Support NeoGAF

[Pimpwerx]

Koopa: Sounds similar to driving a car with a 2zz. You want to stay in the lift, otherwise, the engine's a real dog. I'm getting urethane engine mounts soon. The car grinds from 1st to 2nd @ 5500rpm+. Not that big a deal in normal driving, but when I'm leaning on it, it's a hassle. Solid mounts should alleviate some of the problem. The rest just requires me to shift a bit slower. My car's not a dragster, and while I'm hoping to install a 10" in the next few months, it doesn't have the space to thump either. But find me a nice, twisty road and it'll chew it up, spit it out, and beg for seconds. How's $50 for solid mounts sound anyway? Seems like a good deal, so I'm gonna do it. Eventually, I'll have all the vibrations out of this car and have the traction I deserve. A Quaiffe LSD might be on the cards for early next year. It'll be just after the turbo. I may flywheel and clutch, but I'll be going 6-spd in the long run, and I figure I can maybe wait for the tranny swap before performing such surgery. Let's see your car man. PEACE.

 

[Vinzer Deling]

Well, Tein is the best fabricated coilover for a spacific application, The Super Street with pellowball uppermounts, lower your stock 2.3in on the front and 1.6in on the back with an adjustable hight from .8 to 3.2in on the front and .6 to 2.25in on the rear. Thats on a 99si Now setting the stiffness rate of the coilovers is based on the desired application use. 16 different levels from stiff as fuck to loose as hell. But with the Pellowball uppermounts you can mount a EDFC controller to change them from the driverseat. Which is the best part, 3 diiffrent settings at the flip of a switch you can change stiffness as you ride based on whats up ahead of up. hard for turns, soft for slight roll in banking. The best suspension package that money can buy.

Really?

I always felt Tein were lower end bargain dampers. You know who buys EDFC from my experience? Kids who have no idea about proper suspension geometry. :lol

So what do you think is a good setup if my burget was say $1600-2200? What spring rate would be best for a street car?

As for Brembo calipers, all depends on what kind of Gran Turismo setup and wheel you want to go with, I know with my Racing Hart CR Multipiece, I had to machine 5/16 aluminum spacers to get the rims to fit, The only offset that the CR's offer in 19x9.5 is 17mm. I wasnt gonna sacrafice Tread width for application ease. Dowel roll the sidepanel lip and your good to go.

I'm curious.. how did your 19x10 +22mm offset wheels turn to 19x9.5 +17MM wheels?

Now as far as the Master Cylinder. In my case I didnt have to upgrade it because for one thing I had 4 wheel disc breaks. Now keep inmind the my big break kit came from aem which uses a brembo monoblock caliper, its the same thats on the rear of a porcshe boxter S. Now if i were to goto a ALCON 6 piston or a GREX 6 piston or Wilwood 6 Piston, yah the master break cylender would need to be retrofited to withstand the break pressure needed to supply all those pistons at once, were talking 20 pistions, not 10 which is on my current setup. The pistons on the caliper are smaller then oem, but engage the pad more evenly distributing the surface along my 13" rotor uniformily. Along with steel braided break lines it causes the breaks to be very very stiff. I will go threw the windshield before the car goes another inch.

Is a brake upgrade really need it? If so why? Wouldn't a good set of pads, braided lines and be a good setup for a newbie?

I do recommend a standalone engine management system. Preferably from Greddy or Apexi. All Greddy turbos come with E-Manage, I also am a fan of there REBIC IV and PROFEC E-01 Injector and boost controllers. Most stock non turbo ECU's have trouble with turbos's Bypassing and Piggybacking is a must.

Why Apexi? From my understanding the PFC requires an Excel tuner. Even with the Commander wouldn't you still need the Excel program to make full use of it's capability? Also how does one address the PFC not being able to log data? Also why have a secondary piggy back fuel computer in conjuntion with a PowerFC? From my understanding the PFC has the ability to compensate for atmospheric bypass valves for cars with mass-airflow sensors.

Of course turbo's on non turbo cars arent smog legal in california, You need to know a few places that look for blimps at certian key moments of a smog check. Then agian if your running a b18 w/ turbo in a 99si, your not running a cat. Moot point.

