Freddy McShreddy: Midlife Crisis FRS thingy

In reply to bcp2011 :

Open flash tablet and e85 are what I'm thinking. I can get e85 anywhere around here, and from what I understand that will help with the torque dip and put about 2 hundo to the rear wheels. I'm thinking heavily on the header, equal length probably, but I'm worried if sound is going to be an issue. I like the sound now, but don't want to go overboard for the pursuit of a few horsepower. Especially if the e85 takes care of that.

I assume the Whiteline anti-dive castor kit gave the adjustability. I really need to put this thing in the air and look over everything.

I don't know what camber my e30 is running, but it's up there and manages to do just fine. Most of the roads I drive on are curvy, so I think that helps. If the tire wear gets too aggressive though I'll look into toning it down. I did find out he set the ride height the same as Speed Academy's track FRS. So far the only thing I hit was the duck/goose, and that wasn't terribly eventful.

In reply to captainawesome :

If you have easy access to E85 than no brainer.  Leaving the OFT in the car will also allow you to swap back and forth if needed.  Just be careful with the OBD port on the car - it's very flimsy and people have broken it before!  I would buy a $10 ODB extension on amazon and run everything off of the other end of that extension to make sure you're not screwing up the main port.  

So my traction control, ABS, and TPS lights always pop up. I knew about this going in, as the PO mentioned they were purposely done. I assumed he used some pedal dance box or home brew version to accomplish this, but haven't found any signs of that being the case. I messaged him to see if his brother knew what they did, just in case I want at least the ABS. His response was: I also was not able to find out about the TC and ABS light as they are working but the light is on for both for some reason. I tried to see if they could be cleared and they don’t show up on a diagnostic tool.

I don't think they are working at all, as I don't feel any interference with traction whatsoever. After doing a little reading on various threads, I believe the clock spring in the steering wheel may be the culprit. I also found out while doing that research, that I can make or buy a bracket that will hold the cruise control stalk while keeping the Sparco wheel. A little more reading is in order on this, but it takes some patience to read through a bunch of irrelevant gibberish. The main forum for the 86 is tough to wade through. Threads that had a direction or any good information, seem get derailed by completely unrelated stuff.

In reply to bcp2011 :

Any reason to go Ecutek over the OFT?

In reply to captainawesome :

Not sure about your specific issue, but a diagnostic tool should tell you whatever code it's reading.  Aftermarket wheels do throw codes, but beyond that I'm not familiar as I don't have that issue.  Maybe try to put back to the stock one and see if it persists (I think you mentioned you wanted it back to stock anyway right?)

On OFT vs. Ecutek - no expert on this by any means.  I did OFT as it's cheap and ther eare OTS tunes.  I'm not nearly good enough of a driver to utilize another 2hp.  People who have Ecutek will tell you that it's better, I just didn't think it justified the expense, but again no expert on this.  :)

In reply to bcp2011 :

I was planning to put the stock wheel back on, but the Sparco has proven to be dished just right. It feels like it's in the perfect spot, the only issue is the cruise control stalk. I've now found that the stalk can be removed from the stock wheel, and with a simple bracket be bolted back in place. There are a few out there I can buy, but I think I have some leftover aluminum stock that wouldn't take much effort to shape.

Something like this:

FDB44F5D-C5BF-4D86-9100-EF418DBC7BB6 by hatchethairy, on Flickr

AA67D01B-09F0-43E4-B463-68BDB42F5795 by hatchethairy, on Flickr

I've got a buddy that seemed happy with the OFT up until he went turbo. His struggle was finding a tuner that knew the program well enough, but I guess he managed to figure that all out regardless.

Are you running a header? I'd like to possibly get a Catted EL one, but worried about sound.

In reply to captainawesome :

I have a P&L EL catted header that I got used + a TRD exhaust that came on the car.  The exhaust note def got louder after the header, but not much more so and it's not obnoxious (personal opinion, YMMV).  It was throatier and had more of a rumble.  I like it quite a bit.  

