I've healed enough in my right hand/wrist to regularly drive a LHD manual transmission car again, so I'm using the FR-S for commuting and getting around. It was filthy from the August road trip/trackday weekend, with dust, bugs, brake dust, rubber streaks, etc. I gave it the foam cannon after work.
After the foam I give it fallout cleaner on the wheels, plus the best 1.5-handed wash I could, and a bit of clay bar on the stubborn race rubber streaks. I've still got some stubborn apex cone streaks on the front lip that need some more work.
It is also becoming really apparent that 200TW tires probably aren't the best choice for the current and future weather conditions! I hit up ANT Tire/Trackside Motorsports and got winter rubber on the stock wheels.
They are going to add TPMS to my summer wheels/tires before I go back to pick them up. Also, new black lugnuts!
Minor update; I splashed out for some Racer X Fab rear upper control arms during their Black Friday sale.
The need is rear camber correction/adjustment after putting on the coilovers. It is only lowered about 1/2 inch, and the alignment isn't far off, but I think the overall balance would benefit from a skosh less negative camber on the rear. I have adjustable front camber via slots in the coilovers, but I can make most effective tweaks with adjustments at both ends. It isn't lacking for rear grip, and my personal driving style feels like the current setup is a little too tight. Given that it is a street car first and foremost, I'd rather not add more front negative camber to compensate.
Why go about it with these arms?
-USA made
-Inner bushings (NVH is already bad with stock arms...I'm too old and dignified to do heim joints on a street car.)
-4130 CroMo tubing is strong, and lighter than stock.
-Adjusting camber up top has minimal impact on rear toe, versus doing it with an adjustable LCA and stock toe-control link and semi-trailing arm, which can make the toe wacky.
-The black finish is subtle and goes nicely with the overall aesthetic of my middle-aged OEM+ build. I don't want nor need gaudy tuner colors in my undercarriage.
The eventual plan includes also adding a small streetable front splitter. I currently have a flat enclosed floor from under the front crossmember all the way back to a streetable small diffuser, with a stock front bumper/lip. My gut tells me that on track, a small splitter plus the ability to adjust camber at both ends will probably result in an even better balance in both low and high speed corners. Of course temp probing, testing, and tweaking may be needed for full optimization.
I guess Christmas arrived a little early! I got a "polyweave carbon" adjustable splitter from Verus Engineering. It can be run anywhere from 2"-6" forward of the stock lip. I'll be starting at 2" and see how it goes at the next trackday. I'll probably hold off on installing it for a little bit, just in case we get snow, so I'm not plowing! 
I am going to be installing a short vertical air dam between the top of the splitter and the front-most point of the stock lip. The stock lip comes to a point with a taper both top and bottom, like this: > so a flat splitter under the stock lip creates a little concave pocket to trap air. Here's an example photo from Verus.
I might also play with the aesthetics. Black doesn't look bad, but I might try matching it to the white of the car body. Hmmm...
More Christmas come early; the upper rear control arms arrived!
These look great, and feel relatively light, yet beefy and strong! No regrets about spending more for US made chrome moly steel parts. It will be probably be a little while until I get them installed, with the holidays upcoming and all.
The FR-S continues to handle winter daily driver duties well. I recently picked up a TRD Japan "Rear Window Aero Stabilizer," which is a fancy way of saying a cool-looking bit of plastic that keeps falling leaves and pine needles from getting under the trunk lid and clogging the water drains behind the taillights...and might also a little aerodynamic benefit! 🤣
Before:
I really cleaned the glass, measured the gaps per the Japanese instructions (Google translate to the rescue) and spaced it off the trunk per the suggestion based on my gap measurements (they provided handy stackable/adjustable adhesive-backed temporary blocks.) I used the provided adhesion promoter, and stuck it down. Before sticking, I started peeling all the ends of the backing. I got the center couple inches and each end stuck down, removed the spacer blocks, and peeled the rest of the tape before really leaning on it.
After:
I'm super happy with the results!
My club's triple-header weekend at Oregon Raceway Park is coming up in a month, at the end of April. This is my favorite event of the year! Co-hosted by my primary and secondary autocross clubs with all my favorite competitors, with 'trackcross' (imagine a time-attack format autocross on a road race course with slaloms on the straights and you're close to the idea) for points for different clubs Saturday and Sunday (usually running opposite directions) and then the most amazing trackday ever on Monday. The track is 2.3 miles, 16-turns, 400 feet of elevation change per lap, designed to be run both directions, and in the middle of nowhere!
Brakes are essential for the weekend, so I dilly-dallied with the idea of a big brake kit (thinking ahead to possible supercharger installation ahead) but ended up minimizing the variables by ordering stock-size dual-purpose DBA 4000-Series T3 slotted rotors, and CounterSpace Garage street/track pads. I'll install these along with stainless braided lines and high-temp fluid I already have. I may still do a big brake kit someday down the road.