Im thinking of buying a S2000. In that case I would go with a Comptech Turbo, which is warranteed for that car. Then the engine management system can be redone, Spoon has one and i beleave Apexi has a very outstanding EMS.

Daily driving is done at 3psi boost. anything higher on a regular basis will wear out the springs and valves in my personal experiance.

Also I'm curious.. how did you make 440HP on 7PSI with on a stock block with a TD05H-18G? From your parts list, I'm assuming your running an external wastegate? But aren't the TD05H-18G use an internal wastegate? Also you listed a DC Sport 4-2-1 header? Aren't headers for naturally aspirated cars?

I'm curious since the B18s are open-deck blocks. Also isn't the compression ratio a bit too high for turbo application? I'm sorry for all the questions, I'm not that knowledgable about Hondas.

 

[Tazznum1]

I made them change the rims. Just picked it up 2 weeks ago.

 

[LinesInTheSand]

bump for ownage

 

[Vinzer Deling]

I think I can still get in coilovers on top of everything else by then. Leaning towards JIC, but know there are other options that have more setup information available.

They're junk.

 

[Lumix]

dp

 

[Lumix]

I think I can still get in coilovers on top of everything else by then. Leaning towards JIC, but know there are other options that have more setup information available.

You should avoid JIC. Their shocks in the coilovers tend to wear out faster than other brands that are available, plus their customer service is pretty bad.

 

[Pimpwerx]

You should avoid JIC. Their shocks in the coilovers tend to wear out faster than other brands that are available, plus their customer service is pretty bad.

Damn you. My concern was setup. I was gonna go with the FLT-A1US. I figure 5-way adjustable damping should be fine since I'll only really be going from full hard to full soft. And anything in-between I don't need a super-precise control for. My tire setup and an LSD would serve me better for getting to Nationals in SoloII. The FLT-A2's are nice, but don't offer much more for the $300. But eventhough I have a light car, I still worry if you say they wear out fast. Screw that, I'm pretty hard on my car. It's abused daily, and the drive to work has some ruts.

The other option I was looking at was the Tein SS. They are only like $100 more than the FLT-A1US, and are 16way adjustable. But they lack something the A1US's have. The ride height is linked to the spring perch. With the JIC's, you could adjust ride height without affecting spring travel. With the Teins, you can't. Not a huge deal, but the JICs will make the car easier to cornerweight without affecting the drop. :?

JIC FLT-A1US
http://img43.exs.cx/img43/2015/jicflta29of.jpg

Tein SS
http://img43.exs.cx/img43/4978/ssem10kb.jpg

What do you guys think about Koni shocks and Eibach springs as an alternative option? It's probably got the best setup info for my car, and it's easier to take care of replacements or repairs.

Oh yeah, here's one more of me at the autox. Rollbars are for pussies. The minute I get there, the helmet guy makes some crack about how it's not politically expedient to give a black guy a black helmet. I wanted to smack him one. :lol Fucking old people. But anyway, I made all the runs top-down. Driving with a helmet isn't fun. Driving with a helmet through "a sea of cones" is fucking frustrating. Half my problem is spotting my line. PEACE.

 

[Lumix]

The other option I was looking at was the Tein SS. They are only like $100 more than the FLT-A1US, and are 16way adjustable. But they lack something the A1US's have. The ride height is linked to the spring perch. With the JIC's, you could adjust ride height without affecting spring travel. With the Teins, you can't. Not a huge deal, but the JICs will make the car easier to cornerweight without affecting the drop. :?

Between those two, I would go with the Tein SS. At least with Tein you get good customer support. And when you have to send your set for a rebuild, it would be sent to the facility in California for service, rather than Japan.
Another recommendation would be Cusco, since they also just opened a distribution branch is the U.S.. However, I am not exactly sure what they have for the MR2/ MRS.

What do you guys think about Koni shocks and Eibach springs as an alternative option? It's probably got the best setup info for my car, and it's easier to take care of replacements or repairs.

