Turn in can definitely be helped with less front rebound and a bit of static toe out. That wont fix steady state or exit, but will work on entry. Do you have the rear diff rebuilt?

Rear diff has a Weir 12-plate but I'm pretty sure the Wavetrac is masking the effects. I wish I installed them at different times.

Build looks delicious!

Renato
Team TWM Performance

Well the new boost controller seems to be holding better (65% WGDC gets me ~20psi instead of 14-15) but my 3-month old PC680 crapped the bed on me at the start of tuning. I was out of town for work last week so I couldn't address it. I brought it to the store I bought it from last weekend and today they told me they're giving me a one time warranty on it. I can get my money back or get a new battery (not a PC680) but whatever I buy won't have a warranty. Stopped at Advance Auto after and I can get a Deka EXT-14 for $103 or an EXT-30L for $145. I'm torn whether to just replace the 680 with the -14 or to buy the 30L and fab a new tray. I need to make up my mind pretty quickly as I have a race on Sunday and need to retune my WGDC settings before then.

Thing's a wild animal.

That's stupid. They get a warranty on it and need to pass it on to you. I sell batteries for a living. I don't know who you got it from, but if they don't honor it, you need to call Odyssey and complian.

I got it from Batteries + Bulbs and actually know the owner of the store. He said that if the battery is not specified for the application the battery manufacturers don't warranty it. I ended up getting my money back and buying the equivalent EXT-14. I cut the AMS battery tray apart today and made it fit the new battery size. Just a little trimming of the uprights and a little more width and it's good to go. Got a new O-ring for the IAC warm up flapper so that boost leak will be fixed before the weekend. Now I just need to find out if I have all the parts that came out of the flapper as some fell and I don't know what they were. I also found out that this weekend's auto-x will be at the Circuit of the Americas (not on the track) and the only other competitor in SM is a GTR with 345 Hoosiers on all four corners. It should be a fun day of losing on my 255 ZIIs.

Wow, have fun with that! That's some rubber!

The warm up flapper went back in successfully on the first try thanks to a little RTV to hold the ring halves together. I was happy not to have to pull the throttle body to get it installed. New battery and modified tray are in and I actually like how low key the battery is compared to the Odyssey. I'm currently working on my WGDC tuning and pumped to race tomorrow. There are also two more competitors in SM now and they're co-driving another GTR. So it's now me vs. 4 GTR competitors. I'll get some pics of them tomorrow.

Well the GTRs all jumped class at the last second which left me alone in SM. I'm happy to say I won my class. I went with the rear sway on full hard, -5 from hard front, - 5/4 from hard rear. I am finally okay with how it's handling and can work on small tweaks. I got an alignment yesterday to hold me over until I can get corner balanced but I still want more camber. I'm only -2.4 up front and -1.0 rear with zero toe. Since I run by myself so often I have to compare myself to the STU STis to see how I'm doing. This is the second event in a row where conditions changed between heats and I had no gauge as to how I was doing. Oh well, time to work on a solid tune before next event.

Sweet drift though.

On the way to auto-x today I stopped to get gas and drinks about 4 miles from my house. Full of fuel and beverages I went to leave and heard/felt a distinctive clunk-clunk-clunk-clunk while turning right. I turned left and there was nothing but it did it again turning right. So I called it a day, turned around, and came home. I'm now in the market for some front axles for the car. Anyone have any good suggestions? I don't need DSS 900HP axles but I also don't necessarily want their Level 0 either.

It's a been a few weeks since I've updated this, so here it goes.

The bad CV shaft ended up being loose lug nuts on my driver's front wheel. Only one of five still had any decent torque left on it, three were finger tight, and one was mid-range. I checked them before, during, and after my last event and by the end they had lost some torque up front. I'll keep a much more focused eye on this in the future and they'll eventually be replaced with ARP extended studs.

I purchased and installed some Binary seat lowering brackets and holy cow are they awesome. I was concerned how low I sat after installing them but after driving around and one event the position is perfect. I'm 5'9", FYI. I also recently purchased an FP 18psi WGA and it's in the mail currently. The new boost controller helped but I still don't like how much duty cycle I'm having to run for my boost level. We will see what this does to the equation.

Finally, this last weekend was a practice Auto-X at Texas A&M. They have a couple before school starts that are unlimited test-n-tune runs. I got a chance to play with the suspension settings and really have it somewhere I like. They didn't change too far from where I had them so I'm concerned that my car is well set up for a large/fast course but will still be a challenge on a small/slow course. I was really happy with the day and here's my best run. Again, it was a practice, so don't mind the cones that are down. There were no workers so the course only got cleaned up periodically. It was fun to finally top out me Evo in two different places on course.