The thing I like about OFT is that you can resale it and pretty much recoup the entire cost (if you get one used).  Can't do that with Ecutek - the license is yours and yours only and it's a sunk cost.  If I get rid of the car tomorrow I will have spent 50 bucks (and that's only becuase there's a newer OFT out) for the duration of my ownership, which is cheap for the amount of HP I've gotten.  

Again, depending on how many pennies you want to pinch vs. getting a customized tune.  You have more than enough parts on that car to sell and fund hp if you ever wanted to without impacting the performance.  

In reply to bcp2011 :

OFT it is then!

I'm trying to buy one off of someone on the Gt86club forum, but I'm STILL not approved to post or PM anyone. Once that is lifted I'll snatch up a used one, and keep an eye out for a decent catted header.

In reply to captainawesome :

Check out the FB pages too. There are a few national FS groups and maybe a couple near you. A used OFT v1 is around 350. Same as the new one in functionality. 

So with autocross this Sunday, I decided to go through a checklist to make sure I have everything ready. I started to pack my magnets when I realized they were white, which if you are following along at this point, you may notice the car is also white. Gonna be hard to see that at any speed. Not enough time to order new magnets, so after a quick scrub with some brake cleaner I sprayed on some Duplicolor black wheel paint. It's some durable stuff, but who know's how it will hold up.

Untitled by hatchethairy, on Flickr

Not too long after pulling them off the cardboard I realized there is a problem. My car is now classed in CSP. Nothing a pair of scissors can't fix turning a D into a C. Not too bad if I say so myself.

Untitled by hatchethairy, on Flickr

Untitled by hatchethairy, on Flickr

I've been doing a lot of reading on where the good power mods are, and apparently the factory airbox and catback are pretty decent out of the box. A nice drop in panel filter and a trim of the snorkel helps a bit. Since the catback on my car is kinda loud, and a bit racer boy for me, I'm looking into options. Knowing there isn't much if any power lost going back to stock, I am arranging purchase of both a factory intake and exhaust from a friend for cheap. Selling my aftermarket goodies should help fund a header and tablet. I found there's a decent header/overpipe/frontpipe combo from 1320 Performance that meets my budget and quality. A catless header is where the power/torque dip improves, especially with the Oplenflash Tablet and some e85 juice. The unequal length usually don't make as much peak power, but removes the dreaded torque dip. Hopefully with the stock muffler, the sound won't be much louder than what I have now.

http://vi.vipr.ebaydesc.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItemDescV4&item=222102763218&t=1553639888000&tid=10&category=33632&seller=1320performancefreak&excSoj=1&excTrk=1&lsite=100&ittenable=false&domain=ebay.com&descgauge=1&cspheader=1&oneClk=1&secureDesc=0

header overpipe front pipe by hatchethairy, on Flickr

Weekend update:

Autocross Sunday was a blast. I learned some things. If I let the clockspring in the steering wheel disable ABS, I can't stop at the finish. If I turn traction control off at the button or fully through the pedal dance, it cures the problem. ABS stays on, and now I can put the brakes on hard without a smokeshow and flat spotted tires. With that figured out in the first 3 runs, I was able to get the feel for the car on course for the last 3. There is still plenty of time left on the table, especially with tires. I just checked the date code, and they about 4-5 years old. For now I'm just going to run them, but soon some new rubber will be purchased.

Yesterday I purchased an Openflash Tablet, and today I pick up a used UEL catless header and overpipe. All for less than budgeted, so that's pretty neat. I think I can get back most of those dollars selling my Greddy intake, and ISR catback.

Some pics from Sunday:

Untitled by hatchethairy, on Flickr

Untitled by hatchethairy, on Flickr

Untitled by hatchethairy, on Flickr

Definitely go for E85 it's a no brainer in my opinion. I wasn't completely following, is it the aftermarket steering wheel that's causing the TCS and ABS issues? And ABS works when TCS is disabled but neither work when TCS enabled? 

In reply to J1000 :

I think you got the gist of it. The clockspring is either missing, damaged, or needs recalibrated. I haven't pulled the full hub off yet, but couldn't easily see the cruise control wires when I started digging around in there. For now I'll just use TCS and pedal dance, which I believe can be done through the OFT.

