Got a track related question? I'll try to answer.

[CSG Mike]

Originally Posted by BRZbro

^ is what you said in a previous post on a different thread. I'm just wondering what is your real input on the rad. You put a larger rad on your top 10 mods. Thanks!

"better safe than sorry" because a radiator is not very expensive.

My opinions are constantly evolving; do note the date/age of my posts when comparing them. Newer posts will supersede old ones.

[MyRx]

Originally Posted by bjun

What would be your recommendation? similiar to rear?

I'm with the folks that mentioned more camber and raised car. Kwv3 can get -2.5 naturally and then some, done at a confient shop. Camber bolts can also add camber. Camber plates, I'm a meh, but that's because my Vorshlags makes noise when it's cold on the passenger side. And yes, after raising my V3's (from 1.5 fingers to 3), the car feels more stable during transitions, prior to erratic behaviors when gas'ed and transition'ed at the same time. That's before the rear LCAs. I would rather invest in rear LCA over camber plates. But that's just me, the rear LCA was the better improvement.

[Captain Snooze]

Does Andy or Mike (or anyone else for that matter) have an opinion on AST dampers? I'm interested in the quality of damping and reliability; I have read that there have been issues with distribution in the US which doesn't affect me. Having said that I don't care if the damping characteristics of one brand are incrementally better than another because I won't be buying more than one set to do side by side comparisons. In the couple of Porsche and Bimmer forums I have looked at there doesn't seem to be that many people with AST; JRZ and MCS seem to be the more highly regarded of but I don't know if this is warranted. In Oz AST are significant cheaper, for comparable models, than JRZ or MCS. Also, in their favor is the fact that they can be serviced here as opposed to MCS which has to be sent back overseas for servicing. I kid you not! (I don't the situation with JRZ).

Yes, I have considered at Tein SRC (forgive me for mentioning them in the same breath as the above brands) but the Australian distributor has never imported a set and the manual is not available in English. This does not fill me with confidence. Also, getting different spring rates from standard is a bit of a drama according to the importer.

Ta.

[Racecomp Engineering]

Originally Posted by Captain Snooze

Does Andy or Mike (or anyone else for that matter) have an opinion on AST dampers? I'm interested in the quality of damping and reliability; I have read that there have been issues with distribution in the US which doesn't affect me. Having said that I don't care if the damping characteristics of one brand are incrementally better than another because I won't be buying more than one set to do side by side comparisons. In the couple of Porsche and Bimmer forums I have looked at there doesn't seem to be that many people with AST; JRZ and MCS seem to be the more highly regarded of but I don't know if this is warranted. In Oz AST are significant cheaper, for comparable models, than JRZ or MCS. Also, in their favor is the fact that they can be serviced here as opposed to MCS which has to be sent back overseas for servicing. I kid you not! (I don't the situation with JRZ).

Yes, I have considered at Tein SRC (forgive me for mentioning them in the same breath as the above brands) but the Australian distributor has never imported a set and the manual is not available in English. This does not fill me with confidence. Also, getting different spring rates from standard is a bit of a drama according to the importer.

Ta.

I've been on ASTs quite a bit. The custom set from TurnInConcepts here in the states that they did for GD chassis Impreza was really impressive. But that was a custom valved set. The standard sets I've been on are good too but not quite as nice. It has been a while though because of the US distribution issues/changes.

They do offer a double digressive piston upgrade here for their 4100s which is interesting. I'm going to try to talk to them at the PRI trade show in December.

The 5000 series are a pretty serious piece of kit but for the money I'd be looking at JRZ (at least over here).

If your AST distributor over there has a good reputation and works well with customers then I think they're an option worth considering.

- Andy

[Captain Snooze]

Originally Posted by Racecomp Engineering

If your AST distributor over there has a good reputation and works well with customers then I think they're an option worth considering.

Thank you for your reply.
Here,even with the double digressive valving the 5200s are about $1500 less than the MCS 2 ways and about $1200 less than RSpros! For me that is a significant difference in price. Local servicing is also a major factor in purchase. Spending $800 just to freight the dampers there and back if they needed work is a cost I do not want to wear.

[Racecomp Engineering]

Originally Posted by Captain Snooze

Thank you for your reply.
Here,even with the double digressive valving the 5200s are about $1500 less than the MCS 2 ways and about $1200 less than RSpros! For me that is a significant difference in price. Local servicing is also a major factor in purchase. Spending $800 just to freight the dampers there and back if they needed work is a cost I do not want to wear.

That is pretty significant.

RS Pros are AMAZING and worth every penny. But the cost to send them to the states for service would be painful.

- andy

[fatalelement]

So I have a track question - for reasons that are entirely legitimate, I went with the AT (I can drive MT quite well, but this is my daily in terrible high grade stop and go traffic, among other reasons) and I know this means I lose about 8-10 hp from what I've seen on the dynos and I'm sure a couple other lower stats. I know the gearing is different, but is the final drive as well?

