Project 2017 86 - C Street
 

Update 8/11/2017

So I've decided that I'm going to start slowly going towards STX because I really want some power parts for the street and for autocross, so that will be happening over the next few months and the bulk during the winter. Planned parts list will go down below soon.

Current State

• Alignment - 1.2 up front, 2.4 in the rear, and 0 toe.
• 20mm Whiteline front bar on stiff
• Stock shocks with TRD springs
• Custom muffler delete that is too loud most of the time

Attachment 156987

I finally found my self overwhelmed with everything that I needed to do to my STS Miata to get it competitive, and well...it was time for a new daily driver so that's when I bought this thing below!

I've decided to get it ready for C Street and decided I would document my journey for any one else to be able to replicate with the new 2017's. Below is my todo list with completed things marked accordingly:

• Wheels and Tires - Done - O.Z. OMNIA 17x7.5 rims wrapped in 235/45/17 RE-71r's
• TRD Lowering Springs - On order
• Crash Bolts for camber - On Order
• Alignment of max camber, 0 toe up front, and 1/8th toe in, in the rear - Waiting for above
• Lightweight catback for weight savings and power (;) Totally not just for the rumble) - Looking for input
• Swaybar(s) - I can do one TRD and one aftermarket so I'm looking for input

Car is currently at 500 miles and I need another 500 before the event this Sunday so fingers crossed I can get the miles + all the camber stuff before then. Otherwise It will be bone stock with wheels and tires.

I have the part numbers for the crash bolts and nuts in my car and I'll grab those later to post in case anyone ever needs them.

Attachment 152322

Nameless Performance sells a Single exit muffled track pipe. It looks good and
only weighs 6 pounds. Worth a look.

Good luck with your build.

Congrats, welcome! I doubt there will be many differences to your prep than those of us who prepped our 13-16 versions.

You might want to flip your camber settings though. I've always run a little toe out up front and a little toe-in or zero toe rear.

I'm in the camp that thinks almost any sway bar combo will work if you adjust your driving, pressures and shock settings accordingly. I'm still on the Perrin 19mm, but I'll finally switch to the TRD bars eventually, maybe... read through the existing CS thread because there are a lot of good tips/hints in there.

This is exactly what I was looking for thanks!

The wheels and tires came in today and I test fitted them and I'm a little worried about the clearance. The TRD forged rims are 7.5 width but 42 offset and I got 7.5 with 48 offset and this is the distance between the tire and the spring perch:

Attachment 152338

It looks fine for now but once I get the additional camber I'm worried it will put me too close at the top, so I might pick up some 5mm spacers, unless anyone has some input.

The next issue is the lugs that came with the rims:

Attachment 152339

The holes in the rims are so small that I need to use this special spline tool, does anyone know of some extended lugs that will fit in there?

Overall the wheels look amazing though:

Attachment 152337

I said 1/8 toe IN on the rear.
No more than 5mm spacers on the front with stock wheel studs but if you can fit a credit card between the tire and the spring search you are good to go.
BTW the Perrin 19mm doesn't work at Devans. You need more front bar. 20mm adjustable White line or maybe even the 22.

Bill B.

Editing to remove incorrect info.

Incorrect, because for the 2017's it specifies that the optional TRD wheels are legal. The dealer offered TRD rims for the 2017 86 are 17x7.5. You can go to build the car on the Toyota website and see the wheels, and you can look at the SCCA Solo rules and see the allowance for the TRD wheels in the class listings.

I stand corrected. They must have just updated that.

Haha I'm glad you found me on here Bill! I would've been stuck with some bad alignment otherwise. And awesome I figured as long as there was some room I'd be fine, and I saw a thread where someone else was running 17x7.5 +55 with no issues so I'm less worried now.

I think I'll do the first event this weekend without the sway just so I'm not trying to get too much done in the few days I have and then I can try to figure out if i'll go 20mm or 22mm. What about Devans makes a 19 not work well? The higher speeds than other lots or just different courses?

And I'm considering returning the rims I got because of that stupid spline tool, the reading I've done has said that if I use impact tools on it (Like I would do every event) that the tool/lugs will get destroyed, so maybe I might just return them for some RPF1s, but I'm just worried about the strength of the RPF1s if I hit some bumps or a small pothole with them ever. Anyone with the RPF1s know?

