Denkigrve's FRS

[denkigrve]

So I've been promising everyone an update...

So the accident happened. The bump is STILL in the car, but it goes to the shop tomorrow to get fixed, finally. I got my check to fix it the day before I left for vacation. Talk about timing!

While I was on vacation I saw zero FR-S and BRZs on the east coast. I was a little disappointed. I was hoping to at least see one. We ended up renting this Chevy Cruze from Hertz. Oh. My. God. That car is TERRIBLE. I missed the FR-S more than anything while driving that thing. I put a ton of miles on it though, got it past 10k. Drove from PA to NC, so at least it wasn't my car. :P

When I got home driving the WRX on blown shocks felt better, but 2 days after getting home I had to drive the FR-S. I then realized that this car is like an addiction. I'm addicted to it's driving experience. I don't want to drive anything else. I've been driving the FR-S for a week straight so far, and I'm just still as in love with it as I was in June when I picked it up off of the lot. If anyone is on the fence about getting one, I suggest just jumping on it. As long as you're not worried about drag racing, you'll have a fun time. I promise. There is just nothing else like taking turns in this car. It really reminds me of my AE86, but it goes one step further, and makes me actually ~almost~ not regret selling the AE86. Almost... I still love the look of a hatch with a TRD wing and levin front with some nice 15x9s on a set of coils. Oh god so pretty...

So I installed the 5AD wing. I'm... not exactly impressed with their paint matching skills. They leave a lot to be desired. My suggestion is to buy unpainted and have a bodyshop do the work for you. You'll be happier,and it'll look better. Sure this saves you a buck or two, but it leaves it looking iffy in my opinion. It's also the angles and lighting, and I'm also an asshole perfectionist, so to most it'll probably look great. :P

[JoeBoxer]

I've heard that quite a bit on their paintmatching. Silver and pearl white are difficult for sure which is one of the reasons i haven't considered a spoiler or body kit.

[denkigrve]

Car is at the body shop, now comes the "Is it done yet? Is it done yet? Is it done yet? Is it done yet? Is it done yet? Is it done yet? ..." waiting period. Ugh.

[Lonewolf]

Originally Posted by denkigrve

So I've been promising everyone an update...

So the accident happened. The bump is STILL in the car, but it goes to the shop tomorrow to get fixed, finally. I got my check to fix it the day before I left for vacation. Talk about timing!

While I was on vacation I saw zero FR-S and BRZs on the east coast. I was a little disappointed. I was hoping to at least see one. We ended up renting this Chevy Cruze from Hertz. Oh. My. God. That car is TERRIBLE. I missed the FR-S more than anything while driving that thing. I put a ton of miles on it though, got it past 10k. Drove from PA to NC, so at least it wasn't my car. :P

When I got home driving the WRX on blown shocks felt better, but 2 days after getting home I had to drive the FR-S. I then realized that this car is like an addiction. I'm addicted to it's driving experience. I don't want to drive anything else. I've been driving the FR-S for a week straight so far, and I'm just still as in love with it as I was in June when I picked it up off of the lot. If anyone is on the fence about getting one, I suggest just jumping on it. As long as you're not worried about drag racing, you'll have a fun time. I promise. There is just nothing else like taking turns in this car. It really reminds me of my AE86, but it goes one step further, and makes me actually ~almost~ not regret selling the AE86. Almost... I still love the look of a hatch with a TRD wing and levin front with some nice 15x9s on a set of coils. Oh god so pretty...

So I installed the 5AD wing. I'm... not exactly impressed with their paint matching skills. They leave a lot to be desired. My suggestion is to buy unpainted and have a bodyshop do the work for you. You'll be happier,and it'll look better. Sure this saves you a buck or two, but it leaves it looking iffy in my opinion. It's also the angles and lighting, and I'm also an asshole perfectionist, so to most it'll probably look great. :P

Ha, "asshole perfectionist" that should be under your screen name...

[denkigrve]

Oohhhrrrr meerrr gaaaawwddd It's finally fixed. Picking it up later today.

EDIT:
Before/After:

[denkigrve]

So it's been a little bit since I've updated. Here's a sneak peek at what I've been doing though:

[denkigrve]

I've been meaning to do this post for a while. Just haven't had a lot of time lately with work and trying to move.

So, the car got fixed. It looks amazing, just like new again. Then I had a great opportunity on Oct 3rd and got to take the car to Laguna. What an amazing track! Digital versions do NOT do it justice. Actually being in the car and tearing through the corners of that track really made a huge difference to me.

The setup for the runs:
My first 2 laps the instructor drove my car. He got a good feel for it, and tried to figure out what it could do in each turn. Then it was my turn to drive. For the first 4 sessions of the day I drove with the instructor in the car, but on the last session he had me go out alone and follow him, and then he was going to follow me.