This would be a good budget combination. My friend won FSP class at Nationals with a Koni Reds and Ground Control / Eibach setup.
Are the Eibach springs progressive or single rate?

Driving with a helmet isn't fun. Driving with a helmet through "a sea of cones" is fucking frustrating. Half my problem is spotting my line. PEACE.

Walkthroughs before your run group should help you find the line. Try walking with, or following the veteran drivers or local champions.
The main thing to remember is to look ahead and anticipate what you going to next... not the approaching turn, but the turn / box/ gate after.


Here are a couple of photos of my cars, at local autocross events.
STS Class

SM Class

SM Class

 

[robox]

disclaimer: the following is all hearsay. i have no experience (read: no money) on any of the following setups.

tein ss is only their 2nd from the bottom coilover. there are more hardcore race models out there, like ra, rs, etc. tein also has a reputation as being popular because they are cheap, not because of quality. though, when i see the tein sticker on wrc imprezas, i'm sure they're not that bad. same deal with jic. top level brands are zeal and cusco, but they also cost a pretty penny.

a koni + gc kit is a good way to go, if you know what spring rates you need. picking a spring rate is tricky since it varies from car to car. integras run much higher rates than mine, even though they're about the same weight. and if ythe support for your car is anything like my car, the koni's may need to be revalved for the spring rate and rebuilt for external adjustment.

as me for... i'm just gonna keep an eye out for good reviews on cheap made in taiwan stuff... and let other people sort out the car and just follow their setups... >_< my goal is to fastest in my class and i'm gonna ape another 240sx in the meantime. but r tires cost a lot...

 

[Vinzer Deling]

disclaimer: the following is all hearsay. i have no experience (read: no money) on any of the following setups.

tein ss is only their 2nd from the bottom coilover. there are more hardcore race models out there, like ra, rs, etc. tein also has a reputation as being popular because they are cheap, not because of quality. though, when i see the tein sticker on wrc imprezas, i'm sure they're not that bad. same deal with jic. top level brands are zeal and cusco, but they also cost a pretty penny.

a koni + gc kit is a good way to go, if you know what spring rates you need. picking a spring rate is tricky since it varies from car to car. integras run much higher rates than mine, even though they're about the same weight. and if ythe support for your car is anything like my car, the koni's may need to be revalved for the spring rate and rebuilt for external adjustment.

as me for... i'm just gonna keep an eye out for good reviews on cheap made in taiwan stuff... and let other people sort out the car and just follow their setups... >_< my goal is to fastest in my class and i'm gonna ape another 240sx in the meantime. but r tires cost a lot...

My spring rates us 9F/8R and you don't need to run R compound. Dunlop FM901s are $80 a tire and so are similar performance tires from other manufacturers in that price range. I say Dunlop because they sponsor me so..

 

[fart]

so i actually pulled into lift tonight. i'm still not pushing it like i'm used to though; very very green on the transmission. let's keep talking about autox (or HPDE type track days if you're into that).

 

[Folder]

just took that picture earlier today. wa hey

240 or 200 or 180?
I love the S13

 

[Vinzer Deling]

240 or 200 or 180?
I love the S13

URL says it's a 240.

 

[Schmo Florez]

Sorry I'm late...

I find the lack of truck love around here disturbing.

 

[bionic77]

What is the easiest way to upload pictures?

 

[robox]

you don't need to run R compound. Dunlop FM901s are $80 a tire and so are similar performance tires from other manufacturers in that price range. I say Dunlop because they sponsor me so..

how are they? and how'd you get a sponsor? were you one of those that changed their last name to dunlop-tire as part of their marketing campaign?. i wonder if those people actually got tires for their humiliation they'd suffer... errr... nevermind...

i getting the new model azenis rt-615 that's supposed to come out early this year, but i still haven't seen 'em around. the old azenis was the concensus best street tire foring racing... that and kumho mx, which don't come in 15 inches for me. and i figure if/when i move up to sts, i can keep my azenis since they don't allow pure race tires but they do in stock... weird...

and you haven't said what car you drive... there's only so much info i can deduce from the given spring rates... in fact, i can't

 

[Tarazet]

What is the easiest way to upload pictures?

http://www.imageshack.us/

 

[Pimpwerx]

What is the easiest way to upload pictures?

