SleepyHead, Bobzilla, and John Welsh do OneLap2018

Yeah, I hope it is... Seth bought it on your recommendation.

... Here's where we're at, other than a scare when the floor jack frozen almost all the way... But not quite down

so, I just back from a ~20min test drive / sleepykid#2 nap instigator... trip

the car held together.  there's still some heaviness to some road imperfections... which I think is in-part do to the front suspension reaching the end of it's droop travel.

I also "got on it" through a left-turn onto a 50mph 4-lane divide road (i.e. fast left-hand sweeper)... and power on, leaning the car, got wat felt like a 'shimmy' or wobble from the driver's front wheel (i.e. inside wheel).  any thoughts on that?  check the tie rod?

like wheel hop?

didn't feel like "up and down"... felt more like toe change in-out

edit: I may need to feel this out some more when fewer people/kids are out

edit#2:  front toe right now is set to 0

Probably a combination of squishy bushings making for some dynamic toe changes, torque steer, and less than favorable geometry, along with the potential for a small amount of wheel spin when unloaded.  If this is on questionable tires, then that’s one more thing, tread squirming around. 

You might want to set toe out by 1/8, the front wheels will pull a bit of toe in under acceleration, and as you’ll have plenty of shoulder wear from the track portions, that will keep the treadwear more even, though with only 1/8 it shouldn’t make much difference for wear. 

In reply to Sonic :

there might be something to that... the upper arms are definitely up at a jaunty angle.  and yeah, there probably was torque steer, dyn toe, and certainly squishy bushings.  Should I be thinking about ordering new top hats and bushings?  Or just tightened the berk down those top plates?

I also found that the top plate of the shock was loose on the bushings that're inside the top hat (assuming I'm getting my parts-terms right).  So, I tightened those down again.

tires are pretty good looking, relatively new BFG T/A's.

In reply to Sonic :

I used to run 1/8-1/4 toe out on the Forte as a DD. No large difference in wear that I could see but turn in and corner out was more funner.

so, I decided to use some nice weather to test-cut the template for the rear spoiler, first draft... and put it up on the rear of the car...

I reckon it's going to get cut-down a bit

I also absolutely botched my first attempt at putting vinyl on the front corner of the car:

I think I may try and simplify this and take a radius off the wheel well... maybe.  I know I'm not going to follow the body line on the top of the hood... there's just too many curves going on up there... and I feel like the fender's trying to "shrink" too much as it gets up to the headlight.

also, the no-knife cutting tape pulled paint up off the hood... about a 1" x 1/8" section.  Guess I shouldn't leave that stuff on anywhere/time that a panel could get "engine hot"

So, yeah, ummm..... the paint on this car is tired... I might have to just break out rattle bombs instead of /or in addition to the vinyl

Zoiks!  

Yeah, I'd recommend a coat of wax before the vinyl if you want it to come off later. 

Bob the REAL oil guy. said:

Yeah, I'd recommend a coat of wax before the vinyl if you want it to come off later. 

too late?

in other news, HPDE is signed up for.

edit: just checked the Blue Group entry list... I think I'm going to be giving a bunch of point-bys.

YAY!

alright, tires ordered...

Conti ExtremeContactSports
245/40R18 fronts
225/45R18 rears

They're small, but they should work. 

In other news, I have to get the t-shirt press out for another project, so if you guys can give me your sizes, I'll meet you in South Bend with some shirts made just for this mess. 

XL.  I'll make sure I have a little somethin' for you too! 

In reply to sleepyhead :

are these going to have the white Continental lettering too? I like that look. 

2XL

You're going to love those tires, pray for rain. We ran them again this weekend at Mid-Ohio and were able to run far quicker than any street tire has a right to in the wet. 

In reply to klodkrawler05 :

I ran them last year on the TL... so that was part of the decision... the familiarity with them, will compensate for my lack of time on them on this car

that, and the falkens don't come in the staggered setup 

In reply to mazdeuce - Seth :

I'm a Large

Bob the REAL oil guy. said:

In reply to sleepyhead :

are these going to have the white Continental lettering too? I like that look. 

nope, but they'll get "Continental" in white paint sprayed on them in South Bend... well, 4 of the 5

sleepyhead said:

So, yeah, ummm..... the paint on this car is tired... I might have to just break out rattle bombs instead of /or in addition to the vinyl

maybe I should get you to print out a whole bunch of vinyl "AW BERK" graphics for the car?

so, I got about 3.5 hours on the car today... well not including time to walk sleepykid#1 around the neighborhood while learning to pedal, and other stuff around the house.

but doing an underhood check, I realized there was an engine mount damper:

0.75#s?  I'll take it.

More significant?  I took out the floor mats... but haven't weighed them yet.  Also unpictured: I stuck the valence that closes off the bottom of the radiator back on.

but that did allow me to start mapping out what the splitter should look like:

and because it was nice, I sprayed the driver's wiper arm...

still need to pack up for the trackday tomorrow... and button up a couple other things.  more many small steps, and I'll get there.

so, something I don't know if I'll do... and I'll find out tomorrow how important it is to address... is that driving around with sleepykid#2 in the rear facing kid seat installed, I've felt a little too close to the sunroof even without a helmet on.  So, part of me wants to lower the seat, if I can.  There's nothing I can do about the front mounts... but the rear mounts:

might have an inch to shave if I change out those "S" bend risers.  If so, what metal should I be using for that (mat'l and thickness, and where should I buy it)... and I'm assuming i need an angle grider to shape it?  Any other tips/thoughts/suggestions... "you're stupid for thinking of doing this" are welcome.

so, just perused the entry list today (and the schedule, we now have a stopover at Toyota Headquarters)...

which, re control @Toyota, is appropriate considering the following are entered:
1 GT86
1 Avalon
2 Camry's
1 Camry Hybrid
    (all of the above being "factory" entries)
1 2018 Prius (entry sponsored by Optima)

also, there's two McLaren's entered (Andy's brand-new 570S, and a 12c)

and some guy in a 2019 ZR1 named "Andy Pilgrim"

so, shaping up to be an interesting adventure this year