Autocross setup - Toyota Nation Forum : Toyota Car and Truck Forums

Spitfire · 12-09-2007, 10:40 PM

alright well ive come to figure out the camry will never keep up on the 1/4 with out major money involved :P but got a question. im gettin into auto cross. what would be a pretty good set up for the 95 camry? and like a small list and where to get? thanks in advance!

Chris

eurohazard · 12-09-2007, 11:01 PM

You have to know what class you'll want to compete in before we can tell what mods you need.

Spitfire · 12-09-2007, 11:06 PM

well just starting out. ive never done autocross and want to get into it. so minor mods. idk what the class is called. but mods for just starting out.

MIC0417 · 12-09-2007, 11:10 PM

Then you would probably want to start in the all stock circuit, for cars like yours.

Venom_5 · 12-09-2007, 11:37 PM

Tokico Struts & Eibach Springs (or something similar) .... TRD Rear Sway Bar ... High-Performance Summer Tires

and youre ready to rock .... if you decide you liked it, you could always upgrade to high-quality coilovers (i wouldnt put K-Sport Kontrol Pros under that kind of stress, but thats JMO ... i would get one of their upper-level models, or another brand like D2/JIC/etc.

94CoupeV6 · 12-09-2007, 11:57 PM

You're going to want to find a local autocross website and look through all the classes to see what kind of mods are allowed in each class. You just need to be careful because one wrong mod and you could be in a class against cars way out of your league.

bigbird · 12-10-2007, 01:39 AM

venoms right about the suspension, tokicos and eibachs are a good combo and k-sport coilovers are even better.

also, get some cheap ass(but light) wheels and wrap them with racing slicks. they make the differance between good handling and great handling. u local SCCA chapter should be able to tell ya the regulations and mod limits per class.

EvoFire · 12-10-2007, 05:42 AM

I autocrossed my Camry before. Your best bet when you are starting is stay in stock class. The Gen 3 V6 is in G stock, the 4cyl is in H stock. Those are the two lowest classes in stock. You can't really do much in terms of modding in stock, but its definitely the best to learn in.

For prep, remove all loose items in the car. Weight reduction is not allowed, however you are allowed to take out the spare tire and jacks. Removal of driver's carpet is mandatory, you can remove other carpet too. Make sure the battery is secured.
Optional but not required, new fluids. New brake fluid makes the world of difference in braking if ur fluid is old. Maybe even seafoam it to remove old gunk in the engine. New spark plugs and wires to give a new strong spark.
VERY optional, go at ur own risk. Decrease timing and tweak airfuel mixture ala the guides made by Toysrme. I didn't do those, but they are allowed in the stock rules and give something like 5-10hp.

I would start out the first once or twice with whatever tires you have right now. Get a feel of the car at the limit, something you shouldn't have been able to do on the street. Work your tire pressures. I would suggest upping the tire pressures a little to 38psi all around to prevent running on the sidewalls. Work from there depending on how much you are driving on the sidewalls, drawing chalk on the tread to the sidewall will help you determine that.

You may consider getting new tires after a while because stock M+S tires probably can't take that much punishment. R compounds are allowed in stock class, you will have to decide on getting a high performance street tire or a R tire. If you are on a lot of budget, by all means get a set of R compounds. Vets that I talked with also said that R compounds are easily worth an extra 2 secs on a 40sec track. There are a few things to take note of:
1) Moving up class, the next class up with some mods is ST, R compounds are not allowed.
2) Rim size has to stay the same as stock in stock class, however tire sizes can vary. 3) There are no performance tires made at the Camry size. You will have to work around it by using a smaller tire. I used 205/50/R15 Azenis RT-615's, they are around an inch shorter in height which also effectively makes ur gear ratio lower.

Under my experience, I don't know if moving to a grippier tire but smaller diameter helped all that much. The smaller tire had a weaker sidewall and I had flex problems with my car and I had to pump the PSI WAY up to keep it off the sidewall. However it may also have to do with the lack of skills on my part and the road surface. Too many variables to consider.

Shocks and struts are also allowed in stock class. If you really feel like trying to dominating in stock class, get some Koni Yellow or Tokicos, a good alignment with R compounds and the V6 Camry is quite a menace on the stock scene just because of the large V6.
Depending on preference, a front strut tower bar is also allowed in stock class, though I dunno if that will help as it will just understeer more. No idea if it will help with structural strength though as the gen 3 is so weak.

Moving on to ST class, you are allowed to have basic mods.
- Intake
- springs/struts/shocks
- exhaust after the cat
- rim size no wider than 7.5in I believe
- tires, no R compound, no wider than 235, has to stay under the fenders
- assortment of sway/strut bars
- no engine work allowed.

In ST class, I believe a spring strut combo with rear sway bar and a very small front strut tower bar will be good. Move up to some light weight 16in rims with high performance street tires (Falken Azenis RT-615, Kumho Ecsta, Bridgstone Potenza RE-010, just to name a few), keep tire diameter as close to stock as possible.
Intake and exhaust can be considered however it has been proven here that it doesn't provide much extra hp, just throttle response, though that might be good.

That's all I can think of right now. Its late and I'm tired.... Ask if you want anymore info.

Spitfire · 12-10-2007, 11:53 AM

alright well i dont have the v6.... 4 banger :P but oh well thank you evo fire that set up sounds just right for me! and im going to start looking around for parts. if i have anymore questions ill just ask ya :P

EvoFire · 12-10-2007, 08:02 PM

Also other little side notes. No carbon fiber allowed, carbon fiber anything automatically puts you into SM class, some of the higher classes.
Competition is fierce in ST because higher stock classes can move into ST too, with the same allowed mods, you may be outclassed by other drivers.

SmartedPanda · 12-11-2007, 01:21 AM

First step, clean your car in and out.
Second step, sell your camry.
Third step, buy another vehicle.
Fourth Step, pray.

CamryPunk · 12-12-2007, 04:35 PM

As for set up (as mentioned, for classes), a rear sway bar, very good summer tires (per your class) and some stiffer springs to start you off will make a huge difference.

Looking into doing Gymkahna with my Subaru and I'm in the second Tier of classes since I have a lot of suspension mods done. I know my skill level isn't up where it should be, but I wouldn't go into every event thinking that I'm going to win.

So just start off through stock, see the limits of your vehicle, and most importantly, have fun!

felonyr301 · 12-12-2007, 06:26 PM

Just to point out if you leaving everything stock to get the feel of the limits of the car before any mod gets put on- it doesn't count when the stock suspension is blown and loose lol!!!

Theres another choice that is more stiffer per say then the tokicos without going down the coilovers and thats using koni red struts but you must have a camry with unsealed struts to do it. Reason could be of that many don't talk about it since only the 92-93 and maybe some 94's had that but most already been switched to sealed struts and not to mention its a lil more than the tokicos price.