Imageshack - EVERYONE SHOULD USE!!!

This would be a good budget combination. My friend won FSP class at Nationals with a Koni Reds and Ground Control / Eibach setup.
Are the Eibach springs progressive or single rate?

Good question. Not sure since I didn't bother doing detailed research on that setup. It was a suggestion from another Spyder owner. I assume single rate. Are prog springs given in ranges like "3-5" or whatever and single rates get single digitits? I'll be able to find the correct spring rate pretty easily there's so much info about them. But I didn't know much about the adjustability of such a setup. I'd like something flexible for when I take it to the track. AutoX is fun, and I'm gonna use it to hone my skills, but the track is where it's at. Much easier to spot a line around a track. So I'd like to buy one suspension setup that'll let me advance my setup range as I learn more. I head good things about Ohlins, but I have to look at what might be available for my car.

i getting the new model azenis rt-615 that's supposed to come out early this year, but i still haven't seen 'em around. the old azenis was the concensus best street tire foring racing... that and kumho mx, which don't come in 15 inches for me. and i figure if/when i move up to sts, i can keep my azenis since they don't allow pure race tires but they do in stock... weird...

I would love to get a set of Kuhmos or Azenis, but they only come in one size for my car, and I need a front-rear stagger. So if I want to run them, I need to go with 205's all the way around, which gives this car some rather unpleasant oversteer characteristics. I had 185's on there when I bought it, and I simply couldn't correct a spin. The back wouldn't tuck back in regardless of throttle input. 205's would be better, but still not as nice as staggered. I'm thinking about Pole Positions, although I hear they're heavy-ish.

I eventually want to get 15" SSR-Comps or Volk TE-37s (ugly IMO), so if I'm cutting weight on the wheels, why throw on heavy tires? It would be awesome if they made Azenis in a narrower 195 or 185 for the fronts, then I'd never buy another tire ever again. I saw all the cars rocking them at the last event. They're a nice compromise to buying R tires.

Oh yeah, before I forget. Does anyone know a good place to buy a cheap helmet? Open-face is fine, but a full-mask is fine as well. Colors don't matter, I could have one of my kids airbrush it if necessary. But I'd like to get my own helmet since I'm gonna need it from now on. A roll bar is on the cards for the future as well. PEACE.

 

[Wellington]

What do you do for a living Pimpwerx? Can I get in on some of that action?

 

[thom]

Still waiting to see Koopa's '99 Si

Here is the toy I don't play with anymore sitting in my garage.

95 gs-r busted jdm face.

 

[fart]

the pics he sent me are sitting on some webspace of mine. if he gives the OK, i can post them. no engine shots though

 

[Pimpwerx]

What do you do for a living Pimpwerx? Can I get in on some of that action?

I teach for a living. And I'd recommend against it b/c it doesn't pay well. :lol

Oh yeah, and I guess we're all waiting on Koopa to post pics of his car. It's one thing to talk about it, but if you've done all that work, you must have some pics to show. I take pics everytime I do a new install on the car.

I'm thinking about painting the brake calipers tomorrow. What do you guys think, yellow or red? I'd do yellow, but I don't imagine the car will be this color in a year or two, and I don't know if there are problems layering paint on those hot calipers. Red's kinda played out, but at least I know it'll work with whatever color I paint the car in the future (leaning towards green). Whaddya think, and should I worry about layering the paint? If not, I'll paint them yellow then change it up in the future when the time comes.

I gotta say that buying a car you like makes all the difference in the world. I never looked twice at my Excel and my Rolla. They were strictly utilitarian. But since buying the least practical car outside a Ferrari, I've spent endless hours working on one thing or another, and planning changes for the car. Now money's the only issue. I wanted to get the whole suspension swapped out by December, but there was a complete lack of group buy deals on anything worthwhile, so Feb is supposed to be when those STBs and chassis braces become available. I have a feeling the end of the year might come and I'll still be looking for a set of coilovers. I also got the interior and stereo as a Summer project. I'm already testing out ways of mounting the cheetah print fur inside the car. What do you think of this:

Had to rip it up b/c the contact cement seeped through. I'm researching other means of mounting the material. The fur looks HOT under the sun though. The pic doesn't quite do it justice. PEACE.