I've used those kind of lug/tool for some time. At least 2-3 years of Autox. 10 event per year. They are starting to show some wear, and would have needed to be changed if I didn't changed car.
I think that's not that bad. BTW, I used an impact with them all the time.
You can also get the kind of nut that stick out of the wheels holes. That's probably what I'll do with the BRZ.
You may have the same problem with the RPF1. The holes are really close to the edge of the recessed center (google a picture).

I've been looking around for something exactly like what you're describing but I havn't had any luck, maybe I'm using the wrong search terms?

Extended Lug Nuts

Gorilla brand is relatively affordable and easy to find on Amazon. Beware the longer ones may require a deep socket to get on and off which may be a bit inconvenient.

Let me know what camber you get on the rear after the trd springs installed, my right rear was off, around -2.7 and the left side was about -2.3.

TRD offers both 7.5" and 7" wheels on their website, but when I try to "build" an 86 on the toyota website, It only has a single TRD wheel "package".

Is that a staggered wheel package they offer? What does the car come with if I select that package?

*edit* Found this on the TRD site's description for both wheels:

PRODUCT DESCRIPTION

18-in. x 7-in. front and 18-in. x 7.5-in. rear staggered fit; (both with 35-mm. offset, a 5-on-100-mm. bolt circle [P.C.D.] and a 56-mm. center bore) cast alloy wheels designed specifically for the vehicle


http://www.trdusa.com/parts-detail.h...categories=all

http://www.trdusa.com/parts-detail.h...categories=all

If you look at the scca classes, under C street it says
"86 (including TRD Lowering
Springs, TRD Sway Bar Kit,
and TRD 17-in. Forged Wheel)
(2017)"

So if you then go to Toyota's site and build an 86 and go to accessories, you can see the exact wheel labeled "TRD 17-in. Forged Wheel" which is a "17-in. x 7.5-in. wheel with 43-mm. offset (factory 48-mm. offset)"

What you found was the "TRD 18-in. Alloy Wheel" which is not what the rules specifically mention just as a heads up.

I noticed that the rules mentioned 17" wheels and thought it was a typo because 17" TRD wheels, offered as a port-installed option, appear to be a unicorn. (I can't find them on the Toyota website. Maybe I'm missing something. Do you have a link to the 17" wheels?)


This is from http://www.toyota.com/86/

http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/j...ps1hgaoifu.png

It wouldn't let me do a link that actually worked but this is what I found on their full site, are you on a mobile version?

Attachment 152349

Desktop, but it wouldn't let me "build" without first entering a zip code and that was the issue.

I just googled zip codes for NH, plugged in one (03033) and then I could see a much larger list of options. They must only show stuff that's already on lots within a certain radius of the zip you enter.

Toyota could miss out on some buyers with their website set up like that.

We are considering trading in my wife's AT FRS and getting an 86. CS-legal 7.5" wheels make it more attractive and I couldn't even see them using a SW FL zip code.

It seems like a split between people that are going with 235/45 tires and 245/40's on the 7.5" wheels. how'd you decide to go 235?

The 2016 FR-S Release Series 2.0 (greenish-grey one) also allows you to have the forged 7.5" rims, but that is the only 13-16 version that seems to fit the bill to the rules.

I'm not sure what the earlier comment meant about the 19mm bar not working for Devens. It has worked fine for me on a variety of sites, courses, and tire combos, but I like a looser set-up.

There's your issue I think. For some reason, the SE USA is served by a different entity, Southeast Toyota, instead of Toyota, NA. Those things might not technically be offered on their cars, but I'll bet you can "help" a salesperson with that. Find the part numbers/package codes and then tell them "fidelio."

I think the gearing + 7.5" wheels = better acceleration *and* better grip. My gut says the 2017's will be demonstrably faster than the 13-16's on just about any course.

Yup, those of us in the Southeast US are stuck with the terrible Southeast Toyota site.

I'll be keeping an eye on this thread. I was leaning towards sticking with a 225 on my PP BRZ wheels, but seems like I may have to upsize a bit more.

Ya I went with the 235 for a couple of reasons. The first was that there were already some people at clubs I was running using 235 on a 7 inch rim with good results, so I figured with the extra half an inch itd be even better.

I stayed away from 245 just because of the Bridgestone specs listing a minimum of an 8 inch rim for it.

And the camber bolts arn't coming in until Saturday morning so looks like I'll be running the events this weekend on just tires.

It's been awhile since my last update but a lot has happened!

I've done 3 or 4 events on the car at this point, starting with just the camber bolts on the first event. By the 3rd event I had my 20mm whiteline bar on full stiff and the car was feeling okayish. I was still understeering worse than any car I've felt before and it didn't matter how I drove it.

