1 (edited by motokrd 2020-03-26 12:31 AM)

Topic: Hyundai Elantra total domination

I know there a few other Elantra teams out there and I wanted to document how our car is set up and also seek input  from other teams seeking total domination from their Elantra. We run the Kim Jong Elantra out west in about 4 Lemons races per year, as well as terrorizing the local Porsche club autocross. We have 3 complete years on the car so here’s what we have done and some tips. And some things we still haven’t done, but maybe will. Our car is a 2005 “XD” chassis. This means eXtra D**k.

This car was built as a response to Judge Phil wanting more Hyundais (Where have all the Hyundais gone?), coinciding with the launch of the Korean Luxury Loophole. The XD Elantra ain’t luxury, but it is Korean. The theme directly panders to Phil’s fascination with dictators. The car definitely fits the ethos of Lemons.

Our goal is maximum track time and fun, coupled with being good natured idiots. We have won I got Screwed, Class C, and the Alex’s Lemonade Stand under 2 liter. We have hopes for a Class B win someday, if in the words of Judge Steve “You stop stepping on your own dicks.” Unlikely, they are very long.

The car is pretty much stock. Mods listed below. No secrets. The Hyundai line up is extremely cross compatible using identical suspension and motor mounting points across much of the range so some of this may apply to the Sonata and Santa Fe. The Tiburon is nearly identical.

Tires: Falken Azenis 205/50 15s on a 7” wide rim
We get one race out of a set of fronts. We use old fronts on the rear and they last awhile.
Cold pressure front: 32psi - this warms to about 38 psi hot.
Cold pressure rear: 24psi - maybe this gains one or 2 psi. The rears don’t do that much in this car, more on this later.

Suspension:
We ran the original blown shocks for the first couple of years, and they sucked. No damping at all. We got a cheap Set off RockAuto that has made a world of difference.
We stumbled into a set of sleeve coil over conversion parts allegedly from a Honda Civic and modified the stock perch to accept the sleeve coilover setup out of scrap steel. This box of crappy Ricer parts had allegedly been kicked around for years from friend to friend with no one finding any use for them.
Front springs: approximately 375 lb ones that came in the box from the Honda. These are bent but the rate seems about right. We would go stiffer if we had other free springs.
Rear springs: about 325 lb. They are too stiff. Car is bouncy in the back but they were free.
With this ghetto coilover kit there is nothing keeping the spring in place when there is suspension droop, so we drilled a hole in the strut tower and tie the lower spring perch up with some rope to keep just a hair of preload on the spring.
Front sway bar: stock and connected (possible mod: stiffer springs, and disconnected front bar)
Rear bar: Tiburons came with a stiffer rear bar. When we acquired a Tiburon (see Buttonwillow 2017 wrap up video for I Got Screwed) we took off the rear bar from the Tiburon and put it on The Dear Leader. This helps getting the car to rotate, but is far too lively in the wet. Best to disconnect it if there is rain.
Front Control arm bushings: front bushing has no problems. The rear bushing goes to mush and tears. For years we were just going through cheap/free control arms for this bushing. Moog has a decent press-in bushing.

Wheel bearings:
Front: Timken/SKF/stock ones will go 2-4 races. Autozone specials will last one whole race before puking grease and having some play. This is a budget exempt safety item for a reason. Inspect and/or replace before every race. We have some pieces of steel square tube and some shims to quickly press these bearings in and out with. Several circlip styles were used, and some are difficult. Knipex makes a nice large snap ring plier that’s perfect.
Rear: get nice ones. We’ve only had to change these once, but we check them for play every time.

Front camber: -2.5 degrees (we had run about -3 in the past but this wore out the inside of the tire and didn’t give more grip.
Rear camber: -2.5. I like the car more planted, and more rear camber helps. One of our drivers is a former pro who wants less in the rear for a more tail happy car. Sometimes we have first timers so we leave it with a conservative set up.

Brake pads (front): Raybestos ST43
Front rotors: Stock size. We change rotors out about every 2 races
We have one air duct for cooling air going to each front rotor. We need to weld a place for the hose to mount onto the disk heat shield for even better cooling.
In testing with temperature sensitive paint we are seeing brake temps around/over 1000 degrees on the outside edge of the rotor. Everywhere else is sub 600 degrees. We should be between 600 and 800 with those pads. We get about 4 races out of a set.
Potential swap: Tiburon 5 bolt hubs with bigger rotors. And a Tiburon (or Elantra GT) rear hub set-up to run disk brakes in the rear.
Rear shoes: whatever. Shoes go for at least 3 races
Rear wheel cylinders: watch out! Two styles were made. I think pre-February 2005 and post-February 2005. The in er diameter changed, but also something with the mounting or something so you can’t cross over without switching hubs, etc...
Brake fluid: DOT 4. We bleed every race. We’ll bleed Saturday night at Sonoma, if it was dry and we were braking hard.

