking with Ryan Otis (multi time national champion), when discussing ice mode braking in an FS camaro, and he casually mentions 20-30 millisecond delay...you want to go "no way can you tell what 20-30 milliseconds feels like" then you realize he has all the credentials to back up his words, and you take him at his word.

Have you driven a fully prepped HS cars (tires/shocks/sway?") the adjustable Konis are not a "fiddle with every run" thing, its set and rarely if ever adjust. They are Rebound not compression adjustments, so suck the car down in quick transitions. An autocross course, while the layout varies, the conditions that would force a shock change do not.

I would agree with you tires are #1, alignment...while relevant isnt going to = much time, then sway, then shocks. But yes AX school would be the best bang for the buck. But OP doesn't mention budget, only "best wheel/tire combo" hus calling for Koni Yellows (only other legit option is MSC double adjustable, but I would say 5k for that isnt money well spent compared with other things).


If we want to talk about budget, I would say rock the stock wheels (or someone else cheap (200 or less) take offs and take the 1k saved over Ultraleggera's to put a full set of Koni Yellows, sway bar, and an alignment. That's money well spent over a couple of lbs saved on wheels. Besides, even better then the Ultraleggeras are the RPF1s being a full 0.9lbs lighter per wheel, and $70 a wheel cheaper. Thats half a set of Koni yellows plus 3.7lbs weight savings right there!
Enkei RPF1 Wheel (16x7, 43mm, 4x108, Each) Silver (oakos.com)

BTW I assume Albany is Albany NY, if it was Albany Oregon, we could meet, and we could do a side by side comparison.

What I said was it's impossible say you ran 2 seconds slower and then break it down to x time was tires and x time was suspension. That is quite a different event than saying this braking feels like it's causing x delay. 2 seconds seems about the gap between good autox street tires and non autox street tires depending on course size. I have driven a fiesta with shocks and a swaybar; I would say the rear swaybar made the car feels tons worse compared to stock.

 

[Rexracer]

What I said was it's impossible say you ran 2 seconds slower and then break it down to x time was tires and x time was suspension.

Yes, its a guestimate based on my experience with various tires and suspension setups. Without individual testing on every setup combination there is no way to be completely accurate. I assume everyone reading my statement would understand that.

I was trying to think of a good direct comparison. The best I can come up with is the Vegas Tour in April. Rob Kridder was there running his full FiST. If you dont know Rob, here is some info on him: Rob Krider – DNN MOTORSPORTS (wordpress.com)

At the end of last year after Nationals was canceled, he made a last minute decision to go to the RallyCross Nationals which meant taking off his $5k double adjustable MSC suspension setup and putting on stock. In his very first RallyCross event, he ended up working his way back up to 3rd overall (after getting into a hole day 1).

Fast Forward, Vegas Tour race, he said he had gotten the rear MSC shocks back on, but didnt have time to put the fronts on. He runs A052s, because in his testing (read articles on Ford Muscle The Way of the FiST: The SCCA RallyCross National Championships (fordmuscle.com) ), and obviously he hates money.

So this is about the best comparison I have, a very good driver, on same/better tires (A052vRT660). Day 1 I got 2 seconds on him, Day 2, 1 second. Draw your own conclusions, but proper shocks/sway does matter.

 

[Lays]

Yes, its a guestimate based on my experience with various tires and suspension setups. Without individual testing on every setup combination there is no way to be completely accurate. I assume everyone reading my statement would understand that.

I was trying to think of a good direct comparison. The best I can come up with is the Vegas Tour in April. Rob Kridder was there running his full FiST. If you dont know Rob, here is some info on him: Rob Krider – DNN MOTORSPORTS (wordpress.com)

At the end of last year after Nationals was canceled, he made a last minute decision to go to the RallyCross Nationals which meant taking off his $5k double adjustable MSC suspension setup and putting on stock. In his very first RallyCross event, he ended up working his way back up to 3rd overall (after getting into a hole day 1).

Fast Forward, Vegas Tour race, he said he had gotten the rear MSC shocks back on, but didnt have time to put the fronts on. He runs A052s, because in his testing (read articles on Ford Muscle The Way of the FiST: The SCCA RallyCross National Championships (fordmuscle.com) ), and obviously he hates money.

So this is about the best comparison I have, a very good driver, on same/better tires (A052vRT660). Day 1 I got 2 seconds on him, Day 2, 1 second. Draw your own conclusions, but proper shocks/sway does matter. View attachment 40658

Oh you're Brian? We're friends on FB, I'm Darren lol

 

[Fiestadude]

Yes, its a guestimate based on my experience with various tires and suspension setups. Without individual testing on every setup combination there is no way to be completely accurate. I assume everyone reading my statement would understand that.

I was trying to think of a good direct comparison. The best I can come up with is the Vegas Tour in April. Rob Kridder was there running his full FiST. If you dont know Rob, here is some info on him: Rob Krider – DNN MOTORSPORTS (wordpress.com)

At the end of last year after Nationals was canceled, he made a last minute decision to go to the RallyCross Nationals which meant taking off his $5k double adjustable MSC suspension setup and putting on stock. In his very first RallyCross event, he ended up working his way back up to 3rd overall (after getting into a hole day 1).

Fast Forward, Vegas Tour race, he said he had gotten the rear MSC shocks back on, but didnt have time to put the fronts on. He runs A052s, because in his testing (read articles on Ford Muscle The Way of the FiST: The SCCA RallyCross National Championships (fordmuscle.com) ), and obviously he hates money.

So this is about the best comparison I have, a very good driver, on same/better tires (A052vRT660). Day 1 I got 2 seconds on him, Day 2, 1 second. Draw your own conclusions, but proper shocks/sway does matter. View attachment 40658

My point was that one does not need shocks or a swaybar to be competitive in the class.