My nemesis of a GTR also showed up but his day didn't end so well. I believe a rod let go on track but his exhaust was on fire crossing the finish. Only wrecked his motor and rear bumper, he got lucky.

I've had a couple of events since my last update and they've been very fun. I have my base auto-x settings dialed in and have a good handle on how to get the car to do what I want as well. Yesterday we did an event at an actual road course and it was the most fun I've ever had during an auto-x. Some recent vids:

I am jealous of the auto-x event on the road course, that looked awesome!

The road course was definitely awesome. I saw one picture after the event where I was pulling the rear tire off the ground so I was happy to finally see someone's full album and there were no other instances. The photographer did manage to catch a couple shots of my exhaust backfiring while hitting the rev limiter. Only one was in focus, though. Anyway, here's a couple of good shots.

http://i1090.photobucket.com/albums/...41005_0202.jpg

http://i1090.photobucket.com/albums/...41005_0200.jpg

Well I guess I haven’t updated this in a while. Since my last post I’ve been to an HPDE day and another handful or more auto-x events. I added some Techna-Fit SS lines, Motul RBF 600 fluid, and Raybestos ST43 pads prior to the HPDE. I will say that I’ve never been on a track pad before but the ST43s and my brake system in general performed flawlessly. It did end up messing with my nice red calipers, though. On the auto-x front I haven’t really changed anything in a while other than a fresh set of ZII* specs. I’ve been placing really well lately which I attribute to being able to predict the car and working harder on being smooth. The last few events I’ve been 7/160, 5/160, 2/40, and 23/180.

I also ended up having a to buy a new truck as ‘04 Tundra was about one repair away from being junk. The sad part was I never had to repair anything on it but it was a great truck at 180k miles. So, I bought a new-to-me ‘08 Tundra 4x4 with the 5.7L engine. It feels so nice to drive a truck that isn’t underpowered; I hated the 4.7L in my last truck with my entire soul. I’ve been waiting to find a good deal on a car trailer and then I’ll be able to get home from any event regardless of what happens with the car.

Since I haven’t changed anything on the car in a while I’m getting the itch again. The next round of mods will be:

Motor/trans mounts
SCCA legal exhaust (sad face, will miss the cutout)
Caliper seals and powdercoat
ARP extended studs
Extended lug nuts
Rebuild AST coilovers
New alignment
18x10 or 18x10.5 wheels with 285/30 A6 tires
Brake ducting
Splitter

The biggest issue is figuring out the planned downtime for the suspension rebuild. It doesn’t help that AST-USA is no longer around. I’ve been in contact with Vorshlag and they will rebuild them but they stated that if I need anything other than a standard rebuild it could take a long time to get parts. This is concerning to me because when I bought the suspension there was slight scoring on the front strut rods. My passenger side has squeaked since install and I’ve had to rotate the shaft on the driver’s side to get it to stop groaning. I brought this up to Vorshlag and their response was “that doesn’t sound good”. I guess I just need to rip them off, send them up the road to Vorshlag, and deal with the lack of parts issue if/when it arises. In hindsight, I would have been further ahead to just buy a brand new set of coilovers as the rebuild price is now $200 a corner.

Since everything is made better with videos I’ve included a couple of my recent auto-x events.

Forgot to include my in process splitter bracketry. I've completed the vertical supports and now need to worry about a connection to resist rearward movement and finally the connections in front of the bumper. I'm in no hurry to get this mounted so it's a fun random project. I may end up making my own chromoly member for the front motor mount (like STM's) and attach the splitter to that to stop rearward movement. Only time will tell...

Nice updates, Kevin!

I have a friend that powdercoats when you're ready to do your calipers. He's local to me. I've known him since 2nd grade, lol. Good guy. Hit me up and I'll put you in touch with him.

The road course looked awesome!

Last weekend's auto-x

Same auto-x, hero run, stayed in the throttle on a big slide.

And on the way home I heard a horrible, oscillating, gear/bearing noise in 3rd-5th gears. I've needed to drop the rear diff for a while so that's where I'm starting and I'll be working through everything until I find it. The noise seems to be independent of gear selection but we'll see.

That second run looked FUN!

I'll be interested to see what's going on with your car. I've had a few noises that I've traced down that had interesting results. I had a starter bolt back out and the starter was vibrating the small metal cover behind the flywheel.

Hope it's nothing major (ie, expensive).

Good luck!

Get any work done?

