Evo X upgrades

[mlomker]

Debadged the trunk and put a number of scratches in it. I was careful, too. I'm really loving my Mitsu paint. :toiletp:

http://i959.photobucket.com/albums/ae80/mlomker/Car%20July%202010/debadged.jpg

[Constant_Project21]

Looks good!

[goodhart]

What did you use to remove the badges?

[Kracka]

Unless you're set on this car being a track beast I'd get that rear toe zero'd out. .13 on each side is a ton and will chew through your tires. If you insist on running rear toe I'd go factory spec with .06 (.12 toe-in combined).

I take it this shop doesn't have much Evo experience? You're going to be hard-pressed to find a suspension shop with Evo experience to recommend running toe, especially that much, on a street car. Why not just go to Jeff since he's proven, and my guess, cheaper?

[mlomker]

What did you use to remove the badges?

I tried a hair dryer & dental floss but it kept breaking so I ended up prying them up instead. If I ever do it again I'll make sure that I have fishing line and two people.

Why not just go to Jeff since he's proven, and my guess, cheaper?

He doesn't seem enthused about corner balancing and I needed that along with an alignment.

[Kracka]

Corner balancing is definitely overkill for for any street car and even most recreational track cars. I can understand why you'd want one though, I'm overly anal like that too :) Hopefully you set your tire pressures exactly to whatever spec you plan to run, had the same amount of fuel in your tank you plan to race with, and were sitting in your car. All those things can completely throw a corner balance off. I was actually amazed to see how much even an extra 1-2 psi in one tire can make. Mind me asking what they charged you for the whole package and how long it took? What kind of alignment rack and scales do they use? Did they have the fancy Hunter EagleEye laser rack with scales and tire pressure hoses at each corner to keep the tires at a constant?

[mlomker]

Corner balancing is definitely overkill for for any street car and even most recreational track cars.

The same could be said of coilovers but I have them. Might as well set them up. Eventually my car will be track-only. I hope to buy a tow vehicle and get rid of the Acclaim in the next year. lol.

http://www.stellar-autoworks.com/services.html

These guys have a killer setup. You're right that they don't have extensive Evo experience but they have a lot of combined experience setting up track cars. I wish I could remember the name of the place that they worked for...something 'truck service'. They've now hung out their own shingle. In their opinion there are only 4 alignment guys in town of their caliber and Jeff was among them.

[mlomker]

Regarding the weights...they did put my weight in the driver's seat using barbell weights.

Fuel in the tank shouldn't matter unless the tank isn't centered (it looks like it is). I actually didn't know what a corner balance was and had to have them explain it--it's making the weight on the drivers rear & passenger front equal the weight on the passenger rear & driver's front wheels.

I had RS Motors slap those coilovers in back in December...the rear was riding higher than the front. It was in pretty sad shape as far as balance goes.

I had them use 32psi but 32 turns into 38 when the tires are hot. It's still the same volume of air.

They had the car for a full day but gave me a loaner vehicle so I didn't have to miss any work. That was a plus considering how much work I've missed dealing with the car (the amusement of my boss only goes so far).

http://i959.photobucket.com/albums/ae80/mlomker/Car%20July%202010/cornerbalance.jpg

[scheides]

Well, how was the track day man? Did the car do ok? You have fun? :D

[mlomker]

Snapfish bought Motionbox so now my videos are half the quality (surprise).

This is just a few turns at BIR.
http://www5.snapfish.com/snapfish/slideshow/AlbumID=1809655028/PictureID=64580299028/a=3327791028_3327791028/otsc=SHR/otsi=SPIClink/COBRAND_NAME=snapfish/

Did the car do ok? You have fun?

Front o2 threw another CEL. I lost one of the muffler bolts on the track. Didn't realize that until the ride home, though.