The sport edition D4 15x6 with +50 mm offset is still in stock at tirerack.com but not for long, it is in closeout with all of the offsets- some out already. $59 each and only 14 lbs each which is much less than the estimated 15 to 17 lbs each for the stock rims.

10 lbs rims would be good but cost a lot more than $59 each. Plus I'm having a hard time finding ones with the right offset.

 

I'm trying to source the lowest price shipped for a set of Volk RE30s in 15" x 6" with +48 offset. The lowest price I've been quoted so far shipped is $1549 from GruppeS. Not too bad.

I would even be willing to run a vendor's logo/sticker front, rear, and sides all season if they come down even further on price. I'm ordering them soon to ensure they will be here before the season starts next year.

 

I wouldn't drop a ton into wheels on these cars. The Mazda and Mini have a lot more on the Fit. The Fit could do pretty well locally, depending on the course, but I don't think it would stand a chance nationally.

I would just run the Hoosier on the stock rim (I actually prefer the v710 because of the better slip angles, but the Hoosier is a little grippier).

Add the factory crash bolts to the front to get as much negative up front as possible (which isn't much). Run the front toe almost to 0, and some toe out in the back to get it to rotate.

Get another set of struts, take then apart, measure, then call Koni.

Run a front sway.

Find the lightest cat-back possible.

Even with all that prep, I just don't think it can do it. Struts up front with twist beam in the back does not make for national level handling.

Don't get me wrong, the car is fun to autocross. Here's a few pics of me and my girlfriend racing her bone stock Fit.

Kate running her car...


Me, abusing Kate's car...

 

I ran my Fit Sport AT in H stock and came in 2nd of 7 in class and about 32nd out of 105 with PAX for the day. I was beaten by one second by a Corolla MT sedan with Bridgestone RE-01Rs, also running were Mazda 3 5 Dr Hatch, VW beetle, Kia Spectra and Chevy Cobalt.

I ran with Sport Edition D4 (14 lbs per rim confirmed) and Kumho V710 205/50-15 tires.

Stock suspension with crash bolts in the front for -0.8 degrees front camber, -1.6 degrees in the rear. Front toe 1/8" in which was at the limit of stock setting, 1/8" toe in for the rear (could not adjust much more than that).

Overall handling was good but power was mediocre given AT with paddle shifters which always seemed to be upside down when I needed to shift.
I think Manual transmission would be much better but still low on power.

Also got a chance to do some runs with Bridgestone Potenza RE-01R in 195/50-15 which can be run on stock rims or 15x7 with +38mm offset (not for stock class but good for the Fit).

 

MINI: Congrats! Sounds like 2nd place was a pretty good finish, all considered, and to place in the top third in PAX is probably a pretty good accomplishment, too, given the Fit's limitations. Kinda surprising the Corolla did so well on those tires, but they're supposed to be a pretty good auto-x car. Were any of the other cars in your class running R-comp tires?

Couple questions:
--How did the alignment settings work out for you?
--What was your impression running on the Bridgestones?
--Do you have any other mods on your Fit?
--What are your thoughts about adding a bigger front swaybar to your Fit? Would it help or hurt the auto-x results?
--How about the stock shocks/struts? How did they perform and were they a major limitation at all?

My first auto-x in my Fit is this weekend, so I'm eager to see how she does! I also have camber bolts with similar alignment settings as you, Kumho V710s on Saturn wheels, and a K&N panel filter. But that's it so far.

 

Of the cars in H-stock just one or two with R compounds besides me. There was another Corolla that was not present also with RE-01Rs in 205/55-16, he usually runs 0.5 seconds faster than the Corolla driver I faced. The Corolla does fine but not that good to place high in PAX like the MINIs and Miatas.

For example this weekend was the Run Off Championship for 2008.
The top H-stock driver was driving a Corolla and finished 46th of 63 on raw times, 23rd on PAX overall. I don't think I could have done better than him with the Fit. I did run in my MINI in Street Modified class and got 9th on raw time and 17th on PAX. All of the 63 drivers were tops in their respective classes.

I was driving the Fit to try and finish in the top 20 on raw times and top 10 in PAX overall. Otherwise I've been trying for top 5 on raw times and top 10 in PAX using my Cooper S.

Your questions-
Alignment- more front negative camber is always a good thing. -0.8 degrees was better than stock -0.2 but nothing like -2.5 I usually have.
A camber bolt would possibly work better and could be used in non stock classes. Using the crash bolts you might have one side more or less negative than the other. You want each side to be as negative as it will allow, a -0.1 difference is fine. 1/8" toe out was fine and at the limit of stock settings. A little more might work too maybe not as far as 1/4" out which is the same as -0.24 degrees. You could try 3/16" out or -0.18 degrees. More toe out can be twitchy and wear tires faster. Overall handling with the Bridgestone RE-01 or Kumho V710s was fine. With stock wheels and tires it was pretty soft and slow.

The RE-01Rs rock. An outstanding tire for the Fit and very solid in comparison to V710s that cost much more and wear much faster. 195/50-15 is a great size for stock wheels or 15x7 (which is what I had).
I drove the stock tires followed by the RE-01Rs and it felt like I got a big suspension upgrade- very impressive.

