$2018 Challenge Parking Lot Build - AW11 MR2 Supercharged

Hahaha I just spit out my drink...

Sooooooo, I was cleaning up in the garage tonight and found this in my grm secret santa gift. Front sway bar bushings for the aw11. I honestly forgot I had these.

Like my mom always says: better to be lucky than good!

Are we trying to do anything with the interior?

In reply to 93EXCivic :

I wasn't planning to do anything with the interior - do you have any thoughts? I think if we do anything it will be after we get the drivetrain/brakes/suspension sorted (hahaha)

If it's nice, we should just clean it after autocross for concours.  Maybe make a cool shift knob/boot out of stuff we find laying around.

Sounds like the interior is nice. I like the shift boot idea - I was going to bring a shift knob I have laying around from an rx8 to see if it spins on, but I also have a nice large chunk of a camshaft from my GRM secret santa gift that could *maybe* be drilled for a shift knob. If someone can tell me the shift knob thread size and pitch I can work on pre-drilling the chunk of camshaft.

btw, I just purchased new rotors, pads, and soft brake lines for all 4 corners. Total (with shipping and taxes) = $100.54 not bad, not bad. Calipers are another 50+50+25+25 so I didn't pull the trigger there yet.

The RX8 shift knob has a different thread.

Robbie said:

In reply to 93EXCivic :

I wasn't planning to do anything with the interior - do you have any thoughts? I think if we do anything it will be after we get the drivetrain/brakes/suspension sorted (hahaha)

I didn't know if there was time at the end if we wanted to give a deep clean. Seems a big if though.

JamesMcD said:

The RX8 shift knob has a different thread.

I had a feeling someone would know this off the top of their head...

+1 GRM point.

How's this for the hood?

The hood looks great.  Very true to form of the optional hood stripes offered from the factory in the early years. 

While searching for those stripes, look what other pic I found... 

In reply to GameboyRMH :

that looks awesome!

Slightly off topic- does anyone know a source for reproductions of that early stripe package?

ok, let's talk wheels and tires for a moment. I'm hoping to keep this aspect as close to free as possible, but also maximize performance potential. I'm prone to over-analyze everything, including this.

Option 1: Andy has graciously offered up the use of some hankook ventus z214 (im guessing a bit - will try to get more details from him and also dunno if they are the autox compound or the road race compound) in 205/55 r14 that should be a good fit on the stock wheels (14x5.5). Tirerack says tires are 18lbs each, 22.8 inch diameter (exactly the same as stock tire), tread width 7.7in. Build date probably in 2013/2014. These are DOT tires. 15.5 lb stock wheels mean each corner comes in at about 33-34 lbs.

Option 2: I just got a set (thanks Gumby!) of older race takeoffs from hoosier. They are 20x8x13 in the r45b (road race) compound. They are cantilevered sidewalls however, and the hoosier spec sheet recommends only 5 or 6 inch wide wheels. 14 lbs each, 20.0 inch diameter, tread width 8.0 inches. Build date likely a bit older, maybe 2010. I have some 13x5 inch steel fiat wheels (4x98) that are 16 lbs each, so I assume that a corner with these tires would be about 30-31 lbs.

So - what say you? I'd lean toward option 2 for the slightly lighter weight and better gearing (and less load on the transmission because of shorter tire), but I'm worried that the age of the tire and the road race compound could work against us. Also should probably find some 13x5 or 13x6 wheels - both svrex and nonack may have some sets and will look at the actual sizes.

Finally: does anyone have experience with tire softeners, like formula V?

In reply to Robbie :

I’ve used Formula V. 

It made me feel better. 

Option 2. 

The lighter tires will move the rotational mass toward the center, give you better gearing, and wider contact patch. 

Both tires are old.  Negligible difference on that. 

Option 2 looks better. The lighter wheels and lower gearing will be big advantages in a pure autocross event. I'd recommend having tire insulators or heaters ready in case there are problems getting the tires up to temperature, the AMC Spirit team had that problem last year with Hoosier slicks.

In reply to Robbie :

Soft compound on the kooks. Unused, stored in my warm basement. I have formula V 

How's this for the full mockup?

Andy Neuman said:

In reply to Robbie :

Soft compound on the kooks. Unused, stored in my warm basement. I have formula V 

The tires I have are definitely not this

In reply to GameboyRMH :

THAT is siiiiiiiick. Love the spoiler!

In reply to GameboyRMH :

It feels a little superimposed, instead of integrated. 

What happens if you change the angle of the stripes to match the rake of the windshield, and paint the door handle yellow?

I would also consider wrapping the 3 colors in a narrow stripe under the white, like the AE86 example.  The white doesn’t look like it is part of the car.  The colored stripes below it should soften the transition (even if they end at the wheel arch)

...you could also paint the spoiler white to help integrate the colors to the car (so the white actually wraps from one fender to the opposite across the spoiler)

and you noticed the colors are in reverse order.

burlap sack wraped around the tire then soak in Fv,then wrap that in saran wrap for 18hrs or so........ bring a broom, it doesn't help, but when you see what get's stuck to the tire's

Don't forget I also have some Isuzu Impulse wheels, 14x6 +24mm offset, 4x100 bolt pattern.  They look like this and may be lighter than the MR2 wheels:  

There are also these which are semi-local to me on CL: VW wheels