How'd the car do:
The car did amazing. The extra traction of the non-prius tires makes so much difference in the handling of the car. By my 3rd heat I was going pretty fast for the beginners group, and getting faster and faster with each lap. I was only doing about 7-8/10ths, but man it felt great. At this point I'm going to do a track breakdown of my day so here is a guide to the turns on the track incase anyone reading this needs that:




So while on the track, the hardest turn for me was turn 3. You come down from turn 1, take turn 2, and then you're on the gas. I was in 2nd coming out of turn 2, by the time you're about to start braking for Turn 3 the car is hitting the rev limiter and needs to be shifted up, but you're already braking for turn 3, and turn 3 felt the most dodgy to me.

Turns 4 and 5 were easy. Turn 4 you just sort of keep going at your speed and then turn, then roll on the throttle as you unwind and keep hammering it until Turn 5. Turn 5 was by the most fun. The banking really lets the car just go all out and you have so much track to use, and you're in that small straight before 6.

Turn 7 doesn't really count, as you're just using that to setup your braking for 8 which is the corkscrew. That was the turn I was the most worried about, but had the least amount of issues with. The photos I have I'm way outside for Turn 8A, but by the last few sessions was nailing the apex on each run through there. You really carry a ton of speed out of 8a, and it's super exhilarating.

The rest of the turns were pretty much what you'd expect. The only piece of advice I can offer is that when you come out of turn 9, don't go all of the way to the edge. Leave a car length. My instructor had me do it both ways and he was right, if you go all the way out, the track banks to the outside and can cause the car to upset a little. So as long as you left on the right side of that bank it's fine.

I did have one incident on turn 11 where I clutch kicked by mistake and got some nice sliding action. That was good times.

Overall the entire day was a blast. I've never had so much fun in a car before. The track is really technical and setup really well for this car. Lots of technical turns where the car really shines, and where it's the most fun to drive.

Funny Track Story:
So my instructor REALLY wanted to do a chase/follow lap for my last heat of the day. I wasn't sure I was ready, but I figured I might as well. So we go out. We do a lap, and it feels normal. On the second lap we pass turn 5 and start going into the straight and I get the point by. So I pass him (his turn to follow me now) and I start driving at what I felt was the same pace we were going at when he was in the car. I did a few mirror checks and saw he was hanging back a little. I hit the corkscrew and am going into 9 and he's still there, but hanging back. I hit 10 and am going for 11 and look back and see him off in the kitty litter. He had spun out, which was odd. He was driving an M3 and was sliding turn 2 on his solo drives all day without an issue. So I kept going thinking he'd catch up. They flagged us in, and I still hadn't seen him. So I did my cooldown run of the parking lot, and then parked and went to go find him since he still hadn't come in. After looking for 20 minutes I realized he left. The dude just freaking bailed and went home. So I technically qualified for solo A class, but I have no notes to indicate that. Fuuuuuu...

Next up:
At this point I'm really happy with the car. It's handling just where I need it to, and I feel like it has enough power to really enjoy it. I'm trying to get a good time that fits into my schedule so I can drive Thunder Hill next.

Overall:
Totally worth it. If there are any HPDE days in your area, sign up for one. You don't have to go balls out, and it's a complete blast. The car just eats the turns alive. It really solidified this car in my mind, and justified all of the work/money I've put into it.

Shots from the day:
(I really need an aftermarket tow hook, the stock one is so ugly)



My electric tape 86 wasn't good enough, so I had to buy some numbers later from the photo people.









A little off the apex there...


Much better.






My buddy got this shot in the straight from turn 11 to turn 1 on the bridge.

[Turbowned]

Nice! Looks like you had a blast! I wonder if you were going too fast for your instructor in his M3?

Just paint the stock tow hook with red plasti-dip, save yourself some $$

[denkigrve]

Originally Posted by Turbowned

Nice! Looks like you had a blast! I wonder if you were going too fast for your instructor in his M3?

Just paint the stock tow hook with red plasti-dip, save yourself some $$

I thought the same thing at first, but on our demo lap he was hammering it, and was trying to get me to go faster and faster on my runs when he was in the car. I dunno. If I was going that fast then I'm going to rethink my career. :P

[denkigrve]

Went to Treasure Island with the GF today and brought my camera so I could snap a few photos. She suggested we find a good spot to shoot the car. (totally a keeper) Here are a few of the results:



[IMG]http://farm9.staticflickr.com/8502/8329388810_3***bcd7de_c.jpg[/IMG]



There are some more, but these are the shots I like the most.

[denkigrve]

The wait begins! New wheels are coming in 7-12 weeks.

[denkigrve]

I got into a new hobby while I'm waiting for my wheels to arrive. RC Cars!

I test fit my new 9mm wheels and uh yeah... they look sweet. But they don't work for actual driving. Just hard parking. I'm waiting for some 6mm wheels to arrive soon that should correct this hilarity.







This body is my beater body that I'm actually using to slide and crash around in. I've got a new shell that I need to start working on soon. I'm going to try to do that one just right. I'm not at light bucket level yet, so this one will just try for a very clean cut on the removal of the excess and clean paint/decals. I'm also going to use a proper silver paint that should be close to "argento."

[bestwheelbase]

Tenth scale electric is where it's at.

[denkigrve]

So the FedEx guy showed up at my door today. He had 4 packages for me.