PitBulls AX/HDPE 86

[pitbull008]

Hai Guise and gals! Just wanted to keep track of the build somewhere and may seek input about various steps along the way.

Me:
I've autocrossed many previous vehicles over the years ranging from a 2015 wrx to a 1988 bmw 325is. I took my Miata to the track last November for 2+ hrs of track time and fell in love! But I need to fix several things, mainly passing a broomstick test and being slightly safer. I've downsized a bit from the days of owning AWD turbo cars (once my STi sells..) and have found the 86 platform to be exactly what I'm looking for. I am a novice at the track, and intermediate level driver at Autocross. The goal with this 86 is minimal mods, and maximize seat time. The car will stay NA for the foreseeable future. Looking to spend minimally and get it up and running to work on my driver skills. First Autocross I want to attend is in April so I have work to do!

Goals:
-Reliable engine
-Repeatable performance
-2-3 HDPE events this year (5+ track hours)
-5~ Autocross events (non-competitive...probably)


So I went out to find a car.... I landed a used 2016 Scion FRS, Raven Black, with 27k miles. Purchased from a local, who let me buy out his lease. Never had engine mods, only cosmetic and good on maintenance upkeep.


Parts..

Power/Engine:
Ecutek tuned by Mike @ Moto-East
Perrin intake tube w/ dropin filter
Invidia q300 catback
Nameless 'downpipe'
Invidia 4-2-1 ELH

Handling/Suspension/Braking:
Cusco front strut tower bar w/mcb
Racecomp Yellows (not yet installed)
Racecomp Camber/Caster plates(not yet installed)
Goodridge SS Lines, Ferodo DS2500 pads
Whiteline bushings..(diff, subframe) (not yet installed)
Perrin Steering Lockdown Bolts

[pitbull008]

[pitbull008]

First round of parts. Only brakes got installed over the weekend.








First review of the pads after maybe 70 miles driven is: great street pads!
I've been told they don't hold up at the track very well, so we'll see how they do..

Initial stopping power and pedal feel has increased significantly. There was a bit of contaminated air in the front right brake line, so even if you aren't tracking the car, just flush the brakes, you'll be surprised at how much it helps. I'm no longer feeling like I need to go BBK anytime in the near future , especially on stock power levels. I likely will get a set of track pads before the season is out but overall I'm very happy with the ds2500's.

Goodridge lines, MCB (cusco front strut bar), ds2500 pads and flush the fluid is the recipe for not having a squishy pedal!

Up next:
Diff and subframe Bushings, steering lockdown bolts, headers, downpipe, and ecutek protune via Mike Botti.

Then:
RCE Yellows, and RCE Tophats, alignment for the track.

Lastly:
RS4 tires on stock wheels.

I have a month till my first autocross, so I've got work to do! =)

[Lincoln Logs]

Looks good, don't fret about getting every part installed before your first autocross. Get out there and drive!

[Teseo]

I like your garage

[pitbull008]

Originally Posted by Lincoln Logs

Looks good, don't fret about getting every part installed before your first autocross. Get out there and drive!

That is the plan! I have some time though, so it's an accomplish-able goal.

Still need to buy tires though so... i have time, lol.

Originally Posted by Teseo

I like your garage

Not mine, but it's a local Subaru guru who lets us whore out his garage often. When I do the next install I'll be using his wheel stands which I'm sure everyone will like.
Apartment life... but lucky to have awesome garages to work on the car in. The other choice garage is the gf's father's place... It's a garage everyone wants - full of motorcycles =D

[pitbull008]

Raceseng lightweight crank pulley installed.
Annoying clutch helper spring removed... will need to adjust the clutch tomorrow.
Oil change will probably happen tomorrow at nearly 28k miles.

Next week.... Racecomp yellows and tophats getting installed.
What would be left: Headers, 'downpipe', tune, diff bushing, subframe bushing, steering lockdown bolts, tires

It's coming together! Slowly but surely.

[pitbull008]

Weekend work completed: Invidia 4-2-1 Equal Length Headers, Nameless 'downpipe', Perrin steering lockdown bolts.

Tires: Ordered Falken RT615k+ 225/45. Will get mounted this week.

[pitbull008]

Headers and downpipe sound louder than I want on startup, here's to hoping neighbors don't key this car like they did my STI...

However, driving sounds amazing, light tone and easily dismiss-able at cruising speeds. From the outside the tone did change a little but not much. I've been driving it easy/sub 4k rpm till Mikey gets back to me to get the Ecutek on it.

First Autocross is Sunday in Waldorf, MD, with Capital Driving Club. I'm stoked.

I have oil to change, and a fumoto to install, but otherwise we're good and ready.


Assuming the tune happens this week, I have left:
-Diff bushings
-Subframe bushings
-Racecomp Yellow Springs w/ RCE Tophats
-Alignment

[pitbull008]

So, I scrambled around to get tuned late last week, I had the tune on the car as of Friday, big thanks to Mike @ Moto-East.

The car feels great now. Full exhaust + tune was exactly what the power band should be from the factory. Smooth and quick the whole way to 7500.