I took a short road trip yesterday for all of my intake and exhaust components. Facebook Marketplace provided access to a slightly used Tsudo catless header and up pipe combo for $170. Not the best product out there, but totally usable for now. Oh, and cheap. They were a 2 hour distance from me, but I had other deals somewhere around the halfway point to take care of as well. Two birds one cup is the phrase I think. Anyway, I sold some A7s to a buddy and was simultaneously picking up the stock catback and intake from another friend. First drop the tires, load the exhaust, and onward to the header for the finish. It was fairly uneventful other than forgetting to bring a charger cord for the phone.

Still longing for cruise control.

Still love the car.

It grabs more attention from the general public than I'm used to or usually prefer. I've had a considerable amount of pleasant conversations with fellow motorists waiting for a green light, or just a quick stop at the gas station. Earlier this week I was asked if it was the new Supra! Kinda cool I think.

So a quick tally of my current spendings:

$360 - OFT v1 tablet

$170 - Tsudo catless UEL header/up pipe

$70 - stock airbox and catback exhaust

Current total for parts purchase is right at $600. If I manage to offload the Greddy intake and ISR Performance catback I could recoup at least half of that. Pretty happy to say the least. The OFT rolls in Friday, and I think my tank will be empty. I need it to be empty. I need to fill it with that sweet e85 go juice.

Untitled by hatchethairy, on Flickr

Untitled by hatchethairy, on Flickr

Untitled by hatchethairy, on Flickr

Untitled by hatchethairy, on Flickr

The car doesn't have cruise control?  How is that possible in todays day and age?

In reply to docwyte :

See posts before that explaining it a bit.

Friday I got delivery notification from USPS for my OpenFlash Tablet. I raced home on my lunch to get the party started. After rolling back to work, the device was paired to the car to get the proper tune code, and then uploaded the canned tunes available to the tablet from my laptop. After reading a little on the tune requirements, I noticed that the stock intake is required unless I do some MAF scaling. I barely know how to plug this thing in, so I decided my best bet would be to install the stock intake I just purchased. After a little scrub sesh in the sink the intake was presentable. I slapped in a new Wix panel filter and called it good.

I spent a couple hours going over the recommended procedure to switch over to that sweet sweet e85 corn juice everyone has been raving about. It's not really that difficult to do, and best of all has made the torque dip seem nonexistent. 30 miles in, the pooter is still learning how to make it combust properly, but it already feels so much better. I've got another autocross this Sunday, so it will be interesting to see how well it's responding by then.

Since I drug my feet, I'm waiting on gaskets so the catless UEL header and overpipe can be installed. I jacked the car up to get a little peek at what I'll need to prepare and noticed there is a catless Hooker Blackheart front pipe. That front pipe has a neato helmholtz resonator, but not so certain it will be up to the task with the catless header. My plan right now is to install the header and see how insanely loud the ISR exhaust will be. If it's just too much I'll bolt on the factory stuff in hopes of less ear torture.

Untitled by hatchethairy, on Flickr

Untitled by hatchethairy, on Flickr

Untitled by hatchethairy, on Flickr

17d84ff9-e88e-4c10-805e-d057e59ebc39__55773.1461762297.500.659__20303.1475804381 by hatchethairy, on Flickr

Did you get the plastidip overspray off?

In reply to Dusterbd13-michael :

Not yet. Honestly it's slipped my mind since the exhaust/tuning has kinda taken precedence.

One of the few bothersome things about newer vehicles to me is the numbness of a factory clutch. The engagement point seems like a moving target from one shift to the next, and it often makes you feel like you forgot how to drive a manual transmission. To help bring the feels back, I removed the stock pedal spring. You can buy a less aggressive spring to heighten feel, but I went the free route first to see how it ended up. So far it's similar to my e30 and after a few days I'm pleased enough to call it done. No need to order the aftermarket spring.

Up next is a clutch stop, or at least something to reduce overthrow travel. I ordered some rubber feet used for speakers, and after some small trimming it was ready to bolt in. Once I popped out the stock rubber nub, I managed to get a small nut to the back side and thread in the new assembly. I had to adjust the engagement point of the clutch safety switch to start the car, but so far so good. The durometer of the rubber may be a bit to far on the soft side, so I'm eventually going to find something with less give. You can see where the pedal mark rests after a few kicks of the clutch. I imagine it won't be long before it begins to split.

