Sonic Rally Build.

[ss2000slp]

Just a thought from when I had my impreza. What a lot of guys were doing on that forum was putting a spacer above the strut top. Basically remove the strut as an assembly, remove the studs from the stut mount, install longer grade 8 bolts, and have a piece of steel go over the bolts to space the strut top from the body. That would be the easy way to do the front, and not have to worry about longer struts. As far as the rear, do the spring spacers, and you would have to find shocks from another vehicle that are longer than ours.

 

[ss2000slp]

Also, as far as tires go, my suby came with 205/55/16s. I was able to install 215/60/16 Yokahama Geolander AT/S tires without any rub. Don't know if they make any sizes that would fit the Sonic, but it was a pretty aggressive tread in a car tire size. Worked great in loose dirt and snow.

 

[cndctrdj]

I would suggest a nice set of coilovers

 

[pighair47]

Also, as far as tires go, my suby came with 205/55/16s. I was able to install 215/60/16 Yokahama Geolander AT/S tires without any rub. Don't know if they make any sizes that would fit the Sonic, but it was a pretty aggressive tread in a car tire size. Worked great in loose dirt and snow.

How well did the tires work, on pavement ? i tend to drive 50% dirt and 50 pavement, so if possible i would want a tire that performed well on both,

 

[ss2000slp]

They were good on pavement. Some noise above 75. I drove 90% of the time on pavement with the AT/S.

 

[pighair47]

They were good on pavement. Some noise above 75. I drove 90% of the time on pavement with the AT/S.

you have been a great help thank you
i think i will be putting tires of a similar variety on my sonic in the future

 

[ss2000slp]

Awesome. Glad to hear it. Whatever you do, make sure to post pictures. I can't wait to see what you come up with.

 

[Maddmatts]

I suggest avoiding wheels bigger than 16". Bigger sidewalls will do a lot to help keeping potholes from damaging the wheels. They may also reduce wear on some suspension parts as well as your spine.

Since you do a lot of driving on gravel, get some mudflaps for the front wheels. Real ones and not the tiny moulded splashguards that GM has for us. That'll help keep rocks from eating away at the undercoating and hopefully the sides of the car.

 

[pighair47]

I suggest avoiding wheels bigger than 16". Bigger sidewalls will do a lot to help keeping potholes from damaging the wheels. They may also reduce wear on some suspension parts as well as your spine.

Since you do a lot of driving on gravel, get some mudflaps for the front wheels. Real ones and not the tiny moulded splashguards that GM has for us. That'll help keep rocks from eating away at the undercoating and hopefully the sides of the car.

I planned on it i have found the stock ones, to be less then adequate. seems they are there more for looks then anything else, or at least that's been my experience. i plan on purchasing some higher end rally armor flaps, in the near future

 

[KDRacing]

You may have to be more specific on what current problems you are having with driving. I would only raise the car if you are having issues with ground clearance. If you are not having ground clearance problems, then raising the car won't help you at all. A raised CG will only hurt your max lat performance on pavement.

As far as mud flaps go, buy the material from the trucking mud flaps and cut it to size. You can then use rivets or sheet metal screws to attach the plastic/rubber to the inside of your fenders. It can also be a good idea to line the fender with this rubber to reduce noise from rocks. I think sheet plastic could also work well for mudflaps. Cut 1/8in abs to size. Any sort of rally armor or similar products seem overpriced.

 

[easy_emu]

YO any news on this? I cannot find coil spacers ANYWHERE on the internet - what are comparable sizes/models of car that I should look for?

 

[carsNskis]

There's a shop here in Colorado working on a custom suspension set up using coil overs, but nothing "off the shelf" that says "made for rally Sonics"

The problem you'll face is the stock suspension is not made to handle a taller stroke, so they either won't work well or you'll accelerate their wear.

Hate to be a wet blanket on this idea, but the Sonic isn't a rally car so anything you're looking to do is pioneer work so you'll either have to have something custom fabbed or do the measurements and figure out a suitable match from another vehicle

 

[easy_emu]

That is a huge bummer - there is no way I can get a little more clearance to survive potholes from hell? :sadbanana::sadbanana:

 

[JustSonic]

You could always hit up PMR! But technically it's a FiST under the body, so you may be SOL. Can still check though.

 

[carsNskis]

You could do this in the rear, but there's nothing for the front.

https://www.ecstuning.com/ES2826778...xcJuOFafqaSSFYyynk9QCJ61kqOt_lW7vQaAu_08P8HAQ

The front you could have a metal spacer ring cut for the top mount, the strut mounts to the ring, ring mounts to body... A machine shop could mill them for about $100 each

 

[carsNskis]

Well I've certainly learned a lot since I last posted here and figured I'd update. For starters, forget pretty much everything I said earlier...

I've endured four RallyCross events in Agate, Colorado. Running a Sonic RS manual hatch with the GM Performance Suspension. IT DOES DAMN WELL.

The first time on stock RS 17" and General Arctic snows. Then I lucked into a cheap set of stock 15s and takeoff gravel rally tires, so I ran three events on those. Holy eff, totally worth it but it bumps you into prepared class with lighter and more powerful dedicated cars. The snows and stock class make for a great competition level to learn in.

Now if we are talking Stage Rally, well then you can gut and cage your Sonic for FIA approval and run in Spec B class but that ain't cheap. Even considering it's all stock components...

It's a great chassis, and I think the RS suspension + gmp is the way to go off road for cheap. It's fast reacting, has a good roll center, keeps the suspension from bobbing, everything you need. I'd say the rear brace would help improve rear oversteer, but it rotates pretty nicely now with liftoff and ebrake.

Overall I can't be more fanboy of the Sonic when it comes to RallyCross. It's out gunned in the power dept but it will make you learn to drive faster to make up for it, and it responds well enough to do it.

I placed 2nd in prepared against an 89 Integra gutted with a screemer under the hood. The guy in red is a Fiat 500 Abarth... He's really fast, placed 3rd at Nationals...

Here's a terrible cellphone video of my last run. I was still being conservative because daily driver, but I got after it
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BmnFmkBdLMtKsUC9rXZ4-ljedZa1fpvm/view?usp=drivesdk

[emoji593][emoji809][emoji472]

 

[MiamiProSports]

I would suggest a nice set of coilovers

Any solid coilovers you can suggest. I'm not wanting to replace my current shocks and struts unless I can get something that has a larger piston.

 

[not_so_supersonic]

Apologies for reviving an old thread. I'm looking to get some coil spring spacers for my 2012 hatchback, anyone have any recommendations for products or size to use. I'm looking at universal spacers from https://www.suspension.com/universal-coil-spring-isolators.asp but I'm not sure what style of dimensions will work best.