Engine-
Stock! This motor has solid lifters. Be sure ti check valve clearances. The special tool for doing shim swaps has allegedly been discontinued by Hyundai / Kia. I was recently able to get a tool marketed for Toyotas on EBay. We’ll see how that works.
Oil: Run 20w-50. The factory manual suggests this for high-temp driving. We have not installed an oil cooler but did see 300 degree oil temps at Buttonwillow a few years back, but that was on 5w-30. We haven’t seen a hot race in awhile, but I’m sure the thicker oil will help.

Transmission:
We are now on Transmission #2.
Factory fluid: 75w-90 (if I remember correctly) look in the manual so you get the correct spec. One of the common types will degrade the brass synchros. It will dissolve the brass. Be sure to get the recommended fluid or it will roast your synchros.

Clutch:
Hyundai put in an in-line anti-stall valve in the clutch circuit. I think this is in the hose in the engine compartment. There are directions online for removing this valve. This slows the flow of clutch fluid which prevents awesome burnouts, and causes more clutch slip.
The car has a pull clutch. If you don’t know what that means look it up. Otherwise you’ll need to do your clutch job twice, like I’ve had to.
Expander type pliers are your friend for removing the throwout bearing.
Transmission swap: I’m on the fence of whether or not it’s faster to pull the whole motor/trans, or drop the subframe to get to the trans. It looks like you would be able to get the trans out without dropping the subframe, no. You. Can’t.

Fueling/ Gas gauge: Ours stopped working correctly at Sonoma. We now have a Kim Jong Un sticker covering it up. Probably from the fuel sloshing in the un-baffled tank and bending the sender unit float arm. We just go off of time and mileage. We get a little over 2 hours out of a full fuel fill. (I think about 12 gallons). We get about 10-12mpg under good racing conditions. We removed the fuel filler neck and cut out the tiny hole to make room for bigger fuel dump hose. This allows for more fun track time and less waiting for jugs to empty. The less time spent fueling the better, especially from a safety perspective.

Good luck. I’m sure there is more to come.

Re: Hyundai Elantra total domination

Nice write up!

I was having the same spring problem at full droop.  If you ever get tired of the rope solution, I installed these helper springs:
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/HYC-CS100

and these spacers:
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/EIB-SPACER250

no problems since then.

Team whatever_racecar #745 Volvo wagon

Re: Hyundai Elantra total domination

when I ran a Beta2 engine in the Scoupe, I bought some "Stg 3 racing clutch" from XT Clutch on ebay for like $80. It was a good clutch.

when I did the swap, I foolishly dropped the motor and subframe on the ground and then had to lift the front end of the car over it to roll it away.

In my opinion, the 2L Hyundai motor is a hidden gem... parts are plentiful in junkyards and all major auto stores, and you can pop on craigslist at almost any time and find a running Elantra for under $1000 (I bought my motor/trans donor for $620)

you should consider transferring your Beta2 into a Scoupe chassis!

"THE WONDERMENT CONSORTIUM"
Everything dies baby that's a fact,
But maybe everything that dies someday comes back?

4 (edited by schlosserkevin 2020-11-18 05:36 AM)

Re: Hyundai Elantra total domination

motokrd wrote:

The car is pretty much stock. Mods listed below. No secrets. The Hyundai line up is extremely cross compatible using identical suspension and motor mounting points across much of the range so some of this may apply to the Sonata and Santa Fe. The Tiburon is nearly identical.

Tires: Falken Azenis 205/50 15s on a 7” wide rim I am running the same but Federal RS-RR's. If you do the budget brake upgrade i listed below the 15's wont fit though. A good set would be 16" Sonata wheels or Sentra SE-R wheels in 17". 205/45R16 or 215/45R16 or 205/40R17 Azenis fit and give you more rubber with the Sonata or Sentra wheels.