 

[fart]

i'd go with red for the calipers, and man, skip the cheetah print.

 

[Vinzer Deling]

how are they? and how'd you get a sponsor? were you one of those that changed their last name to dunlop-tire as part of their marketing campaign?. i wonder if those people actually got tires for their humiliation they'd suffer... errr... nevermind...

They're "good" for the price I get them for. If I had to pay full price? I'd probably get other brands.

I gave Dunlop an offer they couldn't refuse.

and you haven't said what car you drive... there's only so much info i can deduce from the given spring rates... in fact, i can't

It has a triple chromed TD05H-18G.

I'm thinking about painting the brake calipers tomorrow. What do you guys think, yellow or red? I'd do yellow, but I don't imagine the car will be this color in a year or two, and I don't know if there are problems layering paint on those hot calipers.

Flat black.

And don't be a ricer, get them professionally powdercoated.

 

[Vinzer Deling]

the pics he sent me are sitting on some webspace of mine. if he gives the OK, i can post them. no engine shots though

Give em the OK, Koopa.

 

[Pimpwerx]

Flat black.

And don't be a ricer, get them professionally powdercoated.

Flat black is pretty boring. I'd like them to at least stand out through the spokes. Yellow will match the current exterior, and red's the generic color that'll work with anything. If it's not a problem layering the paint (regular 900 degree paint, or whatever Pep Boys sells), then I'll paint them yellow and repaint when the exterior gets done. But if layering is bad, then I think I'll go with red. I doubt I'd need them powdercoated, although that would look awesome.

Oh yeah, Koopa can post those pics himself if he wants to. Imageshack.us is possibly the best way to post pics on here. Free, easy to use and there's no bandwidth limitations. PEACE.

 

[Folder]

Peugeot 205 1.9 GTi
Kiss my 890KG 170BHP Euro arse bitches!

 

[Vinzer Deling]

Flat black is pretty boring. I'd like them to at least stand out through the spokes. Yellow will match the current exterior, and red's the generic color that'll work with anything. If it's not a problem layering the paint (regular 900 degree paint, or whatever Pep Boys sells), then I'll paint them yellow and repaint when the exterior gets done. But if layering is bad, then I think I'll go with red. I doubt I'd need them powdercoated, although that would look awesome.

Oh yeah, Koopa can post those pics himself if he wants to. Imageshack.us is possibly the best way to post pics on here. Free, easy to use and there's no bandwidth limitations. PEACE.

That's just my style. I'm not into the triple chrome bling bling ricer rides with the hippin and a the hoppin and the bippin and the boppin.

And trust me painted calipers done with Autozone caliper paint looks terrible.

I doubt Koopa will ever post his pics, atleast not any engine shots.

 

[AlphaSnake]

God, I've been waiting forever to post in this thread. Anyways, I have a 2001 Nissan Maxima SE. I've done a number of handling modifications to the car so far. First off, the stock suspension was completely ripped out and redone. The springs are Maxspeed (a division of H&R, who manufactures springs for many of the hot European cars). The drop up front is 1.4'', and the back is 1.3'' -- so the stance is aggressive. Maximas are notorious for having some of the ugliest front wheel gap on a sedan. Here are some before and after pictures:

Before:

After:

Notice where the tire actually ends, and not where the shadow begins to cover it. The gap went from a full foot, to about two and a half fingers. The struts are Tokico HP/Blues. Stock struts on all Nissans are also made by Tokico, but the Blues are 10% stiffer to accomodate the loss of suspension travel, so they'll hold out. I chose to not go adjustable, because Blues are almost exactly like their adjustable counterparts the Illuminas, when the Illuminas are set to 2F/3R. And Blues are still quite the expensive stut, going over $300 most places. (Adjustable are just over $400). Here's a picture of the Blues.