I was at auto club speedway this past weekend and while I was able to hold speed with much faster cars due to the handling when in twistier sections, my acceleration out of harder corners wasn't good despite me always keeping my shifts, from what I understand, good and being in the power band.
For me, when coming out of 2nd I feel like I spend a bit of time just working my way out of a low rpm range and that's where everyone else with more HP shoots away.
I know part of this is the fact that this car isn't a gt3 or a zr1, but I feel like there's spots where I'm wasting time not at high rpm and I can't get there fast enough.
I was thinking about changing the final drive - nothing TOO drastic as it's still my daily but to something that would help me get up to higher revs faster. I'm not too worried about my top speed, so do you think this is a wise choice?
Thanks!

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

[RehabJeff86]

Originally Posted by fatalelement

So I have a track question - for reasons that are entirely legitimate, I went with the AT (I can drive MT quite well, but this is my daily in terrible high grade stop and go traffic, among other reasons) and I know this means I lose about 8-10 hp from what I've seen on the dynos and I'm sure a couple other lower stats. I know the gearing is different, but is the final drive as well?

I was at auto club speedway this past weekend and while I was able to hold speed with much faster cars due to the handling when in twistier sections, my acceleration out of harder corners wasn't good despite me always keeping my shifts, from what I understand, good and being in the power band.
For me, when coming out of 2nd I feel like I spend a bit of time just working my way out of a low rpm range and that's where everyone else with more HP shoots away.
I know part of this is the fact that this car isn't a gt3 or a zr1, but I feel like there's spots where I'm wasting time not at high rpm and I can't get there fast enough.
I was thinking about changing the final drive - nothing TOO drastic as it's still my daily but to something that would help me get up to higher revs faster. I'm not too worried about my top speed, so do you think this is a wise choice?
Thanks!

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

Maybe try smoothing out the tq dip first before final drive? I hv 4.556 FD and it has not shaved sig lap time at THill but will try at MRLS soon, i hv 6MT tho

[DarkSunrise]

Originally Posted by fatalelement

For me, when coming out of 2nd I feel like I spend a bit of time just working my way out of a low rpm range and that's where everyone else with more HP shoots away.
Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

What RPM are you at in 2nd gear?

[fatalelement]

Originally Posted by DarkSunrise

What RPM are you at in 2nd gear?

To be thorough, in my last lap I tried practically every shift point from 6000 (low IMO) to bouncing off the rev limiter. Over 10 shifts, probably. They all were a bit slow when I was coming off an apex into a straight. I'm a bit new to the track but it's also an AT so my gearing is a bit different.

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

[CSG Mike]

Originally Posted by Captain Snooze

Does Andy or Mike (or anyone else for that matter) have an opinion on AST dampers? I'm interested in the quality of damping and reliability; I have read that there have been issues with distribution in the US which doesn't affect me. Having said that I don't care if the damping characteristics of one brand are incrementally better than another because I won't be buying more than one set to do side by side comparisons. In the couple of Porsche and Bimmer forums I have looked at there doesn't seem to be that many people with AST; JRZ and MCS seem to be the more highly regarded of but I don't know if this is warranted. In Oz AST are significant cheaper, for comparable models, than JRZ or MCS. Also, in their favor is the fact that they can be serviced here as opposed to MCS which has to be sent back overseas for servicing. I kid you not! (I don't the situation with JRZ).

Yes, I have considered at Tein SRC (forgive me for mentioning them in the same breath as the above brands) but the Australian distributor has never imported a set and the manual is not available in English. This does not fill me with confidence. Also, getting different spring rates from standard is a bit of a drama according to the importer.

Ta.

You're probably best off going with whoever will be able to give you the best support locally.

You can't go wrong with the JRZ and SRCs, but with a strong support for AST, you can't go wrong that way either.

[CSG Mike]

Originally Posted by fatalelement

So I have a track question - for reasons that are entirely legitimate, I went with the AT (I can drive MT quite well, but this is my daily in terrible high grade stop and go traffic, among other reasons) and I know this means I lose about 8-10 hp from what I've seen on the dynos and I'm sure a couple other lower stats. I know the gearing is different, but is the final drive as well?

I was at auto club speedway this past weekend and while I was able to hold speed with much faster cars due to the handling when in twistier sections, my acceleration out of harder corners wasn't good despite me always keeping my shifts, from what I understand, good and being in the power band.
For me, when coming out of 2nd I feel like I spend a bit of time just working my way out of a low rpm range and that's where everyone else with more HP shoots away.
I know part of this is the fact that this car isn't a gt3 or a zr1, but I feel like there's spots where I'm wasting time not at high rpm and I can't get there fast enough.
I was thinking about changing the final drive - nothing TOO drastic as it's still my daily but to something that would help me get up to higher revs faster. I'm not too worried about my top speed, so do you think this is a wise choice?
Thanks!

Sent from my HTC One_M8 using Tapatalk

I think you'd be better served with some bolt-ons and a tune than a final drive.

What kind of times were you running?

[blue cat]

Regarding bedding of pads, i've decided to switch between dedicated pads for track and stock pads for street due to horrible dusting and noise (project mu HC800+). What's a safe procedure for bedding in of pads before and after track time performance wise?
Can i just rock up swap, do the bedding procedure and jump on or is there any timeframes involved? And is there any downside to swapping frequently/infrequently of the pads?
Cheers

[acro]

You have noise with the project mu's? After bedding mine make no noise now. The dust also to me isn't very much.