I got the rear diff out last weekend and finally cracked it open today. Nothing visually wrong anywhere besides one of the plates getting scored. I'm so unhappy I don't have a smoking gun in the diff it's not cool. I'm not looking forward to keeping on troubleshooting this noise as it's only going to get more expensive. At this point I am not confident in the rear diff and the Weir kit installed in it. I'm going to try to get a hold of TRE to go through it so I can be 100% with it. I'll post some pictures tomorrow.

Pics of plates and a wear patterns.

Haven't updated in a while and for good reason. Car has been on jackstands but I finally have something worth posting. My diff is finally done and on its way back to me from TRE. Got the 12-plate, HD Ninja side cover, and sight glass mod done. I haven't even bothered contacting Weir about the plates as it's a bad design and I will not recommend anyone go down that path. Separately from the Weir kit my pinion bearings were toasted to the point that the pinion fell out as soon as the nut was removed. I had "possibly the worst contact pattern" Jon has ever seen and my side cover bearing was spinning on the stub and eating itself alive. Have I mentioned that I don't even launch my car properly to save on driveline stresses?

I've been hesitant to spend any money on the car as I didn't know how much this issue might end up costing me. I'm fairly confident that this will fix my issues and let me get back on the mod bus (aka wheels and A6s). Only time will tell but I'm eager to get my diff back and get everything back together to confirm. Hopefully I'm back on course (pun intended).

Got the TRE diff in a few weeks ago and finally had an event on it. It did step out a little earlier than it did before IIRC. Other than that, nothing special to report on it. I put the rear bar on medium and had sort of written off the day as a learning day due to the diff and the bar change. The car still handled very well and was as predictable as ever. I ended up 11th/110 in raw time only losing to extremely fast cars/drivers (FP, XP, etc). I was not upset in the least that I could hop back in after a few months and run how I did. Especially since I still am on 255 ZII* that are a year old.

Well, it's time to bump this thread. I haven't raced the car in over a year due to some knocking in the steering, brakes that needed to be rebuilt, and suspension that needed to be rebuilt. I've had a pile of parts at my house but was hesitant to rip into the car as I was looking for a job which would have required moving. I didn't really want to have to move a car that was on jackstands so I just held off. In March of this year the company I work for was sold and as part of that the management team was changed up quite a bit. One big change was that I went from Sr. Manufacturing Engineer to Director of Manufacturing Engineering. My initial thoughts were to rip the car apart and get to work on it but with the new role came a lot of extra work.

I finally got off my ass a couple months ago and ripped some of the car apart. I sent the suspension off to be rebuilt and a friend rebuilt and powdercoated my calipers for me. The car has been sitting untouched for a couple months now due to a shoulder injury but I'm finally feeling like I can use it again so it's time to get a better SM build underway and be ready for 2017. My current mods are in my signature but my local competition is rather fierce for a half-assed SM car. That local competition is Eric Hyman's GTR and Troy Dudley's GTR which are both on 345 A7s. So, in an effort to step up my game the mods for this round are:

Engine/Fuel
- E85 fuel pump and rewire
- FIC High Z injectors (undecided on 1100 or 1650)
- E85 tune (maybe even FlexFuel)
- Kiggly HLA
- AC removal
- Innovate oil pressure/temp gauge
- recirculating catch can setup
- FP exhaust manifold (replacing JMFab)

Suspension/Brakes/Wheels
- Whiteline steering precision kit
- Girodisc caliper rebuild and powdercoat
- Girodisc titanium shims
- Brake ducting (all of my dust boots were melted)
- Girodisc 2-pc rotors all around
- ARP extended studs
- Muteki SR48s
- 18x10.5 +30 NT03+M
- 285/30-18 A7s

Other
- motor mounts
- driveshaft bushings
- rear seat & belts removal
- radio & speaker removal
- DIY splitter

Progress will probably be slow due to time constraints but I'm sick of not driving this thing. I'm hoping that the continuation of this thread will work as a social contract to keep me motivated. Here's some pictures of how she currently sits, the parts room, and her former glory.

Well I actually worked on the car this last weekend, here's what's accomplished:
- wheel studs removed, need to make a collar at work to draw ARPs in
- radio and speakers removed
- drilled and tapped oil drain plug for temp sensor
- test fitted new caster/camber plates; they're ready for powdercoating
- Whiteline steering precision kit installed
- stripped a swaybar mount nut in the subframe but used a longer bolt and nut from bottom side to fix

And I ordered more parts:
- new plugs
- Torque Solutions motor mounts
- Torque Solutions exhaust mounts
- Torque Solutions driveshaft bushings
- AC removal belt and firewall plug

Just looking through some of your built parts, the 1100cc injectors are perfect for AutoX power as long as you feed them with more pump than a 255. Flow is everything though so you'll get a lot more out of your pump going with a -6an line and fuel rail. According to MrFreds testing the stock setup had a huge amount of pressure drop in the 450hp range on E85.

