ALSO.
I spent this past weekend in the mountains of West Virginia blasting around tarmac, gravel, dirt, and up to 8 inches of fresh snow. Just stock suspension with 16x7 Enkei RPF1s and Bridgestone Blizzaks. OEM-ish alignment. Temperatures from the mid 20's F to 50 F. We'll call it a basic data collection exercise.
1. It was
extremely fun.
2. A little more ride height and travel would help. Mostly to better soak up some of the bigger bumps, but also my bumper plowed more snow than I would like in the deeper parts. There were also some taller roots/rocks that made me nervous with the lack of ground clearance. Also, travel is good if you uh...get a little airborne so increasing height with just spacers is not ideal.
3. The OEM shocks are not terrible for this kind of thing, but definitely not ideal.
4. The car isn't terribly unbalanced on snow/gravel since you don't need much camber on low grip surfaces, but could be improved.
5. I installed the OEM Toyota mudguards before the trip and they help reduce rocks flying up the side of the car, but rallyarmor flaps would have been much better. The OEM mudguards collect snow too easily and don't cover as much.
6. Some underbody protection would have put my mind at ease, but no incidents to report.
7. The Blizzaks, in addition to being excellent on snow, were pretty darn good on gravel. They exceeded expectation on the winding hilly tarmac but definitely got a little too hot.
8. Seriously, so much fun.
Prior to this weekend, the idea of a fall/winter only suspension set-up for my car was intriguing but never something I thought I'd seriously do. I'm 100% on board for it now.
- Andrew
everyone should post pictures of rally BRZ/GT86 cars now