Suspension:
Front springs: approximately 375 lb ones that came in the box from the Honda. These are bent but the rate seems about right. We would go stiffer if we had other free springs.On my Ksport coilovers they are 420lb up front.
Rear springs: about 325 lb. They are too stiff. Car is bouncy in the back but they were free.KSport uses 224lb rear springs on the Kontrol Pro coilovers.
Front sway bar: stock and connected (possible mod: stiffer springs, and disconnected front bar) If your car is a GT then swap to a GLS front bar, it is either 2mm thinner and hollow or 1mm thinner and solid depending on if its a 2002 or later car.
Rear bar: Tiburons came with a stiffer rear bar. When we acquired a Tiburon (see Buttonwillow 2017 wrap up video for I Got Screwed) we took off the rear bar from the Tiburon and put it on The Dear Leader. This helps getting the car to rotate, but is far too lively in the wet. Best to disconnect it if there is rain.
I run the 18mm rear Tiburon bar it works great. Plenty of rotation when needed.
Front Control arm bushings: front bushing has no problems. The rear bushing goes to mush and tears. For years we were just going through cheap/free control arms for this bushing. Moog has a decent press-in bushing.
Get a set machined from Delrin or aluminum. Will stop them from splitting. Most machine shops will charge you $50-75 for a set if you bring them the part.

Wheel bearings:
Front: Timken/SKF/stock ones will go 2-4 races. Autozone specials will last one whole race before puking grease and having some play. This is a budget exempt safety item for a reason. Inspect and/or replace before every race. We have some pieces of steel square tube and some shims to quickly press these bearings in and out with. Several circlip styles were used, and some are difficult. Knipex makes a nice large snap ring plier that’s perfect.
Take an impact gun and just blast these things before every race. They will last longer if you keep tightening them over and over.

Potential swap: Tiburon 5 bolt hubs with bigger rotors. And a Tiburon (or Elantra GT) rear hub set-up to run disk brakes in the rear.
For this, just swap to 2004 Sonata front rotors and Tiburon calipers w/ brackets. Its a great budget brake kit. Rotors are $10/ea on Rock Auto and calipers can be found in a junkyard. With the rear, grab Tiburon rear knuckles, Elantra disc brake hubs, calipers, rotors and brackets. Brake lines from a Tiburon can be used also. The rear knuckles can be bought new off Ebay for $100 and the rest either in a junkyard from a Tiburon or Elantra since they used the same calipers/knuckles. Bearings must be Elantra unless you want to convert to the 5 lug setup. I just went with 4 lug since we already have the wheels.

Transmission:
We are now on Transmission #2.
Factory fluid: 75w-90 (if I remember correctly) look in the manual so you get the correct spec. One of the common types will degrade the brass synchros. It will dissolve the brass. Be sure to get the recommended fluid or it will roast your synchros.
If you blow the 5 speed up in the Elantra, find a 5 speed out of a 4 cylinder Tiburon. It has a shorter final drive ratio.

Clutch:
Hyundai put in an in-line anti-stall valve in the clutch circuit. I think this is in the hose in the engine compartment. There are directions online for removing this valve. This slows the flow of clutch fluid which prevents awesome burnouts, and causes more clutch slip.
the valve is in the slave cylinder. pull the clutch line off, use a magnet to remove the ball and spring. Reassemble and bleed. Much more positive engagement.

Also, ALWAYS use the Exedy stock clutch. Any other clutch is just flat garbage. With the 5-6 ive put into Elantras its the only one that will last longer than a few thousand miles of hard abuse.

Transmission swap: I’m on the fence of whether or not it’s faster to pull the whole motor/trans, or drop the subframe to get to the trans. It looks like you would be able to get the trans out without dropping the subframe, no. You. Can’t. notch the subframe on the driver side and replace with 1/8" thick steel. You can get it out that way. I cant remember if we had to relocate the sway bar mount or not since its very close.


Im gonna add some more to this from my beating on one of these 02+ cars for more than 5 years through autocross, track events and daily driving it.
My responses in bold above for things i would change or clarifications on items....

We currently run a 2002 which just completed it first event at Summit Point. Great car.

Re: Hyundai Elantra total domination

Poised for total domination the Kim Jong Elantra has undergone a 2.7 liter Hyundai Delta V6 swap. Also changed were axles, brakes, wheels, entire wiring harnesses, etc... This probably took about 100 hours total time. Stripping the donor car, dealing with shit that didn’t quite fit, etc... Let’s hope it’s reliable. It sure goes a lot faster which will just make us step on our own wieners more and make us wish we had put in a 1.3 liter instead.

For those looking to do the swap the O2 sensors have the exact same plug as the coil. Our car wouldn’t start at first. Runs great, at the moment. Can’t wait for Thunderhill!