With a 340lph pump and 1100s with E85 we see about 85% duty cycle at high boost making somewhere around 500hp.

Getting serious, I like it! Do you have a target weight in mind or are you just removing unnecessary stuff and seeing where it sits?

Honestly, the fuel system is one of the least researched areas of my car. It was easy on 93 to just go with a 255 and 880s. Now that I'm going to do E85 I realize I have some forum reading to do. I know a 255 won't cut it but don't know what 340lph pump to get and couple with the STM rewire kit. I also don't know if a -6AN line is required as I'm only shooting for ~400whp on E85.

Getting more serious, yes, and thanks. I don't have a target weight in mind and honestly need to go through the SCCA rulebook to make sure I don't break any rules in doing what I am and have previously done. For instance, I removed the intercooler sprayer bottle to make way for a cold air duct to the filter but I don't know if that's a no-no or not. I've also deleted EGR and EVAP and am worried I'll have to put that back on. I know seats, speakers, belts, etc are cool but I'm grey on a lot of the other stuff.

400hp on a 255 w/E85 is no problem with 1100s. You pretty dont need anything else.

Once you start getting closer to 500hp the flow needed causes more pressure drop so combined with higher boost is just more restriction for the pump to overcome. At that point an Aeromotive 340 helped drop my duty cycles from 100% down to just under 90% since I could now keep full pressure at the injectors. No rewire or anything, just installed the pump (required soldering a connector but its just two wires).

This is with a 2.3l, Blouch 1.0XTR, ~27-28psi.

Well the going is slow but I've got some more done. Torque Solutions motor mounts are installed, as are the driveshaft bushings. Fought the exhaust hanger on the muffler section for a while before I realized it's a different height than the factory one and there were only two 12mm hangers, which means both needed to be used on the downpipe. So, I'm going to order a new factory hanger for the muffler and use the other three on the rear subframe and downpipe hangers. Still waiting on the camber plates which is not letting me install the wheel studs up front. I did get a fender roller as well as some quick latches for the front bumper. I'm going to end up making a front fender spacer/quick release bumper mount out of aluminum at work. I've already made one spacer that bends the front of the fender in so there's barely any headlight gap so I'll just make a bigger version to mount the quick release stud. Finally, I received a set of take-off 285/30-18 A6s from Jon Berget Racing Tire so I need to get those mounted, put wheel studs in the rear, and start rolling some fender. Everything's better with pictures so here's all I've got to show for the last month of procrastinating and being lazy...

Glad you got to do some work! I have something fun to install this weekend, too.

And what are you putting in, Brady?

My rear hubs are in my truck to go to work and press in studs tomorrow. Also have my FP manifold in there so I can ship it off to Curt Brown. Finally, I bit the bullet and removed the AC system from the engine bay today. So much more room!

So I'm apparently pretty bad at taking pictures and making updates. Suspension and brakes are installed I just need to bleed the brakes. Oil cooler is installed & plumbed. STM sealed catch can is installed and 80% plumbed. I bought an STM intake as well with a -10 for the catch can which was received today along with a Tial QR, FIC 1100s, one last -10 fitting to clean up catch can install, and I think that's about it. All parts that are required are here so it's now on me. I figure a few days worth of work and I'll be driving again and working on an E85 tune.

Looks good! Enjoy!

Got some more work done this last weekend. Intake & intercooler pipes mounted so I could mark where to put the Tial QR. Ran into a little interference issue between the radiator pipe and BPV recirculation hose. I'm going to trim the intake down a little as well as trim the recirc hose to make it fit under. Also, the 1/8" NPT for 3-port return on the intake needs to be moved as it's hitting the lower radiator hose. Measured out the fender spacer / bumper quick connect plates as well as the AC blockoff for the firewall until I feel like ripping the dash apart to remove the evaporator. One thing that's bothering me is ducting for the radiator. There's some good size holes on the sides of the core that I need to figure out how to plug up. I'm thinking of bending some aluminum to fit between the radiator support and the radiator to keep the air in there. I can use foam between the top of the radiator and the support but I still don't know what to do on the bottom.

Details on oil cooler! Looking to do something similar myself.

The oil cooler is just a B&M #70273. I moved it up front because I melted all the dust boots in my Brembos at an HPDE and thus am putting on ducting. I didn't want to steal from the oil cooler duct so I decided to make use of the AC fan & condenser area to mount the cooler and give myself the bumper inlet for brake ducting. The -8 lines just fit between the radiator and the support and I'm going to add some rubber trim to keep the sharp edges away from the hose. It's going to end up getting a duct up to the front of the bumper to minimize the ability for air to go around the cooler. Unfortunately I never had an oil press/temp gauge until now so I won't be able to give before and after numbers.