It feels strange, but I paid someone to do routine work on my car today for one of the first times in my life! I had the trusty crew at Trackside Motorsports swap to my summer wheels/tires, reprogram the TPMS, install new dual-duty track/street pads/rotors and bleed brakes.
I just don't have the time as this month is probably one of busiest of my life, what with moving out of the shop, buying a new house, selling the old house, and holding down the fort at work while my boss is gone. 😅
I'm still hoping to make at least some of the triple-header weekend at the end of the month (undecided on scaling it back to one or two days instead of three.) I'm also registered for the Overcrest Rally in the middle of May, which should be an awesome and epic multi-day driving adventure on great roads!
The FR-S will also be getting a simple, vintage-inspired livery soon! 😁
TRD is suuuuure proud of that trunk filler piece.
ae86andkp61 (Forum Supporter) said:
The need is rear camber correction/adjustment after putting on the coilovers. It is only lowered about 1/2 inch, and the alignment isn't far off, but I think the overall balance would benefit from a skosh less negative camber on the rear. I have adjustable front camber via slots in the coilovers, but I can make most effective tweaks with adjustments at both ends. It isn't lacking for rear grip, and my personal driving style feels like the current setup is a little too tight. Given that it is a street car first and foremost, I'd rather not add more front negative camber to compensate.
How much front negative camber are you running right now? I'm running nearly -3deg with camber plates and bolts in the maximum negative position and I haven't noticed any ill effects on the street. Also my rear tire wear is perfectly even with the ~-2deg camber I get from about 1.5" of lowering. The front tires were still getting more wear on the outside but with my harder sway bar setup this year that might be improved.
Appleseed said:
TRD is suuuuure proud of that trunk filler piece.
It's very tempting for keeping the leaves out, I might try to DIY one with a roll of garage door seal 
In reply to GameboyRMH :
I was thinking flexible rubber floor trim, like you'd see in a hospital. I need to get on that.
In reply to GameboyRMH :
I'll have to pull up the alignment report to confirm, but I seem to remember more than -1.5 degrees, but no more than -2.0 degrees up front, and something like -2.2 or -2.3 in the rear. It is lowered 0.5-0.75 inches, and the only camber adjustment currently is slotted coilovers up front.
Based on tire wear and handling balance, I need a bit more negative camber up front for sure. Maybe a smidge less in the rear.
The primary negative I've found on the street is moderate tramlining.
I got the first draft of the livery today, and I'm excited to see how it progresses into reality. It will be a wrap and will help promote my workplace, meaning that there may be opportunities to combine work and pleasure and participate in some events as a promotional exercise. 😁
I'm digging where you guys are going with the DIY trunk area seal. I'd love to see what you come up with!
We took a little Shelby Toyota 2000GT, a little 80's TRD race car, plus a little bit of complements to the twins body lines, shook it all up, and I couldn't be happier with the results!
It will be getting a white meatball on the hood, and a narrow black-outline number circle on the door sometime soon. just holding off for now to make sure it will work for the various organizations I run with.
Life continues to be insanely busy. April and May have been pretty awesome, but also have had me pulled more directions and spread more thin than I've been in decades! 😅 Once I finish the last details of moving into my new house, finish the repair work on my old house, get the old house sold, and get the new team member just hired at my work (starting in July 🤞) things hopefully should calm down a little. In the meantime, here's a few pics from the road rally I went to a couple weeks ago...a mere 1100 miles away. 🤣 Great people, unreal scenery, incredible driving roads with a variety of surfaces...pretty awesome work assignment! 😁😁
It has been a while without an update, but this car just keeps on doing it all without any drama. Daily driving, road trips, autocross, track days, road rallies, even moving most of the contents of my house crosstown (excluding furniture and other big stuff) all taken in stride.
I'm headed out this weekend for a college reunion, and plan to enjoy the scenic route in at least one leg of the trip, if not both. I did an oil change and mini inspection at work this evening in preparation.
Not sure why, but the photos I'm attempting to upload all appear as a red X. 🤷 I'll try again later...check back for an update, I guess.
In reply to ae86andkp61 (Forum Supporter) :
Two questions.. is that in Utah? And is that a Lancia Stratos?
EchoTreeSix said:
In reply to ae86andkp61 (Forum Supporter) :
Two questions.. is that in Utah? And is that a Lancia Stratos?
Yes, it was the Overcrest Rally, which took us all over Southern and Central Utah.
The blue car is a Stratos replica called the Lister-Bell STR. It looked to be very nicely made, and had a supercharged Toyota 2GR V-6 with some Lotus tweaks. The event had so many awesome people and amazing cars participating...it was definitely an amazing experience which formed a lot of lifelong memories.
Changing oil and filter at work. Yes, there is an unused scissor lift behind my car, but there were other cars in the way, and I figured it would be just as easy to change oil on the floor rather than hassle with shuffling everything.
While doing a quick inspection I found a fastener had rattled loose from the diffuser. Might explain the new noise I've recently had trouble pinpointing. It was easily fixed with a bolt, washers, and nyloc nut.