And here's a picture of what the springs look like:

Lastly, stock tires on the Maxima are known to be four pieces of shit composed of rubber. Bridgestone Potenzas are about as terrible as a tire can get -- terrible wet traction, no snow traction, poor handling and decent dry traction. So I had them replaced with Falken Ziex512s. An all season tire, with superior performance aspects. Traction for wet and dry is practically flawless. Control and handling is downright incredible. And snow traction is way above average. I kept stock size, 225/50-17'' -- but I think my next set will be a 35 series tire -- I like a lower profile look.

 

[Desperado]

I think I made out ok for my first car.

1997 Pontiac Sunfire GT. It moves pretty well for a 4-banger. :lol

 

[robox]

I kept stock size, 225/50-17'' -- but I think my next set will be a 35 series tire -- I like a lower profile look.

unless you go with a wider tire or larger wheel, with a 35 series tire on a stock wheel, you can say hello to mr. wheel gap again.

 

[AlphaSnake]

unless you go with a wider tire or larger wheel, with a 35 series tire on a stock wheel, you can say hello to mr. wheel gap again.

Well, first off, that was a typo (in fact, that entire post was full of them ). I meant I was gonna' go with 235/45 tire. I know someone with the same drop combo as me, and he has the Falkens in 235/45-17 -- looks nearly identical to my setup.

 

[AlphaSnake]

Aside from a few other very minor suspension mods (strut bar, etc.) I'm pretty much done with my car's handling aspect. I've purchased a number of aesthetic items for the car. I just recently purchased a pair of LED turn-signals for the mirrors. They're a lot like the turn signals you see on all of the new Cadillacs; they're red in color.

Not my car:

Then, I placed a special order of eyelids from a manufacturer who has pretty much halted doing eyelids for Maximas. A friend of mine managed to convince them, and we ordered two sets. They're polyurethrane, and cost $100. They're the most coveted eyelids ever produced and incredibly rare (I'll be one of the very few Maximas with them on). Neither the signals or eyelids are on right now, I'm waiting until the spring.

My headlights are PIAA 5000k Super Plasma GTX. They're standard H4, but they look very nice. I'll be getting a bi-xenon HID kit sometime in the summer.

Before I start with bolt ons, one of my vert first perfomance mods will be a set of lightweight rims. Most people don't know this, but the heavier and larger your rims, the more WHP you're losing. It's estimated that for every 1lb your rim weighs, it's a theoretical 8lbs (4lbs for the inactive wheels -- RWD/FWD) sitting in your car. My stock rims weigh 29lbs. I'm looking to drop to about 16-19lbs per rim. If I drop 12lbs, that's 12 x 8 x 2 = 192lbs. And then 12 x 4 x 2 = 96lbs. 96 + 192 = 288. For every 50lbs you carry in your car it's a loss of about 3WHP. So doing the math, a set of lightweight rims can open up a lot of lost WHP -- aprox. 17WHP. Very crucial mod, something a lot of people completely overlook. Hell, if I once again decide I want to drop an inch, the gains will be even larger -- but aesthetically I don't like how it'll look, since my tire sidewalls will look too chubby.

At the moment, my "ultra high performance" Falkens are about 4lbs lighter than the stock Bridgestones -- so I'm getting a small gain there. Hrmm, and then there's other lightweight stuff like underdrive pulleys (works similar to rim weight reduction) and flywheels (but only for manual transmissions).

I'm looking into getting some that looks nice and classy, but has appropriate weight. Enkeis are at the very, very top of my list at the moment:

Enkei CDR9 -- 20lbs

Enkei RS6 -- 19lbs

 

[Incognito]

Alpha, with all the money you spent on upgrades, you could have bought yourself a nice car.

What a shame. :lol

 

[AlphaSnake]

Alpha, with all the money you spent on upgrades, you could have bought yourself a nice car.

What a shame. :lol

Umm, the reason I mod my car is because I love it. There's a reason why I decided to buy the car out of its lease and not hand it back to Nissan for a 2005 Maxima or a 2005 Altima SE-R; there's no "scene" for the new Nissans, aside for the G35C and 350Z.