Well, after it sat on jack stands for a year I have it running and driving again. I opted to skip the fender rolling & 18x10.5s for now and just get it drivable. I got it inspected last night and the look on the Jiffy Lube employees' faces when I opened the hood was priceless. And having the neighbor's teenage kid ask me if it was a V8 when I pulled it out of the garage was also funny. I still have some air in the brake lines even though I went through two bottles of brake fluid using a power bleeder. So, I'm ordering some more and will continue to flush it this weekend. Everybody loves pictures, so here it is (don't mind the dust on it).

I've been putting some miles on the car driving around for fun again. Ran into a new issue last weekend where I couldn't boost at all due to breaking up. After some diagnosis one of my spark plugs was loose. I don't know how I managed that one but I torqued them all down yesterday and went for a drive. The issue was cleared up for about 20 miles and then it started breaking up badly again. I was able to limp the car home the last few miles and get it in the garage. It sounded like it was running on one cylinder at that point so I left it idling and started trying to diagnose. I removed the coil cover and instantly the idle returned to normal. I don't know if I have a wiring issue or if the coils are overheating under the cover. The wiring is the same as it used to be but the coil cover has been changed since it ran last. I find it hard to believe that the new cover is restricting that much airflow but I think I'm going to change to the standard plate below the coils with no cover at all. The fun continues!

That is odd, the cover should not have such a big effect on the coils. Is it possible that the wiring is compromised or the cover is pinching something?

Very strange about the misfire issue. I agree that unless a wire is loose or getting pinched there is no way that cover is causing a significant different in temperature to cause an issue. Just seems odd. Wonder if its a fluke and perhaps one of the coils is starting to fail?

Random question...it appears as though you have some decent meat on those wheels...are those 285/30 zii ss by chance as they appear to be? And if so do you happen to have an extra worn down one kicking around or plan to be getting rid of those anytime soon? Im dying to find one since I bulged the sidewall in one of mine and dont want to pay ~$400 for a new one shaved down to like 4/32, lol! If you do that would make my week!

It's possible that the wiring is compromised I just don't understand why it would be all of a sudden. I have a spare set of connectors in the solder variety so I may just build a spare harness and try it. I will say that when the car went back to running normally it was because the coil cover came off and I noticed wires to the first coil moved ever so slightly.


As I wrote above I'm going to make a spare harness and try that. Next step is to buy a COP plate and remove the coil cover completely. I'm also going to research what I can test on the coils to see if they're dying.


Excellent eye, those are definitely ZIIs. With a spacer in the front they look extra meaty but they're only 255/40-17s. I am actually contemplating getting another set of wheels to have 285/30-18 street tires but the 255/40-17 are just so cheap!

Are you on the stock coils or some form of COP? And how old are the plugs/ what are they?

Bummer about the tires. For some reason I thought the sidewall looked very thin so I was thinking maybe they were 285's but I have a feeling those wheels are 17x9 as it seems like thats the common size for those. But maybe it is the front spacer; just seemed like they poke out further than I would expect. I was in the same boat jumping up to 18's means an almost 2x cost of tires. But what kills me is the lack of wide rubbah in 17's so I ended up going for it. And of course given my last message you know my current predicament. Oh well couldnt hurt to ask

I'm running a homemade COP using Denso 90919-02240 coils, roughly 3 years in my possession but no idea on original age. Plugs are ~80 mile old NGK BPR8ES gapped at 0.022" or 0.024", can't remember which but I think it's 0.022". I was running BPR7ES @ 0.026" before that.

Interesting. I was going to say I believe I have a few spare coils, I forget (not like I ever remembered) the model number but they are the kidn that does not fit under the cover as the plugs slant upward. Its still a Toyota coil however so the plugs might be the same.

As far as the sparkplugs have you tried running the Iridiums? My car never seemed to like the copper plugs so I've been running the BPR7EIX for years now gapped to .025 and have no complaints. A few times I experienced the car breaking up so I threw in a new set of plugs and what do you know good as new. Just something to consider...

I have a set of iridiums sitting in my parts room but I don't remember if they're 7s or 8s, I'll have to check that tonight. I've always been on copper and never had any issues. The first 50 miles with these plugs was great so I'm not leaning towards it being a plug issue but anything is possible.

Yeah being so new it probably isnt but easy enough to swap some plugs to cross it off the list.