Then I got to the national event at Devens. And almost every C street driver came up and asked if I had installed the camber bolts yet. Because it looked like I had no camber what so ever. I kind of just brushed it off as maybe I didn't get as much camber as others were able to and did my runs, and sometimes the car would feel okay, other times it would just dig super hard.

So after my runs, my friend had a camber gauge and we put it on the front....

+.5 FL -.4 FR :mad0260:

The bolts had slipped. The camber bolts that I torqued to the factory spec had slipped.

So I decided I needed to fix that, and I mine as well finally install my TRD springs. So after putting on the springs I loosened up the 3 top hat nuts, the strut nut itself, and the two camber bolts and placed it on a jack:

Attachment 154869

I then torqued the tophat nuts to 25ish ft/lbs, the strut nut as close to 35 as I could get, and then the camber bolts to 150 ft/lbs. Maybe a little high, but they were loose enough to take off with a rachet when I torqued them to 114 last time.

The rear springs are going to be done later today, and hopefully my car will finally feel balanced.

Hey, I was the guy next to you in grid. Like I said out there. Forget the torque wrench for those bolts. The proper torque spec for the crash bolts is an 18" breaker bar taken to "I'm gonna hurt myself."

Similar for the 3 nuts in the strut tower. Once in the right position, your short 3/8" ratchet tightened until you worry about bruising your palm or stripping the nut.

You're trying to hold things that float in holes with significant slop, AND see lots of forces, in a very specific spot.

Do not be surprised if you have to regularly re-tighten the sway bar end link nuts as well.

Did you get an exhaust? The Tanabe Concept G is a catback and weighs 19lbs total. It is too loud for an STX car (like mine) but my friend has it on his FRS. Pretty sure it is best bang for the buck weight savings for an exhaust. I wish I could use mine in STX without having to worry about sound :(

I really need an exhaust that isn't going to kill me on the highway, because I drive 20k miles a year normally lol.

So I'm looking for something with 0 drone, low weight, and that gives me that magical 1hp. I'd really prefer dual tips, so the only thing that fits all that is the borla as far as I know.

I'm the friend with the Tanabe Concept G exhaust Justin mentioned. While it is a single outlet, in street class trim I've never been bothered by drone on any of the road trips I've taken. That includes Denver->Portland x2, Denver->LA, Denver->College Station, Denver->Lincoln x6. Any of those trips I made on RE71s had me cursing the tire noise though.:bonk:

The thing to remember is that most will quiet down over time as they get loaded up with soot. At 20k/year, you'll see a big quiet down after just a couple weeks.

I like the sound of the Nameless delete that I've run for 4+ years, but I'd like to try something else because it was not that ideal and might have become more droney over the years.

It's nice to see your progress. I was on the other side of you at the Devens event and glad to see you fixed the positive camber. I like the look of the single Ft86 Factory system, but I heard it might be droney too?

Hey nice to hear from you!

And ya I had been looking at reviews for the nameless delete and I'm just too paranoid about the drone, if I can find the flange anywhere local I might just weld a 2 inch pipe downward to see how bad it is for race days.

Although I'm sure I wont want to take that stock exhaust on and off too many times.

Update time!

So after a lot of really good events the car is finally starting to feel planted in transitions and is really a joy to drive.

I also found that on my 235s If I go much below 35 up front, then on pretty much any turn, my car understeers like crazy, and does the front tire "shudder". 35-37 up front seems to be giving me the best response and times. Whereas the rears are typically at 29-30.

I think this is because of a couple of things, the first being that I was only able to get 1.2 degrees of camber up front with the stock bolts and with loosening EVERYTHING so I feel as though my car is just camber limited. The second reason I think is because of my 20mm bar on full stiff. I might try an event with it on the softer setting to see if it feels any better at lower pressures.

But all of this season has showed me that I really want to go to STX next year, so I already picked up the OFT and I'm going in for a baseline stock dyno on Wednesday before I start throwing on power parts. I'll probably test out the OFT at a few of the lax events, mainly for the rev limiter to try and get my top 2nd gear speed up a bit.

My goal is todo a budget STX build, under 6k I think, which won't get me first at nationals, but I feel should be competitive.

That's all for now!

I switched to a Blitz Nur-SPEC VSR dual exit exhaust. It weighs a bit more than the Tanabe but is really quiet with no drone. The extra weight is not a huge deal...

Also, I would put the money into the suspension/wheels first. Do engine stuff last. OFT/tune is probably the best upgrade for the engine for short term.