Untitled by hatchethairy, on Flickr

Untitled by hatchethairy, on Flickr

My header and exhaust gaskets from Grimmspeed should be dropped off today, so I should be hearing the terrible Suby rumble everyone seems to love from the new UEL. Personally I don't get it. My wife informed me that she could hear the FR-S for a couple miles from our back deck this morning on my way in town, and not in a cool way. It was wet out, so a little sliding and oversteer hoonage was on the menu. Too much noise. Stock muffler may make it on tonight as well.

My header gaskets showed up yesterday afternoon. Not saying I danced a jig, but definitely wanted to. I spent a few minutes lifting the car up on wooden wheel stands, popped the hood, and positioned the garage fan to try to cool down the exhaust from my drive home. By the time I got the undertray pan thingy removed, it was coolish enough to unbolt and drop out. A quick swap of the o2 sensors and the new header/overpipe was bolted in place. Everything seemed to fit well enough once I figured out which way the overpipe was supposed to go back in. With it all snugged up I started the car. Friggin exhaust leak! Right at the passenger header flange ticking like a banshee. Darn it to heck. I decided to loosen all the header nuts, reposition and systematically tighten them so it would seal up properly. No go. It's a quieter leak, but still a leak. Frick!

Instead of focusing on the leak, I figured the stock exhaust would be a quick and painless process. I was right. The ISR system unbolted without any fuss from the front pipe, and while resting on some jack stands the rubber hangers slid free with some pre sprayed PB Blaster. The whole system dropped out easily, but I was surprised at how heavy it was. The factory stuff seemed about the same weight or slightly heavier at best. It's still kinda blowing my mind. Anyway, the factory stuff bolted right in place. The rubber hangers slid right back on the nubs. It was easy.

I started the car again. The lack of noise was almost troubling minus the header leak. It went from silly loud (in a kinda cool way) to not much more than a whisper. Until you uncan some of them horsepowers from the motor it is in stealth mode. The patented Suby rumble is there when climbing RPMs but not in an obnoxious way. My drive in this morning was almost frustrating. I've been so used to the ISR sound that it now feels slower. Funny how exhaust sounds can translate into butt dyno numbers. I know it's not slower though. It pulls through the torque dip with ease now, so with that I say "mission accomplished". Tonight I'll drop the undertray again and try to sand the passenger flange flat for a better seal. If that doesn't do the trick I'll just order the 1320 header I originally planned to get. Fingers crossed.

Untitled by hatchethairy, on Flickr

Untitled by hatchethairy, on Flickr

Untitled by hatchethairy, on Flickr

Untitled by hatchethairy, on Flickr

Need some Remflex gaskets. 

In reply to Professor_Brap :

I'll look into those, but it does sound promising and inexpensive from what I see. Any personal experience with them? I spent way more on gaskets than I would have liked just so I got the good stuff. I don't think it's Grimmspeeds fault the header fitment is super suspect, but damn it's an expensive pill to swallow.

In reply to captainawesome :

I have used them on a EL header I bought used on a EJ25. I have also used them on some crappy aftermarket header on a Mopar. 

They work super well. 

Looks like this car found the right owner.  Looks like a fun ride.  

BTW: All-day IPA is my go-to.  I like my local craft brews, but it's also nice to have something a little lighter that still has flavor.

In reply to Hoondavan :

I feel like I ended up with a great car, and it's not taking much to fine tune to my needs. I thought I would miss my e30 after selling it, but after over a week of life without it, I have completely moved on. I'm more afraid of what boredom will crop up after these little tweaks are checked off the to-do list. Supercharger sounds like fun, but don't know if I really want to go down that road. I see used units up for sale a lot more than I would have expected, and that is a bit alarming.

I have been going All-day IPA for the same reason. Price and flavor is pretty decent while having a lower calorie count. I still snag a few 6 packs of my local favorites every now and again though.