Well it ended up being the coil wiring. I had push in terminals and the bend radius the wires were at was putting enough stress on the #4 wires that at least one was losing contact. Car is being blasted around the roads again with a big smile on my face. I'm also thinking of picking up some 18x10 RPF1s for running 285 street tires as my current street wheels are only 17x9 and I still haven't made it to an auto-x yet. I figure next year I'll buy some sticker A7s as long as I have the time to actually race it again. That will also give me ample time to swap injectors and tune for E85.

Well, it's been a while with no updates. The coil issue came back up and finally figured out what it was, the spring in the coil was bent and pushed to the side. Car is currently on jack stands as I was chasing a coolant leak on the turbo and found an oil leak as well. So, a quick call to STM and I've got all new crush washers and drain pipe gaskets. Also found up & down play in my Vorshlag camber plate bearings so I got those replaced as well. Only thing I'm waiting on now before putting the turbo back on is finding out whether or not a friend has a 10.5 hotside that doesn't have a cracked divider. If he does I'll take it off his hands, port it, and get rid of the 9.8 one on there now. I made a quik-latch bumper setup and today just finished up fabbing some bumper blockoff plates with integral brake duct connections. Going to have a buddy I used to work with weld the pipes into the plates and bolt them in. I can't stand the look of hoses on the front end and with the oil cooler relocated it gave me plenty of space to mount the ducting to these plates instead of trying to steal air from the oil cooler in stock location. Oh, and since I lost my job I decided just to put new 255/40-17 RE71Rs on the car for driving on the street. Blockoff plates below.https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.evo...f456732e35.jpg

Sorry to hear about the job. The block off plates look good.

Keep up the good work bud.

Stretched the coil springs and installed them today, calibrated wideband, and installed brake ducting. Happily there was enough ducting that I can remove the bumper and access the clamps so I can still take the bumper off in a few minutes. All I have left to do is put the exhaust back on, lower the rear a bit, and bleed the brakes then it's time for an alignment. I should be able to get that done tomorrow and then I can drive it around and make sure it's ready to race this weekend.https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.evo...04751bb378.jpg
https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.evo...f1a7cbace2.jpg
https://cimg0.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.evo...f348ad527d.jpg

Awesome, man! Hope she runs well for you!

Thanks, Brady. Hopefully your project is going well too.

So yesterday I put the exhaust back on and spent an indordinate amount of time installing the AMS test pipe. I bought this exhaust used and have never known exactly which direction the pipe should be installed as both flanges are on angles but not matching and there isn't a single mark on the pipe for orientation. So, I installed it in all rotations/directions and chose the one that kept it centered in the bumper opening and away from the driveshaft. I'm happy to report it no longer contacts the carrier bearing so one more knock is gone. I also bled the brakes and found a small pocket of air on both sides of the driver's front caliper so now the brakes feel proper again. Finally, I lowered the rear to give it some of that factory rake, put the wheels on, set it on the ground and went to take it for a spin. Click click click..... crap, dead battery. After a nice 4 hour charge to make sure the lawnmower battery was okay I was able to take it out for a test drive. There is still a faint & light metallic knocking sound coming from the rear of the car. It almost sounds like a loose end link but they are both tight. So, my plan for today is track down that knock, check all fluids, and be confident in the car's ability to race this weekend. I have an appointment for an alignment tomorrow morning and then it's good to go!

Well, the car is ready to go for Sunday! I found the knock in the rear; it ended up being the where the pass side endlink mounted to the control arm. I also got an alignment this morning and it's now at -3.0 camber with zero toe up front and -1.9 camber with zero toe out back. Caster came in at 5.3 drivers side and 5.8 passenger side. I'm not happy they're not closer but nothing I'm going to worry about at this point. I'm super pumped to go figure out suspension settings again since some idiot didn't write down where he left off with the settings.

How long was your car down??? Over a year?

It hasn't been raced since late 2015. It was down from May '16 - May '17. Only been on jackstands a few months this last time and really only because it's been cold so I didn't want to work on it.

Well I went to a Texas Spokes Auto-x at Circuit of the Americas on Sunday and it was extra nice as there was a track day on the actual track so we got to listen to superfast cars and even a Camping World Series truck run around the track al day. As far as the auto-x I was a little worried about my fenders contacting my tires as it's lower than it ever has been and my fenders have never been touched. I'm happy to report they never contacted! I was hoping to mess with suspension settings but I ended up running in the first heat with temps hovering in the low 40s. I have never struggled for traction so much in this car but it made for some fun and wild rides for me and passengers. I still managed to rattle off the fastest time for my heat and it almost held up through the second but due to timing issues the last couple of runs for second heat was with sun starting to beat down on the asphalt. Third heat saw full sun and temps reach the high 60s so they roasted my time and the TTOD was a kart coming in 1.7 seconds faster than me. I ended up 14th out of ~160 for raw time and won my "tire" pax superclass (all modified and prepared cars now choose either "tire" or "race tire" with their normal class and run in a group). I was a little sad I didn't get to try some different suspension settings but I definitely left with a huge smile on my face. Unfortunately I decided it wasn't even worth using the GoPro due to conditions but I should have as it would have been hilarious to watch how sideways and drifty the car was during the event.

