From a student perspective... the mods I like are the ones that give me more feel. Last year I replaced my RT615's with Star Spec Z1's mid season, after having been on the track and skidpad with the 615's. I think those tires made me so much faster, because they gave me a lot more confidence. The SSZ1's were gentle all the way to the limit with plenty of warning and still gentle AFTER the limit, and I felt a lot more comfortable with the car. I drove faster. When you are still a novice, parts that inspire confidence are the ones that help.
It sounds like the bushings, alignment, suspension (properly setup), and a harness would all inspire more confidence and give me more feel. I guess whether the bushings need to come first or the KW's isn't all that important. I really understand both sides of the argument.
I also understand all the guys that stress that the driver needs to be better, but I want to state as much as a novice as I was, I could CLEARLY tell the difference in the tires and having the car behave better was fantastic. There are parts that make the car faster in the hands of an advanced driver. You guys say "last thing you need is a faster car. Stop modding and take some lessons". And I agree 100%. But if I can make a mod and it allows me to feel the car more, it will make me learn faster. I hope you instructor guys remember that. It may not matter that much to you, but it means a lot to a guy like me. I drove my cousin's CLK the other day and the steering was so vague I really don't know what the car was doing. I don't know how he learns in that car.
I think a Spec Miata is an easier car to learn in because you push the limits and wow... you are still only going 38 MPH around the corner. But if it was slow and had bad feel, if it was a car with bad balance and lots of improper overseteer, vague steering feel and grabby brakes, it would be a shitty car to learn in no matter HOW SLOW the thing is. Right?
The one thing that is clear to me at this point is that modding a car for speed and modding a car for feel are two different things. The bushings will help feel, as will a proper suspension, alignment, tires, even the material my ass sits on. Right now I struggle to keep myself from sliding all over my seat at the track. I took notice of this after I realized how tired my thighs and my abs were late in the day. I get a workout just keeping myself in place. How can I concentrate on the nuances of steering properly when I am using the wheel to hold my own ass in place?!
If I buy the KW so I can generate more cornering force, I am doing it for the wrong reason. But if I can get the car better setup, more balanced, better behaved, then it's not a bad mod to have. Unltimately that is what I seek right now. I have no desire to go with R compounds or slicks, because surely they will make the car faster, and surely they will slow my learning curve (nevermind put me at more risk).
For those of you that haven't seen me at the track... for at least 6 days I drove at like 60%. Everyone passed me. But I wanted to make sure I did everything right. I ran the track over and over and over. My instructor was happy. Once I was very comfortable, I pushed it up to 80% and all those guys that were passing me the days before, I was LAPPING them. I was immediately signed off for solo.
I'm going to do the baffled pan, and Billy if you can please give me some good alignment settings, I will do that and I will follow the tire pressures you recommend. I'll honestly probably just wait a bit, go to Skip Barber, then do the bushings, links, and the KW's. After that I will do harness, seats, steering wheel and look more seriously into a rollbar for the harness per John's strong recommendations. That will also allow me to get a HANS. After that, I am just going to concentrate on more track time. Certainly at that point the car will be as lively and balanced as I would want. It will also probably be plenty fast.
Thanks a lot for everyone's great advice. It's great to have access to such a knowledgable group of guys in this section of the forum.
