Monthly update! Car went on murlo stands for a few weeks while I did some pretty major upgrades.
First up, rubber. The Fuzion ZRi tires on the car were mint when I started the summer and I have done my best to use them as much as possible. Open to opinions on what I could have done better/different here but somewhere between not enough camber, more tire pressure, and less tire pressure, these things have been through the ringer:
So, rebates and peer opinions galore I saved my pennies and purchased my first pair of 200 treadwear tires: BF Goodrich g-force rivals! Same size, OEM EvoX size to fit the stock X enkeis in 245/40-18.
Turbo is helping:
Met up with JeffTAG with the wagon loaded up:
Side story, garage helpers! I lost little Jill a few times while I was doggy sitting (4 dogs at once= no thx bro!) and figured out she had curled up on some used rags/towels I had left next to beaterX. After I locked her in the garage for the 2nd time I finally figured it out.
Here's Jax the greyhound, helping me wrench:
Back on track, some of you have seen my
epic garage sale thread. Well about half the parts came in a round-about way from my
old evo8, and one piece I was lucky enough to recover was the rear swaybar:
I wasn't going to do this until after I had some time with the new tires, but I had time and the price I could not pass up. It's a Progress 26mm bar. I had the hotchkis bar on my list since its hollow and would drop a few pounds, but being as this is a budget/simple build, the freebie is gonna do juuuust fine
Of course nothing is truely free, so let's start adding up what it took to put on. Lots of cutting:
Stock mount wouldn't fit so I found this Perrin Stout Mount on ebay for $65 shipped:
Set of new endlinks: $32
Aaand voila. A few hours later (spread over the course of a week or two, lol) it's in.
This setup should be nice--it's still pretty basic and I don't think I'm doing too much at once, still within the confines of 'KISS' and following a path I know works for both street and track use. I put the bar on medium to begin with and will adjust from there. Since I'm still on a stock-ish suspension (bilsteins and swift spec R's) I've been advised that stiffer in the rear may be better.
Ricer math says that the sway bar will help the front end turn a bit better, but the car was pretty neutral (which I liked) as it was so I thought that adding a little aero would be an ok next step. I'm thinking about turn 1 and turn 2 at BIR and 100+mph and how a little more grip/downforce will go a long long ways towards going fast....and I stumbled upon this little gem:
Current aero budget: $35
$20 for an OEM wing--how could I say no? Yes this will plant the rear a bit more but its a start. I almost just 'slapped' it on but TKR Mark talked me into re-doing the clear coat on it so I gotta get off my arse and get going on it now that the car is back on all 4 tires.
The metal strip in back is a gurney flap--3/4" angle aluminum and is apparently the way to go with the OEM wing to get the most out of it. Thanks Brandon ( @Toothy )for the tech info, its pretty insane. Apparently the OEM wing will add about 20kg of downforce ~100mph and adding the gurney flap will add another 14kg on top of that!
I have the metal piece formed (its shitty but what can I say) so that it conforms to the curved rear edge of the wing and angled in on both sides to fit snugly between the uprights. I have it plasti-dipped black and and I'll use 3M tape to secure it. Some people add rivets, I'll start with the tape and see how well that works.
Other than that, I hear some noise coming from the front left brake that is either constantly collecting rocks or something is loose, the xfer case has a little leak down the center of it (watching that closely), and the exhaust is melting the rear bumper a bit.
So yea, evo stuff. Next track event is next Friday August 8th at DCTC, should be fun to shakedown the new setup!
Threaded Mode