There is a small track in Austin (Driveway Austin) that has a time attack series and I'm going to try to make their event on April 28th. If I do make it I'll be sure to bring the GoPro and actually utilize it. Until next time, thanks for reading!

Nice! Just curious... have you tried messing with the toe at all? I used to find that a bit of toe out at the front and toe in for the rear gave me a bit more direct turn-in and better stability for the rear.

At this point I still drive it to events as I don't have a trailer and they're generally 70+ miles away so I don't want to scrub my tires away with toe. I did get some pictures from the event though, so something to show at least.https://cimg5.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.evo...eb06c33757.jpg
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I went to an auto-x in Killeen, TX today put on by Auto-x & Drift Motorsports. In the past I've not been the fondest of their organizational skills and lax environment but they're super close, cheap, and you get a lot of runs. It's run by a younger Army vet who is really just trying to promote the sport as well as show the soldiers at Fort Hood that you can have fun with your car in a safe environment and not having to do street racing and other stupid things on the street. So I went and took 6 runs (could have had 10 but a friend was codriving and the car was getting hot) and managed 2nd fastest of the day behind a super prepped SSM Miata on A7s. Below is the video and a picture of my brakes after 8 back-to-back runs with very little time for cooling down.


https://cimg9.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.evo...f1c0892688.jpg

Crazy. I tried ProSolo a few times and couldn't figure out which side of the cones to be one. There wasn't enough time for me to figure out before I got to each turn :lol:

So I moved to Fort Worth, TX for a new job which is a bonus for me as there's more racing and way closer than when I was down in Temple. Went to a Texas SCCA event and came in 2nd to a 460whp STi on sticky tires. I got pissed and decided it's finally time to install my new injectors and buy some 285/30 A7s. Went over to Evolution Dynamics today to get a dyno tune for 93 & E85 and am happy with the results. 372 whp / 325 torque on 93 @ 25.5 psi and 434 whp / 394 torque on E85 @ 30 psi. We dialed it back to 29 psi which netted 430. Feels good to finally know some numbers after all these years of me tuning it.https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.evo...66a8c06e97.jpg

That's awesome! I need to get out there and do the same thing. I really wish I had e85 somewhere close to me.

Glad that STi motivated you to step it up a bit. Go get him!

Yeah, I needed some motivation and competition. I'm happy to say that in yesterday's auto-x with TexasSCCA I was able to beat them by .3 seconds, on 255 RE71Rs. It was a battle though with the lead changing back and forth every run. The best driver didn't show up, so I'm wondering how close we would have been if he had. Unfortunately I didn't use my GoPro so there is no video to watch. The car is definitely handling the best it ever has and the extra power is great. I can effortlessly use throttle to steer the car and it rips on the straights. I had a few people ride with me and all of them ended the runs laughing and swearing about how stupid fun the car is. All that's left now is fender rolling and ordering the HoHo's. Next event is Sept. 23rd and the one after that is on the infield road course of Texas Motor Speedway.

Had another auto-x with TexasSCCA and the best competitor showed up; it was wet and drizzling so he was on street tires this time (Azenis RT615k+). The course was super tight in three 180 turnarounds so I figured the course would favor the gearing of the STi but figured I'd give em hell anyway. First run I lifted mid-corner exit and got back on which produced a delightful spinout. After that I was a little more hesitant with conditions but still pushed the car for all it was worth. My girlfriend actually got scared with all the sliding and ended up going shopping at the outlets across the street. In the end I managed to win and gapped 2nd place by 2.7 seconds on a 60 second course. My competitors even asked me how I was finding time out there and I told them they were probably screwing up the 180s as the cones were placed to create pinch points at exit and most people were driving that way instead of braking later and using a constant radius corner. Other than that I have no idea why I would have grip and they did not other than maybe tire selection. Next auto-x is the infield course at Texas Motor Speedway so stay tuned for recap and video from that event. Videos of this event below:

Well the infield course auto-x wasn't as big as other road course auto-x events I've done but it was still fun. Managed to take 1st by 1.4 seconds even with coning away my fastest run. My car really feels the best it ever has and my confidence is way up there in its predictability. I'm pretty sure I'm hurting some feelings beating the guys on R-comps while still on street tires. I really can't wait to buy a new set of Hoosiers for next year and see how much more that gets me. Hopefully I'll be able to attend nationals for the first time as well.