Mods on my Fit- Zeta Deadpedal, rubber mats, chrome gauge rings, college sticker on the rear glass, "I'd rather be autocrossing" license plate holder, stock sized 15x6 rims- Sport Edition D4 with +50 offset and Kumho V710 tires 205/50-15. Two crash bolts on each front suspension and alignment. That's it.

Front Swaybar- Rules allow for any front swaybar. Generally for front wheel drive cars you want a smaller front bar and larger stiffer rear sway bar to reduce understeer. There can be times when you make the rear so stiff that you can also increase stiffness for the front bar. In the case of the fit I'd want to make the front bar less stiff or smaller diameter not larger and stiffer. So bigger front bar= worse understeer, not good.
see
Oversteer and Understeer Corrections Sheet

Stock shocks and struts- with R compound tires I think they reach their limit and perform OK but you can't really make good use of the softest rubber. I ran a 34.7 second best run with V710s and a 34.8 best run with the RE-01R. At best I think the true difference is about 0.5 seconds which is pretty small, might be the limits of the suspension. Using the RE-01R tires with stock suspension felt fairly good, no real complaints. I don't feel they are a major problem. Koni shocks would be a great option when/if they arrive.

So what was the problem? I have 5 years of autocrossing experience running roughly once a month or more year round. Been to 5 local BMW driving school events with SCCA instructors, done long and short track lapping sessions, done autocross course setup, been safety steward, and have many books and videos on performance driving.

The more you drive a car the better you get at it. The winner of our autocross events has been driving the same 1971 Datsun 240Z since 1977 and he is my age. The car has 300,000 miles on it with it's third engine. It's finely tuned and sports Hoosier A6 275/35-15 tires on custom Kodiak rims. To keep up with him I'd need to drive the Fit within 2.0 seconds of his best time. Last event he got a 28.00 and 2nd overall raw time was 29.3 showing he dusted all of us big time.

Automatic transmission- While it's fine for street use, I didn't think the gearing I got in S mode or with the paddle shifters was any good. I could also not reach the shifters at the right moment I needed to shift since the wheel was usually upside down. With a manual transmission it would be much much better, use 1st and second gears only. Rev it up, use the VTEC.

Fun- It's fun to drive and if you lowered it and added 15x7 or 16x7 rims with extreme performance summer tires or better it would be good. Add the Cold intake, headers and exhaust, front camber kit and max out front negative camber.

More pictures-

 

Mini,
That's a great write-up, and some great photos, too! I was interested to see how the Fit handled hard corners - as in, did it pick up the inside rear tire like Rabbits and some little FWD Dodges did? Looks like all 4 tires are working. It also looks like a 205-section tire is sufficient for autoX, at least in your experiences. Interestingly, MrFroge went with a staggered setup using 225's up front and 205's in back, also in an automatic. That's probably about the max setup for autoX, as at 50mm offset they'll rub just a little bit on untouched bodywork. After experimenting with a set of 225's on both ends for a couple weeks, a smallish rounded tire would fit OK, but one with a very square tread wouldn't. Any push or wheelspin in your experience?

HF

 

There were about 5 photographers present and I looked through all the pictures they took for the Fit but I could not find any with a wheel off the ground. Usually that's easy to do in a MINI. Better to drive with all four wheels on the ground so it's a plus for the MINI and the 205 and 195mm wide tires were good, no real rubbing but I did find some inner wheel well rubbing on the gas filler plastic well liner on the left rear wheel well- I think under load the tire rubs but it's not bad or noticable.

225mm wide tires are better for 7" wide rims. I would think that would be risky for rubbing depending on the tire diameter and your extent of negative camber.

Push- there is some understeer but it is not too bad. Not completely neutral either.

Wheelspin- None with RE-01R or with Kumho V710.

Which tires did you use?

 

The tires I tested were leftover street tires from my old Daytona - a pair of no-name directionals with a very wide tread but hard as rocks, and a pair of Sumitomo HTR 50H's with much rounder treads. I have autoXed on the no-names in the past, and thought that the huge amounts of push in my Daytona were just the limits of the suspension, but it was really just sucky tires - Fit Power spins them easily from a standstill, or hard power on from a corner.

The rubbing I found was primarily in the rear, where I ran the narrower Sumi's. The tires were close enough to the shock dust cover that there are rub marks. There are also clean spots on a little metal tab in the inner rear part of the rear wheelwell. I didn't think to check the filler tube...

The wider front tires would only occasionally rub, but I couldn't find any wear spots. I suspect one of the little fastener buttons that hold the splash shileds in. Plenty of space around the front suspension bits, as far as I could tell.

New tires I'm looking at are Kumho MX's or some other MP/UHP summer tire if I have to street-drive my autoX tires. If I can find a set of used Hoosiers for a reasonable price, I'll run something like a 23x8.0 for a dedicated autoX tire. Some day I hope to be able to get enough seat time to justify new race tires every other year...

HF