Impressions...
We are definitely chasing some handling gremlins and are going to have to do some work to make this car turn as well as it did before. The car weighed 2890lbs in DSP trim (including rollbar) and we ran 600/750 springs with a big UUC front bar and stock rear bar. The car now weighs in at 2410lbs and on 500/650 springs with UUC front bar and no rear bar, the car is floppy as all hell, not impressive at all. Tires, brakes, everything took most of the day to get back up to snuff after being out of service for almost 8 months. After playing with the shocks all day, we managed to get it from "awful" to "okay" but the car still needs more help, I think we are going to go back to the old springs and test with those.
But who cares about turning right? Lets talk power... the car HAULS in a straight line. The car was around 2900lbs and around 200rwhp before, now is around 2400lbs and around 325rwhp... The transmission is AWESOME - it is loud as hell and I _HATE_ my clutch, but the transmission is epic... shifting is effortless and insanely fast. I have never driven a dog box with straight cut gears, and as scary as it sounds, you literally just release the shock off the driveline and pull the shifter into the next gear, no clutching, no delays... It's not quite a sequential but it is definitely going to pay dividends on the track; at autocross there is so little shifting that it's probably not worth the downsides. With that said, this is definitely a mod I am happy with.
Brakes... feel pretty good, need more stopping! I think I am going to try and find some $$$ in the next few months and upgrade my calipers, my stock 328 brakes are just not going to cut it! Pedal effort is fairly serious but doable without any boosters or assist.
A few photos... we also took some video though it didnt work that well, hopefully can get a copy of that later on this week.
A huge thanks to my buddy Kyle for the amazing photos:
My favourite photo:
Mark