I went to the first event of the season with Texas SCCA today. It was a chilly 34-36 degrees, rain in the morning, 20mph wind, and was absolutely the worst auto-x experience I've ever had to due to the miserable cold. But, we still had 120 crazies out there throwing their cars around so that was encouraging. I ended up running in the last heat and was 1 second ahead of another Evo and about 2.5 seconds in front of my normal competition. The course was a challenging and slippery surface but the Evo found that grip! I ended up 2nd fastest raw time and 1st in SM; not a bad start for the year.

I also had a decent conversation with the regional head of SCCA Time Trials today and I think I'm going to start trying to do those events as well. I already have an email in to Rick @ Ciro regarding his dual element wing design and whether or not I can convert it between a single and dual depending on which event I'm running. Not sure if anyone knows the answer to that one or not but I've been waiting a handful of days with no response as of yet.

Today's slidefest:

Could you get enough heat in the tires to make them useful?

Some of my favorite AutoX memories are rainy days where only the most die-hard autocrossers are willing to stick around. Working course in the rain is miserable, but putting the Evo AWD to use against all of my 2WD friends makes it all worthwhile.

The tires got luke warm at most but they still worked pretty damn well considering. I do not mind the rain at all as I have full wet gear. I was dressed for the temperature today but not the wind sucking the heat out of my body. All the people I know here are AWD but I get what you're saying about gapping friends.

I haven't updated in a while because other than another event and another class win there hasn't been much. After a couple months of waiting for all the components to arrive I was finally able to install a Ciro Design Racing wing on my car. I bought the dual element wing but also bought single element end plates so I can convert between AX and track wings as needed. I will say that it's not fun to have to drill into your own brand new wing but after the first hole I felt a lot better. I really didn't know what to expect when drilling the CF. I'm going to paint the end plates silver to match the car and might end up doing the struts too depending on color balance after the end plates are painted. I still also need to install the supports for the upper element but I had to at least grab some pictures once I could mount everything together. On to pictures and video of the last auto-x event with TexasSCCA. Next race isn't until the end of June so we'll see what other parts I can get ordered and installed prior to that.


https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.evo...0117c91083.jpg
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It doesn't come with the mounts installed? Woof.

Looks good though. Huge wang.

Buzz' girlfriend... Woof!

Yeah, I had no idea that I would get the pleasure of drilling my own mount holes. I think I measured everything like 20 times before making my first hole. $2100 for the wing and I got the opportunity to ruin it before it ever got on the car!

June's race happened on Sunday and I was able to bring home another class win by 2.6 seconds. I was hesitant to show up with the wing and no Hoosiers but I decided that downforce is downforce no matter what tire you're on and I might as well see how it affects the car's balance. I don't know what I was expecting but it wasn't a night vs. day difference. The car felt a little less tail happy in the slaloms but I was still able to make the tail dance around cones. Without testing the course back to back I don't know what the wing really netted me. I finally got the last of my parts from Ciro Racing so I can switch between single and dual. Here's a picture of the car cleaned up before the event and the video from the event.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.evo...d58e60b192.jpg

After the last auto-x I noticed that my steering wheel wasn't straight on the ride home. I remember thinking, how TF does that happen at an auto-x where nothing happened. As I was prepping for this event I found what it was. It turns out my drivers side rear wheel was toed in a metric **** tonne. I tried to tighten the bolt and, to my non-surprise, the bolt was stripped. I have always struggled with these bolts. Other than a turbo stud this is the only bolt that's ever stripped on my car, and they strip every time I do an alignment regardless of torque specs. I literally have been running with this alignment for over a year and suddenly it gave up and moved? Luckily I keep these on my spare parts shelf as I know that they are weak and give me problems.
https://cimg8.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.evo...a9f45e2f8e.jpg
I also picked up a set of Ohlins Flags from GriceIV. They're recently rebuilt and valved for where I need to be, I just need to put some TLC into them before I slap them on.
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.evo...8136f2e312.jpg
Finally, I ran an event with TexasSCCA today that was a large course that equally rewarded the HP cars and the momentum cars. I was crossed up and between gears a couple different times but in talking to other regulars they were struggling as well. I won my class by a second over an FRS but that was a little too close for comfort. I was happy with the day until I watched my videos and I was consistently 1-2 feet off the cones. Not sure why I was playing it so safe and not pushing it but it pissed me off. Video of the day is below.