Holy Crap
Holy Crap
So at Newb Modding Day x2 we replaced the crap MaxSpeed coilovers with an MR Bilstein setup, and replaced the VTA HKS SSQV with a 2mm crushed metal Evo IX Recirculated BOV.
Holy ****!
Number one the car is a blast to drive now! I'll start with the suspension:
My work commute involves an interesting drive. Several spots that I would bottom out and scrape my lip, one intersection that if I had to accelerate through it I would catch a little air and squeel the tires, a brick road that rattled my teeth, a round about on a private road that I can go as fast as I want on followed by a switchback that was fun (and private too), finished by some speedbumps.
The Bilstein suspension completely transformed this drive. I don't bottom out, and even on those knarly dips the car just 'flows' through them in one clean motion. The intersection with the nasty ridge in the middle where I would screech tires if I tried accelerating through...not any more. I hammered it through that part today and was met with just a gentle rise and fall of the suspension (NO drama). Driving down the brick road was completely different. I could see the bricks, I could hear the tires on them, but I couldn't FEEL the brick road anymore. The inside lane of the round-a-bout I go through has a dip in it. So on the coilovers at a good speed when I would hit the dip it would upset the car. Now I didn't even notice the dip existed.
WHY the previous owner went with the coilovers...boggles the mind after feeling the differences.
The same could be said for the HKS SSQV valve dumped to atmosphere. It sounded mean, if not a bit ricey. Going to a IX recirculated valve made it ultra quiet but fixed quite a few drivability issues I had. Throttle hang, surging, bucking and stalling were all fixed via getting rid of that BOV.
Now I just need to figure out how to get that stupid drain plug out of the tranny and have Tim repaint the Krylon Wonder body parts, and get a set of wheels that fit correctly.
Holy ****!
Number one the car is a blast to drive now! I'll start with the suspension:
My work commute involves an interesting drive. Several spots that I would bottom out and scrape my lip, one intersection that if I had to accelerate through it I would catch a little air and squeel the tires, a brick road that rattled my teeth, a round about on a private road that I can go as fast as I want on followed by a switchback that was fun (and private too), finished by some speedbumps.
The Bilstein suspension completely transformed this drive. I don't bottom out, and even on those knarly dips the car just 'flows' through them in one clean motion. The intersection with the nasty ridge in the middle where I would screech tires if I tried accelerating through...not any more. I hammered it through that part today and was met with just a gentle rise and fall of the suspension (NO drama). Driving down the brick road was completely different. I could see the bricks, I could hear the tires on them, but I couldn't FEEL the brick road anymore. The inside lane of the round-a-bout I go through has a dip in it. So on the coilovers at a good speed when I would hit the dip it would upset the car. Now I didn't even notice the dip existed.
WHY the previous owner went with the coilovers...boggles the mind after feeling the differences.
The same could be said for the HKS SSQV valve dumped to atmosphere. It sounded mean, if not a bit ricey. Going to a IX recirculated valve made it ultra quiet but fixed quite a few drivability issues I had. Throttle hang, surging, bucking and stalling were all fixed via getting rid of that BOV.
Now I just need to figure out how to get that stupid drain plug out of the tranny and have Tim repaint the Krylon Wonder body parts, and get a set of wheels that fit correctly.