Car felt great on the course! Driver needs some work. The car handled pretty well but it definitely needs a better alignment. Turn-in's were not what i was expecting, but still felt overall good. Tires are.. eh.. I am not sure how I feel about the tires yet. They are not awful by any means but certainly not re71r or z2* levels of grip. They however were cheap so I am adjusting my expectations appropriately. I needed to increase my tire pressure by about 4 psi all around (was running 34f/32r) , and that would have made a lot of difference I feel. I'll be tweaking tire pressures next event to find happy mediums.

First run was a 51.6, fourth/last run was a 47.7. I felt good with the improvement. Much more driving tuning required. Video below is from 2nd run.. I forgot to swap batteries.
FTD in an exocet was 40seconds~. Fastest 86 was 41seconds (non turbo).

Here's a video, not sure how i feel about the gopro mount on the helmet. More to follow
https://photos.app.goo.gl/4VGp9dr2I62fr8Y63

[pitbull008]

I like the idea of showing all the dumb shit that happens in a forum post with your build too. Nothing is perfect, and when you start messing with cars - it always doesn't go as planned.

So I had installed the lightweight crank pulley - and before you finish my thought for me - nothing broke, yet. I was convinced thanks to forum posts and some really shitty articles that i should not have installed the lightweight pulley, thus putting more strain on my engine than is needed. Since I want to keep the car and track it for as long as possible, this brought concerns.

Let me just say that listening to people online - regardless of their experience - is always terrible. It's good to get multiple opinions and bounce ideas, but especially arrogant people - just block/ignore them and move on. That disclaimer put, here is what happened next.

I went to remove the light pulley, and the crankshaft spacer came with it. I was concerned and also confused, so i slipped it back in literally in the same minute and same orientation that it came out in (I used the pin on the spacer to remind me of it's orientation. To my eyes and (lack of) knowledge, it looked like it was sitting where it should be, and when I slipped the stock pulley on it, It looked flush and where it needed to be. I torqued everything down properly, and when I started it, I had a light tapping noise coming from drivers side.

So it has been driven on maybe 50 miles since, and I decided to park it till I figure it out. Earlier this week I removed the stock pulley and put back on the aftermarket one, just to see if noise goes away, surprise it's still there.

This is what the crankshaft spacer looks like and how it sits. It appears the ring is in it still, and it doesn't look flush to everything, but its hard to tell if its seated properly.





So, what started as a perfectly fine mod and car, ended with maybe a blown motor? Head damage? Too early to tell.

So what I did, is I just ordered a new crankshaft spacer, new crankbolt and new rubber spacer thing. I get the parts today and will reinstall everything and torque everything properly, and see where I stand with the car. I bought a new crankshaft spacer if only because I will probably damage this one removing it. Cost of parts was 65$.

If the noise goes away great - i dodged a bullet. If the noise is still there, I will probably take it into a performance shop nearby to take a look at it. More to follow.

Here's a video, you can see the crank bolt doesn't look quite right - even though it's torqued properly. (94ft/lb)
Additionally it seems like the crank may be wobbling but it is hard to tell. I figure all of the part replacement is a good place to start and go from there.

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1Q...lPd1VCMkRFM3Jn

[pitbull008]

Bolt, spacer, and rubber piece replaced, stock pulley reinstalled and torqued properly.

No change... Going to have a performance shop look at it once I figure out which shop to take it too. I also datalogged a bit and will be sending those to Mike @ Moto-east to get a quick look over and tell me what he thinks. If everything checks out, i'll send it till she breaks~

famous last words

[pitbull008]

Random noise my car was making was.... missing header bolt. Gasket looks fine, after i buttoned up that bolt, noise went away and all is well.

Moto-east's Mike looked over the logs I sent and everything checked out OK.

Onwards to racing~.
Will do some more autocross soon again.

[pitbull008]

Over the weekend, I got a little burnt and I autocrossed with Corvette Club in a smaller lot. (with a bit of anxiety thanks to two cars that were parked on the lot and some very small runoffs). The course was poorly built compared to others I have been, as i ran the first half of the course in 1st and it should not have been that way. I don't think I'll be running with that club again as I think from a safety perspective the course should never be barely within 10ft of a curb/fence. At any rate..

First two runs were on wet pavement, and third run was a savior because at the downhill sweeper turn, the person who left their car on the lot at that turn finally came and moved it.

Times: 47.3 , 41.7 , 41.5 , 40.1
FTD for my class: 37.0 (miata) , 37.5 (99 porsche 911), 38.0 (90 porsche 911)

This was the first event with traction and stability full off. I'll never drive it another way. Car felt great. I'm going to try to get the subframe and diff bushings installed, as I think that should help with wheel feedback in the rear but that's at least if it performs as advertised... but I was very happy with the car and even the tires.

Pressures were 33f/30r and the car felt fairly even. I had some small drifts but the tires had good feedback and let me know before the car slid that it was heading in that direction. I was a bit concerned with the tires based on my last event but I'm fairly happy with them now. On the same note, I was also concerned due to the tread pattern w/ rain - and although this car is not my DD, i will still be using it as a sort of dual duty car. The car earlier this week surprised me, as I had to do an oh-shit stop in the middle of a thunderstorm and the car stopped very fast without any issues.

I didn't have any AX pics or video this time, as I left my gopro and I only did morning runs.

I went to a local 86 meet afterwards though, so enjoy a couple snaps from that:


Ah I lied, i found a video I took while waiting for my next run:
https://photos.app.goo.gl/kjQ91rwIVp1Tksta2