Lunatic Racing's New FRS

[Lunatic]

A lot of changes to the car in the last couple of months. An old Viet Nam war injury has come back to haunt me. With all the solid competition suspension pieces I have installed on the car the ride had got to the point of being unbearable to drive. So I put the car up for sale, kind of giving up on life and figuring I would end up in an old Oldsmobile.

No takers on the car so as a last resort I decided to put the suspension back to stock. Every hard bushing and metal to metal piece has been removed and now the entire suspension is all soft squishy rubber stock, with one exception. Megan lowering springs.

I was surprised how much of a difference this made. The ride is still solid, or firm, but no harsh jarring going over our rough CA roads. Sure, I wont be able to make super hot laps but I would rather drive a slow car fast than not at all. The hard part has been not hot lapping, (Tracks are pretty smooth) but just getting to the track in the 1st place. The last time I went to Willow Springs by the time I got there (3 hour drive) I was in so much pain I couldn't even get out of the car.

So this is not a sob story, looking for pity, but a "Hey I'm Back" success story and my car is no longer for sale. Look out TRD Cup! The "Old Fart in an Automatic" is back.

[Lunatic]

One last mod to the car. My Perrin exhaust has got very load with age. I replaced the resonator with out not much luck. I no longer liked the sound, and my neighbors for sure didn't like the raspy drone when starting a cold engine.

Reading back over old threads there have been several complaints about the Invidia Q300 exhaust, all about it being to quiet. So I figured this is for me.

I not only put the Q300 on but a HKS twin resonated front pipe. My car now has a nice mellow sound, no harsh rasp. I can now actually hear tire noise driving down the freeway and can hold a conversation with my passenger.

And no more complaints from my neighbors.

[Swift]

I am only 31 and have back issues etc I am trying to work out. So glad to see I have a chance of still having fun at your age!

BTW, you may want to talk to some suspension experts, but I have heard that if you bump just the spring rate maybe only double but then work with just the valving you will get better handling and a softer ride. Alot of aftermarket to make up for crappy valve adjustments put way to harsh of springs on.

Keep having fun!

[Lunatic]

Originally Posted by Swift

I am only 31 and have back issues etc I am trying to work out. So glad to see I have a chance of still having fun at your age!

BTW, you may want to talk to some suspension experts, but I have heard that if you bump just the spring rate maybe only double but then work with just the valving you will get better handling and a softer ride. Alot of aftermarket to make up for crappy valve adjustments put way to harsh of springs on.

Keep having fun!

Thanks for the Ideas Swift. I'm doing a 2 hour drive to LA tomorrow so that will tell. I have heard the new Tein with their new hydraulic bump stops are pretty nice.

[gramicci101]

Lunatic,

Consider coils that don't replace the OEM top hats, such as @Racecomp Engineering, KW, or Bilstein. RCE just came out with a custom-valved and sprung Bilstein B14, and their T0 and T2 have a lot of road and track reviews.

[Chad_W]

Originally Posted by gramicci101

Lunatic,

Consider coils that don't replace the OEM top hats, such as @Racecomp Engineering, KW, or Bilstein. RCE just came out with a custom-valved and sprung Bilstein B14, and their T0 and T2 have a lot of road and track reviews.

That's a solid idea. On nice thing about this platform is that it doesn't have to be super stiff to handle well. Even going with a Koni Adjustables and some of the more mild sport springs can be a nice improvement over stock and make the car enjoyable on the track, though not necessarily dominant...

[FujiwaraTofu86]

Such a cool build!!!!!,

I hope i can be like you when I grow up (Not saying that you're old.)

[Lunatic]

Originally Posted by FujiwaraTofu86

Such a cool build!!!!!,

I hope i can be like you when I grow up (Not saying that you're old.)

I take that as a complement, thank you.

[Lunatic]

Made my trip to LA yesterday to see the Space Shuttle Endevour. What a sight. very well worth going. Anyway drive over was 3 1/2 hours and about 3 hours getting home. All went well, was not in the least bit of discomfort getting home so so far so good.

[Lunatic]

I made a couple quick sound clips of the new Exhaust. You can see them on my Facebook Page.
https://www.facebook.com/Lunatic-Rac...5620119162747/

[Tor]

Originally Posted by Lunatic

Next I mover my engine oil cooler and automatic tranny cooler out board behind the removed fog lights.

I also made a new splitter out of 3/8ths plywood. And made frame mounts so it's not attached to the body. That way if I go "Off Track" and dig dirt the splitter will break off and not distroy the body work. (ask Mike about this)

Hi Steve,
I would be curious to see how you mounted the splitter. Do you by any chance have some pictures?

And good to read that you are keeping the car.
Tor

[Lunatic]

Originally Posted by Tor

Hi Steve,
I would be curious to see how you mounted the splitter. Do you by any chance have some pictures?

And good to read that you are keeping the car.
Tor

Sorry I didn't take any pictures of the mounting and would have to take the nose off to get some. Let me see what I can do today.

[RichardJ]

Hey man, big fan of your build. I have a quick question.

Would you say running 4.88 gears while being supercharged is too short? what are your impressions?

Thanks!
Richard. (Recently went with the same gears while n/a)

[Lunatic]

Originally Posted by RichardJ

Hey man, big fan of your build. I have a quick question.

Would you say running 4.88 gears while being supercharged is too short? what are your impressions?

Thanks!
Richard. (Recently went with the same gears while n/a)

I'm not going to say yes, to short. Even after supercharging I enjoy my gearing with the automatic. But I will say probably not needed and a waste of money if going Forced Induction. Esp if manual tranny.